War has always been among the bloody and most serious pursuits. And all the same, history knows conflicts in which some of the events cause, if not a smile, then some bewilderment, since the main participants commit the most ridiculous, inexplicable acts, which makes the campaign turn into a farce, into a cruel parody. True, the consequences of this do not become softer and more desirable.
By 1864, when Paraguay's war with the Triple Alliance began (in South America, the Triple Alliance is usually called the cooperation of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay), this state was not yet considered the poorest region, and even gave some hope for economic growth. In many ways, the development was facilitated by the separation of Paraguay from Brazil. And although there remained the disputed territories controlled at that time by Paraguay, for the time being, the conflict did not exist as such.
The situation was complicated by the fact that the country was then ruled by several dictators successively replacing each other. And the last of them, Francisco Solano Lopez, who inherited power from his father, did not differ in intelligence or knowledge - everything was replaced by ambition, greed and unscrupulousness.
First of all, Lopez carried out legislative reforms, as a result of which almost all land ownership and industry passed into the hands of the state. Then he built a couple of factories for the production of weapons and ammunition. AND
then I decided to make good money without intermediaries on the export of timber (Paraguay is rich in valuable species) and mate. And for this he needed access to the sea, which was controlled by Brazil. So Lopez, imagining himself the reincarnation of Napoleon, decided to simply take away the necessary lands. Moreover, he did not know the restraint, punishing subjects to the right and left without observing the laws. In a word, he behaved worse than a medieval feudal lord.
Paraguayan Infantry by Giuseppe Rava.
Having recruited a motley army of Spaniards and Indians, Lopez armed it with all kinds of old things - everything that was found in the storerooms. Well, to strengthen the spirit, he introduced decimation - so he originally decided to follow the example of the ancients. And then there was a reason for the war.
Brazil decided to take control of Uruguay - they say, their ancestral lands. And Uruguay asked Paraguay for help. They agreed, but it was difficult for them to fight with Brazil, since Argentina was blocking the enemy. So Lopez decided to declare war on Argentina.
Promotional video:
Lopez's army was armed with all sorts of rubbish, as already mentioned - up to flint caramultuks. The artillery was represented by ancient bronze and cast-iron cannons from the time of the Portuguese discoveries, from which they were afraid to shoot, but this was also suitable for the king. Several river steamers taken from Brazil at the start of the war and hastily repaired their own wooden antiques depicted the naval forces. The ships were all made up of civilian river vessels. In principle, they managed to order five battleships, but they never got them - on the way, they were intercepted and bought by Brazil for their own needs.
Brazilian infantry. Illustrator: Giuseppe Rava.
And the cavalry.
The rivals were armed with completely modern models, and Brazil still had a good own armored fleet. So everyone believed that the victory would be easy, and the war would end in four or five months. As a result, it dragged on for more than five years. True, the Paraguayans outnumbered their opponents - Lopez put almost the entire male population of the country under arms. And if at the initial stage at least some external decency was still observed, then at the end of the war even 9-year-old boys served in the army of Paraguay - and this was not considered abnormal or unusual.
The main rival of Paraguay was, as expected, Brazil. But her military leaders distinguished themselves by a rare stupidity and indecision. And the whole war. They retreated, almost winning and did not pursue the enemy when he retreated. They have never even been able to take advantage of their technical superiority in armament! There are cases when a whole flotilla could not cope with a steamer armed with two land guns. Another example: the Brazilians could not take the fort, which had only one cannon and almost no gunpowder.
Infantry of Argentina. Illustrator: Giuseppe Rava.
Cavalry.
Paraguay suffered huge losses (in other cases, the Paraguayans lost 1,000 people killed against 300 from the allies), but at the same time managed to operate on enemy territory! After the Battle of Riachuelo, when the Paraguayans tried to capture the Brazilian fleet, but were defeated despite the efforts of the enemy (the Brazilians did everything possible to lose), their battered army crossed the river on pies without any cover. And then 4 (four!) Brazilian gunboats accidentally jumped out on them. The Paraguayans, disorganized and incapable of any intelligible resistance, prepared themselves to experience the bitterness of defeat. But to their surprise, the Brazilian forces fled, surprised that the remnants of the Paraguayan army were slightly larger than they were told at headquarters.
With incredible efforts, the Brazilians transferred the fighting to the lands of Paraguay. And there, without already having metal for weapons, they organized the collection of Brazilian cannonballs and buckshot. So, soon the war as such ended, degenerating into mass guerrilla tactics. As a result, the civilian population of the region was severely affected.
Paraguayan children.
In the end, the mad dictator, who managed to torture to death even the foreign mercenaries who served as machinists on his ships, was defeated on the banks of Akidaban. Lopez tried to leave, but was hacked to death by a Brazilian soldier trying to break through to the crossing. An unnecessary and incomprehensible war ended with the complete defeat of Paraguay - for him, Brazil's inept strategy turned into a war of attrition.
Today, both Brazil (although this is more of a history of shame) and Paraguay (also have nothing to be particularly proud of) are proud of this campaign. Each in its own way. The bottom line of the campaign is simple. Brazil has grown in territories, and Paraguay has lost part of the land (about half), almost the entire industry and from 70 to 90% of the male population - according to different calculation methods. No one assessed the civilian casualties. Many tried to understand the scale from indirect data, and the order of the numbers approximately converges. The picture for the most reliable layouts is as follows. Before the outbreak of the war, the population of the country was approximately 1,300,000. After the war - only 221. 000. Paraguay became the most backward country in South America. And the reason is just the inflated ambitions of one dictator, who suddenly decided to fight across the globe. True,I didn’t manage to go beyond the valley of the Plata River - the reality turned out to be much cruder than dreams.