New Arcadia: The Alternate History of an Argentina Ruled by London
An alternate history imagines a British invasion of the Río de la Plata, but would Argentina have become a superpower? The country was already wealthy without London.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
The British invasion that never made Argentina a superpower
Taking Buenos Aires does not make a country a superpower. The thesis that an Argentina under British rule—renamed New Arcadia—would be a world giant today rests on an alternate history: that the 200 million Europeans who emigrated to the United States, especially Anglo-Saxons and Germans, would have chosen the Río de la Plata. The calculation does not hold up to the first chronological check.
The British invasions, too brief to change anything
The most solid argument against the alternate history is temporal. The British invasions of the Río de la Plata occurred a few years before Argentine independence: what could London have transformed in that timeframe if the country would have emancipated itself almost the same way? And the uncomfortable fact for the hypothesis: Argentina was already prosperous for thirty or forty years in the early 20th century, without needing a foreign flag.
Rhodesia, the Bill Gates you would never be, and the racial trap
The comparison with Rhodesia circulates as a counterweight. Also the logical paradox: if the map had been different, whoever defends the hypothesis would not exist to enjoy it. Part of the exchange drifts towards racial arguments that this analysis does not support.
With these elements, the probable outcome remains a settler colony with social tensions similar to the real ones. A world superpower, not even close.
Taking Buenos Aires does not make a country a superpower. The thesis that an Argentina under British rule—renamed New Arcadia—would be a world giant today rests on an alternate history: that the 200 million Europeans who emigrated to the United States, especially Anglo-Saxons and Germans, would have chosen the Río de la Plata. The calculation does not hold up to the first chronological check.
The British invasions, too brief to change anything
The most solid argument against the alternate history is temporal. The British invasions of the Río de la Plata occurred a few years before Argentine independence: what could London have transformed in that timeframe if the country would have emancipated itself almost the same way? And the uncomfortable fact for the hypothesis: Argentina was already prosperous for thirty or forty years in the early 20th century, without needing a foreign flag.
Rhodesia, the Bill Gates you would never be, and the racial trap
The comparison with Rhodesia circulates as a counterweight. Also the logical paradox: if the map had been different, whoever defends the hypothesis would not exist to enjoy it. Part of the exchange drifts towards racial arguments that this analysis does not support.
With these elements, the probable outcome remains a settler colony with social tensions similar to the real ones. A world superpower, not even close.
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (36 replies).
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