Paraguayan War: Fratricidal Massacre. Modern Asuncion and the Great Paraguayan War

A small war, a guerrilla war, a people's war ... We regret to say that too many myths have been invented in our country about the so-called "club of the people's war." For example, P.A. Zhilin claims that "the partisan movement

Chapter 9

Chapter 9. World War I The War to Eradicate All Wars On February 23, 1918, near Pskov and Narva, the Red Army won its first victories over the enemy. This enemy was the German troops - Russia in those years was at war with Germany. True, historians of the post-Soviet period have already

Yesterday I came across on the Internet an interesting list of articles on the Great Paraguayan War. Of course, most people don’t even care about some kind of Paraguay (well, if you guess where it is), but it was extremely interesting for me to read. I briefly read about the history of Paraguay before visiting it, but there was no time to study the issue in detail, incl. am correcting now. This war predetermined the entire further development of the country - Paraguay was literally destroyed, losing more than half of the population and about 90% of men. Has any country had similar losses in European wars over the past 200 years?

Those who wish to learn more about this issue can go to Wikipedia or read the magazine vikond65 , where many interesting posts on this topic are posted by tag. I, having read from various sources of information, will try to briefly retell the essence in my own words, and to make it more interesting I will add photographs of modern Asuncion (this is the capital of Paraguay, if anything), where I visited at the end of October.



If you look at the map of South America, you will notice that out of 13 countries and colonies, only two do not have access to the oceans. One of these countries is Paraguay. After gaining independence in 1811, the dictator José Francia came to power, who transferred power to his nephew, who, in turn, to his son, Francisco Lopez. Such a dynasty of dictators went to Paraguay.

In the years before the war, Paraguay was characterized by an extreme degree of isolation. The borders were closed in the country - none of the population had been to other countries and foreigners could not visit the country. At the same time, in the middle of the 19th century, there was total literacy in Paraguay, which was not even in European countries (and in Russia and the United States, slavery still existed in general). However, education in the country did not advance further than literacy - there were no secondary and higher educational institutions, all educated people - engineers, officers, doctors and others were invited from abroad. Paraguay did not have external debts, tried to build a completely autonomous and independent economy. This led some modern researchers to the idea that such an economy was unprofitable for the then world hegemon - Great Britain, which pushed Paraguay's neighbors to destroy it, until such a practice spread to neighboring countries.

Industry and not only the military developed in the country. Pictured below is Asuncion Railway Station built in 1861. At the time of construction - the largest and most modern railway station in South America. Now the station does not work - it is a museum. Rail service was discontinued in the country in 2010.

Below is a photo of the Pantheon of Heroes, which began to be built by President Francisco Lopez, but was completed only 70 years after his death. Inside, among the buried, one can also find Russian surnames - these are mainly White Guard officers who emigrated from Russia. However, I will not touch on this topic, it does not refer to the Great Paraguayan War, but to the Chaco War with Bolivia.

Let's go back to the moment right before the war. A literate but poorly educated population with no access to alternative sources of information was easily manipulated. And, of course, propaganda in the country worked at full capacity. Starting right from school, Paraguayans were taught that their beloved president is their only support and hope in the whole world, and outside of Paraguay there are only savages who only dream of destroying the great Paraguayan people.

Paraguay and Brazil had numerous border claims against each other. The fact is that the Portuguese and Spaniards did not clearly delineate the border between their colonies. And even the existing treaties were interpreted differently by the participants. At the time of signing, it did not seem important - who needs swampy and impassable territories without any valuable resources. After gaining independence, these unresolved issues had to be addressed by the countries that formed in these territories.

The final impetus for the war was the coup in Uruguay. The Brazilians invaded Uruguay and overthrew the then government that was supported by Paraguay. In response, Francisco Lopez declared war on Brazil on December 13, 1864. To send troops to help the overthrown government of Uruguay, it was necessary to cross Argentine territory, because. Paraguay and Uruguay do not share a common border. The Argentines refused the request of Paraguay, therefore, without thinking twice, the Paraguayan dictator declared war on Argentina as well. Uruguay also joined the alliance between Argentina and Brazil. Thus began the war, which lasted 5.5 years. In Paraguay it is called the Great War, in other countries - the War of the Triple Alliance. Below is a modern panorama of Asuncion and the presidential palace.

Just by looking at the map, you immediately come to the conclusion that Paraguay was doomed to defeat. The area, population and economic indicators of Paraguay in comparison with Brazil differed by 15-20 times. Argentina also surpassed Paraguay economically at times. However, the alliance was not ready for war, unlike Paraguay. The army of Paraguay had more soldiers than the armies of all the countries of the Triple Alliance. The country's industry was already war-oriented, and the fighting spirit inside the country was at its peak.

