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Chapter 79 South America 1836-1861
Chapter 79 South America 1836-1861
"South America, where adventure awaits!"- President Theodore Roosevelt 1918
"Upon this land I shall build a great nation and succeed where Simon Bolivar has failed. Peru-Bolivia shall be the eye of Latin America, a wondrous nation for all to see."- Presidente Andres de Santa Cruz 1840
"One day the peoples of the worlds shall not remember the legacy of the House of Braganza for being the Kings of Portugal, but for our glorious rule as the Emperors of Brazil."- Dom Alfonso I 1901
For many centuries after the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus in 1492, South America was renown throughout Europe as a land of wonder and mystery full of bounty's and a paradise for all. While the truth was far from this with the heavy concentration of slavery, multiple widespread diseases, and dangers of the jungle, it was still considered by many to be an exotic paradise that rivaled North America in terms of its large biodiversity. For three centuries there was relative peace on the continent due to the joint rule of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires. With the exceptions of French, English, and Dutch settlements off the coast, South America became the heart and soul of Latin America due to its unique fusion of Iberian and native culture which produced a hearty people who placed much pride on their independence and self-reliance compared to the other colonies. I the 1810's during the Napoleonic Wars, the continent erupted into fullscale revolution as great leaders such as Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin led a continental revolt against their Spanish oppressors to gain freedom from the homeland once and for all. At the same time Brazil managed to successfully seek independence from the homeland after former Portuguese King Pedro IV declared the beginning of the Empire of Brazil. For a time it looked as though the region would prosper under a shared unity and would soon develop at the same pace as the United States. Sadly much like their Mexican counterparts, this was not the case as the former viceroyalties broke up into multiple states and affairs on the southern continent descended into petty wars over territorial disputes by the whims of tyrants. The rule of democracy which the common people so desired having been swept away in the great tide of nationalism. Often South America in this period is overlooked at due to more dynamic developments in global affairs such as the 1846 Revolutions, American Civil War, Beginning of the Second Imperial Age, etc. This can be quite understandable on a level as it wouldn't be until after the American Civil War that South America started to affect affairs of other nations. However in order to see the emergence of South America into the 19th century, we must first look back and see what began the process of disunity that led to the South America we know today.
Empire of Brazil: Out of all the nations in South America, most historians like to attribute to Brazil as the great success story due to its later rise and eventual standing as a great power in the 20th century. While it is true that the Brazilian Empire was able to match all other Latin American nations, with the exception of Peru-Bolivia in terms of strength and influence, the road to becoming a great power was a hard and bloody one due to the numerous secession wars, political infighting, and shadows of slavery that marked the journey. In 1836 while Texas was fighting for its independence against Mexico, Brazil was undergoing turbulent times as the current ruler, Dom Pedro II, was only a 11 year old boy, thus a regency had been ongoing in the past five years since 1831. Like many other regencies in the past, Brazil was not stable during this time period as both the Conservatives and Liberals were jockeying for power in order to influence the young Emperor to their side once he became of age. There were frequent conflicts between neighboring provinces over territory and resources while the Brazilian General Assembly was known for its increasing deadlock. Thankfully the time of troubles came to an end in 1843 when Pedro officially became of age and started ruling on his own. At the start of his reign Pedro began an intense campaign of anti-corruption policies designed to clean out the court of anyone who either had been detrimental to the state during his reign, or did nothing of contribution to the Empire itself. Disenchanted with the liberals due to their efforts to keep power away from the monarchy during the regency, Pedro filled his cabinet with conservative ministers and nobles, setting out to create a lasting empire which he would give to his sons in a powerful state unlike Pedro I who simply abandoned Brazil for Portugal. That did not mean that Pedro ruled as an autocrat however as he was a social liberal at heart and ensured social stability by working together with all factions within General Assembly to ensure that Imperial Rule would be enforced and the people's needs met. In the 1850's Pedro set out to introduce the Industrial Revolution to Brazil and he was able to modernize the economy with a %165 growth in industry from 1850-1860. This included many programs such as the building of factories, mining in the Amazons, and a coastal railway that stretched from Rio de Jainero all the way to Salvador. Pedro also became much beloved by the common people due to his devotion to the arts and humanities with the spending of a large percentage of royal funds on creating multiple royal academies to educate the Brazilian intellegista and public works programs to spread Brazilian culture and transform the coastal cities into living works of art on the same level of Western Europe. Alongside these came multiple works of charity aimed at uplifting the Brazilian lower class. Inspired in large part by Pope Pius' social doctrine and Italian economic development, Pedro worked together closely with the Catholic Church to introduce Catholic Capitalism into the country and make sure that the common Brazilian was provided for by both the Church and the State and that all Brazilian business would be protected against foreign competition. Lastly Pedro was able to start Brazil on the process of manumission by abolishing the slave trade in 1848 and strictly enforcing the anti-trade laws against any smugglers who attempted to introduce new African slaves into the country. Thanks to Pedro's rule which would later earn him the title "The Magnanimous", Brazil had become a hemispheric power on par with the United States in 1861. This would be only the beginning for the long and rich history of the Brazilian Empire.
