Chapter 103 The Paraguayan War
"I die with my homeland!"- Last words of President Francisco Solano Lopez 1868
"What a pointless war. Who did they fight for? What did they die for?"- President Juan Seguin 1868
"It is not the Emperor who won the war, it was the Army!"- Colonel Deodoro da Fonseca 1873
If you ask any Texan today to talk about their knowledge of the Paraguayan War, most won't be able to answer with some not even knowing that such a conflict existed in the first place. This is the same type of response that most people outside of South America will typically give due to an overall lack of awareness of the geopolitical situation on the continent. Leading to the infamous "Nothing ever happens in South America" trope in Alternatehistory. However if you are to ask a citizen of South America what they know about the conflict, you are likely to get a detailed response, or at the very least a general summary of the conflict. While the Paraguayan War is not as dynamic as other contemporary conflicts like the Mexican War, American Civil War, Spanish-American War, War of Carlist Ascension, or the Second War of German Unification; it is important for its aftermath laying the direct foundations for the South American War over a decade later. With the South American War came the radical transformation of almost all of its nations and the creation of early modern South America.
Propaganda in the first few months of the war on the side of the Triple Alliance painted it as a swift and righteous conflict which would see the nation of Paraguay topple over in months with the glorious armies of the Alliance decimating their foes with minimal casualties. While this could be true in an extremely hypothetical situation with the perfect scenario, reality is often more difficult than planned. In 1864 the infrastructure of all three members of the Triple Alliance had barely developed since independence, most advancements taking place on the coast while the interior remained the same as it had during the arrival of the Portuguese and Spanish, barring the occasional mine and plantation. There was also the state of military preparedness of both Argentina and Brazil. While both nations had entered into partial mobilization in the months leading up to the war, the forces of the Confederation and Empire were situated on the Uruguay border with a fraction of their entire composition prepared. With the lack of a proper railways system inland it would take months for Argentina and Brazil to achieve any kind of advancement. This would be used as a key opportune time by Solano Lopez to advance his armies and consolidate any gains as the Paraguayan dictator had structured his state into one that would easily be prepared for total war, every single facet of Paraguayan society giving itself to the cause. With thousands of fanatic soldiers loyal to the cause and mastery of the terrain, Paraguay had a tactical advantage, though unfortunately it was doomed to failure in every manner of a strategic sense. Paraguay firstly was a landlocked nation, therefore being bordered with 3/4th's of its neighbors being enemies Paraguay had no external supply lines nor any feasible route for international trade (the need to gain an oceanside port was actually a key reason for Solano Lopez to declare war on Uruguay). Additionally while Brazil and Argentina had small amounts of industry, Paraguay had none as the state was one that was built off of agrarian exploitation of cash crops. More often than not domestic weapons had to be made using techniques from the 18th century, far inferior than the modern bolt-action rifles. It's logistical system was nonexistent and Paraguay's officers had no method of training with generals being self-taught in the art of war. In order for Paraguay to win it had to achieve incredible tactical successes in the first months and somehow psychologically scare Argentina and Brazil into submission, a task far easier said than done.