The war began with a successful Paraguayan offensive. The army managed to capture considerable territories of the allies before they could organize a coordinated rebuff. But by the middle of 1865, the Brazilians had inflicted several defeats on the troops of Paraguay and transferred the war to their territory. Showing miracles of heroism, taking advantage of the built fortifications and the advantages of the terrain, the Paraguayans successfully defended themselves until the end of 1868, where the main forces of the country were destroyed and the allies captured the country's capital, Asuncion.

President Lopez was asked to save his life and leave the country freely, instead he fled to the mountainous part of the country, from there he continued to lead. The inhabitants of Paraguay put up stiff resistance to the soldiers of the alliance, which led to huge casualties among the population. After the capture of the capital and all the key centers of the country, the war continued for about 14 months, until it ended with the death of the Paraguayan dictator on March 1, 1870.

In the last days of the war, the dictator showed signs of paranoia and insanity. Seeing treason everywhere, he himself destroyed many of his associates. Everyone was drafted into the army. After the majority of the male population died, Lopez called on women to fight - in battalions of Amazons and children. Especially gloomy was the battle of Acosta Nu, where from 3 to 4 thousand children aged 9 to 15 died. To cover the retreat of the remnants of his army, Lopez left the most "unnecessary" soldiers - children and the elderly. As a result of the offensive of the alliance, most of them died on the battlefield. Paraguay is now celebrating "Children's Day" in memory of this battle.

Surprisingly, after the defeat in the war, the destruction of the entire economy and 90% of the male population, the country did not cease to exist. However, here we must thank the Brazilians, who wanted to leave a buffer state between their territory and Argentina. Argentina itself offered to divide Paraguay "brotherly" and forget about its existence.

Paraguay lost a third of its territory and was forced to pay a huge indemnity, which it paid for 70 years, but could not pay. The rest were simply written off. Argentina and Brazil also suffered considerable losses, including human ones. The truth is in many ways not on the battlefield, but from various infections and diseases among the soldiers. In order to conduct hostilities, the governments of these countries were forced to take out loans, for which they paid in the same way for several decades. Only Britain, which supplied weapons and borrowed money, turned out to be in a clear plus at the end of the war.

Well, a few more photos of Asuncion. Below, the embankment opposite the city center. During the day, there was no one here, because. very, very hot. In general, at the end of October it was hellishly hot. There is no one on the beach. Why didn't I understand. In the evening, there are already quite a lot of people on the same embankment. A lot of people run, ride bikes or just walk. The lights are on and there are a lot of police on duty.

The police in this area are not redundant at all. Between the city center and the waterfront are slums.

In the photographs above, at least more or less capital buildings, otherwise there are houses built from plywood right next to the central buildings of Asuncion. And believe me, they are not empty. Someone lives in everyone.

Children do not lose heart and enjoy life in any case. And I don't mind being photographed.

Let's just say - they live in this area not richly. There is no computer, you can just type on the keyboard a little.

Typical transport inside Asuncion. Pay at the entrance to the driver. It is inexpensive. For example, it takes about an hour to drive from the airport to the center - about 50 US cents, it's cheaper around the city.

However, there are glorious pages in the history of Paraguay - in 1932-35, he fought with Bolivia (Chak war) and even won. Three-quarters of the disputed territories went to Paraguay. Now Paraguay still continues to be one of the poorest and economically underdeveloped countries in South America. On this short course in the history of Paraguay, I turn off.

