Operations plan
Encyclopedia
Operations plan is a secret document attributed to Mariano Moreno
, that set harsh ways for the Primera Junta
to achieve its goals. Some historians consider it a literary forgery
, and others consider it true.
, and Juan José Castelli
, the latter two requesting Moreno to write it: by August 31, 1810, he proposed it to the whole Junta.
, the House of Bourbon
had destroyed itself, and it would be enough to simply let it stay that way.
The document states the need to defeat the royalist forces and therefore proposes many possible actions similar to those employed by Jacobins
during the Reign of Terror
of the French Revolution
. It rejected the use of political moderation, considering that it would be dangerous during revolution
ary times. It compared the South American revolution, still in its early steps, with the French and North American
ones, and even the revolution in Spain itself, pointing that none of those relied solely in conspirations or secret meetings.
The document divides people into three main groups, loyals, open enemies and neutrals. It proposes to give privileges to the loyals, and fill the state offices with them, but using circunstancial honours rather than rushed promotions. Moreno made an exception with moderated supporters driven by a desire of honours or recognition, he considered that they may be useful at a later stage of the revolution, but not at the early ones. Peninsulars, on the other hand, should be carefully monitored, and punished at the sligthest proof of action against the Junta; and executed when they were rich or influential. For this end, the Junta would need to create an espionage network. Top military or political personnel, such as enemy governors or generals, should be executed after their capture. This policy towards peninsulars is coherent with the actions taken against the Liniers counter-revolution
, and similar to the one employed by Simón Bolívar
in the North shortly after. In respect to the press, the document proposed to give broad press coverage to the news that may benefit the government and conceal the ones that may harm it.
Moreno thought that a blockade against Montevideo would not be effective, for the Montevidean naval supremacy over Buenos Aires. He proposed instead to weaken Montevideo by getting the support of the nearby smaller cities and villages. Moreno thought as well that José Gervasio Artigas
and José Rondeau
would be invaluable allies, and that Buenos Aires should use any resource at its disposal to have them join the fight against absolutism. Once the city was captured, he proposed to confiscate the ships and properties of royalists. All the people that could not prove loyalty to the cause would be banished to the Malvinas or Carmen de Patagones, or drafted in the army for 15 years; the old people would be only banished, but spared from prison or hard works.
He also noticed the internal conflicts at Chile and Paraguay, and urged to provide support to the local patriots against the local royalists.
The text was abolitionist
as well. It proposed to end the slave trade
, and emancipate the slaves with peninsular masters. To avoid conflicts with patriots owners of slaves, those slaves would be drafted into the militias, with the option of becoming free negro
s after their military service.
, a neighbour Portuguese colony. He proposed to distribute large numbers of Gazeta de Buenos Ayres
newspapers, filled with libertarian ideas and translated to Portuguese language, and provide military support to the slaves that may riot. He considered a great menace the risk of a complete Spanish defeat in the Peninsular War
or a restoration of absolutism
and regarded Britain as a potential ally against such menaces. During a conflict, Britain would be able to provide them with weapons, and other goods that were not produced locally. Critics of Moreno consider him an Anglophile because of this proposal, but the same documents warns later against the risk of Britain having too much influence in the economic life of the country. He also critizised the relation between Britain and Portugal, considering that Portugal was subject to a "shameful slavery" to Britain, and that the British influence in Brazil was so high that the Portuguese colonies may eventually become British ones. Moreno held the same ideas about being friendly but cautious with Britain in the pages of the Gazeta newspaper.
