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119-672: It has gone to war on two occasions: the War of the Triple Alliance (1864–1870) against Brazil , Argentina , and Uruguay , and the Chaco War (1932–1935) against Bolivia . Although Paraguay is a landlocked country, it has a strong naval tradition by virtue of the fact that it has access to the Atlantic Ocean through the Paraguay – Paraná rivers. The Paraguayan Navy has twelve bases. The main base

238-682: A Peru-Bolivian Confederation was also created, but was dissolved two years later due to Chilean military intervention. Following the events of the May Revolution , in 1811 José Gervasio Artigas led a successful revolt against the Spanish forces in the Provincia Oriental, now Uruguay, joining the independentist movement that was taking place in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata at the time. In 1821,

357-858: A presidential yacht . The new additions are four Croc-class riverine vessels from Australia, plus 43 locally built riverline patrol vessels constructed from 2006–2009. For air support, one Helibras HB350 helicopter is used to provide SAR , MEDEVAC and utility work Its main mission is to contribute to the defense of Paraguay, in order to protect and guarantee sovereignty over its water resources. These priorities include: The rank insignia of commissioned officers . The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel . Paraguayan War Allied victory Paraguay permanently lost its claims to lands amounting to almost 40% of its prewar claimed territories. The Paraguayan War ( Spanish : Guerra del Paraguay , Portuguese : Guerra do Paraguai , Guarani : Paraguái Ñorairõ ), also known as

476-513: A Creole rebellion arose in 1812 in Huánuco and another in Cusco between 1814 and 1816. Both were suppressed. These rebellions were supported by the armies of Buenos Aires. Peru finally succumbed after the decisive continental campaigns of José de San Martín (1820–1823) and Simón Bolívar (1824). While San Martín was in charge of the land campaign, a newly-built Chilean Navy led by Lord Cochrane transported

595-483: A breakaway province. While Argentina was ruled by Juan Manuel Rosas (1829–1852), a common enemy of both Brazil and Paraguay, Brazil contributed to the improvement of the fortifications and development of the Paraguayan army, sending officials and technical help to Asunción . As no roads linked the inland province of Mato Grosso to Rio de Janeiro , Brazilian ships needed to travel through Paraguayan territory, going up

714-742: A colonial empire in the Western Hemisphere. Except for Cuba and Puerto Rico , the Spanish colonies in the Americas won their independence during the first quarter of the 19th century. During the Peninsular War , Napoleon installed his brother, Joseph Bonaparte , on the Spanish throne and captured the King Fernando VII . The crisis of political legitimacy sparked a reaction in Spain's overseas empire. Several assemblies were established after 1810 by

833-551: A drawn-out guerrilla resistance, a strategy that resulted in the further destruction of the Paraguayan military and the civilian population. Much of the civilian population died due to battle, hunger, and disease. The guerrilla war lasted for 14 months until president Francisco Solano López was killed in action by Brazilian forces in the Battle of Cerro Corá on 1 March 1870. Argentine and Brazilian troops occupied Paraguay until 1876. Since their independence from Portugal and Spain in

952-579: A full-fledged civil war. Traditionally, the process is divided into three stages: Patria Vieja , Reconquista , and Patria Nueva . The first uprising against Spanish rule took place in 1809, and criollos in Ecuador set up a junta on 22 September 1810, to rule in the name of the Bourbon monarch; but as elsewhere, it allowed assertion of their power. Only in 1822 did Ecuador fully gain independence and became part of Gran Colombia , from which it withdrew in 1830. At

1071-492: A gross dereliction of duty, Simon Bolívar neglected to enforce the customary security dispositions before departing to a social event. During the night there was an uprising of the Spanish prisoners and they managed to subdue the Independentist garrison and gain control of the supplies, arms and ammunition, and the port. The Loyalist forces progressively regained control of the country and eventually, Monteverde's successes forced

1190-702: A large portion of Mato Grosso remained under Paraguayan control. The Brazilians withdrew from the area in April 1868, moving their troops to the main theatre of operations, in the south of Paraguay. The invasion of Corrientes and Rio Grande do Sul was the second phase of the Paraguayan offensive. In order to support the Uruguayan Blancos, the Paraguayans had to travel across Argentine territory. In January 1865, Solano López asked Argentina's permission for an army of 20,000 men (led by general Wenceslao Robles ) to travel through

1309-596: A less convenient time for ourselves". López then ordered the Paraguayan ship Tacuarí to pursue her and compel her return. On 12 November Tacuarí caught up with Marquês de Olinda in the vicinity of Concepción , fired across her bows, and ordered her to return to Asunción; when she arrived on the 13th, all on board were arrested. On the 12th Paraguay informed the Brazilian minister in Asunción that diplomatic relations had been broken off. The conflict between Brazil and Uruguay

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1428-466: A monarchy instead of a federal republic in the first six decades of Brazilian political sovereignty also contributed to the nation's unity. After several failed revolts in the Portuguese colony, Dom Pedro I (also Pedro IV of Portugal), son of the Portuguese king Dom João VI , proclaimed the country's independence in 1822 and became Brazil's first Emperor . This began when Napoleon Bonaparte forced

1547-617: A monarchy with a prince from Spain as king, and secured Catholicism as the proclaimed state religion. He persuaded the insurgent Guerrero to ally with him and create the Army of the Three Guarantees . Juan O'Donojú ,the final Viceroy of New Spain, and Iturbide settled a treaty in Córdoba which recognized Mexico as independent from the Spanish Empire. Iturbide and O'Donojú entered Mexico City with