Several decades before the war, Paraguay was probably the most prosperous country in South America. In trade with Europe, he had a large amount of exports. The country was the main source of exotic wood, which was used to produce furniture and interiors for the best houses in Europe. Almost as important were livestock and agricultural products, especially tobacco made in the form of Paraguayan cigars, and low-grade cheap tea.
Historically, Paraguay was an inland landlocked country and did not attract the attention of the Spanish colonists as other areas. A small number of whites who moved to metropolitan Asuncion were assimilated by blacks and local Guarani Indians after several generations. Until independence, the country was almost completely controlled by the government of the Supreme Inca and the Order of the Jesuits, who brought Christianity to the Indians.
When Argentina and Uruguay liberated themselves from Spanish rule in 1810, Paraguay was briefly a province of Argentina. But in 1813, he declared sovereignty and the Republic of Paraguay was proclaimed completely without resistance from Argentina / 1 /. The state authorities were formed as in the Roman Republic, and were headed by two consuls /2/. But soon one of them, José Francia, became the first of many dictators whose tyranny and despotism was established in the former Spanish colonies. Francia took the title “El Supreme” (supreme) /3/. For 28 years, during which Francia ruled, Paraguay was completely isolated from the rest of the world. On the one hand, Francia legalized the Roman Catholic Church as the state religion, but on the other hand, he confiscated for his treasury the church tithes usually sent to Rome, and at the same time did not heed any protests of the Pope. In addition, during his reign, many people were excommunicated from the church, mainly descendants of whites (even if purely nominal), and their property was confiscated, so that the Guarani Indians, who occupied a very modest position before Francia, became in fact the state elite.
There was black slavery in Paraguay, but only for children. As soon as a person turned 21, he was immediately released. If freed blacks married and remained in the country, their children, in turn, as soon as they were old enough to work, also became slaves. In those days, slaves were used mainly as servants or for work in agriculture, mainly in government facilities. Some were used for the construction of state buildings and institutions, paving streets and other areas of the economy where manual labor was required. So it was only natural that most blacks tried to emigrate at the first opportunity. However, many of those who tried to return were severely punished by Francia or imprisoned.
After the death of Francia in 1840, a government (like a junta) organized a puppet Congress and established the post of president, who was re-elected every 10 years. The new president - Carlos Antonio Lopez - soon became like Francia /4/. Every 10 years, the puppet Congress re-elected Lopez for a new term. Lopez somewhat changed the policy pursued by Francia. At first, he restored relations with the Pope, who had enough problems with his power in Italy proper. Lopez agreed to the appointment of a bishop in the country, who, however, obeyed him more than the Pope /5/. But the president categorically refused to pay the tithes owed by Paraguay. Lopez established such diplomatic relations with all civilized countries that recognized Paraguay. But only France, Sardinia (later Italy) and some countries of South America constantly kept embassies or consulates in Asuncion during the reign of Lopez. The USA and England recognized the Lopez government as such, but often recalled their ambassadors and closed their embassies. At that time, communication with them could be carried out only through Buenos Aires. In 1859, the USA sent a strong fleet to the region in an attempt to exert pressure, especially after two incidents: first, an attack on an American warship in which a member of the ship's crew was killed, and second, after the confiscation of American property. - Rican citizens. Carlos (I will now use the name Carlos to reserve López's name for his successor) settled the first incident, but as for the second, there was no settlement /6/. Also in 1859, England almost brought matters to a war with Paraguay, but after diplomatic demarches in 1862, the disputes were settled.
Carlos also allowed and strongly encouraged white immigration, especially from the USA and a number of European countries such as France, Italy and Austria-Hungary. For the most part, it was these people who contributed to the transformation of Asuncion into a business center. But the government made a clear mistake: as soon as a Paraguayan citizen began to prosper, he was often punished or imprisoned, and his property was confiscated. A similar fate awaited many of those who retained their old citizenship.
Francia organized a large army to maintain the "Iron Curtain", and Carlos strengthened it even more to protect his kingdom. He also began building a navy and maritime trade. An arsenal and a weapons factory were built in Asuncion. Many Englishmen entered the country as engineers on steam ships and to control shipbuilding in the arsenal. Due to the fact that the country had no access to the sea, trade organized and encouraged by Carlos could only take place on steam and sailing ships exclusively on the Parana and Paraguay rivers, as well as their numerous tributaries.
Thus, we finally got to the main character of our story - Francisco Solano Lopez (we will call him simply Lopez in the future), whom some historians consider the adopted, and not the native son of Carlos. But one way or another, but Carlos considered Lopez to be his eldest son, who became his father's chief adviser and his confidant. So, Lopez was sent at the head of a representative office to Europe, with emergency powers, mainly for the purchase of weapons. True, the latter function was entirely performed by figureheads and all sorts of small fry, since Lopez himself had fun in European cities. He was especially fond of visiting Paris, where he developed close ties with a local courtesan called Mme Eliza Linch, a native of Ireland. At the end of the trip, she returned with Lopez to Paraguay as a favorite. The future president remained unmarried all his life, but Mme. Lmnsh was with him as his wife and from that time had a great influence on Lopez in all his affairs.
