The Battle Of Riachuelo

[camberiu]

On June 11th 1865, on the waters of the Parana river, the Battle of Riachuelo, the turning point of the Paraguayan war, was fought. Up to that point, Paraguay held the initiative against the allied forces of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay and the troops commanded by general Robles were advancing towards Argentina almost unopposed. It was then that the Brazilian Navy, commanded by admiral Barroso faced off against the Paraguayan armada. Although ambushed at the beginning, Barroso was able to turn the tide of war and win the battle. By doing so, he broke the back of the Paraguayan offensive and their forces remained on the defensive until the end of the conflict. It was the single largest naval engagement in the history of Latin America, until the Falkland conflict.

 

[Joe]

That looks interesting. I didn't even know Paraguay had a navy. I was assuming they just had a canoe or two to patrol Iguazu. They don't have a sea border after all - what gives?

 

[HeyHeyJose]

Paraguay was the most advanced country in South America at the time of the war of the "Triple Alliance" (ARG, URG and BRA). What was thought to be done in few months end up dragging for almost five years and like all wars, killings thousands upon thousands of human beings. The orders were clear on this war: All Paraguayan males 12 years and older were to be killed.

Today that war is recognized as a terrible massacre leading to the destruction of a nation. For those wanting to learn about this dark chapter in the history of South America I recommend this documentary produced in Argentina and showed on TV.

http://youtu.be/JYzKKRLqYj4

 

[camberiu]

That is the Chivenato/Eduardo Galeano version of the history of the war and it is heavily disputed. There is no historical evidence whatsoever of the order of genocide. No historical document, letter, nothing.
Was it a brutal and bloody conflict? yes.
Were atrocities committed? for sure.
But there was never any order issued to kill all males aged 12 and over. Also, Paraguai was NOT the most developed country in South America. This fiction was created by marxist historians in both in Brazil and Argentina, and Eduardo Galeano grabbed and made it famous in his book. The marxist came up with that because they wanted to create this image of an industrial country in 19th century South America where the proletariat revolution could have happened if it weren't the actions of evil capitalist England who supposedly incited the war. However, many historians that I personally know of went to Paraguay looking for evidence of this former "developed and advancement" country and found nothing. NADA. All the evidence points that Paraguayan industry was at most as advanced and developed as that of Brazil or Argentina at the time. The only advantage Paraguay had was that Solano Lopez had more time to build up his army. That is it. Paraguay was never this "industrial super power" in the heart of Latin America destroyed by english imperialism. That is pure marxist bullshit concocted by professors at UBA and UNICAMP.

 

[camberiu]

That looks interesting. I didn't even know Paraguay had a navy. I was assuming they just had a canoe or two to patrol Iguazu. They don't have a sea border after all - what gives?

They did have a pretty powerful river navy and they were trying to get an exit to the ocean. That is why they started the war.

 

[ajoknoblauch]

So this is why the Riachuelo is South America's most polluted waterway...

 

[HeyHeyJose]

That is the Chivenato/Eduardo Galeano version of the history of the war and it is heavily disputed. There is no historical evidence whatsoever of the order of genocide. No historical document, letter, nothing.
Was it a brutal and bloody conflict? yes.
Were atrocities committed? for sure.
But there was never any order issued to kill all males aged 12 and over. Also, Paraguai was NOT the most developed country in South America. This fiction was created by marxist historians in both in Brazil and Argentina, and Eduardo Galeano grabbed and made it famous in his book. The marxist came up with that because they wanted to create this image of an industrial country in 19th century South America where the proletariat revolution could have happened if it weren't the actions of evil capitalist England who supposedly incited the war. However, many historians that I personally know of went to Paraguay looking for evidence of this former "developed and advancement" country and found nothing. NADA. All the evidence points that Paraguayan industry was at most as advanced and developed as that of Brazil or Argentina at the time. The only advantage Paraguay had was that Solano Lopez had more time to build up his army. That is it. Paraguay was never this "industrial super power" in the heart of Latin America destroyed by english imperialism. That is pure marxist bullshit concocted by professors at UBA and UNICAMP.

Everybody has the right to their own opinions, but not to their own facts.

Please send my best regards to the many "historian" friends quoted above.