In the first year Paraguay managed to claim numerous successes on the battlefield against their opponents in the Triple Alliance. The reason for this was due to the small state of the regular forces of Argentina and Brazil, whose 10,000 and 18,000 soldiers respectively could not match Paraguay's 60,000 in numerical superiority. By June Paraguay's disputed lands fell under its nominal control with the provinces of Misiones, the future province of Formosa, and Corrientes and half of both Rio Grande do Sol and Mato Grosso do Sol were taken by the Paraguayan forces. All initial battles in the first four months mainly consist of local Argentine and Brazilian forces engaging in skirmishes with the advancing Paraguayans, only to retreat when confronted with overwhelming numbers. On the outside it seemed that Paraguay would somehow pull off a miracle and win the entire war by the end of the year. However, much to Lopez's dismay, the offensives only rallied the populace of the Triple Alliance firmly behind their leaders as Argentina and Brazil geared for total war, Uruguay during this time having formed a cease fire between the Blancos and Colorados. Without an immediate surrender the strategic situation would go against Solano Lopez as the Paraguayan Army was stretched incredibly thin with its vast conquests over thousands of square kilometers, the primitive supply system being abused to the fullest extent. The Triple Alliance would win their first victory on July 22nd with the Battle of Parana where Argentine President Santiago Derqui protected the capitol with 4,500 troops against the ill-supplied and rushed 4,000 Paraguayan troops under the personal command of Solano Lopez, the Paraguayans expecting an easy victory with the conquest of the capitol. With the Confederate troops having been organized efficiently in the past four months and the city having a detailed network of defenses left over from the Civil War, the Paraguayans could make little headway as the high-spirited Argentines fought and bled for their capitol. The battle inflicted heavy casualties on Solano Lopez with 2,876 soldiers killed, wounded, or captured; while Argentina suffered 1623 casualties. The Battle of Parana marked a shift in the war in Argentina as Paraguayan forces fell back to their claim territories while the Armies of the Confederation marched on the counterattack with the governors of all various provinces having finally mobilized their soldiers for war.
Battle of Parana
Similarly to the Argentine Confederation, the Brazilian Empire was powerless to mount an effective resistance against the Paraguayan Army in the first half of 1864 due to the absense of most of the Brazilian Regular Army in the borderlands and the high corruption within the garrison forces stationed there. While the Imperial Army scrambled to organize the tide of volunteers answering the call, the Imperial Navy pitched a strategy to Dom Pedro that could potentially switch the entire war around. At the time Brazil had the highest quality Navy in South America with only the Republic of Texas and the United States being far superior to the state of the Imperial Armada in the Americas. In order to invade Argentina and Southern Brazil, Paraguay had to cross the Parana and Uruguay Rivers and use the two rivers as supply chains for the army. In preparation Solano Lopez had built a river navy to support his conquests, but this was a crudely made one with shoddy craftsmanship and most of the fleet being nothing but converted fishing boats with low ammunition. The Navy requested of Pedro that he pull the Army back and prevent them from engaging in any fullscale attacks, meanwhile the Navy would swoop in and take control of the Parana-Uruguay river system, cutting off the Paraguayan Army and ending any hope of supply. Seeing it as a plan that would include the least loss of life and would cover the Army during its period of mobilizatoin, Pedro agreed. In July the entirety of the Brazilian Navy, 51 ships, set sail for the Parana River, Argentina having already agreed for safe passage as part of its alliance obligations. On August 5th the Brazilian 1st Fleet under the command of Admiral Francisco Barroso received intel from the local Argentines that the Parguayan Navy had been docked at the city of Esquina, using Esquina as a midpoint along the Corrientes province. Barroso resolved to do battle there in order to wipe out Paraguay's Navy and claim total supremacy over the rivers. On the night of August 6th the Battle of Esquina began when the Brazilian Fleet encountered one of the 9 Paraguayan river boats that was acting as a scout for forces downstream. In quick order the Brazilians annihilated the Paraguayan ship before it was able to retreat and warn its comrades. At dawn of the 7th, the Paraguayan Navy woke up to fine itself being bombarded by 11 ships, a collection of 3 frigates, 5 corvettes, and 3 gunboats. With little warning the Paraguayans could only mount a paltry defense with ships scrambling with no direction against their organized Brazilian opposition. At the end of the day all 9 Paraguayan ships were sunk with only a handful of survivors while 1 Brazilian gunboat was lost with two corvettes receiving minor damage. The Battle of Esquina changed the entirety of the war in the Triple Alliance's favor as they now had naval supremacy and had cut off the supply lines of the Paraguayan Army. Faced with the possibility of being trapped in enemy territory, Solano Lopez ordered a general retreat into Paraguay, his troops being followed by regiments of the Alliance who desired revenge. Over the rest of 1864 all Paraguayan gains were reversed as the Brazilian Navy blew up all bridges leading into Paraguay and any ships coming from the landlocked nation, shooting any Paraguayans who attempted to flee back to their country. Alliance soldiers were able to reconquer their territory in quick succession, the Paraguayan forces with little to no supplies and coming under heavy attack from the local population who rose in resistance upon seeing their armies come to liberate them. On Christmas day the Alliance was on the Paraguayan Border, eager to conquer the nation by the end of the next year.
