South America's Bloodiest War: The Triple Alliance | Animated History

hi I'm Griffin Johnson the armchair historian from  practically the very day it gained independence   from the Portuguese Empire in 1822 the  vast South American territory of Brazil   found itself at odds with the many former  Spanish colonies that shared its borders   this was hardly unexpected as prior to gaining  their freedom the people of Latin America had   been frequent Pawns in the power struggles  fought between Spain and Portugal both of   whom had poured vast amounts of time money and  political Capital into dominating the continent   however freedom from the Yoke of colonial  Administration did little to foster a sense   of community or shared struggle among the newly  independent nations in this video we'll cover   how this powder keg of political and economic  rivalries exploded into the massive conflict   known as The War of the Triple Alliance  the deadliest in Latin American history research for this video would have been next to  Impossible without the assistance of our Latin   American team members and their expertise  at translating material from their native   languages knowing other common languages like  Spanish French or German can be an absolute   necessity in our line of work which is why I  am happy to introduce the sponsor of today's   video speakly speakally is a language learning  app designed to let you learn up to five times   faster than conventional methods uniquely the app  lets you choose your own study methods focusing   on vocabulary writing multiple choice options  or a combination of the three available on both   web and mobile devices speakally is accessible  anywhere anytime giving you a streamlined learning   process that can be customized according to your  needs try speakally today with a free 7-Day trial   and get a 60 discount on an annual subscription by  signing up using our Link in the description below tensions between the new sovereignties would  only escalate when the huge Spanish Colonial   territory known as the viceroyalty of Rio  De La Plata revolted in the 1810s resulting   in the independence of Argentina Uruguay  and Paraguay all three of these countries   promptly began engaging in significant border  disputes over the mostly unchartered regions   that lay between their population centers seeing  an opportunity to project its sphere of influence   further south the Empire of Brazil recognized the  independence of Paraguay in 1844 placing them in   direct opposition to Argentina which considered  Paraguay a breakaway Province but this is Latin   America and things are never simple in Latin  America upon gaining their freedom the new   government of Paraguay had wasted no time picking  things up right where the Spanish left off by   restarting the decades-old argument over whether  the Oppa or brocco river should be the demarcation   line between their territory and that of Brazil  this meant that while Brazil was trying to use   Paraguay as a buffer against the argentines  the paraguayan government was belligerently   demanding territorial concessions and making  it as hard as possible for Brazilian ships to   use the Paraguay River adding to this Tangled mess  of conflicting interests was the situat nation in   Uruguay which was torn between two main political  parties the Colorados and the Blancos Brazil had   already intervened twice in Uruguayan Affairs by  1855 and in 1863 they stepped in again after the   Colorados rebelled against the reigning Blanco  party which was Allied to Paraguay at the time   thoroughly annoyed with the fractious two-party  State Brazil issued an ultimatum to the blanco   government demanding that they protect Brazilian  interests in the region or face an invasion the   blanco government refused and Brazilian  warships promptly obliterated Uruguay's   minuscule Navy and marched across the border in  October of 1864. the Brazilians assumed that a   swift resolution to the blanco situation would  prevent interference from Uruguay's allies only   for this notion to be swiftly disproven when  paraguayan Marines stormed aboard the Brazilian   steamer Marcus de Olinda as it approached their  capital city of asuncian on November 13th this   was followed swiftly by a formal declaration  of war between the two Nations on December 13th   the belligerent attitude demonstrated by the  tiny nation of Paraguay towards the gigantic   Empire of Brazil stemmed primarily from the  grandiose Ambitions of a single man president   Francisco soleno Lopez AKA The wannabe Napoleon  of South America the son of Paraguay's first   president Lopez came to power in September  of 1862 and immediately set about preparing   his country for war though it possessed barely  half a million citizens compared to Brazil's   11 million Paraguay had invested heavily into its  military and cobbled together a force of about 70   000 men at a time when Brazil was Fielding fewer  than half that number but ragtag barely even began   to describe the state of Lopez's men as many of  them lacked even basic necessities like shoes   however this did not stop the aspirational  Latin American Grand Army from scoring   several early victories against the empire  in the opening phases of the war wounding   the giant as it struggled to mobilize more  than a token Force along its Southern border sadly for the eternally ambitious Lopez a  quick Advance into the Brazilian province   of Mato Grosso meant to very little in the grand  scheme of things as Uruguay was still well Out   Of Reach and the Brazilian Navy stood ready to  intercept any attempts to transport paraguayan   soldiers to their allies the province of  corrientes offered a convenient land route   to Uruguay but it was under the control of  