English settlement in Argentina

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English settlement in Argentina, that is the arrival of English emigrants in Argentina, took place in the period after Argentina's independence from Spain through the 19th century. Unlike many other waves of immigration to Argentina, English and other British immigrants were not usually leaving poverty or persecution, but came as industrialists and major landowners. Argentina in the Victorian age was part of Britain's informal empire. ^[1] Some also came as whalers, missionaries, as railroad engineers, and simply to seek out a future. Since the early 1830's both Anglicans and Presbyterians built their churches in Buenos Aires.

The United Kingdom was one of the first countries to recognise the independence of Argentina, in a treaty of 1825. English and other British arrivals and British investment played a large part in the development of the rail- and tramways of Argentina, and of Argentine agriculture, livestock breeding, processing, refrigeration and export ^[2]. At one point in the 19th century, ten per cent of the UK's foreign investment was in Argentina, despite not being a colony. In 1939, 39% of investment in Argentina was British ^[3].

English culture, or a version of it as perceived from outside, had a noted effect on the culture of Argentina (or its middle classes). Not least in this respect was the popularity of English sports such as tennis, rugby union, hockey, golf and polo, which was based in the country at the Hurlingham Club, based on its namesake in London. The development of football in Argentina was also assisted by English settlers, as betrayed by club names such as Newell's Old Boys, Racing Club or River Plate.

Famous Argentines such as Lucas Bridges, Maria Elena Walsh, and Jorge Luis Borges are of British descent. High tea became standard amongst the upper middle classes and generated the popular "merienda" (afternoon snack, also known simply as "la leche" - milk, because it was served with the tea or as chocolate milk along the sweets). The Richmond café on Florida Street is a notable tea venue, near the (now abandoned) block of Harrod's department store, the only one ever opened outside of London. Blue blazers and grey flannels were mandatory in Argentinian Secondary schools until the economic crises of the 1990's.

Gardened "chalets" often built by railway executives near train stations in suburbs with names like Banfield, Munro, Ranelagh or Hurlingham gave a pointed Londonish atmosphere to localized spots in Buenos Aires, specially in winter when shrouded in grey mists and fallen oak leaves over cobblestones. Equally the corresponding suburban train stations and Victorian terminals like Retiro or Constitución, as well as the countless countryside stations dotting the Pampas, inhabitants of Buenos Aires being one of the few Latin Americans who daily commute by train. Buenos Aires was peppered with "Cultural Inglesa" branches (English Cultural Association) the traditional teaching of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in State schools and private institutions being invariably geared towards the Received Pronunciation or Queen's English throughout the 20th century.

Around 100,000 Anglo-Argentines are the descendants of English immigrants to Argentina ^[4]. They are one of the most successful immigrant groups of Argentina, gaining prominence in commerce, industry, and the professions. Many are noted by their ability to speak English in family circles, with an undistinguishable British accent. A respected English language newspaper, the Buenos Aires Herald, continues to be published daily in Buenos Aires.

Anglo-Argentines have traditionally differed from their fellow Argentines by largely retaining strong ties with their mother country, including education and commerce. Bilingual schools such as St. Andrew's Scots School, Northlands and St. George's still. ^[5] Probably included in the English Argentine community are those likely of Scottish and Ulster Scots origin in both Scotland and Northern Ireland (see Irish settlement in Argentina on Irish settlers and descendants in Argentina).

During World War II, 4,000 Argentines served with all three British armed services ^[6] including 600 Argentine volunteers that join the British and Canadian Air Forces, mostly in the 164 Argentine-British RAF squadron. Many members of the Anglo-Argentine community also volunteered in non-combat roles, or worked to raise money and supplies for British troops. The wave of Argentine nationalism under Juan Peron in the 1940s/1950s combined with British pride by strong political, cultural and economic ties with Britain (alike that of Argentina's relationship with France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Yugoslavia), the English Argentines and their fellow Irish Argentines were examples of assimilation and success in Latin America's most stable economies.

During the Falklands War (Spanish:Guerra de las Malvinas) , Anglo-Argentines were questioned about their allegiance and diplomatic relations between the two countries were halted, although they have been normalised since. A traditional rivalry-enmity relationship between Argentinians and Britons is pointed by past events like the Invasiones Inglesas enacted in local school plays (British invasions to wrest Buenos Aires from the Spaniards in the early 1800's) when Britons were expelled by the local patriots, the 1982 conflict (when Margaret Thatcher was portrayed with a Pirate patch on Argentinian media, reflecting colonial Spain's view of the English as bucaneers) and the ever present football rivalry enacted at several FIFA World Cups.

The society for Argentine people living in the United Kingdom, particularly those of Anglo-Argentine heritage, is the Anglo-Argentine Society ^[7] which tries to promote understanding and friendship between the two countries. However, there is few ethnic tension brought over by Irish and Scottish with the English in Argentina, thus the three British ethnonational groups would establish a similar nationality, or how Argentine-Americans are included in the Hispanic and Latino "ethnic" categories in the United States for possessing cultural traits of Spanish-speaking Latin American peoples.