A History of Latin America

210 CHAPTER 9 DECOLONIZATION AND THE SEARCH FOR NATIONAL IDENTITIES, 1821–1870

War and National Development in Paraguay and Bolivia, 1864–1938

Pilc

oma

yoR

.

Pilcom

ayoR

.

La Paz

Santa

Cruz

Sucre

Puerto

Suárez

Potosí

Boquerón

Olimpo

Bahia

Negra

0 400 Mi.

0 100 200 300 400 Km.

100 200 300

PACIFIC OCEAN

Gran Chaco

Ceded to Brazil 1872

Ceded to Brazil 1876

Ceded to Argentina 1876

Ceded to Bolivia 1938

Current boundary

1811 boundary

Oil fields

ATLANTIC OCEAN

Asunción

Par

aná

R.

Pa

rag

ua

yR

.

VerdeR

.

BOLIVIA

ARGENTINA

PARAGUAY

CHILE

BRAZIL

PERU

Nanawa

Claimed by

Bolivia until 1938

and ceded to

Paraguay

Territory left to

Paraguay after

War of the

Triple Alliance

1878

Territories

originally

claimed by

Paraguay

in 1811

in 1864 to ensure the victory of a pro-Brazilian fac-
tion in that country’s civil strife. López could not
be indifferent to this action, which threatened the
delicate balance of power in the basin of La Plata.
López also feared that Brazilian control of Uruguay
would end unrestricted Paraguayan access to
the port of Montevideo, which would make Para-
guayan trade dependent entirely on the goodwill
of Buenos Aires.
When the Brazilian government disregarded
his protests, López declared war, and Brazil quickly
concluded a Triple Alliance with Argentina and
Uruguay; a separate secret treaty between Brazil and
Argentina provided for the partition of more than
half of Paraguay’s territory between them. Para-

guay thus faced a coalition that included the two

largest states in South America, with an immense

superiority in manpower and other resources.

Yet the war dragged on for fi ve years, for at

its outset Paraguay possessed an army of some

70,000 well-armed and disciplined soldiers that

outnumbered the combined forces of its foes. By

1870, however, the Triple Alliance had depleted

Paraguay’s economic strength and defeated its

military forces. Perhaps as much as 20 percent of

Paraguay’s prewar population of some 300,000

perished as a result of military action, famine, dis-

ease, and a devastating Brazilian occupation. The

peace treaty assigned much Paraguayan territory

to the victors and burdened Paraguay with ex-