In respect to the relation with Spain, Moreno thought that a premature declaration of independence would not be appropiate, and advised to wait for the revolution to strenghten and to see the final outcome of the Peninsular War. He thought that it was advisable to proclame loyalty to Ferdinand VII at every document, as it would ease the relation with foreign countries, and Spain itself would doubt which party, the patriots or the royalists, was more loyal to the king.
that may turn the political changes into economic development and proposed to overcome such lack with an active state intervention. Mariano Moreno proposed that the state destined 200 or 300 millions to create factories, manufacturing, arts, agriculture, navigation, and other critical areas. There would be no risk of bankruptcy because it would be the state the one to manage those business. With the money generated from those activities, the state would then seek seeds, tools, and ultimately allow the continent to be economically self-reliant. The initial money that the state would need to become such an active economic force would come from the mines in Potosi, where the slavers had nearly 500 or 600 millions. Moreno proposed simply to confiscate it, and nationalize
the mines. He reasoned that five or six thousands would be harmed by such action, but eighty or a hundred thousands would be benefited. The state would not manage those areas indefinitely, Moreno proposed that this should be done only until there was a strong economic activity in each area, and then the state would just watch the activities, making sure that they followed laws enacted for the common good of society.
The early 19 century liberalism did not promote confiscation among their common proposals, but a similar antecedent of this proposal was the Conspiracy of the Equals, promoted by François-Noël Babeuf
during the French Revolution
. Moreno thought that state-sized fortunes managed by a few individuals were detrimental to civil society, and those individuals would tend to take up the roles of the state in their own benefit, but without fixing the problems of society at large.
The document proposed as well to avoid exporting money, and to include high tariffs to the import of luxury goods. This is often seen as a contradiction with The Representation of the Hacendados
, but both ones request different things. The Representation opposed the absolute prohibition
to trade with Britain, which is not the same than allowing it but following a protectionist
policy. As secretary, Moreno reduced the tariffs over national exports, but kept high ones for imports, which would only be removed during the First Triumvirate, years later.
received it but lost it, in unknown circumstances. Norberto Piñeiro found a second one, but instead of sending it, he published it. Other historians would later draw relations between the Plan and the government acts of the Junta such as the execution of Santiago de Liniers
after the Liniers Counter-revolution
or the work of Castelli at the Upper Peru.
Historian Paul Groussac
and later Ricardo Levene accused the document of being a forgery, written by an enemy of the revolution in order to discredit it. Levene also insisted in that the copy found was not handwritten by Mariano Moreno but by Andrés Álvarez de Toledo. Supporters of the document accepted it, stating that the document found was not the original but a copy, and that it was not something unexpected that the copy was handwritten by another man. The original document, handwritten by Mariano Moreno, has not been discovered yet.
No other texts of the time written by the members of the Junta, either public or private, make mention to the Operations plan. However, Enrique Ruiz Guiñazú
published in 1952 a pair of letters of Carlota Joaquina and Ferdinand VII, where both members of the house of Bourbon make direct reference to the plan written by Moreno. Carlota also cited in it parts of such document, which are coherent with the copy found by Piñeiro.
Later, some authors question the authorship of Moreno, and stated that some expressions or redaction styles may suggest it to be the work of Manuel Belgrano
or Hipólito Vieytes
. Supporters of the document like Norberto Galasso
accept a middle ground option: the document may be the result of a collaborative writing instead that of a single author, even if Moreno wrote most of it.
Mariano Moreno
Mariano Moreno was an Argentine lawyer, journalist, and politician. He played a decisive role in the Primera Junta, the first national government of Argentina, created after the May Revolution....
, that set harsh ways for the Primera Junta
Primera Junta
The Primera Junta or First Assembly is the most common name given to the first independent government of Argentina. It was created on 25 May 1810, as a result of the events of the May Revolution. The Junta initially had representatives from only Buenos Aires...
to achieve its goals. Some historians consider it a literary forgery
Literary forgery
Literary forgery refers to writing, such as a manuscript or a literary work either deliberately misattributed to a historical or invented author, or a purported memoir presented as genuine.- History :The common, or popularly known, instance of literary forgery may involve for example the work of a...
, and others consider it true.
Creation
According to historians who consider the document to be real, the need for it would have been the result of a meeting of Moreno, Manuel BelgranoManuel Belgrano
Manuel José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano , usually referred to as Manuel Belgrano, was an Argentine economist, lawyer, politician, and military leader. He took part in the Argentine Wars of Independence and created the Flag of Argentina...