1666-421: A new army, while the war had entered a tremendously violent phase. After much of the local aristocracy had abandoned the cause of independence, blacks and mulattoes carried on the struggle. Elites reacted with open distrust and opposition to the efforts of these common people. Bolívar's forces invaded Venezuela from New Granada in 1813, waging a campaign with a ferocity captured perfectly by their motto of " war to

1785-411: A persistent issue that had confused Spain and Portugal in the late 18th century. A few indigenous tribes populated the region between the two rivers, and these tribes would attack Brazilian and Paraguayan settlements that were local to them. There are several theories regarding the origins of the war. The traditional view emphasizes that the policies of Paraguayan president Francisco Solano López used

1904-604: A series of letters written by Toussaint, it became clear that he grew open to equal human rights for all that live in Haiti. Similar to how the United States Constitution was ratified, the enlightenment ideas of equality and representation of the people created an impact of change against the status quo that sparked the revolution. The letter details the great concerns he felt due to a conservative shift in France's legislature after

2023-492: A slave in Saint-Domingue where he developed labor skills that would give him higher privileges than other slaves. He intellectually and physically advanced resulting in promotion, land of his own, and owning slaves. In 1791, slaves in Haiti formed a revolution to seek independence from their French owners. L'Ouverture joined the rebellion as a top military official to abolish slavery without complete independence. However, through

2142-671: Is the Puerto Sajonia in Asuncion , followed by Bahia Negra, Ciudad del Este, Encarnacion, Salto del Guaira. It also has aviation facilities in Puerto Sajonia. In terms of vessels, the Navy has 34 surface ships, some of which have reached centenarian age, due in part to limited use and the vessels floating in fresh water. The main vessels and the flagship of the Paraguay Navy is still the Humaita , which

2261-606: The Criollos (Latin Americans who are of full or near full Spanish descent) to recover sovereignty and self-government based on the Castilian law and to rule American lands in the name of Ferdinand VII of Spain . This experience of self-government, along with the influence of Liberalism and the ideas of the French and American Revolutions , brought about a struggle for independence, led by

2380-526: The Libertadores . The territories freed themselves, often with help from foreign mercenaries and privateers. The United States and Europe were neutral, yet aimed to achieve political influence and trade without the Spanish monopoly. In South America , Simón Bolívar and José de San Martín led the final phase of the independence struggle. Although Bolívar attempted to keep the Spanish-speaking parts of

2499-791: The Army of the Three Guarantees . Unity was maintained for a short period under the First Mexican Empire , but within a decade the region fought against the United States over the borderlands (losing the bordering lands of California and Texas). Most of the heat was during the official Mexican-American War from 1846 to 1848. In 1898, in the Greater Antilles , the United States won the Spanish–American War and occupied Cuba and Puerto Rico , ending Spanish territorial control in

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2618-408: The Battle of Pichincha , near present-day Quito , Ecuador on 24 May 1822, General Antonio José de Sucre 's forces defeated a Spanish force defending Quito. The Spanish defeat guaranteed the liberation of Ecuador. In 1821, the entire Kingdom of Guatemala was peacefully subject to Spanish rule. With the innovations produced by the constitutional system, the freedom of the press and the exaltation of

2737-585: The Brazilian ship Marquês de Olinda , on her routine voyage up the River Paraguay to the Brazilian Mato Grosso, and carrying the new governor of that province, docked at Asunción and took on coal. Completing the formalities, she continued on her journey. According to one source, López hesitated whether to break the peace for a whole day, saying "If we don't have a war now with Brazil, we shall have one at

2856-504: The British , French , Spanish , and Russians in succeeding years under the mantle of Manifest Destiny . While ending European control over the region, these events resulted in the expansion of settler colonialism against Native nations, especially following the discovery of gold in regions such as the Dakotas and California, as well as opportunities for American settlers to claim farmland in

2975-598: The Cuban War of Independence (1895–98). American intervention in 1898 became the Spanish–American War and resulted in the United States gaining Puerto Rico , Guam (which are still U.S. territories), and the Philippine Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Under military occupation, Cuba became a U.S. protectorate until its independence in 1902. Peaceful independence by the voluntary withdrawal of colonial powers then became

3094-536: The Cádiz Constitution of 1812 and punished those who had supported it. The violence used by royalist forces and the prospect of being ruled by Fernando shifted the majority of the colonist population in favor of separation from Spain. The local elites reacted to absolutism in much the same way that the British colonial elites, Tory and Whig alike, had reacted to London's interference before 1775. The colonial army of

3213-575: The Great Plains . Land speculators and individual settlers both played a significant role in the expansion of America into what was then termed Indian Territory . American encroachment on indigenous nations prompted the creation of several federations opposed to Manifest Destiny such as the Northwestern confederacy and Tecumseh's Confederacy . The American and French Revolutions had profound effects on Spanish , Portuguese and French colonies in

3332-515: The Llanos and Ciudad Bolívar in the Orinoco River area. In 1819 Bolívar successfully invaded New Granada, and returned to Venezuela in April 1821, leading an army of 7,000. At Carabobo on June 24, his forces decisively defeated Spanish and colonial forces, winning Venezuelan independence, although hostilities continued. Unlike the Spanish, the Portuguese did not divide their colonial territory in

3451-480: The May Revolution , along with the independence movements in Chile and Venezuela , a local struggle for independence kicked off with two failed revolutions. Over sixteen years of struggle followed before the first steps toward the establishment of a republic were taken. Formally, it is considered that the fight for independence culminated in the Battle of Ayacucho , on 9 December 1824. The Chilean Independence campaign

3570-567: The Paraguay River to arrive at Cuiabá . However, Brazil had difficulty obtaining permission from the government in Asunción to freely use the Paraguay River for its shipping needs. Brazil had carried out three political and military interventions in the politically unstable Uruguay: On 19 April 1863, Uruguayan general Venancio Flores, who was then an officer in the Argentine army as well as

