Location: South America

Time: 1864~ 1870.

Participants: Paraguay, three-nation alliance.

Result: Paraguay was defeated.

Main Commander: Francisco Lopez

Brief introduction of war

Some historians call this war a watershed between modern warfare and modern warfare. A feature of this war is the use of modern weapons, such as rifles, machine guns, high explosives, cannons and hot air balloons for telegraphy and reconnaissance. Many weapons and equipment used in the late World War I have appeared in this war.

Edit this paragraph to strengthen Paraguay

economic development

1862, Francisco Lopez's father died, and he took over the scepter in his father's hand, a beautiful scenery in Paraguay.

Succeeding as President of Paraguay. Thanks to the painstaking efforts of his father Lopez Sr, Paraguay, once barren, rose rapidly. He encouraged foreign trade and introduced a lot of foreign capital. British and Austrian engineers were invited to help build railways, shipyards and steel mills; Hire doctors, engineers and technicians from Europe and America to set up factories and schools; The National Grand Theatre was also completed at 1850, and a Europeanized Paraguay emerged as a powerful country in Latin America. By the time Francisco lopez took over, Paraguay had become the only Latin American country without foreign debts.

Disputes between countries

From 65438+ 18 10 to 1825 in the early 9th century, the independence movement in Latin America forced Spain to give up its colonial rule over most Latin American countries. Paraguay, a Spanish colony, also declared its independence in June 18 1 1. But the Spanish left behind numerous territorial disputes. With the gradual consolidation of the central governments of Brazil and Argentina, they also began to look to neighboring Paraguay and Uruguay. Francisco Lopez is a thorn in their side. Both the Brazilian royal family and the Argentine president demonized Lopez, saying that he had territorial ambitions and coveted Uruguay, northern Argentina and southwestern Brazil.

Edit this warning process

outbreak of war

1864, with the support of Argentina and Brazil, a coup took place in Uruguay, and the leader of the Red Party Flores overthrew Perot, the chairman of the Uruguay White Party supported by Francisco lopez. Then, Brazil began to intervene in the civil war in Uruguay and formed an alliance with Argentina. Lopez decided that Brazil would soon concoct the Uruguay model against Paraguay and overthrow his rule, so he decided to strike first. In June165438+1October of the same year, Francisco lopez declared war on Brazil and the Paraguayan War began. Soon, Argentina stood on Brazil's side and clashed with Paraguay's army. Half a year later, Paraguay officially declared war on Argentina.

Three-nation alliance

1865, 1 In May, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay secretly signed a three-nation alliance treaty against Paraguay in Buenos Aires, forming the triple alliance Union. Lopez did not expect that the war triggered by the coup in Uruguay would turn into the biggest armed conflict on the South American continent. He was unprepared and thought he would win soon. At that time, Paraguay had only more than 8,000 regular troops. How to win a war quickly in the face of a triple alliance that is several times your own? When Uruguay's civil war hindered Brazil's main force, he hoped to cross the Alps and explore Europe like Napoleon.

Overseas exploration

Lopez first attacked north and entered Mato Grosso province in Brazil. This province is bigger than Britain, France and Germany, but its population is only 90,000 and its defense is weak. Lopez's army is invincible. Due to the dangerous terrain, it took Brazilian reinforcements two years to get close to this area.

Two-line strategy

However, the civil war in Uruguay gradually deteriorated, and the new Flores government of the Red Party began to gain the upper hand. In order to solve the crisis in Uruguay, Lopez decided to play behind Brazil and Argentina. He designed two fronts. Once, it entered the disputed area of Collantes in Argentina along the parana river, which caught the Argentine navy off guard. The other is to enter the Brazilian residential area along the Paraguay River, disrupting the situation in Brazil. However, only one of the two plans got it. 1865 In May, Lopez personally led his troops into Colantes, and the other part, led by Colonel Istigaribi, entered the Brazilian residential area along the Uruguay River. Lopez originally estimated that the two attacks were in the disputed territory of two countries, and the Paraguayan army could use the separatist sentiment of the local people against the central governments of Brazil and Argentina. However, Colonel Istigali got off to a bad start, and the local people resisted the Paraguayan army one after another, which made the Paraguayan army lose in a big war in June, and the war ended with Colonel Istigali being forced to surrender.

Defensive stage

After Colonel Istigali's fiasco, the war entered the second stage. Lopez had to turn the war from attack to defense. In June 5438+10, Lopez began to retreat from Corrantes. 1866, the troops of the tripartite alliance began to invade Paraguay along parana river. The triple alliance used 16 steel gunboats and more than 70 wooden warships to deal with Paraguay's wooden warships. In a lake where the parana river meets the Uruguayan River, the biggest naval battle in the United States ended in Paraguay's total annihilation. After the naval battle, Lopez led his troops back to the Humaita fortress by the river and relied on the terrain to resist the attack of the Coalition forces. 1866 in may, Lopez launched a series of counterattacks in Tuyuty, attacking 32,000 allies with 24,000 Paraguayan troops. At least18,000 people were killed on both sides of parana river. Become the most tragic battle on the South American continent. Historians say that in this war, both sides tried their best to make the tragic degree of the war reach the limit.

will to fight

There are still many epic battle stories circulating in Paraguay: each team sticks to the last man, and before being captured by the enemy, the wounded soldiers even tore off their bandages, preferring to die rather than be captured. It took the Argentine army 1/3 and 10 months to shoot it down. The soldiers who charged fell in front of the fort in rows, which made Miret, commander-in-chief of the Argentine army, lose face. At this time, smallpox began to wreak havoc, and then cholera prevailed. These two diseases alone have caused many deaths and greatly damaged morale.

