Uruguayan War
Brazilian–Colorado victory. Uruguay had been ravaged by intermittent struggles between the Colorado and Blanco factions, each attempting to seize and maintain power in turn. Brazil decided to intervene in the Uruguayan affair to reestablish the security of its southern frontiers.
About Uruguayan War in brief
Brazilian–Colorado victory. Uruguay had been ravaged by intermittent struggles between the Colorado and Blanco factions, each attempting to seize and maintain power in turn. The Colorado leader Venancio Flores launched the Liberating Crusade in 1863, an insurrection aimed at toppling Bernardo Berro, who presided over a Colorado–Blanco coalition government. Brazil decided to intervene in the Uruguayan affair to reestablish the security of its southern frontiers and its regional ascendancy. The short-lived war would have been regarded as an outstanding success for Brazilian and Argentine interests, had Paraguayan intervention in support of the Blancos not led to the long and costly Paraguayan War. The nation was deeply divided into Colorado andBlanco camps. The civil wars between the two factions were brutal. Harsh tactics produced ever-increasing alienation between the groups, and included seizure of land, confiscation of livestock and executions. The antagonism caused by atrocities, along with family loyalties and political ties, made reconciliation unthinkable. The attempt at healing was dealt a setback in 1858 when reactionaries in the Colorado Party rejected the scheme, sparking a renewed conflict. The revolt was put down by Gabriel Pereira, a former Colorado and Uruguayuayan president under the fusionist government. The leaders of the Colorados and Blancos were executed at Paso de Quintero, along Río Negro, sparking the renewed conflict, which began in 1864. The war ended in 1865 when the Blanco government capitulated in Montevideo, the national capital, and the Brazilian–Colorado troops advanced through Uruguay territory, taking one town after another.
Faced with certain defeat, theBlanco party was forced to give up its attempt to unify the nation and return to the Colorado party, which had been in power since 1828. The country was then ruled by a Colorado-Blanco government, which was supported by Argentina, Brazil and Paraguayan dictator Francisco Solano López. In 1864, Brazil sent Minister Plenipotentiary José Antônio Saraiva to negotiate with Atanasio Aguirre, who had succeeded Berro in Uruguay. Saraiva made an initial attempt to settle the dispute between Blancos and Colorados, but abandoned the effort and sided with the Colorado. Brazil declined to acknowledge a formal state of war, and for most of its duration, the UrugUayan–Brazilian armed conflict was an undeclared war. In April 1864 the Brazilian military began exacting reprisals against the Colorado government, and on 10 August 1864 it declared that Brazil’s military would begin exacting retribution. The Brazilian military then launched a combined offensive against Blanco strongholds. The Blanco party capitulated on 20 February 1865, leaving the country in the hands of the Empire of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. In the latter half of the 1850s, leading members of both parties attempted to implement a reconciliation scheme to show results in cooperation in government and military.
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This page is based on the article Uruguayan War published in Wikipedia (as of Oct. 30, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