3689-749: The Republic of Spanish Haiti . After unification and then split from the former French colony of Haiti, the President of the Dominican Republic signed an agreement that reverted the country to a Spanish colony in 1861. This triggered the Dominican Restoration War , which resulted in the Dominican Republic's second independence from Spain in 1865. Cuba fought for independence from Spain in the Ten Years' War (1868–78) and Little War (1879-80) and finally

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3808-580: The Uruguayan War as a pretext to gain control of the Platine basin . That caused a response from the regional hegemons, Brazil and Argentina, both of which exercised influence over the much smaller republics of Uruguay and Paraguay. The war has also been attributed to the aftermath of colonialism in South America with border conflicts between the new states, the struggle for power among neighboring nations over

3927-583: The War of the Triple Alliance ( Spanish : Guerra de la Triple Alianza , Portuguese : Guerra da Tríplice Aliança ), was a South American war that lasted from 1864 to 1870. It was fought between Paraguay and the Triple Alliance of Argentina , the Empire of Brazil , and Uruguay . It was the deadliest and bloodiest inter-state war in Latin American history. Paraguay sustained large casualties, but even

4046-523: The 3,000 in the rebel army. Bolívar and other leaders then returned to New Granada. Later that year the largest expeditionary force ever sent by Spain to America arrived under the command of Pablo Morillo . This force effectively replaced the improvised llanero units, who were disbanded by Morillo. Bolívar and other republican leaders returned to Venezuela in December 1816, leading a largely unsuccessful insurrection against Spain from 1816 to 1818 from bases in

4165-449: The Americas. After the defeat of Spain in the Peninsular War and the abdication of King Ferdinand VII , the Spanish colonial government of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata , present-day Argentina , majority of Bolivia , parts of Chile , Paraguay and Uruguay , became greatly weakened. Without a recognized king on the Spanish throne to render the office of the Viceroy legitimate,

4284-566: The Americas. Haiti , a French slave colony, was the first to follow the United States to independence, during the Haitian Revolution , which lasted from 1791 to 1804. Thwarted in his attempt to rebuild a French empire in North America, Napoleon Bonaparte sold Louisiana to the United States and from then on focused on the European theater, marking the end of France's ambitions of building

4403-625: The Americas. The captaincies they created were subdued to a centralized administration in Salvador which reported directly to the Crown in Lisbon. Therefore, it is not common to refer to "Portuguese America" (like Spanish America, Dutch America, etc.), but rather to Brazil, as a unified colony since its very beginnings. As a result, Brazil did not split into several states by the time of independence (1822), as happened to its Spanish-speaking neighbors. The adoption of

4522-504: The Americas. The militias included some veteran units and were called the disciplined militia. Only 11% of the personnel in the militias were European or American whites. After Rafael del Riego 's revolution in 1820, no more Spanish soldiers were sent to the wars in the Americas. In 1820 there were only 10,000 soldiers in Royal Army in Colombia and Venezuela, and Spaniards formed only 10% of all

4641-624: The Andes to Chile , Peru and Bolivia led by General José de San Martín to finally end Spanish rule in America, a formal declaration was signed on 9 July 1816, by an assembly in San Miguel de Tucumán , declaring full independence with provisions for a national constitution. The Argentine Constitution was signed in 1853, declaring the creation of the Argentine Republic . Following upheaval caused by

4760-482: The Army of the Three Guarantees on September 27, 1821, where the remaining Spanish forces surrendered. With no European monarch presenting himself for the Crown of Mexico, Iturbide himself was proclaimed emperor Agustín I in 1822. He was overthrown in 1823 and Mexico was established as a republic. Decades of political and economic instability ensued which resulted in a population decline. Paraguay gained its independence on

4879-540: The Bajío. Hidalgo was caught, defrocked, and executed in 1811, along with Allende. Their heads remained on display until 1821. His former student José María Morelos continued the rebellion and was himself caught and killed in 1815. The struggle of Mexican insurgents continued under the leadership of Vicente Guerrero and Guadalupe Victoria . From 1815 to 1820 there was a stalemate in New Spain, with royalist forces unable to defeat

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4998-620: The Blanco Party, rejected the Brazilian demands, presented his own demands, and asked Paraguay for help. To settle the growing crisis, Solano López offered himself as a mediator of the Uruguayan crisis, as he was a political and diplomatic ally of the Uruguayan Blancos , but the offer was turned down by Brazil. Brazilian soldiers on the northern borders of Uruguay started to provide help to Flores' troops and harassed Uruguayan officers, while

5117-495: The British defeat in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) was a victory against a great power , aided by France and Spain, Britain's enemies. The French Revolution in Europe followed, and collectively these events had profound effects on the Spanish , Portuguese , and French colonies in the Americas. A revolutionary wave followed, resulting in the creation of several independent countries in Latin America . The Haitian Revolution lasted from 1791 to 1804 and resulted in

5236-509: The Encomienda for indigenous locals who settled near the new stronghold of Ancud (founded in 1768) and contributed to its defense. The increased local organization of the defenses would ultimately undermine the metropolitan authority and bolster the independence movement. The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars fought between France (led by Napoleon Bonaparte ) and alliances involving Britain, Prussia , Spain , Portugal , Russia , and Austria at different times, from 1799 to 1815. In

5355-418: The Guatemala City Council, Mr. Mariano Aycinena, requested an extraordinary session to present a petition in order to proclaim independence. pp. 85–90.</ref> Independence in Mexico was a protracted struggle from 1808 until the fall of the royal government in 1821 and the establishment of independent Mexico. In the Viceroyalty of New Spain , as elsewhere in Spanish America in 1808, people reacted to

