Dictatorship,War,and the Transition to Democracy: A Microhistory of the Town of Correa (Santa Fe)

In April 1982, war broke out between Argentina and Great Britain over the Malvinas/Falklands Islands. While the military regime channeled nationalist fervor through spectacles like the televised program 24 Hours for the Malvinas, this narrative often overshadowed other grassroots mobilizations. This article examines one such case: a music festival organized by the town band in a small rural community in Santa Fe province. While the event shared a similar patriotic impulse with the state-sponsored program, it differed in three key ways: it was locally driven, without military involvement; it took place in a remote town with little media influence; and it occurred on 26 June, 12 days after Argentina’s surrender, raising questions about meaning and memory in the postwar period. The article also explores the return of the town’s only war veteran and how the community processed this event. Drawing on oral histories and local archives, it highlights the cultural and civic role of the Music Band, everyday nationalism, the emotions stirred by the war, and the impact of the veteran’s return on the community’s transition to democracy, revealing a more complex war and postwar landscape.