Dom Pedro II circa 1859 (Left) Territorial Divisions of the Empire of Brazil (Right)
Argentina: Following the nation's embarrassing loss in the Confederate War, Argentina descended into nearly twenty years of Civil War in a series of multiple conflicts called the Argentine Civil Wars. The two main parties of the wars where two factions of the government called the Federalistas and the Unitarians. The Argentine Civil Wars were in many ways a complete opposite of the First Mexican Civil Wars as it composed of the Federalistas who were conservatives that desired a heavy amount of federalism like how it was under New Spain, and the Unitarians who were Liberals centered around the province of Buenos Aires that desired complete centralization of Argentina under Buenos Aires. For several years the civil war saw multiple regime changes between the Federalistas and the Unitarians until 1852 when the nation decisively broke up into two with the secession of the State of Buenos Aires under the control of the Uniatarians, while the remaining provinces of Argentina were ruled by the Federalistas as the Confederation of Argentina. The situation was quite confusing for other foreign powers as most choose to recognize the Argentine Confederation, but Buenos Aires was the former capitol and the province held the entire oceanic territory for the nation. For the next eight years a stalemate came about between the two nations and there were multiple periods of cease fire with some amount of cooperation between the two states. The conflict came to a climax in 1861 with the Battle of Pavon where the main armies of both Buenos Aires and the Federation clashed for one final battle to see whether or not Buenos Aires would be conquered. Under the command of former Argentine President Justo Jose de Urquiza, the 20,000 Confederate forces were able to claim a descivive victory against the 12,000 Buenos Aires troops thanks to the superior Confederate numbers in both artillery and cavalry. While only suffering over 1000 casualties, the Confederates were able to wipe out a third of the Buenos Aires army and cause the Army to break up entirely upon the death of General Bartolome Mitre, allowing Urquiza to march east and claim Buenos Aires for the Confederation. Upon New Years of 1862, Argentina was made whole again under the rule of the Argentine Confederation with its new capitol in the city of Parana.
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Flag of the Argentine Confederation (Left) Battle of Pavon (Right)
Chile: Out of all the nations in South America it would be Chile who would surprisingly emerge out of the Revolutionary period as a stable and functioning democracy. This was not to say that all was perfect within Chile as social and racial divisions were still present with the upper and lower class along with the Creoles and Mestizos, but it was far better than other nations such as Columbia in that real democratic elections went on. After the disastrous defeat at the hands of the Peru-Boliviaians, Presidente Jose Joaquin Prieto was driven out of office and the Liberals would come into power under President Jose Joaquin Perez. For the next two decades Chile would come to focus on internal development with the government building up its coastal trade along with the copper industry, while land claims were pushed to both the North and the South. In the realm of foreign affairs Chile would come to align itself with Argentina in order to one day seek retribution against Peru-Bolivia and recover enough territories to establish itself as a dominant state among the Pacific so as to control all trade that went around the Tierra del Fuego. This would later be one of the many causes of the South American War.
Uruguay: Uruguay is a rather unique state within South America as it was one that did not happen as a result of pure Spanish and Portuguese Colonization, but rather as a mixture of both Empires. The Oriental region which consists mostly of modern day Uruguay was during the 17th and 18th centuries a heavily contested region between the Spanish and Portuguese Empires due to border disputes between the colonies of La Plata and Brazil. In the 1810's Uruguay declared secession from the Brazilian Empire and soon formed a united nation with the future countries of Chile and Argentina to form the United Provinces of Rio de La Plata. Unlike Peru-Bolivia however the Rio de La Plata failed to survive and broke up in 1831 into the three countries of Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. Unfortunately like many other Latin American nations, Uruguay soon became consumed with internal conflict due to rivalries between the Conservative and Liberal factions of the government. In 1839 these tension culminated in the Uruguayan Civil War between the Liberal Colorados (Reds) under President Fructuoso Rivera versus the Conservative Blancos (Whites) under the second President Manuel Oribe. For three years a great guerilla war persisted between the two factions with the nations of the United Kingdom, France, and Brazil actively intervening with the Colorados while Argentina sided with the Blancos. This eventually culminated in the Great Siege of Montevido where the Colorado capitol Montevido was besieged by the Blancos and Argentinian Army. The stalemate would come to break in 1846 when the British and French who were both so vital to the Colorado war effort, withdrew in order to focus on both the Oregon War and the 1846 Revolutions. With their foreign backers gone and Brazil unable to lend the same amount of support, the Blancos were able to break through and on August 20th, 1846, the city of Montevido fell to the Blancos which marked the official end of the Uruguayan Civil War. In 1846 an alliance was signed between the Argentine and Blanco government which allowed Argentina to effectively intervene in Uruguayan affairs as much as they want, effictively making Uruguay an Argentinian puppet state. However, Dom Pedro would not let this go and Brazil would continuously invest in funding the Colorado faction both within the government and rebel groups in the countryside. Causing Uruguay to the site of a continuing Cold War for nearly the next two decades.