Battle of Esquina
In the first months of 1865 the Alliance gathered the totality of its forces on the eastern border of Paraguay, a grand total of 75,000 men. At the same time the Brazilian Navy was further consolidating its gains with it now taking majority control of the Paraguay and Pilcomayo rivers, squeezing the Paraguayan state dry in what was know known as the "Siege of Paraguay" by international observers. At the time newly constructed Argentine ships were joining Brazil at the blockade, raiding parties from the Alliance burning any crops in sight to starve Paraguay. With the conditions seemingly right, the Alliance ordered a full invasion into Eastern Paraguay on April 7th. The total Alliance forces were divided into three separate groups, the first being a total Argentine contingent of 15,000 led by General Manuel Rios would head towards Asuncion and lay siege to the capitol. A second of 37,000 would be made up of a coalition of all of the participating members of the Triple Alliance (9,000 Argentinians, 4,000 Uruguayans, 24,000 Brazilians) which would make up the main portion of the army heading into Eastern Paraguay. The last section made up of of 23,000 Brazilians invading the northern side of Paraguay. For the April to July of 1865 the Alliance slowly invaded into Paraguay and consolidated its gains, winning numerous victories against the Paraguayan Army. Notable victories for the Triple Alliance included the Battle of Estero Bellaco and Curuzu. While Paraguay did win several minor skirmishes, these were only accomplished with the usage of overwhelming force against isolated Allied units, the victorious Paraguayans soon needing to retreat in the face of Allied reinforcements. By August the Alliance had captured up to 80% of Eastern Paraguay. However three major battles would soon shift the entire war and turn it into a brief stalemate, the Battles of Concepcion and Curupayty, and the First Siege of Asuncion.
The Battle of Concepcion was an attack on August 13th on an encampment of the main Brazilian contingent up north led by General Manuel Luis Osorio. The attacking Paraguayans amounted to a rough force of 25,000 men led by Colonel Jose Diaz. While the Paraguayans outnumbered their Imperial counterparts, they were sorely lacking in advanced weaponry and artillery. Additionally the Imperial Army had roughly three days to entrench in the countryside and set up a strong perimeter, a defensive formation strongly reinforced by a rainfall the previous night. The entirety of the battle was one of numerous Paraguayan charges against the well-defended Brazilians with the Paraguayans coming under dozens of volleys of rifle fire and continuous artillery strikes. After the decimation of the initial Paraguayan attack force, the Brazilians would lead a brief counterattack in order to wipe out any survivors of the wave. Concepcion was the bloodiest battle of the Paraguayan War with the Paraguayans taking 16,000 casualties while the Brazilians took 5,674 casualties. While the battle was a clear victory for the Brazilian Army, the heavy extent of the casualties was enough to give General Osorio pause, thus ordering a halt to his march and limiting any advancements for the rest of the year. Down South at Curupayty an attack was planned by the main alliance to take the River Fortress of Humaita in order to give the Brazilian Navy complete dominance of the Paraguay River and allow for a reinforcement of the Argentine contingent in their ongoing siege of Asuncion, an affair that was brutal on the Argentines with every man and women in the capitol taking up arms against the invaders. An strike was called for on September 4th by the combined leadership of former Argentine President Justo Jose de Urquiza, and Brazilian General Joaquim Marques Lisboa. The attack was supposed to take the town of Curupayty laying right before the fortress on the dawn of the 4th, with the Imperial Navy coming in under the cover of night and providing cover for the Army. However, during their trek through the Paraguay River, spotters on the fortress of Humaita were alerted to the presence of the Brazilians and fired on their ships, causing the Navy to retreat for the day. Unfortunately a communications issue prevented the Army from learning of the withdrawal of the Navy, thus causing the advance to continue. Concepcion was the bloodiest battle of the war for the Allies with 8,663 casualties against the Paraguayan trenches. All assaults failed brutally with only a few hundred ever reaching the Paraguayan lines, only to be brutally slaughtered. In return the Paraguayans miraculously took only less than 300 casualties; later causing President Solano Lopez to refer to the battle as "Paraguay's Alamo". The most devastating effect on morale besides the high casualties was the mortal wounding of President Urquiza, who died four days later after extensive surgery. When news of Curupayty reached the capitol on the 22nd, an excited Solano Lopez personally led the cities populace in a charge against the besieging Argentinians. Against the tsunami of human flesh the Argentine Army held considerably, causing over 5,000 casualties in return for 1600. However the strategic situation was at a disadvantage for Rios who was running low on supplies and feared an invasion of Argentina with the loss of Urquiza. Thus the next day on the 23rd Rios made a strategic retreat, abandoning the siege. Following the disastrous battle and the failure of the siege, the Alliance stopped all offensive operations for the rest of the year.