5474-416: The Imperial Fleet pressed hard on Montevideo. During the months of June–August 1864 a Cooperation Treaty was signed between Brazil and Argentina at Buenos Aires , for mutual assistance in the Plate Basin Crisis. Brazilian minister Saraiva sent an ultimatum to the Uruguayan government on 4 August 1864: either comply with the Brazilian demands, or the Brazilian army would retaliate. The Paraguayan government

5593-430: The Paraguayan navy and prevented the Paraguayans from permanently occupying Argentine territory. For all practical purposes, this battle decided the outcome of the war in favor of the Triple Alliance; from that point onward, it controlled the waters of the Río de la Plata basin up to the entrance to Paraguay. A separate Paraguayan division of 3,200 men that continued towards Uruguay under the command of Pedro Duarte , who

5712-405: The Paraguayans could rely on their militia which consisted of all able-bodied men which, as the war continued, began to include increasingly younger and older men. At the beginning of the war, the military forces of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay were far smaller than Paraguay's. Argentina had approximately 8,500 regular troops and a naval squadron of four steamers and one schooner. Uruguay entered

5831-410: The Paraguayans had left once again. Colonel Carlos de Morais Camisão assumed command of the column in January 1867—now with only 1,680 men—and decided to invade Paraguayan territory, which he penetrated as far as Laguna where Paraguayan cavalry forced the expedition to retreat. Despite the efforts of Camisão's troops and the resistance in the region, which succeeded in liberating Corumbá in June 1867,

5950-409: The Paraguayans were driven out of the cities of Corrientes and San Cosme , the only Argentine territory still in Paraguayan possession. Decolonization of the Americas The decolonization of the Americas occurred over several centuries as most of the countries in the Americas gained their independence from European rule. The American Revolution was the first in the Americas, and

6069-403: The Paraguayans. The baron of Porto Alegre set out for Uruguaiana, a small town in the province's west, where the Paraguayan army was besieged by a combined force of Brazilian, Argentine and Uruguayan units. Porto Alegre assumed command of the Brazilian army in Uruguaiana on 21 August 1865. On 18 September, the Paraguayan garrison surrendered without further bloodshed. In subsequent months,

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6188-454: The Portuguese and Spanish areas of South America in lines that mostly corresponded to present-day boundaries. Neither Portugal nor Spain was satisfied with the results, and new treaties were signed in the following decades that either established new territorial lines or repealed them. The final accord signed by both powers, the 1801 Treaty of Badajoz , reaffirmed the validity of the previous Treaty of San Ildefonso (1777), which had derived from

6307-588: The Portuguese court out of their capital city of Lisbon and into exile in Brazil. Over the next eight years, the capital of the Portuguese empire would be located in Rio de Janeiro . In 1815, after Lisbon was reclaimed from the French by the Portuguese, King Dom João VI declared that Rio and Lisbon would become equal centers of the empire. King João VI was forced back to Lisbon in 1821 by the Portuguese Cortes but left his son Dom Pedro behind to run Rio. A year later, Dom Pedro declared independence for Brazil and officially became emperor Pedro I. Although Brazil's independence

6426-453: The Provincia Oriental was invaded by Portugal, trying to annex it into Brazil under the name of Província Cisplatina. The former Vice-royalty of the Río de la Plata, United Provinces of the Río de la Plata , fought back against Brazil in a war that lasted over 2 years, eventually turning into a stalemate. The Brazilian forces withdrew with the United Provinces keeping them at bay but failing to win any decisive victory. With neither side gaining

6545-460: The Spanish Empire in the Americas was made up of local American and European supporters of King Ferdinand . The Royalists were made up of a cross-section of society loyal to the crown with Americans composing the majority of the royalist forces on all fronts. There were two types of military units: from the regular Spanish army which were sent out or formed with local Europeans and called Expidicionarios and units called veterans or militias created in

6664-403: The Spanish monarchy was restored in 1814. For conservatives in New Spain, these changed political circumstances threatened the institutions of church and state. Royal military officer Agustín de Iturbide seized the opportunity to lead, allying with his former enemy Guerrero. Iturbide proclaimed the Plan de Iguala , which called for independence, equality of peninsular and American-born Spaniards,

6783-432: The act, freeing itself for the future of every responsibility that may arise from the present declaration. The Brazilian government, probably believing that the Paraguayan threat would be only diplomatic, answered on 1 September, stating that "they will never abandon the duty of protecting the lives and interests of Brazilian subjects." But in its answer, two days later, the Paraguayan government insisted that "if Brazil takes

6902-418: The approximate numbers are disputed. Paraguay was forced to cede disputed territory to Argentina and Brazil. The war began in late 1864, as a result of a conflict between Paraguay and Brazil caused by the Uruguayan War . Argentina and Uruguay entered the war against Paraguay in 1865, and it then became known as the "War of the Triple Alliance." After Paraguay was defeated in conventional warfare , it conducted

7021-430: The cabinet was blamed. The newly promoted Viscount of Tamandaré and Mena Barreto (now Baron of São Gabriel) had supported the peace accord. Tamandaré changed his mind soon afterward and played along with the allegations. A member of the opposition party, José Paranhos, Viscount of Rio Branco , was used as a scapegoat by the emperor and the government and was recalled in disgrace to the imperial capital. The accusation that

7140-433: The case of Spain and its colonies, in May 1808, Napoleon captured Carlos IV and King Fernando VII and installed his brother, Joseph Bonaparte , as Spanish monarch. This event disrupted the political stability of Spain and broke the link with some of the colonies which were loyal to the Bourbon Dynasty. The local elites, the creoles, took matters into their own hands organizing themselves into juntas to take "in absence of

