The Paraguayan War Causes And Early Conduct

The Paraguayan War (1864?70) was the deadliest and most extensive interstate war ever fought in Latin America. The conflict involving Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil killed hundreds of thousands of people and had dire consequences for the Paraguayan dictator Francisco Solano L¢pez and his nation. Though the Paraguayan War stirs the same emotions in South Americans as does the Civil War in the United States, there have been few significant investigations of the war available in English. In this first of two volumes, Thomas L. Whigham provides an engrossing and comprehensive account of the war's origins and early campaigns, and he guides the reader through the complexities of South American nationalism, military development, and political intrigue. Whigham portrays the conflict as bloody and inexcusable, though it paved the way for more modern societies in the continent. The Paraguayan War fills an important gap in our understanding of Latin American history.

"'The Paraguayan War' is an engrossing and comprehensive account of the origins and early campaigns of the deadliest and most extensive interstate war ever fought in Latin America."--

"'The Paraguayan War' is an engrossing and comprehensive account of the origins and early campaigns of the deadliest and most extensive interstate war ever fought in Latin America."--

"'The Paraguayan War' is an engrossing and comprehensive account of the origins and early campaigns of the deadliest and most extensive interstate war ever fought in Latin America."--

"In 1864 Paraguayan dictator Francisco Solano López seized the Brazilian steamer, the Marquês de Olinda, initiating what became the most significant war ever fought in South America. By 1866 López's offensive had ended, replaced by a brutal and protracted Allied siege of Paraguay. Whigham's study takes the story of this epic conflict from this point, describing not only key personalities and various military engagements but also explaining how the war shaped society, how men and women mobilized only to suffer on an unimaginable scale. He shows how thousands of Brazilian, Argentine, and Uruguayan soldiers were killed by 1870 and many more left wounded or broken. On their side, the Paraguayans saw their population fall to less than half its pre-war figure, and the country's economy more or less ceased to function. Yet, for all the devastation it unleashed, the Triple Alliance War also acted as a major catalyst, permanently changing political parameters on the continent and etching the struggle into popular memory in an unforgettable way. The Road to Armageddon is the definitive work on the Triple Alliance War of 1864-1866. There is no other work in English that covers this war in such detail and with such a wide use of sources. Unlike the other works published on the Triple Alliance conflict, which are based almost exclusively on secondary works, The Road to Armageddon is based on a broad consideration of newspaper sources and primary materials from a score of archives and libraries in Brazil, Paraguay, Great Britain, Argentina, Uruguay, Italy, and the United States. In addition to focusing on high politics and the conduct of the war, the study also attempts to examine the conflict from the bottom up, with testimony drawn from poor men and women who witnessed the worst aspects of the war. The Road to Armageddon is not the only English-language work on the war, but it is distinctly the most complete. The images, which are relatively unknown in North America, are particularly fine as are the maps."--

The Paraguayan War (1864?70) was the most extensive and profound interstate war ever fought in South America. It directly involved the four countries of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay and took the lives of hundreds of thousands, combatants and noncombatants alike. While the war still stirs emotions on the southern continent, until today few scholars from outside the region have taken on the daunting task of analyzing the conflict. In this compilation of ten essays, historians from Canada, the United States, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay address its many tragic complexities. Each scholar examines a particular facet of the war, including military mobilization, home-front activities, the war?s effects on political culture, war photography, draft resistance, race issues, state formation, and the role of women in the war. The editors? introduction provides a balance to the many perspectives collected here while simultaneously integrating them into a comprehensible whole, thus making the book a compelling read for social historians and military buffs alike.

Ranging from the 1840s through the early twenty-first century, this study of shared political, economic, and cultural histories fills significant gaps in our understanding of Paraguayan-U.S. relations. Frank O. Mora and Jerry W. Cooney tell how an initially rocky beginning between the two countries, marked by diplomatic posturing, shows of military force, and failed business schemes, gave way to a calmer period during which the United States backed Paraguay's territorial claims against its neighbors, prospects grew brighter for American entrepreneurs, and Paraguay embraced Pan-Americanism. It was not until the 1930s that the two countries engaged in earnest as the United States attempted to mediate the Chaco War between Paraguay and Bolivia. Then, as the authors write, "hemispheric solidarity in World War II, the cold war in Latin America, the 'balance of power' among states in the Río de la Plata, and the question of U.S. support for, or aid to, Latin American dictators" became matters of mutual interest. The dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner (1954-89) spanned much of this era, and a shared attitude of realpolitik typified U.S.-Paraguayan relations during his rule. Post-Stroessner, the United States has stood by Paraguay during its transition to democracy, despite lingering concerns about such issues as drug trafficking and intellectual piracy. The countries should grow closer with time, the authors conclude, if Paraguay resists the continent's leftward political shift and remains a solid partner in U.S. antiterror initiatives in South America.