Argentina's military campaign seized Patagonia from Indigenous peoples, enabling European settlement and transforming the country into a major agricultural exporter.
Key Facts
- Campaign period
- 1870s–1880s
- Indigenous people killed
- More than 1,000 Mapuches
- Indigenous people displaced
- More than 15,000
- Lead commander
- General Julio Argentino Roca
- Parallel campaign
- Occupation of Araucanía (Chile)
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Argentina sought to assert sovereignty over Patagonia, a region inhabited primarily by Indigenous peoples including the Mapuche, while also countering Chilean expansion into the area. The state framed the campaign as a civilising mission and a defensive response to raids, though Indigenous communities had long occupied the territory.
Under the command of General Julio Argentino Roca, Argentine military forces conducted a sustained offensive across Patagonia during the 1870s and 1880s. The campaign resulted in the killing of more than 1,000 Mapuches, the displacement of over 15,000 from their traditional lands, and the enslavement of a portion of the remaining Indigenous population.
Argentina incorporated Patagonia into its national territory, halting Chilean expansion in the region. European settlers moved onto the conquered lands, developing agriculture through irrigation and making Argentina a leading exporter of agricultural products in the early 20th century. The campaign remains deeply contested, with ongoing debate over whether it constitutes genocide.