Paraguay: Within South American history the historical state of Paraguay is regarded as nothing more than the Nazi South America due to its brutal and heavy handed rule by the Francia and Lopez regimes which had come to plague the country and ultimately be the cause of its downfall in its short existence. Paraguay's nickname of Nazi South America is actually far more than a casual insult used by historians as its an exact early model for what would become the heavy handed authoritarian rule by Oliver Mosley in the Republic of Britannia and many other Eurasian nations which succumbed to the Nazi ideology in the aftermath of the Great War. The first dictator Jose Gaspar Rodriguez de Francia has often been called by psychologists as the textbook case for a sociopath as he ruled Paraguay with an iron fist and sought to remake the nation into his vision of an utopian society with the state's control of all and Paraguay's literal isolation from the outside world. With the death of Francia in 1840 came a new transition to power as the Lopez family took the reigns of government. Unfortunately for the people of Paraguay, the rule of the Lopez family under Carlos Antonio Lopez as President-Dictator was only a step up from Francia as the Lopez's turned Paraguay into a military state with the entire economy acting as little more than a giant estate for the Lopez family to gain a vast amount of wealth through private control of exports. Lopez's actions would only further isolate Paraguay from the international community and would cause them to be a feared and hated country with neighboring nations looking for the slightest opportunity to gain new territory. They would get their chance when in 1862 Carlos Lopez died and power was transferred to his son Francisco Solano Lopez, causing the Paraguayan War two years later in 1864.
Peru-Bolivia: Despite his rule as an authoritarian dictator, Andres de Santa Cruz was a man who was beloved by all of Peru-Bolivia due to the high stability and prosperity that marked his reign within the new country. Upon the success of the War of the Confederation and the preservation of the Confederacy, Santa Cruz was able to use his newfound popularity to eliminate corruption throughout the country and soon was able to reform the army, bureaucracy, and public finances. Santa Cruz was also able to issue a new currency, the Peruvian Peso, and formed a new constitution which guaranteed the rights of all Peru-Bolivian citizens and guaranteed the two states as equals within the Confederacy. While Santa Cruz had violently establish power and eliminated any rivals with impunity, he was revered by the masses as a hero for the people due to his various reforms, making Santa Cruz the textbook definition of a tyrant. In both the 1840's and 1850's, Santa Cruz was able to turn Peru-Bolivia into a regional economic power thanks to extensive state involvement in the economy and relative political stability. With few rebellions popping up against the Santa Cruz regime like other neighboring nations, Peru-Bolivia became the premier spot for European and North American ships to stop on their way to the Pacific to conduct trade in East Asia or in Texas and America. Texan, American, French, and British investment gradually arrived in the form of tens of thousands of dollars and many coastal cities such as Lima became ports that were on the same level as New York City. This advancement in trade wasn't just limited to internationally as a program of national roadworks had begun by Santa Cruz in 1845 which sought to recreate the Incan roads and build a state highway from the Amazon Basin all the way to the Chilean border. In terms of social developments, Peru-Bolivia was a considerably stable nation thanks to Santa Cruz's good relations with the Catholic Church and the disempowerment of the buorgeise which gained Santa Cruz a considerable following among the peasant class. Taking a page out of the Yucatan and Texas' policy, Santa Cruz also sought to spread Incan culture throughout the nation in a blend with traditional Hispanic customs so as to create a distinct Andes identity for the citizens of Peru-Bolivia. While there were few pure blooded Incans left, Santa Cruz's efforts were able to empower Mestizos on the same level as the Creoles, leading to a confederate bureaucracy and army full of mestizos in high positions. Lastly of note is Santa Cruz's considerable millitary buildup and expansionary policies towards the surrounding region. After the Confederate War, Santa Cruz turned his attention to reforming the Army and placed General Juan Jose Panizo in charge with the mission of making Peru the highest quality army in the Americas. Over the next two decades the Peru-Bolivian Army would come to number 30,000 and along with the additional 50,000 of the various Confederate militias would enforce Santa Cruz's rule and protect the borders against neighboring revolutionaries and hostile regimes. Of considerable note is the Amazonian Wars where the Peruvian Army was able to successfully push both Columbia and Ecuador back from their territorial claims thanks to the superior quantity and quality of the Peru-Bolivian Army and the aid of local mestizo guerillas who wanted to live under Santa Cruz's reign. By 1861 Peru-Bolivia was a regional power that was considered by many to be on the same level as Brazil, Texas, and the Yucatan in terms of power.