, and Juan José Castelli
Juan José Castelli
Juan José Castelli was an Argentine lawyer. He was one of the leaders of the May Revolution, which started the Argentine War of Independence...
, the latter two requesting Moreno to write it: by August 31, 1810, he proposed it to the whole Junta.
Actions against royalists
Mariano Moreno did not consider necessary to take any measures against absolutist monarchy itsef. He thought that, in the wake of the events of the Peninsular WarPeninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
, the House of Bourbon
House of Bourbon
The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...
had destroyed itself, and it would be enough to simply let it stay that way.
The document states the need to defeat the royalist forces and therefore proposes many possible actions similar to those employed by Jacobins
Jacobin (politics)
A Jacobin , in the context of the French Revolution, was a member of the Jacobin Club, a revolutionary far-left political movement. The Jacobin Club was the most famous political club of the French Revolution. So called from the Dominican convent where they originally met, in the Rue St. Jacques ,...
during the Reign of Terror
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror , also known simply as The Terror , was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of...
of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. It rejected the use of political moderation, considering that it would be dangerous during revolution
Revolution
A revolution is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.Aristotle described two types of political revolution:...
ary times. It compared the South American revolution, still in its early steps, with the French and North American
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
ones, and even the revolution in Spain itself, pointing that none of those relied solely in conspirations or secret meetings.
The document divides people into three main groups, loyals, open enemies and neutrals. It proposes to give privileges to the loyals, and fill the state offices with them, but using circunstancial honours rather than rushed promotions. Moreno made an exception with moderated supporters driven by a desire of honours or recognition, he considered that they may be useful at a later stage of the revolution, but not at the early ones. Peninsulars, on the other hand, should be carefully monitored, and punished at the sligthest proof of action against the Junta; and executed when they were rich or influential. For this end, the Junta would need to create an espionage network. Top military or political personnel, such as enemy governors or generals, should be executed after their capture. This policy towards peninsulars is coherent with the actions taken against the Liniers counter-revolution
Liniers Counter-revolution
When the May Revolution took place in Buenos Aires in 1810, the former viceroy Santiago de Liniers led an ill-fated counter-revolutionary attempt from the city of Córdoba. It was quickly thwarted by the patriotic forces from Buenos Aires led by Ortiz de Ocampo, who captured the leaders and...
, and similar to the one employed by Simón Bolívar
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Yeiter, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader...
in the North shortly after. In respect to the press, the document proposed to give broad press coverage to the news that may benefit the government and conceal the ones that may harm it.
Moreno thought that a blockade against Montevideo would not be effective, for the Montevidean naval supremacy over Buenos Aires. He proposed instead to weaken Montevideo by getting the support of the nearby smaller cities and villages. Moreno thought as well that José Gervasio Artigas
José Gervasio Artigas
José Gervasio Artigas is a national hero of Uruguay, sometimes called "the father of Uruguayan nationhood".-Early life:Artigas was born in Montevideo on June 19, 1764...
and José Rondeau
José Rondeau
José Casimiro Rondeau Pereyra was a general and politician in Argentina and Uruguay in the early 19th century.-Biography:...
would be invaluable allies, and that Buenos Aires should use any resource at its disposal to have them join the fight against absolutism. Once the city was captured, he proposed to confiscate the ships and properties of royalists. All the people that could not prove loyalty to the cause would be banished to the Malvinas or Carmen de Patagones, or drafted in the army for 15 years; the old people would be only banished, but spared from prison or hard works.
He also noticed the internal conflicts at Chile and Paraguay, and urged to provide support to the local patriots against the local royalists.
The text was abolitionist
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
as well. It proposed to end the slave trade
Atlantic slave trade
The Atlantic slave trade, also known as the trans-atlantic slave trade, refers to the trade in slaves that took place across the Atlantic ocean from the sixteenth through to the nineteenth centuries...
, and emancipate the slaves with peninsular masters. To avoid conflicts with patriots owners of slaves, those slaves would be drafted into the militias, with the option of becoming free negro
Free Negro
A free Negro or free black is the term used prior to the abolition of slavery in the United States to describe African Americans who were not slaves. Almost all African Americans came to the United States as slaves, but from the earliest days of American slavery, slaveholders set men and women free...
s after their military service.