After the death of Carlos in 1862, López took over as president (and dictator) of Paraguay. He cherished more ambitious plans than Carlos. Lopez intended to make Asuncion the capital of a vast empire, including the entire La Plata basin, that is, territories that were supposed to be seized from Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. Such ambitions led to the war with his three neighbors. This war is often also called the War of the Triple Alliance (Triple Alliance) of the united nations against Paraguay.
Now a few words about the history and situation in the countries of the Triple Alliance.
Of these, the most important state was Brazil. She suffered the most casualties and losses in the fight against Lopez. Brazil was the most valuable and largest Portuguese colony. When Napoleon Bonaparte's army reached Lisbon in 1807, the Portuguese royal family fled to Brazil. After the crushing of Napoleon, King Joao VI returned
to his homeland, leaving his son Pedro in Brazil as regent. In 1822, he declared Brazil independent and took the name of Emperor Don Pedro I.
The emperor of Brazil was the absolute dictator in his country until, in 1831, he was overthrown and abdicated in favor of his minor son, who, after a 10-year regency, took the name of Don Pedro II. During his reign, Brazil became democratic and the monarch constitutional, although the emperor exercised enormous powers during his entire term in power. The new monarch was also deposed in 1889 when Brazil became a republic, and since then it has sometimes been with a freely elected government, but more often in a general Latin American style, with a military dictatorship after another revolution. At that time, many Brazilians were completely white, having immigrated there from Portugal or other European countries. There were also a significant number of black slaves who had been used for a long time, and such a small stratum of Brazilian Indians, most of whom belonged to wild and practically unknown tribes in the interior of the country. There were also many mixed races. Brazil was also a prosperous country, mainly due to the export of coffee and cotton.
Since gaining independence from Spain, the political situation in both Argentina and Uruguay has been unstable. Geographically, Argentina was divided into two political camps - the coastal region of Buenos Aires
opposed the union of three provinces - Missiones, Entre Rios and Corrientes (the last border with the southern part of Paraguay). All these years, in both camps, there have been various dictators striving to become presidents of all of Argentina and hold on to power. Uruguay was not divided like Argentina, but even there the political factions and parties waged constant wars among themselves for dominance in Montevideo. Because of this incessant struggle, countries were not as prosperous as Brazil or Paraguay, and did not trade as extensively. However, any dictator with control over Buenos Aires or Montevideo had the necessary forces in the Rio de la Plata to cut off the trade routes of Paraguay and the Brazilian province of Mato Grosso with the outside world if necessary, thus creating a permanent embers for the outbreak of war in the region.
Initially, Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay did not interfere in the internal affairs of Uruguay, forming an effective buffer zone so that Argentina and Brazil could not intervene in the conflict on either side. The two main political parties that existed in Uruguay had nothing to do with the systems adopted in, say, the United States or England, but there was something similar throughout Latin America. On one side were the forces known as the Blancos (whites or conservatives), opposed by the Colorados (reds or liberals). But none of these currents had anything in common either with what was later in tsarist Russia, or with what was going on in the Anglo-Saxon states.
At the end of 1845, Carlos declared war on Buenos Aires and its dictator Juan Rosas, supporting the dictator of the "outlying provinces" Jose Elitazia-Paz and occupied most of the province of Entre Rios. In all his actions, Carlos relied on the agreement concluded with Brazil. At the same time, Rosas actively helped the pro-Argentinean Uruguayan faction under Manuel Oribe, which was opposed by the pro-Brazilian faction that controlled Montevideo. Oribe blocked Paraguayan shipping on the Uruguay River, the fairway of which he controlled, while Rosas closed La Plata from Buenos Aires.
Lopez was sent with an army of 5,000 men to Corrientes, but the advance of the army from Buenos Aires forced him to withdraw his heavily weary troops into Paraguayan territory. Rosas made no attempts to invade Paraguay, and Carlos concluded an agreement with him, according to which the Argentines do not cross the borders of Paraguay, and he no longer interferes in Argentine affairs. The blockade was lifted, and peace was restored among the countries. Lopez returned to Asuncion, where he was hailed as a great hero. He became known as the “Minister of War”, one of his brothers, Benino, became the military governor of Asuncion, while another, the younger Venancio, led the Paraguayan fleet (although at that time no fleet existed yet).
Shortly thereafter, Lopez was sent to Europe on an important diplomatic mission.
Upon his return, Lopez energetically took up the construction of the Paraguayan armed forces, so that in the event of a declaration of war, he could put up to 100,000 people under arms from the reserve, the active army, and by this time already a small fleet, totaled 30,000 people. After active service, people were transferred to the reserve and became part of the reserve.
At the time of Carlos's death in 1862, when Lopez took office, political passions in neighboring countries were again seething. In 1852, Rosas was overthrown in Buenos Aires by General Justo Urquiza, the governor of Entre Rios, but a new leader appeared directly in Buenos Aires - Bartolome Mitre. So in 1859, López acted as an intermediary in the conclusion of peace, as a result of which Urquiza again became the governor of Entre Rios, and Miter became the governor of Buenos Aires with a firm decision to become the head of the country.
