War of the Triple Alliance 1864-1870

The War of the Triple Alliance (also known as the Paraguayan War or the Lopez War – after Francisco Solano Lopez, the president of Paraguay) was the bloodiest conflict in Latin-American history. Most of the war was fought between Paraguay and the allied countries of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. However, the origin of this expanded war lay in the Uruguayan civil war that began on August 10, 1864, when Brazil intervened on the side of the Uruguayan Colorado Party in its political conflict with the Uruguayan Blanco Party (which formed the government at the time). Uruguay resisted the intervention. Paraguay then intervened in support of the Blanco Party by going to war with Brazil beginning on November 12, 1864, when a Paraguayan gunboat seized a Brazilian ship in the Paraguay River.

Geopolitical considerations necessitated Paraguay seeking (in January 1865) permission to traverse Argentinian territory to attack the Brazilian forces engaged in Uruguay. However, the Uruguayan Blanco government was defeated by February 20, 1864 – before Paraguay could do much to prevent it – and the new Colorado government was effectively neutral in what was now a war between Paraguay and Brazil (some Blanco resistance may have continued up to June 2nd). The Unitarian Party government of Argentina was sympathetic to the Uruguayan Colorado Party governing Uruguay and it refused to allow Paraguayan troops to cross Argentine territory to attack Brazil. Paraguay then made a formal declaration of war on Argentina by March 23, 1866. Meanwhile Argentina negotiated with Brazil and Uruguay to create a formal alliance against Paraguay. The Treaty of the Triple Alliance was signed on May 1, 1865, at which point Uruguay joined Brazil and Argentina in the war against Paraguay.

At the opening of the war, late in 1864, Paraguayan forces advanced northward into the Brazilian province of Mato Grosso. The southward advance toward the Brazilian province of Rio Grande do Sul began in March 1865 with the invasion of the Argentine province of Corrientes. Logistical problems and the buildup of the allied troop strength, which soon outnumbered that of Paraguay by 10 to 1, forced the Paraguayans to withdraw behind their frontiers. In June 1865 Brazilian naval forces defeated a Paraguayan flotilla on the Parana River south of the Argentine city of Corrientes; by January 1866 the allies had blockaded the rivers leading to Paraguay. In April Bartolome Mitre (the Argentine president) led an allied invading force into southwestern Paraguay. Fierce battles were fought and an unsuccessful peace conference was held between Mitre and Lopez on September 12th. The allies resumed their offensive with an attack on Carupayti (also Carupaity or Curupayti) only to be severely defeated by the Paraguayans on September 22, 1866. The allied armies fell back and, from October until July 1867, there were to be no major battles fought as both sides reinforced.

By January 1868, Mitre was finally replaced as commander in chief of the allied forces by Brazilian Luis Alves de Lima e Silva (the Marques de Caxias). In February Brazilian armored vessels broke through Paraguayan defenses at the strategic river fortress of Humaita, near the confluence of the Parana and Paraguay rivers, and pressed on to bombard Asuncion, the capital in February. Humaita fell on July 25th and Asuncion was occupied on January 1, 1869. By then, the Paraguayan army had been annihilated. Rather than surrender, Lopez fled northward and carried on a guerrilla war until he was killed on March 1, 1870, ending the devastating war.

The Paraguayan people had been fanatically committed to Lopez and the war effort, and as a result they fought to the point of dissolution; its prewar population of approximately 525,000 was reduced to about 221,000 in 1871, of which only about 28,000 were men. Argentina and Brazil annexed about 55,000 square miles (140,000 square km) of Paraguayan territory: Argentina took much of the Misiones region and part of the Chaco between the Bermejo and Pilcomayo rivers; Brazil enlarged its Mato Grosso province from annexed territory. They both demanded a large indemnity (which was never paid) and occupied Paraguay until 1876. Meanwhile, the Colorados had control of Uruguay and they retained it until 1958.

References

Clodfelter, 564-77; COW49; Kohn, 354; EB - Paraguayan War; Paraguay - A Country Study; Wikipedia - Uruguayan War.

Category

Inter-State War

Region

South America

Belligerents

Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina

Dispute

Governance, Territory

Initiation Date

August 10, 1864

Termination Date

March 1, 1870

Duration

5 years, 6 months, 20 days
(2029 days)

Outcome

Imposed Settlement
(Triple Alliance victory)

Fatalities

Total: 310,800
Uruguay: 800
Brazil: 100,000
Paraguay: 200,000
Argentina: 10,000

Magnitude

5.5