We use ookies to e ha e our e perie e o our we site. B we site, ou are agreei g to our use of ookies. You a li ki g ' o ti ue' or o ti ui g to use our ha ge our ookie setti gs at a ti e. Co ti ue Fi d out ore Jump to Content Jump to Main Navigation Paraguayan War (War of the Triple Alliance) Bridget Chesterton, Thomas Whigham Introduction Between 1864 and 1870 Paraguay engaged in a large­scale war against its neighbors Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. The first military engagements began when Marshal Francisco Solano López captured the Brazilian steamer Marquis de Olinda in 1864, afterward invading the Brazilian territories of Mato Grosso and Rio Grande do Sul as well as the Argentine province of Corrientes. Solano López had wished to intervene in Uruguay to forestall a Brazilian occupation, but when his Blanco allies were defeated there, the Brazilians, Argentines, and Uruguayans formed an alliance to drive him from power. The war, which was protracted, had many aspects that are hotly debated today, including causes, casualty figures, diplomatic motivations, the character of nationalism, and the personalities of key protagonists—most especially Marshal López. Paraguay’s economic status and its capacity to resist the Allied onslaught for nearly six years have also drawn much attention from historians. In the end, the war’s effect on all participant nations continues to shape political and cultural debates throughout the region. General Overviews The multiple causes of the Triple Alliance War are much argued. The first period of historiographical debate, roughly 1870 through the early 1920s, saw the elaboration of a model that depicted Solano López as both a despot and the major aggressor in the war. The work in Box 1930 is reflective of the trend that viewed the Marshal as irrational. The advent of far­left or far­right governments in the 1930s brought a revisionist shift notable in much of the historical writing on the war, with some historians and polemicists blaming British imperialism as the chief factor in the conflict. This current in the literature became particularly strong during the 1970s. In particular the work in Pomer 1968 reflects this trend. Cárcano 1939 blames the war on earlier imperial rivalries on Spain and Portugal. These revisionist works may have succeeded in making the war more emotionally engaging for casual readers, but they were generally spurned by academics who found their methodologies suspect and their lack of supporting evidence distasteful. More recent ideas about the origins of the war have been more nuanced and tend to blame political circles in all four countries for their shortsightedness in their attempts to enhance their power at the expense of their neighbors in other areas of the Rio de la Plata. The works that best exemplify these trends are Leuchars 2002, Fano 2008, Capdevila 2007, Doratioto 2002, and Whigham 2010–2012—which is by far the best example of the later trend. Box, Pelham Horton. The Origins of the Paraguayan War. New York: Russell and Russell, 1930. A key English­language historical overview of the war’s origins. The author maintains that political instability throughout the Platine region made the war almost inevitable. Recounts the complicated diplomacy preceding the conflict, devoting particular attention to the Banda Oriental imbroglio, which Marshal López saw as a threat to a “balance” of power. Following the argument of Argentine jurist Juan Bautista Alberdi, Box argues that López needed to resist the imperial ambitions of a monarchist Brazil. Capdevila, Luc. Une guerre totale, Paraguay 1864–1870: Essai d’histoire du temps présent. Rennes, France: Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2007. A response to one of the most interesting questions of the war: How did Solano López keep so many men in the field during the war? The author notes that Paraguay’s authoritarian politics left López as the embodiment of the nation, deserving of loyalty in what Paraguayans regarded as injustice inflicted by the Allies. Capdevila shows that Paraguayan women were perhaps the most loyal citizens in a country of very loyal people. Cárcano, Ramón José. Guerra del Paraguay, orígenes y causas. Buenos Aires, Argentina: D. Viau, 1939. Useful analysis of diplomatic crises leading up to the war. Considers the war from the perspective of imperial rivalries between Spain and Portugal. Considers as well what the short­term causes in the Rio de la Plata for monarchy, republicanism, and dictatorship. Cardozo, Efraím. Hace cien años: Crónicas de la guerra de 1864–1870 publicadas en “La Tribuna” de Asunción en el centenario de la epopeya nacional. 13 vols. Asunción, Paraguay: Ediciones EMASA, 1968–1982. A very useful compilation of materials, arranged as a weekly recounting of the war’s events. Originally appearing as a regular column in the Asunción newspaper La Tribuna, the study celebrates the centenary of the struggle by eschewing modern polemics and offering readers an abundant potpourri of details. Though the editors evidently decided to omit footnotes and bibliography, the judicious researcher can discover most of Cardozo’s sources with little effort. Doratioto, Francisco. Maldita Guerra: Nova história da Guerra do Paraguai. São Paulo, Brazil: Companhia das Letras, 2002. A solid diplomatic history focused on the tense relationship of the various Platine countries as the key factor in spurring the Paraguayan conflict. Argues that the war grew out of a misbegotten Brazilian intervention launched to counter Argentine pretensions in the region during the 1850s (and subsequent Paraguayan fears of ending up as a victim of either the Brazilians or Argentines). Well documented with materials from many archives. Fano, Marco. Il Rombo del Cannone Liberale: Guerra del Paraguay, 1864/70. Rome: n.p., 2008. Another well­documented study considers multiple causes for the war: economic competition, colonial legacies, and ideological frictions that when combined led to the conflagration. Also considers the role that Mitre’s need to consolidate his rule led to an Alliance with Brazil and that all three nations believed they needed to “save” Paraguay from Solano López. In Italian. Leuchars, Chris. To the Bitter End: Paraguay and the War of the Triple Alliance. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2002. A non­professional historian offers a well­written and sometimes insightful account of the war in English. Concentrates on the military conduct and consequences of the struggle, which Leuchars analyzes battle by battle. Though poorly endnoted, the study has the advantage of using secondary sources from all sides, eschewing none of the key materials from Allied and Paraguayan camps. The result is balanced. Pomer, León. La Guerra del Paraguay ¡Gran negocio! Buenos Aires, Argentina: Ediciones Caldén, 1968. Left­wing revisionist analysis of the war argues that British imperialism was responsible and that the Paraguayan campaign was part of an overall effort to suppress “Americanist” interests throughout the Platine region. Defends Solano López as an anti­imperialist leader, and characterizes his country as a progressive bulwark against England. Claims that Brazil and Argentina were used as puppets by the British. Whigham, Thomas. La guerra de la Triple Alianza. 