Supreme Protector Andres de Santa Cruz (Left) The Peru-Bolivian Army in the Amazonian Wars (Right)
Columbia, Venezuela& Ecuador: Within the three countries of Columbia, Venezuela, and Ecuador, there is overall nothing of too much importance that went on during this time period. This is mostly due to the fact that the three nations had very little investment from the Western powers, were difficult to connect to on land due to the large amounts of jungle and mountains, and the increasing political instability of the areas. While the Gran Columbia region was the place where Simon Bolivar had wanted to enact his dream of the Gran Columbian nation and unify all of Latin America into one great power, the region was actually a key example of South American disunity. There were constant civil wars and insurrections during this time with the most notable being the Federal War of Venezuela from 1859-1863 which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans due to mostly starvation and rapid spread of disease. For a time Columbia was in a heavy confrontation with the Yucatan over its spread in Central America, but Columbia's increasing domestic instability and the Yucatan's commitment to internal development after the Guatemalan War averted a potential conflict. Meanwhile Ecuador was a relatively stable nation but it was mainly due to their small size and most other nations ignoring them. The most notable conflict of the time was the increasing Expansion into the Amazon Basin which Peru-Bolivia, Columbia, Ecuador, and Brazil had claims to, as part of the South American Great Game. While the Amazon Basin itself was practically useless to the surrounding nations and its vast resources not discovered in entirety until the late 20th century, it was still a region of heavy competition mainly due to the sheer pride and nationalism of each nation involved. For a while it seemed that war would break out, however this would be prevented in 1851 in the Treaty of Sucre. The Treaty of Sucre or the Sucre Compact was an secret agreement between Dom Pedro II and President Santa Cruz which made peace between the two nations of Brazil and Peru-Bolivia by Brazil recognizing Peru-Bolivia's claims in the Amazon Basin in return for Peru-Bolivian diplomatic support in the Brazilian acquisition of territories against Venezuela, the Guayanas, Argentia, Paraguay, and Uruguya. The Sucre Compact is what many historians consider to be the eventual basis of the Amazon Alliance between the Peru-Bolivian Confederacy and the Brazilian Empire which would come to dominate the continent in the late 19th century and become a friendly rival to the North American alliance between America, Texas, Quebec, and the Yucatan. Thanks to the Sucre Compact, Santa Cruz was able to order thousands of Peru-Bolivians into the region and occupy it with force, beginning the unofficial Amazon Wars between Peru-Bolivia and the nations of Ecuador and Columbia from 1851-1859. Eventually the Peru-Bolivian Confederacy won the war as Columbia once again descended into civil war and Ecuador was too powerless to stop their larger neighbor. These intense rivalries would later become a precursor to the South American War.
South American territorial claims in 1850
British, French, & Dutch Guayanas: Last but not least of the developments which should be focused on is the affairs of the three remaining colonies in South America; British, French, and Dutch Guayanas. By themselves the lands were not of much use due to the inability of European settlers or entrepreneurs to venture too far into the jungle with the high risk of catching malaria or being killed by a dangerous animal or plant. The only real power who had actually invested a heavy amount into the region was the Netherlands and that was more due to the fact that they had previously contested claims on Brazil more than anything. From the 17th to early 19th century the Guayanas were a wild region with only a few thousand European settlers on the coast who invested in the harvesting of sugar and lumber. The Guayanas were also a coastal area with a heavy amount of trade and naval warfare due to the constant colonial rivalries of the main powers and competition over exports to the nations of the Americas. During the revolutions the Guayanas were the only colonies that did not revolt for independence but it was more out of the fact that the regions were too lightly populated more than anything. After the Napoleonic Wars it seemed that these three colonies would remain a sleepy backwater area. It would remain this way until the 1850's with the beginning of the Second Imperial Age. During the Second Imperial Age the entire world was considered a vast metaphorical battlefield of varying geopolitical interests with the expansion of colonies and influences among the developing nations, South America was no grand exception to this. In 1855 Emperor Napoleon III ordered an expedition to French Guiana in order explore the vast territories that were claimed under France and begin the implementation of a modernization program complete with railroads and a modern harbor to transport large quantities of resources to Metropolitan France. The French colony also acted as a stepping stone for French interests in North America. Not wanting to be outdone by the French and lose their influence within the Americas, Queen Victoria ordered the same for British Guiana and a colonization plan began in 1858. This would be the beginning of a regional cold war between France and Great Britain over influence in the Americas until the beginning of the Great War. Meanwhile the exact opposite could be said of the Netherlands as they chose to focus what resources they had on Indonesia.
