On the 7th of january in 1919, the "Semana Trágica" began in Argentina when police attacked striking metalworkers in Buenos Aires, killing five, after workers set the police chief's car on fire. The city was quickly placed under martial law.
The "Semana Trágica" (Tragic Week in English, not to be confused with the Spanish Tragic Week) was the violent supression of a general workers' uprising, beginning with the attack on January 7th. In addition to the actions of the police and military, right-wing vigilantes launched pogroms against the city's Jews, many of whom were not involved, in order to suppress the rebellion.
The conflict began as a strike at the Vasena metal works, an English Argentine-owned plant in the suburbs of Buenos Aires. On January 7th, workers overturned and set fire to the car of the police chief Elpidio González. Militant workers also shot and killed the commander of the Army detachment protecting González. Following this, police attacked, killing five workers and wounding twenty more.
On the same day, maritime workers of the port of Buenos Aires voted in favor of a general strike for better hours and wages. After the police attack at Vasena, a waterfront strike began: all ship movements, and all loading and unloading, came to a halt.
Rioting soon spread throughout Buenos Aires, and workers battled with both state and right-wing paramilitary forces. Police utilized members of the far-right Argentine "Patriotic League", who targeted the city's working class Russian Jewish population, which they associated with the rebellion, beating and murdering many uninvolved civilians.
On the 11th, the city was placed under martial law, and the military restored control over the city over the next several days. Estimates of the death toll range from between 141 to over 700. The United States embassy reported that 1,500 people were killed in total, "mostly Russians and generally Jews"
La Semana Trágica - el historiador
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I used to be an absolute menace in those games, especially when it came to defending towns during sieges. Used to set up sniper nests in tower blocks and absolutely mine the hell out of chokepoints and entrances. They'd have to use bombing runs and artillery, because tanks and infantry would get slaughtered. I always wondered where i learnt how to do this, until i remembered that the news was always on when i was younger, and that time period had iraq, afghanistan, and the balkan wars. Really weird feeling knowing i was learning urban warfare tactics from the news.
Very relatable. It's fucking weird how militarized some parts of our society are.
And how casually it is brought up. Beyond the classic WW2 grandpas and Combat Footage Dads, i have regular conversations with people my age and younger that might as well be straight out of war game forums. The MIC is in basically every corner of media, and forces people to normalize these thoughts.