argentina's divisions led to a civil war that began in 1814. a frail agreement was reached in the early 1820s, which led to the unification of the republic just in time to wage the cisplatine war against the empire of brazil, but the relations between the provinces reached again the point of breaking-off in 1826, when unitarist bernardino rivadavia was elected president and tried to enforce a newly enacted centralist constitution. supporters of decentralized government challenged the unitarist party, leading to the outbreak of violence. federalists juan facundo quiroga and manuel dorrego wanted more autonomy for the provinces and were inclined to reject european culture. the unitarists defended rivadavia's presidency, as it created educational opportunities for rural inhabitants through a european-staffed university program. however, under rivadavia's rule, the salaries of common laborers were subjected to government wage ceilings, and the "gauchos" ("cattle-wrangling horsemen of the pampas") were either imprisoned or forced to work without pay.