3 vols. Asunción, Paraguay: Taurus, 2010–2012. This three­volume set is the most definitive treatment of the conflict to date. Since the end of the war, most studies have reflected self­serving nationalist polemics, but Whigham’s work is different, as it provides an inclusive treatment of the four belligerents—war aims, political culture, and the personalities of military and political leaders. Uses extensive archival and secondary sources, including materials from private repositories, and measures the war’s impact on all four nations, not just Paraguay alone. (Volume 1, Causas e inicios del mayor conflicto belico de America del Sur; Volume 2, El triunfo de la violencia, el fracaso de la paz; Volume 3, Danza de muerte y destruccion.) Eyewitness Accounts This section considers the perspective of men from Paraguay, the Allied countries, and others who witnessed the unfolding of the war with their own eyes. Not surprisingly, the accounts vary widely in their estimation of the political situation and of the fighting, with a generally pro­ Paraguayan stance being taken in McMahon 2013 (cited under British and American Accounts), for instance, to the less sympathetic and more war­weary account offered by a Spanish officer fighting for the Uruguayans in de Palleja 1960 (cited under Allied Accounts). BRITISH AND AMERICAN ACCOUNTS These eyewitness accounts, mostly in English, include works written from a military or diplomatic perspective and remain central to the study of the war. Several works provide unique and important clues into the nature of Solano López’s personality, for example McMahon 2013 and Burton 1870; the steadfastness of the Paraguayan soldiers, in particular Masterman 1869; the conduct of key engagements during the war, in particular McMahon 2013 and Thompson 1869; and diplomatic attempts to end the war as presented in Washburn 1871. Burton, Richard. Letters from the Battle­Fields of Paraguay. London: Tinsley, 1870. Although hardly a fan of Solano López, Burton admired the patriotism of his people. His Letters contains a broad overview of Paraguayan history and his sharp eye catches many details missed in other accounts. Burton is not shy in his opinions regarding many important personalities, including the Marshal’s mistress, the Irishwoman Eliza Lynch, who he labels as “ambitious.” Despite the title, Butron did not personally witness any battles. Masterman, George Frederick. Seven Eventful Years in Paraguay. London: S. Low, Son and Marston, 1869. A British pharmacist who ran Paraguayan military hospitals during the war recounts what he saw. Masterman, who was quite close to members of the Paraguayan military staff, offers some unusual but entirely trustworthy anecdotes, few of them supportive of the Marshal. His reminiscences document activities in the hospitals, the lack of medical supplies, and the natural remedies used to replace them. He was twice imprisoned by Solano López. McMahon, Martin. Paraguay and Her Enemies: And Other Texts Regarding the Paraguayan War. Lexington, KY: Ricardo Cunha Mattos Portella, 2013. A former general in the Union Army and US minister to Paraguay from 1868 to 1869 produced two articles for Harper’s Magazine that are reprinted in this volume. McMahon was one of very few foreign diplomats who sided with López. He accompanied the Paraguayan government inland to Piribebuy in 1869, and was the only foreign witness of any consequence to view the country’s resistance in its eleventh hour. Thompson, George. The War in Paraguay with a Historical Sketch of the Country and Its People and Notes upon the Military Engineering of the War. London: Longmans, Green, 1869. A thorough and irreplaceable military account of the war. Thompson served as a military engineer with the Paraguayan Army and was responsible for constructing defenses at various sites as well as commanded the breastworks at Angostura in 1868. He offers excellent descriptions of both the Paraguayan leaders and the average soldier in the field. His memoir includes design drawings of the fortifications he built during the war. Washburn, Charles A. The History of Paraguay with Notes of Personal Observations and Reminiscences of Diplomacy under Difficulties. 2 vols. Boston and New York: Lea and Shepard, 1871. Washburn was Lincoln’s Minister to Asunción from 1861 through 1868. A controversial and always­opinionated participant in the events, he both sympathized with the Paraguayans and spoke contemptuously of their leader, who later accused him of fomenting sedition in the country. Readers today will find Washburn’s descriptions both piquant and concise, though perhaps not always as objective as they might have been. His memoir is nonetheless indispensable to any understanding of the political and diplomatic scene in wartime Paraguay. PARAGUAYAN ACCOUNTS Not surprisingly, Paraguayan accounts are generally more supportive of Francisco Solano López’s cause than those composed by foreigners (though this is not always the case). Aveiro 1989 and Centurión 1987 offer obvious examples of the broader trend. One thing all the Paraguayan accounts share in common is disgust for the horrors of war suffered by the common people during the 1864–1870 conflict. In this respect, see particularly Maíz 1986, Maíz 2010, and Resquín 1996. Aveiro, Silvestre. Memorias militares, 1864–1870. Asunción, Paraguay: Ediciones Comuneros, 1989. One of Solano López’s personal secretaries and obedient servant to the Marshal to the very end. When the Marshal’s mother and siblings fell under suspicion of defeatism, it was Aveiro who carried out their flogging. His Memorias are more than an apologia for the Paraguayan leader’s most egregious comportment, they are a useful resource on the final months of the conflict as well as offer anecdotes seen nowhere else. Aveiro witnessed the Marshal’s death at Cerro Corá in March 1870. Benites, Gregorio. Primeras batallas contra la Triple Alianza. Asunción, Paraguay: Talleres Gráficos del Estado, 1919. Benitez served as a Paraguayan diplomat to Europe during the war. This text strived to offer a balanced evaluation of events in the early stages of the war so as not to provoke the Allies unnecessarily. The unfinished text recounts the early engagements of the war and summarizes reports from foreign newspapers. Centurión, Juan Crisóstomo. Memorias o reminiscencias históricas sobre la guerra del Paraguay. 