Battle of Curupayty (Left). Battle of Concepcion (Right).
Tensions were high between the members of the Triple Alliance in the first months of 1866. Each side blamed each other for the disasters of the previous year with Argentina blaming Brazil for halting its conquest of Northern Paraguay and the failure of the Brazilian Navy to completely secure the rivers. On the opposite side Brazilian command called the Argentinians cowards and poor soldiers in battle. The homefront was also not looking well with high taxes for the war effort raising protests and occasional riots among the populace, most having expected the war to end by now with complete and total victory. The State of Mato Grosso de Sol was also in flames as slave revolts were breaking out with the encouragement and support of Paraguayan guerrillas. Finally the domestic cease fire in Uruguay was beginning to unravel with open street brawls between the Blancos and Colorados, the latter accusing the former of violating the cease fire agreement and denying them equal rule in the government. The presence of both Argentine Confederates and the Imperial Brazilian Army deterred tensions from escalating back into Civil War, but the rage was still there. Inside the gains made in Paraguay the situation was not that much better with Solano Lopez organizing elite battalions to act as guerrillas and encourage total resistance in occupied territory. This forced some of the most brutal fighting in Latin America not seen since the wars of independence, entire villages being set ablaze in the crossfire between the Allies and the resistance. New plans were drawn up by the Alliance with Brazil advocating for a halt of all offensives until the Navy could deploy its new Monitor-class ships that were being constructed in Rio, the American Navy acting as contractors in order to help the Brazilians set up a modern Brown-water Navy. Unfortunately the completion of this would come in June at best with the civilian populations demanding that total victory come soon. Unless they desired a revolution, the Alliance would have to strike hard and fast now. Luckily for the Allies they would not have to do so, for in May Peru-Bolivia entered the war.