"South America, where adventure awaits!"- President Theodore Roosevelt 1918
"Upon this land I shall build a great nation and succeed where Simon Bolivar has failed. Peru-Bolivia shall be the eye of Latin America, a wondrous nation for all to see."- Presidente Andres de Santa Cruz 1840
"One day the peoples of the worlds shall not remember the legacy of the House of Braganza for being the Kings of Portugal, but for our glorious rule as the Emperors of Brazil."- Dom Alfonso I 1901
For many centuries after the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus in 1492, South America was renown throughout Europe as a land of wonder and mystery full of bounty's and a paradise for all. While the truth was far from this with the heavy concentration of slavery, multiple widespread diseases, and dangers of the jungle, it was still considered by many to be an exotic paradise that rivaled North America in terms of its large biodiversity. For three centuries there was relative peace on the continent due to the joint rule of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires. With the exceptions of French, English, and Dutch settlements off the coast, South America became the heart and soul of Latin America due to its unique fusion of Iberian and native culture which produced a hearty people who placed much pride on their independence and self-reliance compared to the other colonies. I the 1810's during the Napoleonic Wars, the continent erupted into fullscale revolution as great leaders such as Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin led a continental revolt against their Spanish oppressors to gain freedom from the homeland once and for all. At the same time Brazil managed to successfully seek independence from the homeland after former Portuguese King Pedro IV declared the beginning of the Empire of Brazil. For a time it looked as though the region would prosper under a shared unity and would soon develop at the same pace as the United States. Sadly much like their Mexican counterparts, this was not the case as the former viceroyalties broke up into multiple states and affairs on the southern continent descended into petty wars over territorial disputes by the whims of tyrants. The rule of democracy which the common people so desired having been swept away in the great tide of nationalism. Often South America in this period is overlooked at due to more dynamic developments in global affairs such as the 1846 Revolutions, American Civil War, Beginning of the Second Imperial Age, etc. This can be quite understandable on a level as it wouldn't be until after the American Civil War that South America started to affect affairs of other nations. However in order to see the emergence of South America into the 19th century, we must first look back and see what began the process of disunity that led to the South America we know today.
Empire of Brazil: Out of all the nations in South America, most historians like to attribute to Brazil as the great success story due to its later rise and eventual standing as a great power in the 20th century. While it is true that the Brazilian Empire was able to match all other Latin American nations, with the exception of Peru-Bolivia in terms of strength and influence, the road to becoming a great power was a hard and bloody one due to the numerous secession wars, political infighting, and shadows of slavery that marked the journey. In 1836 while Texas was fighting for its independence against Mexico, Brazil was undergoing turbulent times as the current ruler, Dom Pedro II, was only a 11 year old boy, thus a regency had been ongoing in the past five years since 1831. Like many other regencies in the past, Brazil was not stable during this time period as both the Conservatives and Liberals were jockeying for power in order to influence the young Emperor to their side once he became of age. There were frequent conflicts between neighboring provinces over territory and resources while the Brazilian General Assembly was known for its increasing deadlock. Thankfully the time of troubles came to an end in 1843 when Pedro officially became of age and started ruling on his own. At the start of his reign Pedro began an intense campaign of anti-corruption policies designed to clean out the court of anyone who either had been detrimental to the state during his reign, or did nothing of contribution to the Empire itself. Disenchanted with the liberals due to their efforts to keep power away from the monarchy during the regency, Pedro filled his cabinet with conservative ministers and nobles, setting out to create a lasting empire which he would give to his sons in a powerful state unlike Pedro I who simply abandoned Brazil for Portugal. That did not mean that Pedro ruled as an autocrat however as he was a social liberal at heart and ensured social stability by working together with all factions within General Assembly to ensure that Imperial Rule would be enforced and the people's needs met. In the 1850's Pedro set out to introduce the Industrial Revolution to Brazil and he was able to modernize the economy with a %165 growth in industry from 1850-1860. This included many programs such as the building of factories, mining in the Amazons, and a coastal railway that stretched from Rio de Jainero all the way to Salvador. Pedro also became much beloved by the common people due to his devotion to the arts and humanities with the spending of a large percentage of royal funds on creating multiple royal academies to educate the Brazilian intellegista and public works programs to spread Brazilian culture and transform the coastal cities into living works of art on the same level of Western Europe. Alongside these came multiple works of charity aimed at uplifting the Brazilian lower class. Inspired in large part by Pope Pius' social doctrine and Italian economic development, Pedro worked together closely with the Catholic Church to introduce Catholic Capitalism into the country and make sure that the common Brazilian was provided for by both the Church and the State and that all Brazilian business would be protected against foreign competition. Lastly Pedro was able to start Brazil on the process of manumission by abolishing the slave trade in 1848 and strictly enforcing the anti-trade laws against any smugglers who attempted to introduce new African slaves into the country. Thanks to Pedro's rule which would later earn him the title "The Magnanimous", Brazil had become a hemispheric power on par with the United States in 1861. This would be only the beginning for the long and rich history of the Brazilian Empire.