4 vols. Asunción, Paraguay: El Lector, 1987. Probably the most important and certainly the most sophisticated and complete eyewitness account on the Paraguayan side. Centurión was a staff officer in López’s army and well placed to witness many major events. He was dedicated to the Paraguayan cause and recounts a great deal of heroism on the part of his countrymen. Maíz, Fidel. Etapas de mi vida. Asunción, Paraguay: El Lector, 1986. The author, a very controversial figure in Paraguay, was a Roman Catholic priest who served as a judge during a series of treason trials the Paraguayans conducted during the war. He spent some previous time in the Marshal’s prisons, and was later captured by the Brazilians. His memoir is both an apologia for his own compromised behavior and a broad defense of Paraguay’s resistance to the Allies. Maíz, Fidel. Autobiografía y cartas. Asunción, Paraguay: Union Académique Internationale, 2010. Over the years, Father Maíz changed the interpretation of his own actions, first justifying them, later regretting them and showing remorse, and, at the end of his long life, seemingly justifying them once again. This collection of letters, which are full of interesting details on a particularly confusing phase of the war, tell the whole story of how one appraisal gave way to another. Resquín, Francisco I. La guerra del Paraguay contra la Triple Alianza. Asunción, Paraguay: El Lector, 1996. One of Solano López’s most loyal officers blames the war on the actions of Argentine President Mitre. Resquín offers summary accounts of many of the battles, writing in the third person. His recounting of casualties and other losses would appear to be less trustworthy than those of other witnesses. Accompanied Solano López to Cerro Corá, where he fell a prisoner to the Brazilians. ALLIED ACCOUNTS These eyewitness accounts offer a decidedly different outlook on the war than those of the Paraguayans, focusing more on military matters, and spending relatively little time in appraising Solano López’s politics. Two diaries, Olmedo 2008 and de Palleja 1960, are daily accounts of soldier life. Other accounts give excellent accounts of military conduct and strategy, including Viscount of Inhaúma 2008, Barão de Jaceguay 1935, and Visconde de Taunay 1926 and Visconde de Taunay 1957. The other accounts are reminiscences published after the war, Garmendia 1890, that is generally more reflective and analytical but lack the immediacy of the other accounts. Barão de Jaceguay, Arthur Silveira da Motta. Reminiscencias da Guerra do Paraguay. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: A. Noite, 1935. Extensive coverage of Brazil’s naval war on the Paraguay River. A highly detailed account, indispensable for any treatment of the naval campaign. de Palleja, León. Diario de la campaña de las fuerzas aliadas contra el Paraguay. 2 vols. Montevideo, Uruguay: Talleres Gráficos Bareiro y Ramos, 1960. A Spanish military officer who fought with the Carlists during the Civil War of 1833, Palleja was forced into exile in Montevideo and helped put together the Colorado army thereafter. His diary is exceptionally thoughtful, and full of appreciation both for his own men and his Paraguayan opponents. He thought the war was “stupid” and everyone who participated in it a victim. He was killed in action at Boquerón. His account offers the only major testimony from the Uruguayan side. Garmendia, José Ignacio. Recuerdos de la guerra del Paraguay. 2 vols. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Peuser, 1890. This two­volume work by an Argentine considers the military aspects of the war. Gives a harsh evaluation of Solano López’s military capabilities. Recounts the patriotic efforts of the Argentine soldiers. (Volume 1, Primera parte: Batalla de Sauce—Combate de Yataytí Corá— Curupaytí); and Volume 2, Segunda parte: Campaña de Pikyciri.) Olmedo, Agustín Ángel. Guerra del Paraguay: Cuadernos de campaña (1867–1869). Buenos Aires, Argentina: Union Académique Internationale, 2008. Day­by­day account of the war from 1867 until the end of 1869. Written by a cordobes officer in the Argentine service, the memoir recounts battles, cholera outbreaks, and the common worries about what lies ahead. Contains almost­daily weather reports. Viscount of Inhaúma, Ignacio Joaquim José. Diário Pessoal do Almirante Visconde de Inhaúma durante a Guerra da Triplice Aliança. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro, 2008. Brazilian naval commander from 1866 to 1869 offers his observations on the war. Particularly helpful in understanding the siege of Humaitá. Visconde de Taunay, Alfredo de Escragnolle. Diário de Exército. 2 vols. São Paulo, Brazil: Melhoramentos, 1926. Visconde de Taunay acted as secretary and chronicler to the Count d’Eu, Allied commander during the last year of the war. This is his day­to­ day recounting of events, including the Brazilian victory at Piribebuy and the subsequent slaughter at Ňú Guazú. Visconde de Taunay, Alfredo de Escragnolle. A Retirada da Laguna: Episodio da Guerra do Paraguay. São Paulo, Brazil: Melhoramentos, 1957. The epic account of the Brazilian failure to oust the Paraguayans from Mato Grosso in 1867. Written by a participant who later became one of Brazil’s most recognizable authors, the book is more a tale of man versus nature, rather than man versus man. Journalism This section includes classic works on wartime journalism, such as Warren 1982, and more recent works as Caballero Campos and Ferreira Segovia 2006 and Huner 2007. The latter have sought to understand how journalism promoted the varying national causes during the war, and in particular how newspapers were used to generate support for Solano López when so much else had failed for him. Clearly inspired by the work of Benedict Anderson, these studies have focused on the role that the Guaraní language played in the evolution of Paraguayan nationalism, for example Lustig 2007, Johansson 2012, and Whigham 2012. Caballero Campos, Hérib, and Ferreira Segovia, Cayetano. “El periodismo de guerra en el Paraguay.” Nuevo Mundo Mundos Nuevos (2006). An excellent summary analysis of Paraguayan newspapers during the war. Establishes that these papers—El Semanario, El Centinela, etc. —helped consolidate Solano López’s status as a military hero and elevated morale in the trenches by humiliating the Allies and lauding the bravery of the Marshal’s troops. Huner, Michael Kenneth. “Cantando la república: La movilización escrita del lenguaje popular en las trincheras del Paraguay, 1867– 1868.” Páginas de Guarda (Spring 2007): 115–134. Argues that the Paraguayan state walked a fine line in Guaraní language publications (including battlefield publications) to form a Paraguayan republican identity while simultaneously maintaining a conservative, patriarchal, and religious agenda. Johansson, María Lucrecia. “Paraguay contra el monstruo antirepublicano: El discurso periodístico paraguayo durante la Guerra de la Triple Alianza (1864–1870).” Revista Historia Crítica 47 (May–August 2012): 71–92. A study of how the war was interpreted in the Paraguayan battlefield press. Pays close attention to the difference between newspapers in Asunción and those published near the scene of battle. Argues that the blame for the war was narrated differently depending on place of publication and intended audience. Lustig, Wolf. “¿El guaraní lengua de guerreros? La ‘raza guaraní’ y el avañe’e en el discurso bélico­nacionalista del Paraguay.” In Les guerres du Paraguay aux XIXe et