After taking office as president, Lopez launched a trial balloon in the direction of Rio de Janeiro about the possibility of marrying the daughter of the Brazilian emperor and thus establishing friendship between countries. In this case, probably, the clash between Brazil and Paraguay could not have been brought to war. However, Don Pedro II rebelled against the desired world, who could not come to terms with the idea that an Indian tyrant would become his son-in-law and the husband of his white daughter. Without waiting for an answer from Rio, Lopez started a real war.
Meanwhile, in 1861, Miter in Argentina defeated Urquiza, who resumed the war, and became the first real president of all of Argentina. The war in Uruguay also continued. In 1863 the Blancos under Berro occupied Montevideo and the Colorados under Flores were expelled. But with the help of Mitre, who provided support for Flores, the latter soon recaptured Uruguay. Berro ordered the ambassador in Asunción to test the waters to see if Lopez would oppose Flores. At this time, Lopez still did not want a war with Argentina, as he expected a large batch of weapons from Europe. Nevertheless, Burro was able to secure a vague agreement guaranteeing Uruguayan independence, with several secret appendices showing López's hatred of Mitra and Uruguayan support for Paraguayan trade. But what López really wanted was to mediate in Uruguay, as he did in Argentina in 1859. Pedro II. However, Berro agreed to sit down at the negotiating table only if Lopez acted as a mediator, but then Mitra began to object. Still unwilling to start a war, at least until the arrival of military equipment from Europe, Lopez in March 1864, as a precautionary measure, began mobilization.
Now Brazil has entered the game. Flores' detachments crossed the border and invaded the southernmost Brazilian province of Rio Grande de Sul, whose governor hastily left for Rio to demand from Don Pedro II that he put pressure on Montevideo and the Uruguayans would leave Brazilian territory. But Berro and official Montevideo were unable to do anything. The other mediator that Lopez wanted to play was not invited to the talks, so Lopez immediately sent an ultimatum to Rio, saying that Paraguay could not stand by while Brazil was eating Uruguay. And Brazil didn't even think of doing it! López also pressed Montevideo, causing the Blancos to reluctantly replace Berro with Aguirre. Lopez thought that with this change, the new government would call on Paraguayan troops to help, but instead, on October 18, 1864, the Brazilian army occupied Uruguay. So, wanting peace, Lopez brought things to war with Brazil.
On November 12, 1864, the Paraguayan ship "Tacuari" near Asuncion captured as a prize the Brazilian merchant ship "Marques de Olinda", heading for the Brazilian province of Mato Grosso with a new governor, a cargo of gold and military equipment on board. “Tacuari” turned out to be very handy, as it was recently in Europe. It was one of only two ships in the Paraguayan navy converted for military chains, but until now the ship has been used exclusively as a merchant ship, transporting goods to and from Europe.
And, finally, before starting the description of combat operations, I would like to say a few more words. Although a number of sources estimate the population of Paraguay at 1,400,000 people, the figure of 525,000 seems more likely, which was still a lot by world population standards in 1864. The population of Uruguay was about half that. Argentina and Brazil, by the time the wars began, most likely had 1.8 and 2.5 million people, respectively. Paraguay placed 100,000 men under arms, and it appears that up to 300,000 men and women were involved in auxiliary services. Later, many women were also forced to take part in the fighting.
Brazil went to war with an army of about 30,000, bringing that figure to 90,000 by the end of the war. Greatly weakened by long civil wars, Argentina had a small army, which at the best of times numbered up to about 30,000 people. The troops of Uruguay amounted to a maximum of 3.000. In addition, approximately 10,000 Paraguayans took part in the war against López. These were unreliable elements expelled from the country, as well as deserters and prisoners of Paraguayan prisons released by the allies. All of them also contributed to the victory over Lopez.
And one more significant addition. Lopez built two strong fortresses: Yumaita on the Paraguay River and Paso de Patria on the Parana River. But their numerous weapons were for the most part obsolete, consisting of muzzle-loading in-line guns. Paraguay ordered large batches of the latest weapons in Europe, but before the start of the war, only a few of them were received /7/. While the cadre army was well equipped with modern guns, later recruits were often armed only with clubs, knives, or bows and arrows. Paraguay's fleet was small and also poorly armed. He counted 12-20 river screw or wheeled steamers in his composition. But, ultimately, being completed mainly with sailing ships, barges or chatos /8/ (without any mechanical drive) and often even a canoe could be considered a military one - their purpose was to moor to an enemy ship in order to crush it with their crew in during the boarding battle.
On the other hand, the Brazilian fleet was very numerous by the standards of Latin America and consisted of 15 propeller-driven warships, 4 wheeled, 13 sailing, as well as many transports and river canon rock. Its power was very conveniently strengthened by many ships such as casemate battleships and monitors, acquired in time abroad or built in Rio. Argentina for military purposes could only donate a few river steamers, used mainly as transports, and Uruguay had nothing at all.
It was obvious that the outcome of the war was determined by control over the rivers, of which there were a great many in this region. Land communications were at a very primitive level. In the combat area there was only one, and even then a very short railway running from Asuncion to the southeast, necessary to connect the capital of Paraguay with the river port.
Oddly enough, but at the beginning of the war, Ms. Lynch, who was at the zenith of her fame, more than Lopez, planned the entire military strategy. And at the very beginning, she made a mistake that later became fatal. Paraguayan units were not sent to Uruguay against the Brazilian army already operating there. Instead, she put all her efforts into capturing the Brazilian province of Mato Grosso, which, although fertile, was of little strategic importance and, if captured, at best, became only a kind of hostage against Brazil /9/.