Dom Pedro II circa 1859 (Left) Territorial Divisions of the Empire of Brazil (Right)
Argentina: Following the nation's embarrassing loss in the Confederate War, Argentina descended into nearly twenty years of Civil War in a series of multiple conflicts called the Argentine Civil Wars. The two main parties of the wars where two factions of the government called the Federalistas and the Unitarians. The Argentine Civil Wars were in many ways a complete opposite of the First Mexican Civil Wars as it composed of the Federalistas who were conservatives that desired a heavy amount of federalism like how it was under New Spain, and the Unitarians who were Liberals centered around the province of Buenos Aires that desired complete centralization of Argentina under Buenos Aires. For several years the civil war saw multiple regime changes between the Federalistas and the Unitarians until 1852 when the nation decisively broke up into two with the secession of the State of Buenos Aires under the control of the Uniatarians, while the remaining provinces of Argentina were ruled by the Federalistas as the Confederation of Argentina. The situation was quite confusing for other foreign powers as most choose to recognize the Argentine Confederation, but Buenos Aires was the former capitol and the province held the entire oceanic territory for the nation. For the next eight years a stalemate came about between the two nations and there were multiple periods of cease fire with some amount of cooperation between the two states. The conflict came to a climax in 1861 with the Battle of Pavon where the main armies of both Buenos Aires and the Federation clashed for one final battle to see whether or not Buenos Aires would be conquered. Under the command of former Argentine President Justo Jose de Urquiza, the 20,000 Confederate forces were able to claim a descivive victory against the 12,000 Buenos Aires troops thanks to the superior Confederate numbers in both artillery and cavalry. While only suffering over 1000 casualties, the Confederates were able to wipe out a third of the Buenos Aires army and cause the Army to break up entirely upon the death of General Bartolome Mitre, allowing Urquiza to march east and claim Buenos Aires for the Confederation. Upon New Years of 1862, Argentina was made whole again under the rule of the Argentine Confederation with its new capitol in the city of Parana.
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Flag of the Argentine Confederation (Left) Battle of Pavon (Right)
Chile: Out of all the nations in South America it would be Chile who would surprisingly emerge out of the Revolutionary period as a stable and functioning democracy. This was not to say that all was perfect within Chile as social and racial divisions were still present with the upper and lower class along with the Creoles and Mestizos, but it was far better than other nations such as Columbia in that real democratic elections went on. After the disastrous defeat at the hands of the Peru-Boliviaians, Presidente Jose Joaquin Prieto was driven out of office and the Liberals would come into power under President Jose Joaquin Perez. For the next two decades Chile would come to focus on internal development with the government building up its coastal trade along with the copper industry, while land claims were pushed to both the North and the South. In the realm of foreign affairs Chile would come to align itself with Argentina in order to one day seek retribution against Peru-Bolivia and recover enough territories to establish itself as a dominant state among the Pacific so as to control all trade that went around the Tierra del Fuego. This would later be one of the many causes of the South American War.
Uruguay: Uruguay is a rather unique state within South America as it was one that did not happen as a result of pure Spanish and Portuguese Colonization, but rather as a mixture of both Empires. The Oriental region which consists mostly of modern day Uruguay was during the 17th and 18th centuries a heavily contested region between the Spanish and Portuguese Empires due to border disputes between the colonies of La Plata and Brazil. In the 1810's Uruguay declared secession from the Brazilian Empire and soon formed a united nation with the future countries of Chile and Argentina to form the United Provinces of Rio de La Plata. Unlike Peru-Bolivia however the Rio de La Plata failed to survive and broke up in 1831 into the three countries of Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. Unfortunately like many other Latin American nations, Uruguay soon became consumed with internal conflict due to rivalries between the Conservative and Liberal factions of the government. In 1839 these tension culminated in the Uruguayan Civil War between the Liberal Colorados (Reds) under President Fructuoso Rivera versus the Conservative Blancos (Whites) under the second President Manuel Oribe. For three years a great guerilla war persisted between the two factions with the nations of the United Kingdom, France, and Brazil actively intervening with the Colorados while Argentina sided with the Blancos. This eventually culminated in the Great Siege of Montevido where the Colorado capitol Montevido was besieged by the Blancos and Argentinian Army. The stalemate would come to break in 1846 when the British and French who were both so vital to the Colorado war effort, withdrew in order to focus on both the Oregon War and the 1846 Revolutions. With their foreign backers gone and Brazil unable to lend the same amount of support, the Blancos were able to break through and on August 20th, 1846, the city of Montevido fell to the Blancos which marked the official end of the Uruguayan Civil War. In 1846 an alliance was signed between the Argentine and Blanco government which allowed Argentina to effectively intervene in Uruguayan affairs as much as they want, effictively making Uruguay an Argentinian puppet state. However, Dom Pedro would not let this go and Brazil would continuously invest in funding the Colorado faction both within the government and rebel groups in the countryside. Causing Uruguay to the site of a continuing Cold War for nearly the next two decades.
