Conquest of the Desert

The Conquest of the Desert () was an Argentine military campaign directed mainly by General Julio Argentino Roca during the 1870s and 1880s with the intention of establishing dominance over Patagonia, inhabited primarily by Indigenous peoples. The Conquest of the Desert extended Argentine territories into Patagonia and ended Chilean expansion in the region.

Argentine troops killed more than 1,000 Mapuches, displaced more than 15,000 more from their traditional lands and enslaved a portion of the remaining Indigenous people. Settlers of European descent moved in and developed the lands through irrigation for agriculture, converting the territory into an extremely productive area that contributed to the status of Argentina as a great exporter of agricultural products during the early 20th century. The conquest was paralleled by the Occupation of Araucanía, a similar campaign in Chile. The conquest remains controversial in Argentine history as apologists describe it as a civilising mission and a defense against attacks by the natives while revisionists label it a genocide. Provided by Wikipedia