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Civic Youth Union
The Civic Union of the Youth was a youth-oriented Argentine political party founded on September 1, 1889 and dissolved on April 13, 1890 with the establishment of the Civic Union. Soon afterward its leaders originated the most important Argentine political parties of the early 20th Century: the Radical Civic Union, the National Civic Union, the Socialist Party, and the Democratic Progressive Party.
The national climate
In 1889 Argentina was in the second year of a severe economic crisis that had caused a sharp drop in wages, increased unemployment, and an unprecedented number of strikes. President Julio Argentino Roca was succeeded by his brother-in-law, Miguel Juarez Celman, whose administration was characterized by authoritarian tactics and denunciations of corruption. Among its opponents Celman's government was nicknamed el Unicato, "the Autocracy".
Precursors
In his introduction to Union Civica, su origen, organizacion y tendencias, published in 1890, Dr. Francisco Ramos Mejia described the genesis of the organization:
"When did it begin? It would be difficult, if not impossible, to answer that, because there first arose a vague hope, which later grew along with the sentiment of disgust, and while Tomas Santa Coloma was preparing the ground with his patriotic solemnities at the Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima, and Barroetavena was raising the alarm with his courageous articles, the faithful were rallying opinion and building to an explosion. Union Civica!"
On August 20, 1889, Francisco Barroetavena, a young lawyer from Entre Rios, published an article in La Nacion titled "Tu quoque juventud (en tropel al exito)" — "You too, youth (in the rush to success)" — in which he challenged the youth who remained loyal to President Celman:
This affiliation is nothing more than the renunciation of civic life by the young, in favor of absorption into a superior will that converts them into the mere instruments of the Executive".
The article produced a massive response. Diverse groups of youths and students, united only by their discontent towards Celman's government, looked to Berroetavena for leadership. They soon organized themselves into a small interest group which met regularly. Apart from Berroetavena himself, this group included Modesto Sanchez Viamonte, Carlos Zuberbuler, Carlos Videla, Emilio Gouchon, future president Marcelo T. de Alvear, Juan B. Justo, Manuel A. Montes de Oca, Tomas le Breton, and many others.
At one of their assemblies they resolved to convoke a great meeting "to awaken the national civic life" .
Foundation
On September 1, the great meeting was realized in Buenos Aires's Jardin Florida, attracting an audience of more than three thousand and the presence of the main opposition politicians. The Union Civica de la Juventud was founded, and its platform approved: it would seek to broaden the spectrum of opposition to the regime of Miguel Juarez Celman and his supporters in the National Autonomist Party. The meeting ended with a march to the Plaza de Mayo.
The party was directed by those who seemed the natural leaders of the youth: Barroetavena, accompanied by Emilio Gouchon, Juan B. Justo, Martin Torino, Marcelo T. de Alvear, Tomas Le Breton, and Manuel A. Montes de Oca, among others.
The Civic Youth Union established "honorary" affiliations to certain opposition politicians deemed friendly to their cause, including Leandro Alem, Aristobulo del Valle, Bartolome Mitre, Pedro Goyena, Vicente Fidel Lopez, and Bernardo de Irigoyen.
Inspired by the Partido Republicano founded by Leandro Alem and Valle in 1877, members of the Civic Youth Union organized themselves into local "civic clubs".
Transformation into the Civic Union
On April 13, 1890, in a large meeting at the Buenos Aires Fronton, the Civic Youth Union dissolved itself and a new party, the Civic Union, was formed.
Leandro Alem was elected president , and leaders were drawn from all tendencies within the opposition to the administration of Celman, including Barroetavena, the Catholic politicians Jose Manuel Estrada and Pedro Goyena , Aristobulo del Valle, Bernardo de Irigoyen, Juan B. Justo , Lisandro de la Torre , and the influential ex-president and general Bartolome Mitre .
The Civic Union came into its own after the bloody Revolution of the Park, despite the fact that it had failed to bring about the fall of president Miguel Juarez Celman and his successor, his former vice president Carlos Pellegrini.
See also
Radical Civic Union
National Civic Union
Revolution of the Park
Leandro Alem
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Civic Youth Union