So, in December 1864, a detachment of 3,000 people was sent on ships to capture Mato Grosso. He successfully completed his task. On the 27th or 28th, he captured Coimbra, whose garrison hastily retreated to Corumba. The Brazilians, united there, withdrew further north, where on January 6, 1865, they capitulated to the Paraguayans. The Brazilian river gunboat “Anhambai”, which was either surrendered or sunk, and two more ships, which Mr. Meister describes as destroyers, the first was called “Jauru”, and the second, like the gunboat captured nearby, were captured as trophies. also called “Anhambai” /10/. Later, another detachment of 2,500 men invaded Mato Grosso from land, so that all this captured and plundered province was lost to Brazil for a long time.
The war has now moved to other areas. At the beginning of 1865, the Brazilian fleet, under the command of Vice Admiral Tamandare, began a demonstration at the mouth of La Plata, announcing the blockade of Paraguay. A separate detachment of ships under the command of Rear Admiral Francisco Manuel Barroso (Francisco Mahuel Barroso) began to slowly rise along the Parana River. López sent his best ships Tacuari, Ygurey, Paraguari, Marques de Olinda, and Ipora with 3,000 troops downriver, and on April 13, 1865, attacked the city of Corrientes in Argentina. In the captured port, the Paraguayans got two Argentine ships: “25 de Mauo” and “Gualeguay”.
On May 1, 1865, Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay formally formed an alliance in a war against Paraguay and López. Paraguay announced the declaration of war on May 3, which, however, was a mere formality, since the war had been going on for several months. On May 25, the Allies launched offensive operations. With the support of Brazilian warships, Corrientes was returned. Of the 4,000 attackers, 3,600 were Argentines. The Paraguayan ships were previously withdrawn upstream, and the next day, waiting for reinforcements, the Paraguayans again returned Corrientes. The Brazilian ships went downstream and settled at the mouth of the Rihuelo (Riachuelo) River, which flowed into the Parana. In response to this, a Paraguayan detachment from Corrientes built several coastal batteries in the lower reaches of the Parana near Rihuelo.
Lopez then gave the order to attack the Brazilian fleet. In accordance with the conceived plan, it was first supposed to “feel” the Brazilians, for which the gunboat “Yberra”, towing 6 chatos, on which a 68-pound gun was installed, had to stick to the shore and, attacking the enemy, as far as possible to deplete his. The plan was to take up a starting position at night with the Brazilian ships anchored, and at dawn to attack the still dormant Brazilian detachment. However, there was a delay in the campaign, and the Paraguayan ships were able to reach Rihuelo only in the afternoon, when the Brazilians were preparing for Sunday Mass. The Paraguayan fleet now consisted of gunboats: Tacuari, Ygurey, Paraguari, Marques de Olinda, Ipora, Jejui, Salto Oriental and Pirabebe. The Paraguayans were commanded by Captain Pedro Ignacio Meza, who placed his famous Sixth Battalion of 500 people on the ships. As soon as the battle was opened, it was found that because of the insufficient number of such necessary boarding cats, the Paraguayans had already in fact failed. This is most often suspected of treason that reigned in Lopez's army.
The Brazilian squadron consisted of the wheeled frigate "Amazonas" (flagship) and "Beregibe", "Belmonte", "Araguary", "Iguatemy", "Ipiranga", "Jequitinonha", "Mearini" and "Parnaiba". Naturally, there was a lot of confusion among the warring parties, for example, Wilson categorically states that during the entire battle, Admiral Barroso was hiding in his cabin, since it is very doubtful that he even tried to control the Brazilian ships / 11 / . Not having achieved surprise, as expected, Mesa was supposed to move up the river, but his squadron confused the cards for the Brazilians who remained at anchor. During the battle, the parties exchanged fire from about a mile away, as a result of which the Paraguayan "Jejui" received a hit in the boiler room and in the future did not take part in hostilities anymore. The Brazilian ships, having weighed anchor, began to chase, but the Paraguayans, as a refuge, hid in the narrowest part of the channel, under the protection of one of the coastal batteries. One bomb exploded and killed the pilot aboard the Jequitinonha, and the ship ran aground. When trying to help drag him into the water, the Ipiranga also ran aground.
The Paraguayans immediately attacked Parnaiba from three sides: Tacuari, Marques de Olinda and Salto Oriental. But Belmonte and Mearini approached, and the Paraguayans were driven back. Having suffered heavy losses in the crew, the crew of Parnaiba soon restored the combat readiness of their ship, somehow eliminating the damage. The Paraguayan coastal batteries seem to have fired fairly well, repeatedly hitting the Belmonte, which had to run ashore to avoid sinking. Whoever was in charge of the Amazonas did a good job. The frigate entered the battle, rammed the Paraguari, which then sank. He then sank the Jejui, which at first was out of combat, and finally rammed the Marques de Olinda and Salto Oriental, which, having been damaged, began to drift downriver. The survivors of their crews were rescued the next day by the English ship "Doterel", which came south to Asuncion on a diplomatic mission.
The remaining Paraguayan ships: "Tacuari", "Ygurey", "Ipora" and "Pirabebe" retreated up the river. The horribly damaged Paraguari was salvaged, but the Marques de Olinda and Salto Oriental (along with the Jejui that sank before) were lost. The Brazilians managed to raise the "Ipiranga", but the "Jequitinonha" was completely destroyed and abandoned. . Several of his cannons were later taken down by the Paraguayans. Captain Mesa was mortally wounded and died soon after being taken to Yumaita, which was probably better for him, since Lopez was very angry when he learned of the defeat. He threatened Mesa with torture and certainly would not have left him alive. For his actions, according to Wilson, Admiral Barroso was awarded the Brazilian title of Baron Amazonas, but he was subsequently transferred to Rio. For South America, Rihuelo was a big battle. Both sides seem to have equal numbers of braves and cowards on that fateful day. However, while the Paraguayans continued to continuously reinforce their shores on the Paraná, the Brazilian ships, having suffered losses, retreated from the batteries, eventually finding refuge in Ricon do Sote.

