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| 3. Paraguay |
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| At the time of independence, Paraguay was a country of small farmers and ranchers. These settlers had developed military skills because of frequent regional conflicts. International transport was possible only through riverine navigation. Following independence, Paraguay had some 120,000 people, of whom only a tiny minority were whites. Guaraní was the predominant language. | 1 |
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| 1815–40 |
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| The dictatorship of Dr. JOSÉ GASPAR RODRÍGUEZ DE FRANCIA, “El Supremo.” Attacks by federalist troops from the Banda Oriental allowed Dr. Francia to claim greater powers. He had a following among the military, and his program for domestic peace gained rural support. Congress made Dr. Francia perpetual dictator (May 31, 1816) and dissolved itself. | 2 |
| Domestic opposition to Dr. Francia was concentrated in the city of Asunción. Abroad the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata sought to annex Paraguay. In 1820, upon learning of an assassination plot, Dr. Francia initiated a campaign of terror against elite families, practically destroying Paraguay's creole elite. Dr. Francia closed the Seminary, the country's only institution of higher education. | 3 |
| Dr. Francia regarded Brazil and the constant strife in the Río de la Plata provinces as threats to Paraguayan sovereignty. He closed Paraguay to foreigners, allowing only authorized merchants to trade in designated ports. Paraguayans exchanged tobacco, yerba mate, and hides for arms and textiles. Buenos Aires's refusal to recognize Paraguay further isolated the country. | 4 |
| Combining repression and isolation, Dr. Francia's dictatorship succeeded in preventing civil conflicts. The financial resources of the Paraguayan state came from its ranches and textile workshops, and from tithes on livestock. The labor force employed on these ranches consisted of peons and slaves. Peasants and militiamen were forcibly drafted to toil on state lands and public works or to serve in the military; many peasant women became independent heads of household. | 5 |
| Dr. Francia died on Sept. 20, 1840. | 6 |
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| 1841–60 |
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| The dictatorship of Carlos Antonio López (1790–1862). A two-man consulate was named (1842), led by CARLOS ANTONIO LÓPEZ, who was from a surviving elite family. Successive congresses (1844, 1858) granted López extensions of his presidential term. | 7 |
| López relaxed Dr. Francia's isolationism, hiring foreign technicians, engineers, and artisans to build up his military. But the neighboring countries still refused to recognize Paraguay's independence. Rosas, the Argentine dictator, closed the Paraná River to vessels bound to Asunción. In 1849, tensions intensified, and López prepared for war. Brazil and Uruguay, both in conflict with Rosas, recognized Paraguay. After Rosas's fall, the Argentine Confederation recognized Paraguay's independence and its right to free navigation (1852). | 8 |
| According to the 1846 census, Paraguay had a sedentary population of 238,862, as well as 20,000 nomadic Indians. Twenty percent of all households were headed by women. A law (1852) freed children of slaves and curbed the slave trade. In 1848, a decree divested Indians of their special status and transformed all community lands into state property. | 9 |
| López distributed vast tracts of land to relatives and clients. In 1843, he undertook a bloody campaign against Guaraní Indians who inhabited yerba mate fields. López made yerba mate and exportable lumber property of the state (1846). | 10 |
| Foreign trade tripled between 1850 and 1860. López encouraged textile manufactures and opened new schools but did not allow institutions of higher education. | 11 |
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| 1862–69 |
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| The dictatorship of FRANCISCO SOLANO LÓPEZ (1827–70). Carlos Antonio López died in 1862. His son and vice president, Francisco Solano López, assumed the presidency. He continued enriching his relatives and strengthening Paraguay's armed forces, but moved away from the policy of neutrality. | 12 |
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| 1863 |
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| Blanco government of Uruguay allied with Paraguay to fight against Colorado Party (See 1860–68). Argentina and Brazil agreed to invade Uruguay and install colorados. | 13 |
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| 1864 |
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| Brazilian troops invaded Uruguay. López protested and then declared war on Brazil. | 14 |
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| 1865 |
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| Paraguayan armies, against Argentina's wishes, invaded Corrientes to attack Brazilian bases. Argentina, Brazil, and colorado leaders from Uruguay signed the PACT OF THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE to wage war against Paraguay. They expected the war to be short. British foreign ministers favored the pact, and the British helped finance the allied war effort. By the end of 1865, the allies had destroyed the Paraguayan navy and isolated the country, but a war of resistance dragged on for four more years. The resulting carnage produced a demographic catastrophe. The allies plundered Asunción (1869) and abused surviving women and children. The besieged government mobilized women and even male children. López's retaliatory measures against alleged pro-ally conspiracies added to the savagery. During his retreat from the allied armies, he massacred communities suspected of surrendering. In 1871, a census conducted by the victors revealed a population of 221,079, of which barely 13 percent were adult males. Paraguay lost 55,000 square miles of its territory. | 15 |
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| 1869 |
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| Occupation of Asuncíon by allied forces. Brazilian troops remained until 1876. Paraguayan elites split into the legionaires, who had come with the ally contingents, and the lopiztas, partisans of López. The former were widely resented because of their association with the occupying forces, who did little to reduce rampant starvation. | 16 |
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| 1870 |
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| At Cerro Corá, Brazilian troops killed Francisco Solano López in a skirmish. A constitutional convention met; Cirilo Antonio Rivarola, with Brazilian backing, was named provisional president. Measures were taken to attract immigrants and to force rural population into full-time labor on large estates. | 17 |
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| 1872 |
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| Presidency of Salvador Jovellanos. Demands for withdrawal of Brazilian forces. | 18 |
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| 1873 |
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| Treaty of peace with Uruguay. Juan Bautista Gill assumed presidency. | 19 |
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| 1874 |
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| Gen. Bernardino Caballero, a hero of the war, founded conservative Republican or Colorado Party, which was to control Paraguayan politics for 30 years. | 20 |
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