XXe Siècles: Actes du Colloque international Le Paraguay à l’ombre de ses guerres; Acteurs, pouvoirs et représentations, Paris, 17–19 novembre 2005. Nicolas Richard, Luc Capdevila, and Capucine Boidin, 525–540. Paris: CoLibris, 2007. Argues that the Guaraní language, as a language of war and warriors, begins during the Paraguayan War. The emphasis here is on the symbolism in the propaganda found in the journalist writings. Article identifies how these ideas, which were initially crystallized during the 1864–1870 conflict, were resurrected and extended during the 1932–1935 Chaco War with Bolivia. Warren, Harris Gaylord. “Journalism in Asunción under the Allies and the Colorados, 1869–1904.” Americas 39.44 (1982): 483–498. Discusses the lack of freedom of the press in Paraguay during and after the war. Explains that although Paraguayan liberals promised a more open press in the country, they never really delivered on their promise. The press remained a bulwark of those in power and was invariably subject to factionalism. Whigham, Thomas. “Building the Nation while Destroying the Land: Paraguayan Journalism during the Triple Alliance War, 1864– 1870.” Jahrbuch für Geschichte Lateinamerikas 49 (2012): 157–180. Argues that the Paraguayan government’s promotion of a Guaraní­language­based nationalism during the war was necessarily short lived. The newspapers both before and after the conflict catered to the elites and were always published in Spanish. Although a few Guaraní publications appeared during the course of the war, they were inevitably limited in their impact. Biographies This section highlights the lives and actions of the war’s most interesting personalities—excluding Solano López. From the Brazilian side, we have included biographies of the Marquis of Caxias, with Barreto de Souza 2008, and Emperor Dom Pedro II, with Barman 1999. From the Argentine side, we have the work in de Marco 2004 on Mitre. The best biography of Eliza Lynch, Solano López’s mistress, is Lillis and Fanning 2009. We have also included a biography of a Polish mercenary working for the Brazilians, Warren 1985, and also Solano López’s personal physician, Warren 1969. Barman, Roderick. Citizen Emperor: Pedro II and the Making of Brazil, 1825–1891. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1999. An impressive, well­documented account of Pedro II and the political structures he perfected in monarchist Brazil. Chapter 7, which focuses on the Paraguayan War, argues that Pedro II was less an expansionist than a man interested in maintaining the general peace. Once he was antagonized by Solano López’s adventure in Mato Grosso, however, the Emperor proved an unbending adversary and eschewed multiple opportunities for peace negotiations because he felt his honor offended. Barreto de Souza, Adriana. Duque de Caxias: O Homen por Tras do Monumento. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Civilização Brasileira, 2008. A solid, well­documented biography of the Allied military commander before his Paraguayan War service began. Very good as background scholarship. de Marco, Miguel Ángel. Bartolomé Mitre. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Emecé, 2004. Offers a solid biographic treatment of the first Allied commander in the struggle against Paraguay. Mitre’s efforts during the war are less the focus of this work than his overall impact in the intellectual, military, and political life of his country. De Marco regards Mitre a superior Argentine president and leader of the liberal faction during the war and portrays him in somewhat more heroic terms under Paraguayan fire than the man probably deserves. Lillis, Michael, and Ronan Fanning. The Lives of Eliza Lynch: Scandal and Courage. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 2009. The best overall biographical treatment of the Marshal’s mistress, Eliza Alicia Lynch. Lillis and Fanning have discovered an array of fascinating documentary information on Lynch in Irish and French archives, and here presents an account that portrays her as a loyal, rather conventional, companion to Solano López. They dismiss earlier canards that labeled Lynch as a professional courtesan or worse. Warren, Harris Gaylord. “Dr. William Stewart in Paraguay, 1857–1869.” Americas 25.3 (1969): 247–264. A biography of the man who served as Solano López’s chief adviser on medical matters during the war. Warren explains the complicated relationship between the doctor, Solano López, and Eliza Lynch, recounting also the subsequent legal battles in Edinburgh between Lynch and Stewart’s brother over properties that the doctor had supposedly transported out of Paraguay. Warren, Harris Gaylord. “Roberto Adolfo Chodasiewicz: A Polish Soldier of Fortune in the Paraguayan War.” Americas 41.3 (1985): 1– 19. Chodasiewicz served as a military engineer in both the Argentine and Brazilian armies during the war. Warren offers a short biographical account, noting Major Chodaesiewicz’s birth and early life in Poland as well as his participation in the Crimean and US Civil Wars before his arrival in South America in 1865. The Major was an enthusiastic supporter of using observation balloons to scout Paraguayan positions near Humaitá in 1867. Solano López’s Role Aside from the war’s causes, no subject has received more consistent attention from historians than the role Marshal Francisco Solano López played. Though narrow biographical treatments are largely absent, almost all works consider the Marshal as a key figure, either for the best or for the worst. His detractors see him as a tyrant, a coward, and ambitious to the point of delusion, for example the works Báez 1903, Cunninghame Graham 1933, and Saeger 2007. His supporters, such as presented in O’Leary 1985, enjoyed “official” endorsement from the Colorado Party (and the Stroessner government) regarding Solano López as the father of his country, which he defended to the death at Cerro Corá. Such was the depth of popular support for this model that certain leftist scholars and polemicists have adopted many of its basic tenets, moving the argument in some interesting, even florid, directions. Only a few accounts treat Marshal López as simply a man of his times. See, for example, Warren 1962. Báez, Cecilio. La tiranía en el Paraguay, sus causas, caracteres y resultados. Asunción, Paraguay: El País, 1903. A classic condemnation of the “tyranny” of Solano López. Argues that a historic, long­standing despotic tradition animated the Jesuits, Dr. Francia, and the first of the two Lópezes well before the Marshal came on the scene. Suggests that liberal civilization in Paraguay only became possible with the Marshal’s defeat in 1870. The Báez interpretation remains one of the most influential within the “liberal” Paraguayan historiography. Cunninghame Graham, Robert Bontine. Portrait of a Dictator: Francisco Solano López (Paraguay, 1865–1870). London: Heinemann, 1933. The founder of the Scottish Labor Party and an important travel writer, here addresses the personality of the Marshal, whom he characterizes as a tyrant. Useful