Argentina faced with no Alternatives Lopez   requested permission to cross Argentine territory  to relieve the beleaguered uruguayans after his   envoys were presumably laughed out of the room  a furious Lopez decided to drag Argentina into   the war by crossing the corrientes with  twenty thousand Men by April Lopez had   captured the provincial capital seizing many  Argentine warships as they lay at anchor import however the rash actions of Paraguay's eccentric  dictator would have dire consequences as after   Decades of jockeying for position the two largest  Latin American nations now had a common cause   and diplomats from Argentina soon met with those  from the Empire of Brazil to hammer out a formal   alliance against Paraguay while negotiations were  ongoing Brazilian armies were busy mopping up   resistance in Uruguay with Lopez now far too busy  looting pillaging and murdering his way through   corrientes to care about little things like aiding  his allies the Blanco's stood no chance against   the Brazilian Army of the South on the 2nd of  February Monty video the capital of Uruguay was   under siege surrendering on the 20th by May the  Colorados had taken over and concluded a formal   military pact with Brazil and Argentina creating a  Triple Alliance that could now Focus its attention   on Paraguay just like his hero Napoleon Bonaparte  Francisco Lopez had successfully managed to unite   his opposition into a coalition with the express  purpose of crushing his Imperial Ambitions forever   in yet another comparison to the Napoleonic  Wars Brazilian Naval dominance allowed them   to isolate Paraguay's economy by blockading  the Rio de La Plata this sparked the battle   of the riachuelo the largest naval  engagement in South American history   when Lopez ordered the paraguayan Navy to launch  from The Fortress of umaita and ambushed the   blockade on the 11th of June 1865. Lopez had  given strict orders to his Admiral Pedro Ignacio   Mesa to conduct a surprise attack and boarding  operation to capture the enemy Fleet while it lay   mostly at anchor but Mesa ignored these orders and  instead opened fire as soon as he was within range   this initial barrage inflicted some damage on the  Brazilian Fleet but it also alerted the shorebound   crews who scrambled back aboard their ships and  launched a counter-attack thick fog made gunfire   on both sides highly inaccurate but for a time it  seemed as if the paraguayans had the upper hand   however the tide of battle turned abruptly when  Brazilian Admiral Francisco Manuel barholzo   charged mesa's line smashing several of these  smaller enemy warships and barges beneath the   prow of his paddle steamer at around the same  time Admiral Mesa was hit in the chest forcing   his Fleet to make a disorderly withdrawal under  heavy fire are wholeso's quick thinking would   earn him the title Baron of the amazonas while  messes insubordination would have earned him a   firing squad had not the injuries he sustained  in battle proved fatal only eight days later   the defeat at the Battle of riachuelo marked  a permanent turning point in the fortunes of   the upstart paraguayans and their eccentric  dictator with Uruguay now part of the Triple   Alliance Lopez now ordered his army to invade  the country through corientes in the hopes of   quickly toppling the Colorado's regime but  his advancing columns were turned back as   they tried to cross the Uruguayan River  at the Battle of jutai a force of only 3   000 paraguayans faced off against a combined Army  of at least nine thousand enemy troops despite   being heavily outnumbered the paraguayan Cavalry  inflicted heavy losses on the enemy infantry   but the entire force was eventually killed or  captured with increasing numbers of Allied troops   advancing into the corrientes Lopez withdrew  back into Paraguay to prepare for an invasion although the Triple Alliance had now driven Lopez  out of the corrientes they had underestimated how   costly the war would be Latin America had  little in the way of industry or military   infrastructure and while the paraguayan soldiers  were ill-equipped they were still highly motivated   by a charismatic leader the Triple Alliance  meanwhile were forced to fill out their ranks   with slaves and Backwater provincials after months  of ponderous preparation the alliance dragged a   force of over 35 000 dispirited disease-riddled  and under-supplied conscripts over the border and   set up camp in the marshy lowland terrain of tut  the choice of campsite proved inspired when a 27   000 strong paraguayan Army was caught  trying to creep up on the Defenders   through the thick scrub land prompting  the largest Battle of the war foreign the paraguayans charged the Defenders  head-on causing massive casualties on   both sides the poor terrain delayed the main  Advance resulting in attacks coming in waves   rather than the planned single huge assault  throughout the day paraguayan Cavalry caused   Havoc all along the Allied line only being driven  back by artillery fire and infantry squares by   the time the fighting seized the Allied Force had  taken 3 000 casualties in exchange for nearly 13   000 paraguayan losses this was an enormous  blow to Lopez's Ambitions forcing him to   refill his depleted ranks with the elderly and  underaged but on the other hand the Allied Army   had come very close to Breaking during the Frantic  engagement and needed time to rest and reorganize   while they waited disease broke out in the  camp striking down men by the thousands with   reinforcements trickling in at a snail's pace  the advance into Paraguay stalled devolving   into primitive trench warfare both sides at  a temporary impasse Lopez reached out to the   Argentine president bartolome Mitre and