I can't give a short summary, but this is a "modified" version of the info in Wikipedia, I just didn't put things that weren't too important and bolded the most outstanding things (most of them are negative though) and I added some personal commentaries:
European explorers arrived in 1516 here. Spain established a permanent colony on the site of Buenos Aires in 1580; the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata was created in 1776. In 1806 and 1807 the British Empire launched two invasions to Buenos Aires, but the creole population repelled both attempts. On May 25, 1810, after confirmation of the rumors about the overthrow of King Ferdinand VII by Napoleon, citizens of Buenos Aires took advantage of the situation and created the First Government Junta (May Revolution). Formal independence from Spain was declared on July 9, 1816 in Tucumán.
In 1817, General José de San Martín crossed the Andes to free Chile and Peru, thus eliminating the Spanish threat. The Unitarios and Federales were in conflict until national unity was established and the constitution promulgated in 1853. This was with the new National Contitution
Foreign investment and immigration from Europe led to the adoption of modern agricultural techniques. In the 1880s, the "Conquest of the Desert" exterminated the remaining indigenous tribes throughout the southern Pampas and Patagonia. (Yup they killed every one of them...)
From 1880 to 1930, Argentina enjoyed increasing prosperity and prominence through an export-led economy, and the population of the country swelled sevenfold. Conservative forces dominated Argentine politics until 1916, when their traditional rivals, the Radicals, won control of the government. The military forced Hipólito Yrigoyen from power in 1930, leading to another decade of Conservative rule.
Political change led to the presidency of Juan Perón in 1946, who tried to empower the working class and greatly expanded the number of unionized workers. The Revolución Libertadora of 1955 deposed him.
In 1973, Perón returned to the presidency, but he died within a year of assuming power. His third wife Isabel, the Vice President, succeeded him in office, but the military coup of March 24, 1976 removed her from office.
The armed forces took power through a junta in charge of the self-appointed National Reorganization Process until 1983. The military government repressed opposition and terrorist leftist groups using harsh illegal measures (the "Dirty War"); thousands of dissidents "disappeared", while the SIDE cooperated with DINA and other South American intelligence agencies, and with the CIA in Operation Condor. Many of the military leaders that took part in the Dirty War were trained in the U.S.-financed School of the Americas, among them Argentine dictators Leopoldo Galtieri and Roberto Viola. Economic problems, charges of corruption, public revulsion in the face of human rights abuses and, finally, the country's 1982 defeat by the British in the Malvina War discredited the Argentine military regime.
Democracy was restored in 1983. Raúl Alfonsín's Radical government took steps to account for the "disappeared", established civilian control of the armed forces, and consolidated democratic institutions. The members of the three military juntas were prosecuted and sentenced to life terms. Failure to resolve endemic economic problems and an inability to maintain public confidence led to Alfonsín's early departure six months before his term was to be completed.
President Carlos Menem imposed a peso-dollar fixed exchange rate in 1991 to stop hyperinflation and adopted far-reaching market-based policies, dismantling protectionist barriers and business regulations, and implementing a privatization program. These reforms contributed to significant increases in investment and growth with stable prices through most of the 1990s. Toward the end of the 1990s, large fiscal deficits and overvaluation of the pegged peso caused a gradual slide into economic crisis. By the end of his term in 1999, these accumulating problems and perceived corruption had made Menem unpopular.
The Menem and de la Rúa administrations faced diminished competitiveness in exports, massive imports which damaged national industry and reduced employment, chronic fiscal and trade deficits, and the contagion of several economic crises. The Asian financial crisis in 1998 precipitated an outflow of capital that mushroomed into a recession, and culminated in economic crisis in November of 2001. The next month, amidst bloody riots, President de la Rúa resigned.
In two weeks, several presidents followed in quick succession, culminating in Eduardo Duhalde being appointed interim President of Argentina by the Legislative Assembly on 2 January 2002. Argentina defaulted on its international debt obligations. The peso's almost 11-year-old linkage to the United States dollar was abandoned, resulting in major depreciation of the peso and a spike in inflation.
By the end of 2002, the economy began to stabilize. In 2003, Néstor Kirchner was elected president. During Kirchner's presidency, Argentina restructured its defaulted debt with a steep discount (about 75 percent) on most bonds, paid off outstanding debts with the International Monetary Fund, renegotiated contracts with utilities, and nationalized some previously privatized industries. Currently, Argentina is enjoying a period of high economic growth and increased political stability. (yeah right, we aren't that well)
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