For the first two years of the conflict Supreme Protector Santa Cruz watched closely as his ally Brazil made total war with the state of Paraguay. With final stages of the Amazonian Wars wrapping up, Cruz needed to pay attention to his northern borders while Central South American went aflame. Peru-Bolivia's policy was one of neutrality, but favored support of Brazil. Arms shipments and food would make their way to ports in Brazil while Brazilian units would occasionally move freely through Brazilian territory. While Santa Cruz was pleased at the early successes of his ally, he was the exact opposite with the gains of Argentina. Since the end of the War of the Confederation, multiple regiments of regulars and militia had always maintained a silent vigil on the Argentine border in order to prepare for the possibility of another attempt to cut off Bolivia from the sea. Upon the conclusion of the Argentine Civil War, communication started to go back and forth between Santiago and Parana, Bolivian spies telling of the formation of another alliance to prepare for another future war against Peru-Bolivia. With Colombia and Ecuador both being nearly failed states, the only threat to the continuation of the Confederation lay south in Argentina and Chile, both eager to enforce their claims on Bolivia and Southern Peru. The threat of a resurgent Argentina was not the only worry that the Confederation had to face from the war. In the first two years of fighting an estimated 30,000 Paraguayans fled North into Bolivia in order to escape forced servitude into Solano Lopez's army for the war effort. The mass inflight of refugees created problems for the Bolivian government as violence broke out between the native Bolivians and the Paraguayans over the latter squatting and trespassing onto the land of Bolivian citizens. Santa Cruz sent 7,000 regular soldiers to assist the local militias in ending the violence and stopping the refugees from crossing the border, though unfortunately both efforts failed with attacks and migration increasing. The people of Bolivia called upon thei Supreme Leader to solve the crisis and put an end to the Paraguayan menace. Thus, seeing a way to knock two birds with one stone, putting Argentina in their place and ending the refugee situation, Santa Cruz called for war. Using his powers as Supreme Protector which placed him as Supreme Commander and overarching authority over the entirety of the Confederation military, Santa Cruz announced a declaration of war on April 1st of 1866. The next month the Regular Army traveled down South while the Bolivian Militia organized for wartime so that they could join the Regulars in support of the war effort. Santa Cruz's casus belli was to rid Paraguay of a brutal tyrant and bring peace to the region where the Triple Alliance failed. On May 19th the Peru-Bolivian Army crossed the border. At the time the lack of a modern telegram network made it so that Paraguay was completely oblivious to the Peruvian aggression. Most battles with the Paraguayan Army until early Fall resulted in total victory for Peru-Bolivia as they caught the under-supplied and minuscule forces in the North completely unaware. The stage was set for the greater downfall of Paraguay.
Bolivian troops marching off to war
Among the Triple Alliance news of the entry of Peru-Bolivia in the war was met with highly mixed reactions. Brazil and Uruguay were generally happy and supportive of the decision, Argentina was furious. President Derqui assumed (correctly) that Peru-Bolivia would force itself unto Argentina's claims and deny the nation most of its worthy spoils that it had fought so hard for in the war. Protests were made by the Argentine embassy in Rio, but these fell on deaf ears as Dom Pedro warned that if Argentina were to go against the Treaty then Brazil would split Paraguay solely with Peru-Bolivia. Not able to stand up against Brazil with its far superior military, Parana relented and agreed to an amending of the pre-arranged terms at a later date. In mid-June the new fleet of 17 river monitors were completed and the Brazilian Navy sailed them up the mouth of the Paraguay River in July to finally take total control of the river. The Allied Army moved out once more and on August 15th took the fortress of Humaita with minimal casualties. The Brazilians now had a clear pathway to sent their navy to Asuncion. With this new window of opportunity Rios headed out with 11,000 troops to redeem his earlier failure and take Asuncion once and for all, the Second Siege beginning on September 16th, a week before the yearly anniversary of his retreat. In the next three months the Argentine Army and the Brazilian Navy slowly laid waste to Asuncion in a brutal bombardment of the city. On the way Allied troops followed on the road to the capitol, pillaging any farmlands they came across and killing all who resisted in a merciless campaign against the civilian populace. Solano Lopez did his best to rally the capitol against the enemy, but by then half the population had either died or left with the remaining starving and low on ammunition. On December 23rd with a majority of the Allies reinforcements arriving for a grand total of 46,000 Allied troops, Rios called for an attack to take the city by Christmas Eve. The battle was a brutal street to street fight with the citizens arming themselves with knives, pitchforks, generally any tool they could get their hands on. By the end of the day the three flags of the Alliance flied high over Asuncion, the cities population taking 11,00 casualties while the Allies took 3,210. Unfortunately for the Alliance they could not find Solano Lopez, though his family was found dead due to a fire caused in the Presidential Mansion, the cause of the fire to this day still unknown to historians. Without Solano Lopez to sign an armistice, the war still raged on.