7259-475: The city, Robles advanced southwards along the eastern bank. Along with Robles' troops, a force of 12,000 soldiers under colonel Antonio de la Cruz Estigarribia crossed the Argentine border south of Encarnación in May 1865, driving for Rio Grande do Sul. They traveled down the Uruguay River and took the town of São Borja on 12 June. Uruguaiana , to the south, was taken on 6 August with little resistance. By invading Corrientes, Solano López had hoped to gain

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7378-422: The conflicts of interests that faced different sectors of Creole Peruvian society and the particular ambitions of the caudillos , made the organization of the country excessively difficult. Only three civilians — Manuel Pardo, Nicolás de Piérola, and Francisco García Calderón — acceded to the presidency in the first seventy-five years of Peru's independence. The Republic of Bolivia was created in Upper Peru. In 1837,

7497-436: The continent politically unified, they rapidly became independent of one another as well, and several further wars were fought, such as the Paraguayan War and the War of the Pacific . A related process took place in what is now Mexico, Central America, and parts of North America between 1810 and 1821 with the Mexican War of Independence . Independence was achieved in 1821 by a coalition uniting under Agustín de Iturbide and

7616-435: The convention had failed to meet Brazilian interests proved to be unfounded. Not only had Paranhos managed to settle all Brazilian claims, but by preventing the death of thousands, he gained a willing and grateful Uruguayan ally instead of a dubious and resentful one, which provided Brazil with an important base of operations during the acute clash with Paraguay that shortly ensued. According to some historians, Paraguay began

7735-430: The country's resources were under strain because of the incessant warfare in Europe from 1793. This led to increased local participation in the financing of defense and increased participation in militias by the locally born. Such development was at odds with the ideals of the centralized absolute monarchy . The Spanish also made formal concessions to strengthen defense; In Chiloé , Spanish authorities promised freedom from

7854-424: The death ". Bolívar's forces defeated Domingo Monteverde's Spanish army in a series of battles, taking Caracas on August 6, 1813, and besieging Monteverde at Puerto Cabello in September 1813. With loyalists displaying the same passion and violence, the rebels achieved only short-lived victories. The army led by the loyalist José Tomás Boves demonstrated the key military role that the Llaneros came to play in

7973-477: The dynasty called to the Mexican throne, but then it was only about independence, each one reserving their opinion regarding the forms of government. On September 13, the minutes of Ciudad Real de Chiapas and other towns of that State adhering to the Plan of Iguala were received in Guatemala; the advances that the army was making gave all their strength to the pronouncements of Chiapas, which by itself never had any political importance in that kingdom. The trustee of

8092-427: The early 19th century, the Empire of Brazil and the Spanish-American countries of South America were troubled by territorial disputes . Each nation in this region had boundary conflicts with multiple neighbors. Most had overlapping claims to the same territories, due to unresolved questions which stemmed from their former metropoles . Signed by Portugal and Spain in 1494, the Treaty of Tordesillas proved ineffective in

8211-434: The exact boundaries of her own viceroyalties , captaincies general , audiencias and provinces." Once separated the three countries quarreled over lands that were mostly uncharted or unknown. They were either sparsely populated or settled by indigenous tribes that answered to no parties. In the case of Paraguay and Brazil, the problem was to define whether the Apa or Branco rivers should represent their actual boundary,

8330-407: The fighting troops and launched a sea campaign against the Spanish fleet in the Pacific. San Martín, who had displaced the royalists of Chile after the Battle of Maipú , and who had disembarked in Paracas in 1820, proclaimed the independence of Peru in Lima on 28 July 1821. Four years later, the Spanish Monarchy was defeated definitively at the Battle of Ayacucho in late 1824. After independence,

8449-461: The first European colonial entity to break from its mother country. Britain formally acknowledged American independence in 1783 after its defeat in the American Revolutionary War . The U.S. victory encouraged independence movements in other parts of the Americas. Although initially occupying only the land east of the Mississippi between Canada and Florida, the United States would later eventually acquire various other North American territories from

8568-522: The following centuries, as both colonial powers expanded their frontiers in South America and elsewhere. The outdated boundary lines did not represent the actual occupation of lands by the Portuguese and Spanish. By the early 1700s, the Treaty of Tordesillas was deemed not useful, and it was clear to both parties that a newer treaty had to be drawn based on feasible boundaries. In 1750, the Treaty of Madrid separated

8687-595: The fort and withdrew up the river towards Corumbá on board the gunship Anhambaí . After occupying the fort, the Paraguayans advanced further north, taking the cities of Albuquerque, Tage and Corumbá in January 1865. Solano López then sent a detachment to attack the military frontier post of Dourados . On 29 December 1864, this detachment, led by Martín Urbieta, encountered tough resistance from Antônio João Ribeiro and his 16 men, who were all eventually killed. The Paraguayans continued to Nioaque and Miranda , defeating

8806-405: The greatest enemy of its prosperity and our happiness still to dare to threaten us with the return of slavery?" Ultimately, slavery was abolished from French colonies in 1794 and Haiti declared Independence from France in 1804. The United States of America declared independence from Great Britain on July 4, 1776, thus becoming the first independent, foreign-recognized nation in the Americas and

8925-600: The independence of the French slave colony. The Peninsular War with France, which resulted from the Napoleonic occupation of Spain , caused Spanish Creoles in Spanish America to question their allegiance to Spain, stoking independence movements that culminated in various Spanish American wars of independence (1808–33), which were primarily fought between opposing groups of colonists and only secondarily against Spanish forces. At

9044-604: The initiative during the first phase of the war, launching the Mato Grosso Campaign by invading the Brazilian province of Mato Grosso on 14 December 1864, followed by an invasion of the Rio Grande do Sul province in the south in early 1865 and the Argentine Corrientes Province . Two separate Paraguayan forces invaded Mato Grosso simultaneously. An expedition of 3,248 troops, commanded by Vicente Barrios ,