Paraguay: Within South American history the historical state of Paraguay is regarded as nothing more than the Nazi South America due to its brutal and heavy handed rule by the Francia and Lopez regimes which had come to plague the country and ultimately be the cause of its downfall in its short existence. Paraguay's nickname of Nazi South America is actually far more than a casual insult used by historians as its an exact early model for what would become the heavy handed authoritarian rule by Oliver Mosley in the Republic of Britannia and many other Eurasian nations which succumbed to the Nazi ideology in the aftermath of the Great War. The first dictator Jose Gaspar Rodriguez de Francia has often been called by psychologists as the textbook case for a sociopath as he ruled Paraguay with an iron fist and sought to remake the nation into his vision of an utopian society with the state's control of all and Paraguay's literal isolation from the outside world. With the death of Francia in 1840 came a new transition to power as the Lopez family took the reigns of government. Unfortunately for the people of Paraguay, the rule of the Lopez family under Carlos Antonio Lopez as President-Dictator was only a step up from Francia as the Lopez's turned Paraguay into a military state with the entire economy acting as little more than a giant estate for the Lopez family to gain a vast amount of wealth through private control of exports. Lopez's actions would only further isolate Paraguay from the international community and would cause them to be a feared and hated country with neighboring nations looking for the slightest opportunity to gain new territory. They would get their chance when in 1862 Carlos Lopez died and power was transferred to his son Francisco Solano Lopez, causing the Paraguayan War two years later in 1864.
Peru-Bolivia: Despite his rule as an authoritarian dictator, Andres de Santa Cruz was a man who was beloved by all of Peru-Bolivia due to the high stability and prosperity that marked his reign within the new country. Upon the success of the War of the Confederation and the preservation of the Confederacy, Santa Cruz was able to use his newfound popularity to eliminate corruption throughout the country and soon was able to reform the army, bureaucracy, and public finances. Santa Cruz was also able to issue a new currency, the Peruvian Peso, and formed a new constitution which guaranteed the rights of all Peru-Bolivian citizens and guaranteed the two states as equals within the Confederacy. While Santa Cruz had violently establish power and eliminated any rivals with impunity, he was revered by the masses as a hero for the people due to his various reforms, making Santa Cruz the textbook definition of a tyrant. In both the 1840's and 1850's, Santa Cruz was able to turn Peru-Bolivia into a regional economic power thanks to extensive state involvement in the economy and relative political stability. With few rebellions popping up against the Santa Cruz regime like other neighboring nations, Peru-Bolivia became the premier spot for European and North American ships to stop on their way to the Pacific to conduct trade in East Asia or in Texas and America. Texan, American, French, and British investment gradually arrived in the form of tens of thousands of dollars and many coastal cities such as Lima became ports that were on the same level as New York City. This advancement in trade wasn't just limited to internationally as a program of national roadworks had begun by Santa Cruz in 1845 which sought to recreate the Incan roads and build a state highway from the Amazon Basin all the way to the Chilean border. In terms of social developments, Peru-Bolivia was a considerably stable nation thanks to Santa Cruz's good relations with the Catholic Church and the disempowerment of the buorgeise which gained Santa Cruz a considerable following among the peasant class. Taking a page out of the Yucatan and Texas' policy, Santa Cruz also sought to spread Incan culture throughout the nation in a blend with traditional Hispanic customs so as to create a distinct Andes identity for the citizens of Peru-Bolivia. While there were few pure blooded Incans left, Santa Cruz's efforts were able to empower Mestizos on the same level as the Creoles, leading to a confederate bureaucracy and army full of mestizos in high positions. Lastly of note is Santa Cruz's considerable millitary buildup and expansionary policies towards the surrounding region. After the Confederate War, Santa Cruz turned his attention to reforming the Army and placed General Juan Jose Panizo in charge with the mission of making Peru the highest quality army in the Americas. Over the next two decades the Peru-Bolivian Army would come to number 30,000 and along with the additional 50,000 of the various Confederate militias would enforce Santa Cruz's rule and protect the borders against neighboring revolutionaries and hostile regimes. Of considerable note is the Amazonian Wars where the Peruvian Army was able to successfully push both Columbia and Ecuador back from their territorial claims thanks to the superior quantity and quality of the Peru-Bolivian Army and the aid of local mestizo guerillas who wanted to live under Santa Cruz's reign. By 1861 Peru-Bolivia was a regional power that was considered by many to be on the same level as Brazil, Texas, and the Yucatan in terms of power.