for its interviews with certain old men who knew López personally. O’Leary, Juan E. Nuestra epopeya (primera parte). Asunción, Paraguay: Mediterráneo, 1985. Of the many texts that nationalist writer O’Leary wrote in favor of Solano López, this is probably the most characteristic. Nuestra epopeya praises López as a hero, and his struggle against the Triple Alliance is portrayed as the full realization of the country’s glory. O’Leary was director of Paraguay’s national archive during the Stroessner dictatorship and remains the most revered figure among right­wing writers on the war. Saeger, James Schofield. Francisco Solano López and the Ruination of Paraguay: Honor and Egocentrism. Lanham, MD, and Boulder, CO: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007. In portraying Solano López as the despoiler of his country, Saeger unintentionally builds on the classic anti­Lopista tradition and the “tyranny” polemic associated with Cecilio Báez. He describes the Marshal as a delusional authoritarian who led Paraguay to destruction through a childlike quest for glory. Saeger essentially blames Paraguay’s defeat on the actions of a single man. Based mainly on secondary sources. Warren, Harris Gaylord. “The Paraguayan Image of the War of the Triple Alliance.” Americas 13.1 (1962): 3–20. Explains that Paraguayans had no choice but to believe what Solano López told them about Brazilian designs on the country. After all, they had only known dictatorial rule, and could not see Brazilian aspirations in the Plata as anything other than rank imperialism. Warren does not omit criticism, however, of responsible Argentine and Brazilian ministers who failed to understand the Paraguayan mindset. Brazil There is a growing sophistication in Brazilian studies of the war. Most recent scholars question earlier arguments that the conflict had a substantial effect on Brazilian politics and society after the war. It did not end slavery, doom the monarchy, or bring about dramatic social change—for example, see Kraay 2004. Beattie 2001 and Wiebke 2012 argue that the war had a solid effect on the genesis of the Brazilian military and its aspirations for political influence. We have also included a biography of Dom Pedro II in this section, Moritz Schwarcz and Gledson 2004. Beattie, Peter M. The Tribute of Blood: Army, Honor, Race, and Nation in Brazil, 1864–1945. Durham, NC, and London: Duke University Press, 2001. Study of how military labor was transformed from a coercive system of impressment to a free system. Studies how this change helped to build the Brazilian state and strengthen Brazilian nationalism. Chapter 2 addresses Brazilian mobilization during the Paraguayan campaign, arguing that the war alone did not affect postwar social structures. Kraay, Hendrik. “Patriotic Mobilization in Brazil: The Zuavos and Other Black Companies in the Paraguayan War, 1865–70.” In I Die with My Country. Edited by Hendrik Kraay and Thomas Whigham, 61–80. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 2004. Argues that black Brazilian men were often eager participants during the early years of the war, willing to fight for their country and Emperor. Concludes, however, that they found few opportunities upon the cessation of hostilities. Agrees with the assessment of Beattie that the war did little to reshape the Brazilian military or society. Moritz Schwarcz, Lilia, and John Gledson. The Emperor’s Beard: Dom Pedro II and His Tropical Monarchy in Brazil. New York: Hill and Wang, 2004. Considers how images of power helped to consolidate Dom Pedro II’s rule in Brazil. During the war, the Emperor dressed in a military uniform in order to show he was a military hero and “Volunteer Number One” in the Brazilian Military. Wiebke, Ipsen. “Patrícias, Patriarchy, and Popular Demobilization: Gender and Elite Hegemony in Brazil at the End of the Paraguayan War.” Hispanic American Historical Review 92.2 (May 2012): 303–330. Moves beyond the traditional Brazilian historiography that explains how the war shaped the nation at the end of hostilities—with the abolition of slavery, militarism, or the end of monarchy. Explains the conservative nature of elite women as they moved toward a more public role, yet embraced patriarchy. Explains how elite women sought to differentiate themselves from lower­class women. Argentina The best overall work on the Argentine experience of the war is de Marco 2007, but specific themes covered here include the relationship between the provinces, Mitre, and his commitment to the alliance with Brazil. Historians have long debated the role of Argentina in the war. Was the nation dragged into war by the Brazilians (Rosa 1964), or by Mitre (Garcia Mellid 1964, McLynn 1979a), or by Paraguay’s reckless attack on Corrientes in April 1865 (Beverina 1921–1933)? Much of the most recent scholarship has focused on those social conditions in Argentina that inspired regional resistance to the war, de la Fuente 2004, Brezzo 1994, and McLynn 1979b highlight Sarmiento’s efforts in the war. Beverina, Juan. La guerra del Paraguay, las operaciones de la guerra en territorio argentino y brasileño. 5 vols. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Ferrari Hnos., 1921–1933. The standard Argentine account of the military conduct of the war, highly detailed and analytical, but relatively limited in its coverage of engagements outside Argentina and Paraguay. Particularly useful in its examination of the struggle in the province of Corrientes. Brezzo, Liliana M. “Armas norteamericanas en la guerra del Paraguay.” Todo es Historia 325 (September 1994): 28–31. Argues that Sarmiento’s desire to modernize the military during his presidency came from his observations in the United States. Considers his role in the procurement of arms for the Argentine military after the end of the US Civil War and the eagerness of American businessmen to profit from these sales. de la Fuente, Ariel. “Federalism and Opposition to the Paraguayan War in the Argentine Interior, La Rioja, 1865–1867.” In I Die with My Country: Perspectives on the Paraguayan War, 1864–1870. Edited by Hendrik Kraay and Thomas Whigham, 140–153. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 2004. Argues that there was strong opposition to the war in the western provinces of Argentina. Documents the harsh measures placed upon the Argentine provinces and their resistance to President Mitre. Narrates the war from the perspective of the western provinces, not Buenos Aires. de Marco, Miguel Ángel. La Guerra del Paraguay. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Emecé Editories, 2007. An overview of the war from a decidedly Argentine perspective. Contains a good history of the war’s impact on Argentine society, including analyses of journalism, camp life and conditions, and the differing perspective coming out of the provinces. Also provides interesting information on Argentine military uniforms and medical treatments. Garcia Mellid, Atilio. Proceso a los falsificadores de la historia del Paraguay. 2 vols. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Ediciones Theoria, 1964. Argentine revisionist offers a long­term analysis of Paraguayan history from independence to the early 20th century. Endorses the idea that a balance of power in the Río del Plata was disrupted by Mitre’s false nationalism and the avarice of his “liberal” business allies. McLynn, Frank J. “The Argentine Presidential Election of 1868.” Journal of Latin American Studies 11.2 (1979a): 303–323. A study of electoral politics in Argentina during the war. Considers how, when given a choice between Mitre’s Foreign Minister Rufino Elizalde and Minister to Washington Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, the electoral college selected the latter because of his opposition to the war. The conflict had become “Argentina’s Vietnam” by 1868, which soured the public on continued participation and strengthened the hand of Sarmiento who wished to see his country withdraw from the fighting. McLynn, Frank J. “The Corrientes Crisis of 1868.” North Dakota Quarterly 47.3 (1979b): 45–58. Explains how political instability in Corrientes province led to the downfall of the Entrerriano caudillo Justo José de Urquiza. McLynn argues that Urquiza was outsmarted and outmaneuvered by President Mitre, who saw the national commitment to the Paraguayan War as a way to strengthen national power over the provinces. Rosa, José María. La guerra del Paraguay y las montoneras argentinas. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Peña y Lillo, 1964. Argentine left Peronist offers a revisionist account, blaming the war on Brazilian ambitions. Claims implausibly that Paraguay was a socialist paradise before the 1864–1870 conflict, and argues that the Argentine provinces were dragged into the fighting by Mitre. Rosa concludes that the Brazilians wished to annex Paraguay, which, he says, was a goal of the Rio government from the onset. Uruguay Ironically, even though historians commonly trace the war to domestic Uruguayan politics, the nation was little affected by it, as pointed out in Casal 2004, and to a lesser extent, de Herrera 1951. The work of del Pino 2008 highlights the excellent collection of photographs housed at the National Libarary in Montevideo. Casal, Juan Manuel. “Uruguay and the Paraguayan War: The Military Dimension.” In I Die with My Country: Perspectives on the Paraguayan War, 1864–1870. Edited by Hendrik Kraay and Thomas Whigham, 132–133. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 2004. An excellent study of internal Uruguayan politics that led to the war. Argues that the Uruguayan contribution to the war brought little change to the Uruguayan military; rather, the most significant aspect of the war for Uruguay was economic, as the Uruguayans managed to supply the Allies with foodstuffs. Even these limited benefits were fleeting for this small nation. de Herrera, Luis Alberto. Antes y despúes de la Triple Alianza. Montevideo, Uruguay: Impresara Adrahez, 1951. This two­volume set explores the treatment of the Brazilian, Argentine, and Paraguayan relations with Uruguay. A description of the intrigue in Argentina and Brazil that brought Uruguay into the war. Excellent understanding of the Uruguayan Blanco position on the war. del Pino, Alberto Menck. La Guerra del Paraguay en fotografías. Montevideo, Uruguay: Biblioteca Nacional, 2008. Highlights the rich collection of photographs housed at the National Library in Montevideo with descriptions. Excellent resource for understanding the history of photography in the region during conflict. Contains a brief section on how the war shaped the Uruguayan economy on pages 51–52. Gender One of the only eyewitness accounts written by a woman is that of Duprat de Lasserre 1870. Paraguayan historiography is highlighted in the work of Massare de Kostianovsky 1967–1968, which takes the traditional approach in glorifying the sacrifices of Paraguayan women during the war. More recent literature focuses on the limited effect that women had during the course of the war and denies that they changed their social, cultural, or political circumstances after the war concluded—see Ganson 1990, and, most especially, Potthast­Jutkeit 1996 and Potthast 2004. Duprat de Lasserre, Dorothée. The Paraguayan War: Sufferings of a French Lady in Paraguay. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Standard Office, 1870. A copy in English exists in the British Library, otherwise available in Portuguese online through Harvard University Library. Tells a harrowing tale of survival in Paraguay during the final stages of the war and the great fear the foreign community suffered after the fall of Asunción. One of the few accounts of the war written from a female perspective. Ganson, Barbara. “Following Their Children into Battle: Women at War in Paraguay, 1864–1870.” Americas 46.3 (1990): 335–371. A detailed, almost­exhaustive study of women in Paraguay before and during the war. The approach here is broad but not particularly deep. Ganson assesses women’s participation in the conflict as producers of foodstuffs and supplies for the army, as nurses and as camp followers (1864 through February 1868). The study then transits Duprat de Lassere’s territory by showing the terrible circumstances for Paraguayan women in the latter years of the war. Massare de Kostianovsky, Olinda. “La mujer en la historia del Paraguay: Su contribución a la epopeya de 1864/70.” Historia Paraguaya 12 (1967–1968): 215–218. A thin, nationalist interpretation of Paraguayan women during the war. Recounts the government program by which Paraguayan women contributed their jewelry and other property to the war effort. Cites Thompson’s account of women near the battlefield, and also reprints nationalist poems about women in the war. Potthast, Barbara. “Protagonists, Victims, and Heroes: Paraguayan Women in the ‘Great War.’” In I Die with My Country. Edited by Hendrik Kraay and Thomas Whigham, 48–52. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 2004. Highlights the effort of women from the town of Areguá to volunteer to fight in the war. Although the Marshal rejected their offer, their willingness to fight suggested an important mobilization on their part. Potthast argues against the traditional Paraguayan portrayal of women as glorious heroes. Notes that despite their patriotism, women gained no meaningful political or social power in the country after the war. Potthast­Jutkeit, Barbara. “¿Paraíso de Mahoma” o “País de las mujeres”? Asunción, Paraguay: Instituto Cultural Paraguayo Alemán, 1996. A classic study of Paraguayan women during and after the war. Potthast demonstrates that the image of independent strong women did not originate with the 1864–1870 struggle, but in fact dated from an earlier period when many women were left alone because of their men’s absence in the yerbales. Based on extensive research in the Archivo Nacional de Asunción. The War’s Effect on Paraguay The question most concerning historians about the postwar period focuses on how quickly the population and the economy bounced back from the conflagration. Decoud 1925 