The next year of the war would be an intense guerrilla campaign in the mountains of Paraguay. Solano Lopez, by surviving accounts slowly delving into madness after the loss of the capitol and his family, resolved to continue the war until every one of enemies were dead. Taking what little was left of the Regular Army with thousands of villagers who followed him into the mountains, Solano Loepz would trek across Paraguay and come to battle against any and all Allied forces that he could find. The war at this point became nothing but brutal massacres conducted by both sides. Paragauyan guerrillas would launch surprise raids and kill all enemy soldiers they could lay their hands on, quietly escaping into the night before taking heavy casualties. In return the armies of the Alliance took out their frustrations on the native populace, looting and then setting ablaze to hundreds of farms with some units engaging in the murder of any Paraguayan civilians they came across. Dozens of cases of rape by Allied soldiers were reported to take place against the women of Paraguayan villages, the men of the village visibly absent due to going off to fight and die for Solano Lopez. Thousands of refugees would make a mad dash for the borders and try to get as far away from the reach of Lopez's army before they were forced into fighting the Alliance. Those who refused to leave would instead try and blend into the mountains and forests. Any who stayed near civilization either lived, or died from war and disease. Accounts of the brutality of the war were beginning to make its way to the general outside world, with almost all non South Americans horrified at the barbarity taking place within Paraguay. Journalists from papers such as the New York, London, and San Francisco Times began to make their way to the fighting in order to illuminate just what exactly was going on at the front. Numerous calls were made by foreign governments for restraint on the part of the Alliance and for them to leave Paraguay alone in its state of defeat. The most active of the foreign powers was Italy with Pope Pius IX calling issuing a Papal Bull for the population of Paraguay to lay down their arms and for the Alliance soldiers to end their atrocities or risk spending the afterlife in hell. Pius in cooperation with Garibaldi even sent a contingent of 15,000 Italian soldiers on an expedition to accompany a relief force lead by the Jesuits to attempt to solve the refugee crisis and give aid to the Paraguayan People suffering within their borders, something that the Alliance begrudgingly accepted in fear of becoming a pariah in the International community. With protests within the Alliance (though Peru-Bolivia was mostly stable at this point) calling for a withdrawal, the main mission of the Alliance became an all-out manhunt for the head of Solano Lopez.
Mass grave of the inhabitants of a Paraguayan village (Left). A Brazilian priest tends to Paraguayan refugees in Mato Grosso do Sol (Right).
After months of searching, in February of 1868, the Alliance managed to pick up a lead thanks to a score of defecting Paraguayan officers that lead them to the main location of Lopez's command. After weeks of preparation a combined Peruvian-Brazilian regiment launched an attack on the camp of Solano Lopez. On April 18th the main camp of the Paraguayan Army came under assault by the Peruvian-Brazilians in the night, the Paraguayan guerrillas weakly fighting against the Allies with little more than their fists at most times, guns becoming near absent at this point. After hours of fierce fighting the battle ended by dawn, with a Brazilian patrol bringing the corpse of Solano Loepz in front of their officers. According to the patrol they found Solano Lopez, weak and starving, running with two of his aides for the hills in the cover of the night. They were soon surrounded by the patrol and upon hearing calls of surrender, Solano Lopez launched himself unto the sword of the commanding officer, killing himself in suicide. With the death of Solano Lopez came the end of the Paraguayan War, and the existence of Paraguay itself.