Supreme Protector Andres de Santa Cruz (Left) The Peru-Bolivian Army in the Amazonian Wars (Right)
Columbia, Venezuela& Ecuador: Within the three countries of Columbia, Venezuela, and Ecuador, there is overall nothing of too much importance that went on during this time period. This is mostly due to the fact that the three nations had very little investment from the Western powers, were difficult to connect to on land due to the large amounts of jungle and mountains, and the increasing political instability of the areas. While the Gran Columbia region was the place where Simon Bolivar had wanted to enact his dream of the Gran Columbian nation and unify all of Latin America into one great power, the region was actually a key example of South American disunity. There were constant civil wars and insurrections during this time with the most notable being the Federal War of Venezuela from 1859-1863 which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans due to mostly starvation and rapid spread of disease. For a time Columbia was in a heavy confrontation with the Yucatan over its spread in Central America, but Columbia's increasing domestic instability and the Yucatan's commitment to internal development after the Guatemalan War averted a potential conflict. Meanwhile Ecuador was a relatively stable nation but it was mainly due to their small size and most other nations ignoring them. The most notable conflict of the time was the increasing Expansion into the Amazon Basin which Peru-Bolivia, Columbia, Ecuador, and Brazil had claims to, as part of the South American Great Game. While the Amazon Basin itself was practically useless to the surrounding nations and its vast resources not discovered in entirety until the late 20th century, it was still a region of heavy competition mainly due to the sheer pride and nationalism of each nation involved. For a while it seemed that war would break out, however this would be prevented in 1851 in the Treaty of Sucre. The Treaty of Sucre or the Sucre Compact was an secret agreement between Dom Pedro II and President Santa Cruz which made peace between the two nations of Brazil and Peru-Bolivia by Brazil recognizing Peru-Bolivia's claims in the Amazon Basin in return for Peru-Bolivian diplomatic support in the Brazilian acquisition of territories against Venezuela, the Guayanas, Argentia, Paraguay, and Uruguya. The Sucre Compact is what many historians consider to be the eventual basis of the Amazon Alliance between the Peru-Bolivian Confederacy and the Brazilian Empire which would come to dominate the continent in the late 19th century and become a friendly rival to the North American alliance between America, Texas, Quebec, and the Yucatan. Thanks to the Sucre Compact, Santa Cruz was able to order thousands of Peru-Bolivians into the region and occupy it with force, beginning the unofficial Amazon Wars between Peru-Bolivia and the nations of Ecuador and Columbia from 1851-1859. Eventually the Peru-Bolivian Confederacy won the war as Columbia once again descended into civil war and Ecuador was too powerless to stop their larger neighbor. These intense rivalries would later become a precursor to the South American War.
South American territorial claims in 1850
British, French, & Dutch Guayanas: Last but not least of the developments which should be focused on is the affairs of the three remaining colonies in South America; British, French, and Dutch Guayanas. By themselves the lands were not of much use due to the inability of European settlers or entrepreneurs to venture too far into the jungle with the high risk of catching malaria or being killed by a dangerous animal or plant. The only real power who had actually invested a heavy amount into the region was the Netherlands and that was more due to the fact that they had previously contested claims on Brazil more than anything. From the 17th to early 19th century the Guayanas were a wild region with only a few thousand European settlers on the coast who invested in the harvesting of sugar and lumber. The Guayanas were also a coastal area with a heavy amount of trade and naval warfare due to the constant colonial rivalries of the main powers and competition over exports to the nations of the Americas. During the revolutions the Guayanas were the only colonies that did not revolt for independence but it was more out of the fact that the regions were too lightly populated more than anything. After the Napoleonic Wars it seemed that these three colonies would remain a sleepy backwater area. It would remain this way until the 1850's with the beginning of the Second Imperial Age. During the Second Imperial Age the entire world was considered a vast metaphorical battlefield of varying geopolitical interests with the expansion of colonies and influences among the developing nations, South America was no grand exception to this. In 1855 Emperor Napoleon III ordered an expedition to French Guiana in order explore the vast territories that were claimed under France and begin the implementation of a modernization program complete with railroads and a modern harbor to transport large quantities of resources to Metropolitan France. The French colony also acted as a stepping stone for French interests in North America. Not wanting to be outdone by the French and lose their influence within the Americas, Queen Victoria ordered the same for British Guiana and a colonization plan began in 1858. This would be the beginning of a regional cold war between France and Great Britain over influence in the Americas until the beginning of the Great War. Meanwhile the exact opposite could be said of the Netherlands as they chose to focus what resources they had on Indonesia.
- Kaiser Chris
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