Uruguayan War

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The Uruguayan War was a military conflict in 1864 and 1865 for political leadership in the country. The Colorados , supported by Brazil and Argentina , and the Uruguayan government provided by the Blancos faced each other.

prehistory

Since the 1830s, the political landscape of Uruguay became polarized between the urban Partido Colorado , which advocated economic liberalism, and the rural Partido Nacional , which tended towards protectionism . This led to a long civil war that deeply divided and politically destabilized the country. From the second half of the 1850s, Blancos and Colorados tried to overcome the division of the country through increased cooperation and even came together to form a coalition government in Montevideo . In the Colorado camp , however, resistance to "fusionism" soon spread. In 1863, the rebel leader Venancio Flores started a revolt against the Uruguayan government with Argentine support .

course

In August 1864, the Brazilian Empire declared war on the government in Montevideo, thereby supporting the Colorados , as in the Uruguayan civil war . The troops of the Blanco government had little to oppose the superior Brazilian land and sea ​​forces . The siege of Montevideo began in early February 1865. Before the end of the month, Uruguayan President Atanasio Cruz Aguirre was overthrown and rebel leader Flores was appointed his successor.

consequences

The Triple Alliance War from 1864 to 1870 was a direct consequence of the Uruguayan War. The armies of Brazil , Argentina and Uruguay went ahead together against Paraguay , whose army had sided with the Blancos in the course of the conflict .

literature

  • Freixinho, Nilton. "International Relations in South America Nineteenth Century A Case Study: The Independence and Sovereignty of Uruguay," in Peacekeeping 1815 To Today (1995).
  • Rock, David, and Fernando López-Alves. "State-Building and Political Systems in Nineteenth-Century Argentina and Uruguay", Past and Present , no. 167 (May 2000).
  • Weinstein, Martin. Uruguay: The Politics of Failure (Greenwood, 1975).