International relations
On the level of international relations, Mariano Moreno rejected the slavery in BrazilSlavery in Brazil
Slavery in Brazil shaped the country's social structure and ethnic landscape. During the colonial epoch and for over six decades after the 1822 independence, slavery was a mainstay of the Brazilian economy, especially in mining, cotton, and sugar cane production.Brazil obtained an estimated 35% of...
, a neighbour Portuguese colony. He proposed to distribute large numbers of Gazeta de Buenos Ayres
Gazeta de Buenos Ayres
The Gazeta de Buenos Ayres was a newspaper created in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1810. It was initially used to give publicity to the government actions of the Primera Junta, the first Argentine government...
newspapers, filled with libertarian ideas and translated to Portuguese language, and provide military support to the slaves that may riot. He considered a great menace the risk of a complete Spanish defeat in the Peninsular War
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
or a restoration of absolutism
Absolute monarchy
Absolute monarchy is a monarchical form of government in which the monarch exercises ultimate governing authority as head of state and head of government, his or her power not being limited by a constitution or by the law. An absolute monarch thus wields unrestricted political power over the...
and regarded Britain as a potential ally against such menaces. During a conflict, Britain would be able to provide them with weapons, and other goods that were not produced locally. Critics of Moreno consider him an Anglophile because of this proposal, but the same documents warns later against the risk of Britain having too much influence in the economic life of the country. He also critizised the relation between Britain and Portugal, considering that Portugal was subject to a "shameful slavery" to Britain, and that the British influence in Brazil was so high that the Portuguese colonies may eventually become British ones. Moreno held the same ideas about being friendly but cautious with Britain in the pages of the Gazeta newspaper.
In respect to the relation with Spain, Moreno thought that a premature declaration of independence would not be appropiate, and advised to wait for the revolution to strenghten and to see the final outcome of the Peninsular War. He thought that it was advisable to proclame loyalty to Ferdinand VII at every document, as it would ease the relation with foreign countries, and Spain itself would doubt which party, the patriots or the royalists, was more loyal to the king.
Economy
In the economic field, it addressed the lack of a bourgeoisieBourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
that may turn the political changes into economic development and proposed to overcome such lack with an active state intervention. Mariano Moreno proposed that the state destined 200 or 300 millions to create factories, manufacturing, arts, agriculture, navigation, and other critical areas. There would be no risk of bankruptcy because it would be the state the one to manage those business. With the money generated from those activities, the state would then seek seeds, tools, and ultimately allow the continent to be economically self-reliant. The initial money that the state would need to become such an active economic force would come from the mines in Potosi, where the slavers had nearly 500 or 600 millions. Moreno proposed simply to confiscate it, and nationalize
Nationalization
Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
the mines. He reasoned that five or six thousands would be harmed by such action, but eighty or a hundred thousands would be benefited. The state would not manage those areas indefinitely, Moreno proposed that this should be done only until there was a strong economic activity in each area, and then the state would just watch the activities, making sure that they followed laws enacted for the common good of society.
The early 19 century liberalism did not promote confiscation among their common proposals, but a similar antecedent of this proposal was the Conspiracy of the Equals, promoted by François-Noël Babeuf
François-Noël Babeuf
François-Noël Babeuf , known as Gracchus Babeuf , was a French political agitator and journalist of the Revolutionary period...
during the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. Moreno thought that state-sized fortunes managed by a few individuals were detrimental to civil society, and those individuals would tend to take up the roles of the state in their own benefit, but without fixing the problems of society at large.
The document proposed as well to avoid exporting money, and to include high tariffs to the import of luxury goods. This is often seen as a contradiction with The Representation of the Hacendados
The Representation of the Hacendados
The Representation of the Landowners is an 1809 economic report written by Mariano Moreno that described the economy of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. It was written by Moreno on behalf of the Hacendados , to request the then viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros to reconsider the...