9163-465: The insurgents and the insurgents unable to expand beyond their narrow territory in the southern region. Again, events in Spain intervened, with an uprising of military men against Ferdinand VII and the restoration of the liberal Spanish Constitution of 1812 , which mandated a constitutional monarchy and curtailed the power of the Roman Catholic Church. The monarch repudiated the constitution once

9282-629: The invasion of the Corrientes Province by Paraguay on 13 April 1865, a great uproar stirred in Buenos Aires as the public learned of Paraguay's declaration of war. President Bartolomé Mitre made a famous speech to the crowds on 4 May 1865: ...My fellow countrymen, I promise you: in three days we shall be at the barracks. In three weeks, at the frontiers. And in three months in Asunción! The same day, Argentina declared war on Paraguay; however, on 1 May 1865, Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay had signed

9401-404: The king, Fernando VII, their sovereignty devolved temporarily back to the community". The juntas swore loyalty to the captive Fernando VII and each ruled different and diverse parts of the colony. Most of Fernando's subjects were loyal to him in 1808, but after he was restored to the Spanish crown in 1814, his policy of restoring absolute power alienated both the juntas and his subjects. He abrogated

9520-764: The leader of the Colorado Party of Uruguay, invaded his country, starting the Cruzada Libertadora with the open support of Argentina, which supplied the rebels with arms, ammunition and 2,000 men. Flores wanted to overthrow the Blanco Party government of president Bernardo Berro , which was allied with Paraguay. Paraguayan president López sent a note to the Argentine government on 6 September 1863, asking for an explanation, but Buenos Aires denied any involvement in Uruguay. From that moment, mandatory military service

9639-424: The lower end of the Paraguay River. However, recent studies suggest many problems. Although the Paraguayan army had between 70,000 and 100,000 men at the beginning of the conflict, they were badly equipped. Most infantry armaments consisted of inaccurate smooth-bore muskets and carbines , slow to reload and short-ranged. The artillery was similarly poor. Military officers had no training or experience, and there

9758-481: The measures protested against in the note of August 30th, 1864, Paraguay will be under the painful necessity of making its protest effective." On 12 October, despite the Paraguayan notes and ultimatums, Brazilian troops under the command of general João Propício Mena Barreto  [ pt ] invaded Uruguay. This was not the start of the Paraguayan war, however, for Paraguay continued to maintain diplomatic relations with Brazil for another month. On 11 November

9877-453: The newly formed congress of the republic to ask Miranda that he sign a capitulation at La Victoria in Aragua, on July 12, 1812, thus ending the first phase of the revolutionary war. After the capitulation of 1812, Simón Bolívar turned over Francisco de Miranda to the Spanish authorities, secured a safe passage for himself and his closest officers, and fled to New Granada . He later returned with

9996-547: The night of May 14 and the morning of May 15, 1811, after a plan organized by various pro-independence nationalists including Fulgencio Yegros and José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia . Spain initially had the support of the Lima oligarchs because of their opposition to the commercial interests of Buenos Aires and Chile. Therefore, the Viceroyalty of Peru became the last redoubt of the Spanish Monarchy in South America. Nevertheless,

10115-413: The norm in the second half of the 20th century. However, there are still British and Dutch colonies in North America (mostly Caribbean islands). France has fully integrated most of its former colonies in the Americas ( French Guiana , Guadeloupe , and Martinique ) as fully constituent Departments of France . During the 18th century, Spain recovered much of the strength it had lost in the 17th century but

10234-454: The northernmost part of the continent and the Caribbean. In 1791, a massive slave revolt sparked a general insurrection against the plantation system and French colonial power. These events were followed by a violent uprising led by José Leonardo Chirino and José Caridad González that sprung up in 1795 Venezuela, allegedly inspired by the revolution in Haiti. Toussaint L'Ouverture was born

10353-433: The older Treaty of Madrid . The territorial disputes became worse when the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata collapsed in the early 1810s, leading to the rise of Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia , and Uruguay. Historian Pelham Horton Box wrote: "Imperial Spain bequeathed to the emancipated Spanish-American nations not only her own frontier disputes with Portuguese Brazil but problems which had not disturbed her, relating to

10472-604: The parties, which were born in the popular elections, opinion in favor of independence spread. Those in favor of independence held meetings in Guatemala, but they did not have the resources to rise up against the government; They expected everything from the progress made in Mexico by the Plan of Iguala or Plan of Independence. Likewise, not all the independentists were in agreement with the system of government proclaimed by Iturbide, much less by

10591-429: The ports in the Caribbean, thus preventing them from receiving reinforcements and supplies, and was essentially conducting mopping-up operations throughout the country. At that point, he convinced Simon Bolívar to join the struggle and put him in charge of the fort at Puerto Cabello. This was all at once a supply and arms depot, a strategic port, and the central holding facility for Spanish prisoners. Through what amounts to

10710-492: The province of Corrientes. Argentine president Bartolomé Mitre refused Paraguay's request and a similar one from Brazil. After this refusal, the Paraguayan Congress gathered at an emergency meeting on 5 March 1865. After several days of discussions, on 23 March Congress decided to declare war on Argentina for its policies, hostile to Paraguay and favourable to Brazil, and then they conferred to Francisco Solano López

10829-507: The rank of Field Marshal of the Republic of Paraguay. The declaration of war was sent on 29 March 1865 to Buenos Aires. On 13 April 1865, a Paraguayan squadron sailed down the Paraná River and attacked two Argentine ships in the port of Corrientes . Immediately general Robles' troops took the city with 3,000 men, and a cavalry force of 800 arrived the same day. Leaving a force of 1,500 men in