The situation took a turn for the worse.

When Brazil first intervened in Uruguay's civil war, it only used 1.6 million people. However, with the deepening of the war and the rout of the Brazilian army, European observers at that time were very dissatisfied with the slow action of the Coalition forces. These Europeans don't understand the particularity of the terrain in Latin America-because all materials have to be transported from Buenos Aires and Montevideo to the battlefield hundreds of miles away along the parana river, and the logistics supply is very difficult-but they just accuse the commander of being a coward, and at the same time, the Brazilian business community also calls for a change of coach. Others believe that the main reason for the defeat of the Brazilian army is the employment of a large number of slaves with low quality and no land, and they strongly appeal to the Brazilian government to recruit volunteers. Soon, the Brazilian government recruited an army of 6.5438+0.4 million people, and at the same time, the Brazilian government also encouraged black slaves to fight with freedom as a reward. Brazilian industry and commerce work overtime to produce a large number of weapons and ammunition.

The fortress fell.

When the Coalition forces struggled, Paraguay could not hold on. Because, whether it is food or weapons, the transportation lines are blocked by the Coalition forces. 1866 Brazil replaced Marshal Miltel and was replaced by Garcia. When he took over, the Brazilian army only advanced 15 miles in eight months. Garcia did not rush to attack, but spent eight months preparing for the attack, and at the same time made the navy make up its mind to deploy the most expensive ships to deal with Paraguay's mines and shore guns. He carefully arranged a plan to detour eastward around Paraguay's fortifications. 1In May of 868, the siege of Jumeta, the core fortress of Paraguay, was finally completed. Lopez had to lead an army to break through, leaving only a few soldiers guarding the city. Through daily shelling, the allies finally captured the fortress after 13 months.

War failure

After the fortress fell, Lopez began to build a second line of defense in the hilly area south of Asunció n, the capital of Paraguay, but Garcia skillfully crossed a no-man's land by the Paraguay river and took the troops behind the Paraguayans. 1868 12 After a series of bitter battles, the allied forces finally captured Asunció n, the capital of Paraguay. Garcia hastily established a puppet government, then announced that the war was finally over, and he retired immediately. However, Lopez still led his 65,438+3,000 people to continue guerrilla warfare, and he was still in high spirits. His guerrilla warfare often messed up the positions of the Brazilian army in the periphery of Asunció n, but his strength became more and more problematic. Even 8-year-old children wore fake beards and fought with adults. Brazilians began the cleaning in1April, and Lopez was forced to retreat to the mountains in the northeast of Paraguay. Here he fell into a desperate situation. He suspected that many people had betrayed him and began to execute his closest followers. He was surrounded at 1870, but he refused to surrender and ordered the execution of his mother and sisters. Two days later, he was captured by Brazilian soldiers. The soldiers hacked him to death with broadswords and buried him in the jungle. That was 1 year in March. Although Lopez ended in a fiasco, in South America, he is a hero in men's minds. He was imitated by generations for his courage of winning more with less, and even Cuban President Castro worshipped him.

The war impact of editing this paragraph

heavy losses

The Paraguayan War led Argentina and Brazil to occupy Paraguay for a long time, in addition to annexing 55,000 square miles of Paraguayan land. According to data, after this devastating blow, Paraguay's population has decreased from1330,000 to 220,000, of which less than 30,000 are men. At the same time, Paraguay also paid huge reparations to Brazil and Argentina. Of course, the triple alliance also paid a huge price, with more than 654.38 million soldiers killed or injured in the war. This is an unprecedented tragic war in human history. Other studies show that Lopez's crazy leadership style has also led to the death of a large number of Paraguayans, especially in the process of moving from cities to mountainous areas.

War assessment

Evaluation: Paraguay War is a tragedy in South America. In this war, both sides suffered heavy losses: Paraguay's defeat led Argentina and Brazil to occupy Paraguay for a long time, and in addition, they annexed 55,000 square miles of Paraguayan land. Of course, the triple alliance also paid a huge price, with more than 1.5 million soldiers killed or injured in the war. This is an unprecedented tragic war in human history. Since then, the modernization process in Paraguay and even South America has completely failed. Since then, South America and even Latin America have embarked on a semi-colonial road and become the back garden of a big country. Apart from the rise of Chile, the whole continent was plunged into a dirty melee. After re-independence, Paraguay became a third-rate conservative inland country, firmly controlled by the Catholic Church, and only occasionally-for example, the bloody Chaco War in the 1930 s and the subsequent football World Cup attracted people's attention.