The Construction of Railroads in Argentina in the Late 19th Century

Abstract

In the late 19th century Argentina went through a phase of great economic growth, the Belle Époque, represented by a strong foreign presence of products, labor and capital. This capital was mainly British and was allocated to building railroads. This paper tells the story of the main elements in the formation and financing of railroads in Argentina within the context of the territorial expansion and the role played by them in this period of large outflows of British capital. The subject is divided into three segments. In the first one, the focus will be on the 1860s, when the railroads began to be built in Argentina and the British capital was already predominant. The second one deals with the process of territorial expansion, showing the relation between the Desert Campaign and the railroads. The third one approaches the consolidation phase of the Argentine railroad companies which began in the 1880s.