10948-557: The region's struggle. Turning the tide against independence, these highly mobile, ferocious fighters made up a formidable military force that pushed Bolívar out of his home country once more. In 1814, heavily reinforced Spanish forces in Venezuela lost a series of battles to Bolívar's forces but then decisively defeated Bolivar at La Puerta on June 15, took Caracas on July 16, and again defeated his army at Aragua on August 18, for 2,000 Spanish casualties out of 10,000 soldiers as well as most of

11067-511: The revolution in 1797. The greatest fear was that these conservative values could give ideas to the French Government to bring back slavery. The enlightenment has proven to forever change the way a captive society thinks after L'Ouverture refuses to let the French send him and his people back into slavery. "[W]hen finally the rule of law took the place of anarchy under which the unfortunate colony had too long suffered, what fatality can have led

11186-498: The right of Viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros to govern came under fire. The local elites, tired of the Spanish trade restrictions and taxes, seized the opportunity and during the May Revolution of 1810, removed Cisneros and created the first local government, the Primera Junta . Following half a decade of battles and skirmishes with provincial royalist forces within the former Vice-royalty along with military expeditions across

11305-607: The royalist armies, and only half of the soldiers of the expeditionary units were European. By the Battle of Ayacucho in 1824, less than 1% of the soldiers were European. The Enlightenment spurred the desire for social and economic reform to spread throughout the Americas and the Iberian Peninsula. Ideas about free trade and physiocratic economics were raised by the Enlightenment. Independence movements in South America can be traced back to slave revolts in plantations in

11424-422: The rule of Solano Lopez's predecessor and father, Carlos Antonio López . In the time since Brazil and Argentina had become independent, their struggle for hegemony in the Río de la Plata region had profoundly marked the diplomatic and political relations among the countries of the region. Brazil was the first country to recognize the independence of Paraguay, in 1844. At this time Argentina still considered it

11543-474: The same time, the Portuguese monarchy fled to Brazil during the French invasion of Portugal . After the royal court returned to Lisbon , the prince regent , Pedro , remained in Brazil and in 1822 successfully declared himself emperor of a newly independent Brazilian Empire . Spain would lose all three of its remaining Caribbean colonies by the end of the 1800s. Santo Domingo declared independence in 1821 as

11662-429: The secret Treaty of the Triple Alliance in Buenos Aires. They named Bartolomé Mitre, president of Argentina, as supreme commander of the allied forces. The signatories of the treaty were Rufino de Elizalde (Argentina), Otaviano de Almeida (Brazil) and Carlos de Castro (Uruguay). On 11 June 1865, at the naval Battle of Riachuelo , the Brazilian fleet commanded by admiral Francisco Manoel Barroso da Silva destroyed

11781-399: The secular parish priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla . Hidalgo made a proclamation in his home parish of Dolores, which was not recorded in writing at the time, but denounced the bad government and gachupines (pejorative for peninsular-born Spaniards), and declared independence. The unorganized hordes following Hidalgo wrought destruction on the property and the lives of whites in the region of

11900-710: The strategic Río de la Plata region, Brazilian and Argentine meddling in internal Uruguayan politics (which had already caused the Platine War ), Solano López's efforts to help his allies in Uruguay (which had been defeated by the Brazilians), and his presumed expansionist ambitions. A strong military was developed because Paraguay's larger neighbors, Argentina and Brazil, had territorial claims against it and wanted to dominate it politically, much as both had already done in Uruguay. Paraguay had recurring boundary disputes and tariff issues with Argentina and Brazil for many years during

12019-434: The support of the powerful Argentine caudillo Justo José de Urquiza , governor of the provinces of Corrientes and Entre Ríos, who was known to be the chief federalist hostile to Mitre and the central government in Buenos Aires. However, Urquiza gave his full support to an Argentine offensive. The forces advanced approximately 200 kilometres (120 mi) south before ultimately ending the offensive in failure. Following

12138-430: The troops of José Dias da Silva. The city of Coxim was taken in April 1865. The second Paraguayan column, formed from some of the 4,650 men led by Francisco Isidoro Resquín at Concepción, penetrated into Mato Grosso with 1,500 troops. Despite these victories, the Paraguayan forces did not continue to Cuiabá, the capital of the province, where Augusto Leverger had fortified the camp of Melgaço . Their main objective

12257-480: The unexpected French invasion of the Iberian peninsula and the ouster of the Bourbon king, replaced by Joseph Bonaparte . Local American-born Spaniards saw the opportunity to seize control from Viceroy José de Iturrigaray who may well have been sympathetic to creoles' aspirations. Iturrigaray was ousted by pro-royalists. A few from among the creole elites sought independence, including Juan Aldama , Ignacio Allende , and

12376-596: The upper hand and the economic burden of the war crippling the United Provinces economy, the Treaty of Montevideo was signed in 1828 , fostered by Britain, declaring Uruguay as an independent state. According to the Encyclopedia Americana of 1865, General Francisco de Miranda, already a hero to the French, Prussians, English, and Americans had garnered a series of successes against the Spanish between 1808 and 1812. He had effectively negated their access to all

12495-526: The war with fewer than 2,000 men and no navy. Many of Brazil's 16,000 troops were located in its southern garrisons. The Brazilian advantage, though, was in its navy, comprising 45 ships with 239 cannons and about 4,000 well-trained crew. A great part of the squadron was already in the Rio de la Plata basin, where it had acted under the Marquis of Tamandaré in the intervention against Aguirre's government. Brazil, however,