, but both ones request different things. The Representation opposed the absolute prohibition
Embargo
An embargo is the partial or complete prohibition of commerce and trade with a particular country, in order to isolate it. Embargoes are considered strong diplomatic measures imposed in an effort, by the imposing country, to elicit a given national-interest result from the country on which it is...
to trade with Britain, which is not the same than allowing it but following a protectionist
Protectionism
Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between states through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations designed to allow "fair competition" between imports and goods and services produced domestically.This...
policy. As secretary, Moreno reduced the tariffs over national exports, but kept high ones for imports, which would only be removed during the First Triumvirate, years later.
Controversy
The first copy of the Plan was found in the Archives of Indias of Sevilla (Spain) by Eduardo Madero, who was studying the history of the port of Buenos Aires. He sent it to Argentina. Bartolomé MitreBartolomé Mitre
Bartolomé Mitre Martínez was an Argentine statesman, military figure, and author. He was the President of Argentina from 1862 to 1868.-Life and times:...
received it but lost it, in unknown circumstances. Norberto Piñeiro found a second one, but instead of sending it, he published it. Other historians would later draw relations between the Plan and the government acts of the Junta such as the execution of Santiago de Liniers
Santiago de Liniers
Jacques de Liniers was a French officer in the Spanish military service, and a viceroy of the Spanish colonies of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. He is more widely known by the Spanish form of his name, Santiago de Liniers...
after the Liniers Counter-revolution
Liniers Counter-revolution
When the May Revolution took place in Buenos Aires in 1810, the former viceroy Santiago de Liniers led an ill-fated counter-revolutionary attempt from the city of Córdoba. It was quickly thwarted by the patriotic forces from Buenos Aires led by Ortiz de Ocampo, who captured the leaders and...
or the work of Castelli at the Upper Peru.
Historian Paul Groussac
Paul Groussac
Paul-François Groussac was a French-born Argentine writer, literary critic, historian, and librarian. He was born in Toulouse to Catherine Deval and Pierre Groussac, the scion of an old Languedocian family.-Biography:...
and later Ricardo Levene accused the document of being a forgery, written by an enemy of the revolution in order to discredit it. Levene also insisted in that the copy found was not handwritten by Mariano Moreno but by Andrés Álvarez de Toledo. Supporters of the document accepted it, stating that the document found was not the original but a copy, and that it was not something unexpected that the copy was handwritten by another man. The original document, handwritten by Mariano Moreno, has not been discovered yet.
No other texts of the time written by the members of the Junta, either public or private, make mention to the Operations plan. However, Enrique Ruiz Guiñazú
Enrique Ruiz Guiñazú
Enrique Ruiz Guiñazú was an Argentinean politician who is best remembered for his spell as Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship in the 1940s.-Rise to prominence:...
published in 1952 a pair of letters of Carlota Joaquina and Ferdinand VII, where both members of the house of Bourbon make direct reference to the plan written by Moreno. Carlota also cited in it parts of such document, which are coherent with the copy found by Piñeiro.
Later, some authors question the authorship of Moreno, and stated that some expressions or redaction styles may suggest it to be the work of Manuel Belgrano
Manuel Belgrano
Manuel José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano , usually referred to as Manuel Belgrano, was an Argentine economist, lawyer, politician, and military leader. He took part in the Argentine Wars of Independence and created the Flag of Argentina...
or Hipólito Vieytes
Hipólito Vieytes
Juan Hipólito Vieytes, was an Argentine merchant and soldier. He was born in San Antonio de Areco, Buenos Aires Province on 6 August 1762, son of Juan Vieytes and Petrona Mora Fernández de Agüero...
. Supporters of the document like Norberto Galasso
Norberto Galasso
Norberto Galasso is a historian and essayist from Argentina, who wrote many books related with the history of Argentina. His career as historian spans nearly forty years.-Biography:He studied economy in the University of Buenos Aires, graduating in 1961....
accept a middle ground option: the document may be the result of a collaborative writing instead that of a single author, even if Moreno wrote most of it.