Death of Francisco Solano Lopez
The Paraguayan War was one of the bloodiest wars of the 19th century. In many respects it was perhaps the single most destructive as it caused the complete collapse of an entire nation. Historical reports and censuses conducted by Argentina, Brazil, and Bolivia of the Paraguayan people in occupied lands place it that an estimated 85% of the total population died during the war. Most of the remaining Paraguayans consisted of women and young children, the men having seemingly all but vanished with several towns and villages devoid of human life. The Alliance lost an estimated 170,000 soldiers, most having died not due to combat but rather of mortal wounds due to poor medical practice and the rise of tropical diseases within various camps. With an overwhelming majority of the Paraguayan population lost, there was no one left to run the country in its current state, thus requiring its total dissolution. In June ambassadors from all four participating members of the Alliance met in Galveston, Texas for final talks of the war. Texas was chosen as neutral ground that would not give any one country favor in the talks, all four nations either having close relations or extreme feelings of hate in the remainder of the Latin American countries. In the proceeding Austin Conference, the terms of the "Partition of Paraguay" largely proceeded as planned in the Triple Alliance with Brazil receiving the half East of the Paraguay River. Uruguay would have a coalition government continue under the direction of the Blancos with free elections slated for 1870. In addition Uruguay would receive financial compensation of 1.3 million Pesos by Brazil, Argentina, and Peru-Bolivia for its role. When it came to the rest of the partition, things became heated between Argentina and Peru-Bolivia. Originally it was slated that everything west of the Paraguay River would go to Argentina, with the Argentine Confederation receiving the capitol district of Asuncion. However by the time Argentina reached Asuncion, Peru-Bolivia had secured the Northern portion of the country, which they claimed as their own. The negotiations turned into a shouting match between the Argentine and Peruvian ambassadors with the Argentine contingent shouting cries of being cheated out of their land. Unfortunately for Argentina all threats to enforce their claims were met with those by Peru-Bolivia that they would go to war and with Argentina and force them to give up the entirety of their claims. With tens of thousands of Peruvian-Bolivians still ready to fight and Argentina having taken a significant portion of the casualties, they were in no state to engage the Power of the Pacific. Thus, Argentina was forced to oblige by the new terms. Thus ended the Paraguayan War with the signing of the Galveston Accords on July 1st.
Partition of Paraguay. Peru-Bolivia (Maroon). Argentina (Blue). Brazil (Green).
With the end of the Paraguayan War came the complete annihilation of a nation and the enlargement of three others. After Galveston the Peru-Bolivian Confederation, Brazilian Empire, and Argentine Confederation were all recognized as the three dominant powers on the continent. However of the three Peru-Bolivia was the only clear winner of the conflict. Peru came in late into the war with minimal casualties and manage to extend its territory further to become one of the largest nations in the world. The Paraguayan War would be the last conflict before Santa Cruz's passing, making him a near godly figure among the people of Peru-Bolivia, establishing him a lasting legacy of love and adoration as the Invincible Conqueror. Geopolitically Peru-Bolivia accomplished its goals with Chile being intimidated into temporarily backing off of its buildup on the border, signing a non-aggression pact with Peru-Bolivia in 1869. For Argentina and Brazil the only total benefits of the war were a boost in prestige, many multiple consequences following the end of the war. Both Brazil and Argentina had to place tens of thousand of troops in the conquered territory to establish a semblance of order while reestablishing an economic hold over the region they devastated. In Argentina the Confederate government was left humiliated after having half its claims being taken by Bolivia. Dissatisfaction at the war lead to a temporary resurgence of Centralist revolts for the next five years. In order to keep the peace, further decentralization was enacted by the Parana government which made the Confederation an alliance of states in all but name. This decentralization made it difficult for the Parana government to pay off the war debt that it had taken up, though they were able to eliminate most debts by 1875 thanks to foreign investment. For Brazil the war was economically disastrous, the Imperial government was forced to take upon a debt of 658,000 Reis, putting the country in a deficit for the next eleven years. Most of the debt came from high taxation and mass printing of paper money, which weakened the once soaring economy. Brazilian domestic politics would also become heated with the Army becoming a power in its own right thanks to the boost of funding into its operation and the rise of an elite officer class which oversaw the Empire to its victory. Many within the Army were starting to see themselves as the true leaders of the Empire, that they should be granted the reigns of power instead of the Emperor and the nobles of the court. Slavery also rose to become a prominent topic within the Empire due to the forced drafting of thousands of slaves to fulfill the manpower needs of the armed forces, an estimated 32,000 slaves having taken arms in service of the Empire. With Brazil remaining the only slave state of the Americas after Texas and America's Emancipation, it was finding itself to become a pariah state thanks to its attachment to an archaic and economically backwards system. Over the course of the 1870's the domestic situation would begin to rise to a climax within the Empire, culminating in a series of events that would lead to the Brazilian Civil War, and the greater South American War.