12614-402: The war with over 60,000 trained men—38,000 of whom were already under arms—400 cannons, a naval squadron of 23 steamboats and five river-navigating ships (among them, the gunboat Tacuarí ). Communication in the Río de la Plata basin was maintained solely by river, as very few roads existed. Whoever controlled the rivers would win the war, so Paraguay had built fortifications on the banks of

12733-420: Was commissioned prior to Paraguay's involvement in the Chaco War . It has a further four patrol vessels , of which the oldest was commissioned in 1908 and the newest in 1985. The Navy has 17 patrol boats of various drafts, four of which were donated by Taiwan and the United States, while the other 13 were built locally. The rest of the fleet is composed of tugboats , barges , landing craft , transports, and

12852-863: Was achieved mostly through political means, as opposed to the violent revolutions that marked the end of colonialism in other North and South American countries. Attempts at revolting against the British, such as the Rebellions of 1837–1838 , were brief and quickly put down. Canada was declared a dominion within the British Empire in 1867. Originally, the Canadian Confederation included just a few of what are now Canada's eastern provinces; other British colonies in modern-day Canada, such as British Columbia , Prince Edward Island , and Newfoundland , would join later (the last only in 1949). Additionally, Britain's and Norway's claims to Arctic lands were ceded to Canada in

12971-567: Was formed from the National Guard of Rio Grande do Sul. Ultimately, a total of about 146,000 Brazilians fought in the war from 1864 to 1870, consisting of the 10,025 army soldiers stationed in Uruguayan territory in 1864, 2,047 that were in the province of Mato Grosso, 55,985 Fatherland Volunteers , 60,009 National Guardsmen, 8,570 ex-slaves who had been freed to be sent to war, and 9,177 navy personnel. Another 18,000 National Guard troops stayed behind to defend Brazilian territory. Paraguay took

13090-525: Was informed of all this and sent to Brazil a message, which stated in part: The government of the Republic of Paraguay will consider any occupation of the Oriental territory [i.e. Uruguay] as an attempt against the equilibrium of the states of the Platine Region which interests the Republic of Paraguay as a guarantee for its security, peace, and prosperity; and that it protests in the most solemn manner against

13209-587: Was introduced in Paraguay; in February 1864, an additional 64,000 men were drafted into the army. One year after the beginning of the Cruzada Libertadora , in April 1864, Brazilian minister José Antônio Saraiva arrived in Uruguayan waters with the Imperial Fleet, to demand payment for damages caused to Rio Grande do Sul farmers in border conflicts with Uruguayan farmers. Uruguayan president Atanasio Aguirre , from

13328-473: Was led by Liberator General Jose de San Martin with the support of Chilean exiles such as Bernardo O'Higgins. The local independence movement was composed of Chilean-born criollos, who sought political and economic independence from Spain. The independence movement was far from gaining unanimous support among Chileans, who became divided between independentists and royalists. What started as an elitist political movement against their colonial master, finally ended as

13447-410: Was met with little resistance from Portugal, several small-scale battles were fought against Portuguese loyalist forces until 1824 to bring the rest of the Brazilian territories under the control of the new Brazilian government, and they were officially recognized by their former colonial overlords in 1825. Canada 's transition from colonial rule to independence occurred gradually over many decades and

13566-648: Was no command system, as all decisions were made personally by López. Food, ammunition, and armaments were scarce, with logistics and hospital care deficient or nonexistent. The nation of about 450,000 people could not stand against the Triple Alliance of 11 million people. The Paraguayan army during peacetime prior to the war was made up of eight infantry battalions of 800 men each but had only been able to muster 4,084 Infantrymen with five cavalry regiments, nominally 2,500 (2,522 in reality) and two artillery regiments, with 907 men. By March 1865, six new infantry battalions and eight cavalry regiments had been formed. In addition,

13685-408: Was settled in February 1865. News of the war's end was brought by Pereira Pinto and met with joy in Rio de Janeiro. Brazilian emperor Pedro II found himself waylaid by a crowd of thousands in the streets amid acclamations. However, public opinion quickly changed for the worse when newspapers began running stories painting the convention of 20 February as harmful to Brazilian interests, for which

13804-667: Was the capture of the gold and diamond mines, disrupting the flow of these materials into Brazil until 1869. Brazil sent an expedition to fight the invaders in Mato Grosso. A column of 2,780 men led by Manuel Pedro Drago left Uberaba in Minas Gerais in April 1865 and arrived at Coxim in December, after a difficult march of more than 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) through four provinces. However, Paraguay had already abandoned Coxim by December. Drago arrived at Miranda in September 1866, and

13923-522: Was then defeated by Allied troops under Venancio Flores in the bloody Battle of Yatay , on the banks of the Uruguay River, near Paso de los Libres . While Solano López ordered the retreat of the forces that had occupied Corrientes, the Paraguayan troops that invaded São Borja advanced, taking Itaqui and Uruguaiana. The situation in Rio Grande do Sul was chaotic, and the local Brazilian military commanders were incapable of mounting effective resistance to

14042-526: Was transported by a naval squadron under the command of frigate captain Pedro Ignacio Meza up the Paraguay River to the town of Concepción . There they attacked the Nova Coimbra fort on 27 December 1864. The Brazilian garrison of 154 men resisted for three days, under the command of Hermenegildo Portocarrero (later Baron of Fort Coimbra). When their munitions were exhausted, the defenders abandoned

14161-478: Was unprepared to fight a war. Its army was disorganized. The troops it used in Uruguay were mostly armed contingents of gauchos and the National Guard. While some Brazilian accounts of the war described their infantry as volunteers ( Voluntários da Pátria ), other Argentine revisionist and Paraguayan accounts disparaged the Brazilian infantry as mainly recruited from slaves and the landless (largely black) underclass, who were promised free land for enlisting. The cavalry

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