ARGENTINA-BRAZIL WAR

The 'Argentina-Brazil War' (Portuguese: ''Guerra da Cisplatina''; Spanish: ''Guerra del Brasil'') was an armed conflict that took place during the 1820s between the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, which were recently emancipated from Spain, and Brazil, then a monarchy, over the possession of the territory of today's Uruguay. The United Provinces were a loose confederation of provinces that would later become known as Argentina.

Contents

Background

The conflict

Aftermath

External links

Background

The original territory of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata included most of the former Viceroyalty of the same name (Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay). The territory east of the estuary of the Río de la Plata and the Uruguay River was called 'Banda Oriental', "''Eastern Bank''" in Spanish (people from the Banda Oriental was known as "Oriental/Orientales"). Portugal had already invaded and annexed parts of that Spanish territory (Río Grande and the Misiones Orientales) a matter that not the Treaty of Madrid (1750), nor the Treaty of San Ildefonso (1777) could solve.
The May Revolution of 1810 gave rise to a local government in Buenos Aires. The Banda Oriental, in turn, revolted against Spanish rule in 1811, led by José Gervasio Artigas. It became the 'Provincia Oriental' in 1813 as part of a federal league of provinces, the 'Liga Federal'. In 1816 Portugal started the occupation of the province. In 1820 the Liga Federal was dissolved and its provinces began the process of integration into the United Provinces. In 1821, after the defeat of Artigas in Battle of Tacuarembó and with the support of the local aristocratic families, the Provincia Oriental was annexed by Portugal under the name of ''Província Cisplatina''. The control of the area provided a strategic position over the Río de la Plata, and the exit to the open sea, main port for the exportations of the United Provinces. After Dom Pedro I declared the independence of Brazil, the Província Cisplatina became part of the Empire of Brazil.
Being both states economically dependent of the British Empire, the United Kingdom, represented by war mediator George Canning, had a very important role in the war and its outcome.

The conflict

Intending to regain control of the ''Provincia Oriental'' or ''Cisplatina'', the Argentine Confederation of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata urged the ''Orientales'' (Uruguayans) lead by Juan Antonio Lavalleja to rise against the Brazilian domination, giving them political and material support.
After years of resistance by ''Oriental'' separatists, such as Fructuoso Rivera and Lavalleja, the Congress of Deputies of all over the Provincia Oriental met in 1825 in La Florida and declared its independence from the Portuguese and Brazilian empires, reaffirming its belonging to the United Provinces. The response of the imperial government of Brazil was to declare war on the United Provinces.
Emperor Pedro I of Brazil replied by blocking the Río de la Plata and its ports (Buenos Aires and Montevideo). The main base of the Argentine fleet was moved south, first to Ensenada and then to Carmen de Patagones. Brazil attempted to take Carmen de Patagones in 1827, trying to tighten even more the block on the Argentine foreign commerce, but the troops were repelled by the local civilians.
The Argentine army crossed the Río de la Plata placing its camp near Durazno, while General Carlos María de Alvear incursioned in the Brazilian territory. The Viscount of Barbacena, in command of the imperial troupes, clashed with the Argentines at the Battle of Ituzaingó.
Pedro I started the land offensive at the end of 1826, gathering the troops in the south of the country, mainly composed of volunteers and some units of European mercenaries. He had problems gathering an army to resist the Argentinian forces because there were constant popular rebellions in the provinces of the newly independent Brazil, including Rio de Janeiro, its capital at that time.
The lack of men slowed the response capacity against the ''Orientales'' now backed up by the Argentine Army. The war took place as many smaller confrontations, with the Battle of Ituzaingó being the only battle of magnitude, in which the Brazilian left defeated. Other battles include the Battle of Sarandí and the naval Battle of Monte Santiago.
In 1828 Rivera reconquered the territory of Misiones Orientales forcing Brazil to start talking about peace.

Aftermath

Brazil was finally driven back, but both Brazil and the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata ultimately lost.
Given the high cost of the war for both sides, and the unease of the United Kingdom that had business with the United Provinces, conversations for a peace treaty started in Rio de Janeiro. With France and the United Kingdom as arbitrators, and under pressure of the British, the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata and the Brazilian Empire signed the Treaty of Montevideo acknowledging the independence of the Provincia Oriental that became the ''Estado Oriental del Uruguay''. However, the reconquered ''Oriental'' territory of Misiones Orientales was given back to Brazil.
In Brazil, the loss of the ''Provincia Cisplatina'' was another motive to the popular discontent with the government of Dom Pedro I, after a war that was already unpopular. Even though the ''Guerra da Cisplatina'' is not considered the main reason for which the emperor abdicated in 1831, it did add to the outcome.
The congress that met in La Florida in 1825 only reaffirmed for legal and symbolic purposes that the Provincia Oriental was part of the United Provinces, but no one except Brazil would have questioned that before the war; being against Rosas wasn't a reason for not being part of the United Provinces, as many provinces were governed by Unitarian caudillos opposed to him.
Besides some Oriental/Uruguayan people that wanted to acquire national independence from the United Provinces because of the centralized government impossed by Buenos Aires to the rest of the provinces at that time, probably the main winner of the war was the British Empire, who obtained a zone of free commerce controlled by the United Kingdom on the strategically located Río de la Plata.

External links

★ Military History of South America: Argentina-Brazil war