There are wars that are called armed conflicts or antiterrorist operations. The two world wars were called by the late Kurt Vonnegut "civilization's failed suicide attempts," and during the Cold War, almost every Soviet family acquired a refrigerator. As for the Great Paraguayan War of 1864-1870, in discussions they prefer to call it not a war, but a massacre. Or massacre. Having become the apotheosis of human cruelty, this slaughter-massacre forever changed the fate of the countries drawn into it and the fraternal peoples of South America in many respects. The lesson the world has learned is this: do not attack a country whose population is ten times larger. Especially for two or three such countries at once. At the same time, Napoleons and Pyrrhas continued to be born and make mistakes at all latitudes in all the times that followed the nightmare of Paraguay.

The name of the man with Napoleonic dreams was Francisco Solano Lopez, he inherited the right to wage war. The general from childhood, the popularly beloved president and de facto owner of the country of Paraguay, became the main person in the country after the death of his father in 1862.

At that time, a civil war was raging in the United States, France fought with Mexico and finished off Vietnam, something brave was missing in the south of the New World, where the borders between the young powers were not precise, which aroused the appetite of the rulers, who are always short of everything. And so, Paraguay, which does not have access to the sea, began to build and equip its own fleet, at the same time ordering expensive armored ships in Europe.

After 8 years, Marshal-President Francisco Lopez will sign the death warrants for his sisters and mother, but will not live to see their execution. On February 28, 1870, Lopez was mortally wounded, overcoming the Akidaban River with a sword and his faithful detachment of two hundred fighters, trying to escape from the advancing Brazilian soldiers. Before his death, the 43-year-old dictator shouted "I am dying for my country." The ring of "omnipotence" with the inscription "Win or Die" was removed from the corpse's finger. forced to bury Lopez with bare hands.

This scene was the final in Paraguay's war against the Triple Alliance, which killed 60% of Paraguay's population, including 90% of men, by starvation, disease, chaos and bullets. Since then, Paraguay has ceased to earn on the mat.