narrates how the Allies complicated the effort at recovery. The role that foreign investment played in the rebuilding of the nation is much debated. The work in Abente 1989, for example, highlights this question, and the general influence of both Brazil in Argentina in postwar politics and economics is also well covered. Gómez Florentín 2010 provides a balanced approach in this respect. Abente, Diego. “Foreign Capital, Economic Elites, and the State in Paraguay during the Liberal Republic (1870–1936).” Journal of Latin American Studies 21.1 (1989): 61–88. One of the best works dedicated to understanding the social and economic structures in Paraguay in the postwar period. Brings about a clear understanding of the shift in Paraguay from a country dominated by landed elites to one where large foreign companies prevented the growth of domestic capitalism. The focus of the work is on the yerbales—such as La Industrial Paraguay and La Forestal del Paraguay—the timber industry and the meat industry. Decoud, Héctor Francisco. Sobre los escombros de la guerra: Una década de vida nacional, 1869–1880. Asunción, Paraguay: Talleres Nacionales de H. Kraus, 1925. Explores the treatment of Paraguay by the Allies. Critical of the ways in which the Allies took advantage of the situation to sack Asunción. Narrates the efforts of the returning Paraguayans to set up a new government after the termination of hostilities and defends those who fought with the Allies against Solano López as Paraguayan heroes. Gómez Florentín, Carlos. El Paraguay de la post­guerra, 1870–1900. Asunción, Paraguay: El Lector, 2010. Based on a few published primary sources. More focused on secondary sources. The four chapters outline the reorganization of the country after the defeat, the pacification of the nation, the rebuilding of the political apparatus, and the strengthening of economic structures. The best summary of postwar events in Paraguay. Military History Though the texts included in the “overviews” and “eyewitness accounts” sections of this article certainly contain considerable works useful to military history, this section focuses on more professional analyses: Corselli 1938; military medicine, Franco 1976; detailed accounts of particular engagements, Williams 2000 and Cerri 1892; naval history, Ouro Preto 1981, Gratz 1999–2000, and Laing 1968; logistics and larger questions of military doctrine, Bormann 1897. Also included here is a study of military chaplains in Paraguay, Gaona 1957. Bormann, José. História da Guerra do Paraguay. 3 vols. Curitiba, Brazil: Impressora Paranaense, 1897. The chief military account of the war from the Brazilian side, written by a general specifically tasked with telling the tale. Though still useful (and packed with interesting documentary details), this work has been largely superseded by that of another Brazilian general, Augusto Tasso Fragoso. The Atlas that accompanies the Bormann work has never been improved. Cerri, Daniel. Campaña del Paraguay: Tomo de la ciudad de Corrientes 25 e mayo 1865; Movimientos y combates después de Curupaití; expedición al Chaco en el sitio de Humaitá 1 de mayo de 1868. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Tip. “Del Pueblo,” 1892. A brief but concise account of several key actions in the war, written by an Italian­born Argentine general. Corselli, Rodolfo. La Guerra Americana della Triplice Alleanza contro il Paraguay. Modena, Italy: Tipografia delle Reale Accademia di Fanteria e Cavalleria, 1938. Italian fascist who gives a balanced historical study from a military perspective. Gives studies of the geography, flora and fauna of the region, and a detailed study of the region’s rivers. Detailed attention to military preparations from all participants. Franco, Victor. La Sanidad en la Guerra Contra la Triple Alianza. Asunción, Paraguay: Círculo Paraguayo de Medicos, 1976. Based on secondary sources. Provides a list of the medical practitioners in wartime Paraguay both foreign and domestic, offering a brief biography for each. Discusses the illnesses that affected the troops and the proscribed treatments. Also provides a list of the female nurses during the war, but regrettably, no biographical information. Useful. Gaona, Silvio. El clero en la guerra del ’70. Asunción, Paraguay: Dagre, 1957. Detailed look at military chaplains and other clergymen on the Paraguayan side during the war. Gratz, George A. “The Brazilian Imperial Navy Ironclads, 1865–1874.” Warship (1999–2000): 140–162. The article is a description with many images of the various ironclad ships ordered by the Brazilian and Paraguayan military in Europe before the war. Also includes descriptions of the careers of each during the war. Describes the attempts of the Brazilian navy to build ironclads of their own. Laing, E. A. M. “Naval Operations in the War of the Triple Alliance, 1864–70.” Mariner’s Mirror 54 (1968): 253–280. Useful summary account of the naval war. Contains helpful maps and a clear summary of Brazilian and Paraguayan naval power throughout the war. Ouro Preto, Visconde de. A Marinha d’Outrora. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Serviço de Documentação Geral da Marinha, 1981. Useful, highly detailed account of Allied naval war on the Paraguay River. Originally published in 1894. Williams, John Hoyt. “‘A Swamp of Blood.’ The Battle of Tuyutí.” Military History 17.1 (April 2000): 58–64. A general account of the battle of Tuyutí, 24 May 1866. Contains various images of the war and a simplified map of the battle. Discusses the ineffectiveness of the Paraguayan plan. Contains an insert entitled “Fanatics versus Professionals” that argues that the Paraguayan army was much smaller and less professional than assumed by most Paraguayan nationalists. Paraguayan–US Diplomatic Relations During the War In his work on diplomacy during the war, Doratioto 2002 (cited under General Overviews) describes how US Minister Washburn attempted to negotiate a peace between the Allies and Paraguay. Cardozo 1954 explores the prewar diplomatic situation. Other historians have shown less patience with US mediation efforts during the war, seeing them as too little, too late, and too unfocused; see Benítes 1906, and also of note in this respect is Peterson 1932. The Whigham and Casal 2008 text provides an excellent compilation of Washburn’s writings. Benítes, Gregorio. Anales diplomáticos y militares de la guerra del Paraguay. 