attempted  to negotiate a peace treaty but mitrae insisted   Lopez surrendered unconditionally which only  encouraged Lopez to resist to The Bitter End   following the negotiations the Invaders attempted  to break through the Fortified lines around   kurupaiti in September assuming Naval bombardment  would paralyze The Defenders the overconfident   attackers became trapped in muddy terrain and  slaughtered by hidden artillery positions nearly 4   000 Allied troops died in the foolhardy attack  making kurupaiti their worst defeat of the war   sadly for the defiant Lopez success at korapai tea  only amounted to a temporary stay of execution by   now the Triple Alliance had agreed on appointing  the Duke of kashias to command The Invasion and   this veteran officer quickly began reforming  the dispirited Army into a force capable of   assaulting Paraguay's ultimate defensive Bastion  the gigantic Fortress of humaita sitting a stride   to the River from which the country Drew its  name humaita blocked all access to Asuncion   and even prevented the Brazilians from retaking  their paraguayan occupied territory of matogroso   well aware of the enormous task that lay ahead the  Iron Duke chose to spend nearly eight whole months   training his men improving Camp sanitation  and refitting his artillery core when he was   ready kashias swept North from toyuti and began  the painstaking process of surrounding kumita   a series of assaults were launched on the  Fortress throughout August but were met   with failure while a massive chain across  the river prevented the Brazilian Navy from   isolating humaita completely it took kashias  until November to isolate the Bastion by land   but it was not until February of 1868 that a  daring rush through heavy fire allowed the Navy   to take control of the whole river kashias then  ordered his ironclads to proceed upstream and   bombard the capital of Asuncion while his  army continued to besieging its objective   realizing their position had been rendered  strategically worthless whomitas Defenders staged   a series of breakouts in July surrendering the  position at a final cost of around 1500 casualties   sitting aside the River from which the country  Drew its name humaitab locked all access to the   asuncian having broken down the gates of Paraguay  kashias continued to live up to his reputation By   ignoring the impressive secondary defensive line  Lopez had constructed along the peaky CD tributary   and instead cutting a 10.7 kilometer or 6.6 mile  long road through the supposedly impenetrable   jungle Against All Odds the Allied Army was able  to conceal this operation until December then   burst out Behind Enemy Lines and decimated the  paraguayans in a series of hard-fought engagements   known collectively as the de zambrada this  culminated in a battle of Lomas valentinas where   Cassius and Lopez went head-to-head in a lopsided  engagement that nearly resulted in the paraguayan   dictator being captured alongside his senior  staff officers only a desperate rush through   the Enemy Lines at the height of the battle by his  Cavalry Corps saved Lopez from an ignominious fate   and he vanished into the jungle alongside the  tattered remnants of Paraguay's army with no   enemies left to oppose him on the battlefield  the Victorious Iron Duke of Brazil moved to   occupy asuncian which was mostly abandoned having  spent years on campaign cashias was exhausted and   would soon return home as one of Latin America's  greatest military Heroes meanwhile a force of 30   000 Allied soldiers began looting and burning  the paraguayan capital reducing it to ruins   the Fortress of humaita was also raised to the  ground and over the next few months the Triple   Alliance would work systematically to obliterate  paragwise infrastructure Lopez responded with   an increasingly brutal campaign of Guerrilla  warfare that saw paraguayan troops burning their   own settlements in a scorched Earth campaign  and shooting potential deserters on the spot   this Insurgency would continue until the Battle  of seikura on the 1st of March 1870 when 4   000 Brazilian soldiers located and hunted  down Lopez's personal guard of 400.   defiant to the last Lopez refused to surrender and  was stabbed by a Brazilian cavalryman despite the   Mortal injury the former dictator kept fighting  until he collapsed next to a riverbank when   again offered clemency Lopez replied by shouting  Patria or I die with my nation and was shot dead the ignominious death of Francisco Solano Lopez  marked the official end of the war of the Triple   Alliance Latin America's bloodiest conflict Brazil  would continue to occupy Paraguay until 1876   forcing the nation to relinquish all of its claims  to Allied territory and Seed over 150 000 square   kilometers of territory to Brazil and Argentina  the conflict utterly devastated Paraguay to the   point that its population dropped over 60 percent  with a death toll of at least three hundred   thousand the war was also economically ruinous  for all of Latin America crippling Argentina with   massive war debts and placing so much strain on  the Brazilian plantation system that slavery was   abolished in 1888. today Paraguay has still not  fully recovered from the war remaining a country   that's surrounded by far more powerful Nations  however however Lopez is still considered one   of Paraguay's foremost national heroes while the  ruins of the great Fortress of umaita are regarded   as a sacred symbol of defiance by a population  that has not forgotten the Latin Napoleon foreign

Channel: The Armchair Historian

Views: 988,125

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Id: _HIWhGB4doY

Length: 20min 22sec (1222 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 10 2022