In the middle of the century before last, Brazil was a monarchy with an emperor on the throne, relying on a small elite, at the same time - the largest and most powerful country on the continent. Argentina was urged on by the oligarchy, power and lands were divided among themselves by large landowners. And Paraguay, the most land-dwelling of the countries in the region, fond of isolationism and all literate, followed the model of an openly dictatorial regime. A small Uruguaychik trembled between Argentina and Brazil, inside which the “whites” and “Colorados” were constantly fighting for power, and the latter were supported by the northern super-neighbor.

Young and ambitious to the point of inadequacy, hereditary dictator Francisco Lopez, the rhyme "Paraguay - Uruguay" seemed promising in terms of going to the ocean. Therefore, when Brazil threatened Uruguay with intervention in 1864, Lopez, carried away by militarism, put forward an ultimatum to the Brazilians, with which they “wiped themselves off” and entered Uruguay. For this, the Paraguayans detained a Brazilian warship in the waters of the Paraguay River, and a month later they attacked Brazil from the north, attacking the province of Mato Grosso with three thousand soldiers. In total, Lopez and his military leaders drafted 64 thousand men into the army that year, and its total number exceeded one hundred thousand. At this time, in the south, the Brazilians successfully took control of Uruguay and "selected" the president they needed there, Venancio Flores.

In early 1865, Lopez had the idea to ask Argentina for permission to let Paraguayan troops into its territory in order to help the Uruguayan opposition stop the Brazilians. When Argentina refused, Lopez declared war on her too, soon Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay became the Triple Alliance, and some geopoliticians liked the idea of ​​eliminating Paraguay as a state.

Further, the tragedy of the war was played in three acts. In other words, it had three phases. If suddenly there was an adequate person at the helm of Paraguay, he would capitulate, without waiting for marauders in the capital and landscapes littered with the dead.

But at the beginning of the first act of the massacre, it seemed that more than 50 thousand people ready to go into battle for Paraguay were cooler than 26 thousand soldiers of the enemy alliance. The Paraguayan militarists invaded their neighbors, captured something and rejoiced, got involved in several battles with the Argentines and Brazilians, who lost.

In the second phase, from 1866 to 1868, the war was fought on the territory of Paraguay. Two years could be reduced to two months, if the forces of the alliance had a desire to deliver one decisive blow and divide Paraguay as we would like. But the alliance was in no hurry, because neither the soldiers nor the generals wanted to shed blood. All the inevitable battles with the Paraguayans, except for one, were won by the interventionists. All of them took place on the banks of the rivers, where the army forts stood.

In the final act, the Brazilians took Asuncion and the war became guerrilla, smoldering until the death of the national hero Francisco Lopez, as if it were his dream.

The Brazilians sought to preserve their personnel, took care of the soldiers, and the soldiers of Paraguay, under the command of amateurs, fought to the last. As a result, the alliance lost 71 thousand people, and Paraguay - more than 300 thousand (some say that a million with something). Most losses cannot be called deaths of the brave. This is death from cholera and other diseases, from exhaustion or overheating, from bullets or even arrows of their own comrades in arms. It was not uncommon for Paraguayan officers to send recruits into battle unarmed. Say, take from the killed comrades. Indians with knives could be sent against the cavalry, and at the end of the war, when there were almost no men of military age in Paraguay, they began, as usual, to call on the front lines of children. Mostly hungry and scared.

The fact that the war lasted so long and claimed so many lives is a consequence of the inability of Paraguayan commanders and propagandists to soberly see reality and admit defeat. Losing one battle after another, they preferred to die rather than surrender. Because even for talking about surrendering, they killed their own “political officers”.

When Paraguay called up children from 9 to 15 years old, armed with spears and fake guns, and sent the boys to the front line, adult Brazilian soldiers refused to kill them, but their commanders knew one thing: to win means to destroy the entire enemy army, even the “funny” one. and paranoid.

One might think that the cause of the Great Paraguayan massacre was the Napoleonic plans of a petty tyrant with unlimited power. But the main factors were the political differences between the participants in the massacres, the fuzzy borders between states and the lack of sound diplomacy.

After the war, Paraguay was left on the world map, distributing large pieces of territory to the winners - Argentina and Brazil. Thirty thousand soldiers of the alliance, having occupied the Paraguayan capital of Asuncion, plundered 100% of the buildings in the once proud city, including the embassies of European empires. The mental health of the Paraguayan people (dying but not surrendering) was undermined for a long time.

It seemed to the surviving Paraguayans that the country had received a lifelong right to blame the war of the 1860s for all failures. True, she chose - not without a coup - a new president, this time not a dictator. For another seven decades, Paraguay paid, crying, indemnity to the winners. The country's strange introduction to and Latin American fascists came less than a century later, but that's another story.