2 vols. Asunción, Paraguay: Muñoz Hnos., 1906. This two­volume work explores Paraguayan diplomatic relations in Europe and the Americas during the war. Volume 1 is a defense of Solano López’s attempt at diplomacy before the conflict began, with Volume 2 addressing Paraguayan diplomacy during the war itself (including the works of Benítes himself). Contains transcriptions of diplomatic correspondence from the period. Cardozo, Efraím. Vísperas de la Guerra del Paraguay. Buenos Aires, Argentina: El Ateneo, 1954. An excellent study of Paraguayan relations with its neighbors prior to the war from one of Paraguay’s most esteemed historians. Cardozo’s work makes excellent use of the materials in Paraguay’s Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Relations. Peterson, Harold F. “Efforts of the United States to Mediate in the Paraguayan War.” Hispanic American Historical Review 12.1 (February 1932): 2–17. Outlines the failure of US diplomats in South America to prevent the war, or later to bring hostilities to a conclusion. Concludes that the American ministers were not up to the job because they placed commercial interests and the desire to impede European intervention in the region above the quest for peace. Whigham, Thomas, and Juan Manuel Casal, eds. Charles A. Washburn: Escritos escogidos; La diplomacia estadounidense en el Paraguay durante la Guerra de la Triple Alianza. Asunción, Paraguay: Servilibro, 2008. A rich collection of the writings of US Minister Charles A. Washburn, including selections from his memoirs, personal and diplomatic correspondence, and a diary recently discovered in the Washburn family archive in Livermore Falls, Maine. Originally written in English, save for the diary, which was written in the Minister’s nonstandard Spanish. Demographics Considerable attention has been paid by historians of the Paraguayan War to the question of demography. Losses from military action, disease, and hunger are all debated with some fervor by quantitative historians working with incomplete or problematic census records. Reber 1988 concludes that losses were less than previously believed. Whigham and Potthast 1999 has become the gold standard for population statistics, but its results have been criticized by Kleinpenning 2002. Because the population losses have found an oddly prominent place in the modern political debate in Paraguay, scholars continue to feel pressure to determine precise numbers for the prewar and postwar populations of Paraguay. Kleinpenning, Jan M. G. “Strong Reservations about ‘New Insights into the Demographics of the Paraguayan War.’” Latin American Research Review 37.3 (2002): 137–142. A response to the article by Whigham and Potthast about population statistics during the war that challenges the reliability of the 1870 census. Klein questions why Whigham and Potthast rejected certain published sources to confirm or deny their data. Argues that population losses during the war were between 43.1 and 51.6 percent, not the 60–69 percent argued by Whigham and Potthast. Reber, Vera Blinn. “The Demographics of Paraguay: A Reinterpretation of the Great War, 1864–1870.” Hispanic American Historical Review 68.2 (1988): 189–219. Writing against both popular and scholarly notions that the war killed 50 percent of the Paraguayan population, Reber uses calculations based on household structures to suggest that the Paraguayan population decline during the war amounted to only 8.7 and 18.5 percent of its prewar numbers. Whigham, Thomas L., and Barbara Potthast. “The Paraguayan Rosetta Stone: New Insights into the Demographics of the Paraguayan War.” Latin American Research Review 34.1 (1999): 174–184. The most commonly cited source on the demographics of the war. Based on a newly found census report from 1870, the authors conclude that the Paraguayan population was between 60 to 69 percent of prewar numbers. Paraguayan Economics in and around the War Debate continues about the economic and technological abilities of Paraguay in the years preceding and during the war. Some works, like Plá 1976 and Williams 1973, argue that Paraguay was quite advanced in these areas, while others, such as Warren 1967, Whigham 1991 and Whigham 1994, and Cooney 2004 take a much more doubtful view of the economic capabilities of the country. Warren 1978 highlights Paraguayan economic destruction during the war. Cooney, Jerry W. “Economy and Manpower: Paraguay at War, 1864–1869.” In I Die with My Country. Edited by Fredrik Kraay and Thomas Whigham, 23–43. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 2004. A solid study of Paraguay’s wartime economy. Discussion of the lack of supplies—medical, military, and foodstuffs—in the country at the time of the war. Highlights how Paraguay’s agricultural economy could not compete with the Allies during a prolonged modern war. Plá, Josefina. The British in Paraguay, 1850–1870. Richmond, UK: Richmond, 1976. Tells the history of two hundred British engineers and technicians who arrived in Paraguay to help modernize the country during the rule of Carlos Antonio López and Solano López. Elaborates on the cultural and social knowledge these men (and one woman—Eliza Lynch) brought to the country. Although focused on the prewar period, there is some information about military preparations. Warren, Harris Gaylord. “The Paraguay Central Railway, 1856–1889.” Inter­American Economic Affairs 20.4 (1967): 3–22. Covers the construction of the railway in Paraguay from the time of its inception through the postwar period. Concludes that the railroad was more of an economic dream than a practical method of transportation in Paraguay until after the conclusion of the war. Warren, Harris Gaylord. Paraguay and the Triple Alliance: The Postwar Decade, 1869–1878. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1978. Documents the terrible economic destruction the war caused in Paraguay as well as the sale of lands to foreign investors as the only resource available for which the Paraguayans to earn cash after the war. Squarely places the blame for Paraguay’s troubles on the victor’s mismanagement and corrupt political officials. Whigham, Thomas. The Politics of River Trade: Tradition and Development in the Upper Plata, 1780–1870. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1991. Focuses on the economic situation of the Upper Plate from the Bourbon Reforms though the end of the war. Chapter 2 contains an excellent summary of how the Paraguayan occupation of Corrientes shaped the economic viability of the city. Considers the economic effects of the war in a regional context. Whigham, Thomas. “Paraguay and the World Cotton Market: The ‘Crisis’ of the 1860s.” Agricultural History 68.3 (1994): 1–15. Argues that although Solano López and his foreign agents believed that cotton exports could spur an economic transformation in Paraguay because of shortages on the world market (brought about by the US Civil War), their optimistic predictions turned out to be unwarranted. A solid analysis of Paraguay’s failed attempt to integrate itself into the larger Atlantic economy. Williams, John Hoyt. “Paraguay’s Nineteenth­Century Estancias de la República.” Agricultural History 47.3 (1973): 206–216. An explanation of how Dr. Francia improved on the Spanish colonial system by turning the estancias del Rey into productive estancias de la República. Narrates how Francia nationalized the lands of his political adversaries. Concludes that the system implemented by Francia continued to expand under Carlos Antonio López and Solano López, and was well established at the time of the Paraguayan War. LAST MODIFIED: 06/30/2014 DOI: 10.1093/OBO/9780199766581­0159 BACK TO TOP Copyright © 2014. All rights reserved.