Customer Reviews

To the Bitter End: Paraguay and the War of the Triple Alliance (Contributions in Military Studies)

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A few weeks after the US Civil War ended in 1865, Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay formed the "Triple Alliance" to fight against Paraguay. The war was not nearly as one-sided as it might seem on first glance, for at the time, Paraguay's army was larger than its combined enemies. Paraguay struck first, invading Brazil and Argentina, but was ultimately beaten back and ground down. By war's end in 1870, Paraguay had lost huge tracts of territory, its President and its entire army, and an astonishing 60 percent of its population.

Leuchars' account of the war is well-documented and readable. The opening chapters analyze the political climate in each country. Paraguay's erratic dictator, Francisco Solano Lopez, is generally blamed for the war. He had a large army (70,000 strong), a shrewd sense of military tactics, and he enjoyed a fanatical devotion from the public, yet his strategic aims were never clear --we simply do not know what Lopez hoped to get out of the war. Argentina's President Mitre was a modernizer who presided over an unstable country still gripped by conflict over whether to be a centralized or federated state. Brazilian Emperor Pedro II, also a modernizer, similarly faced challenges from regional warlords, as well as slavery and a shockingly unequal distribution of land and income. Uruguay was in the throes of civil war between its modernizing Colorado and oligarchic Blanco parties. Against this backdrop, Paraguay's Lopez deserves most --but not all-- of the blame for the war. The conflict began when the various countries took different sides in Uruguay's civil war, but that was quickly subsumed by each country's territorial aspirations rooted in the region's still-unfixed borders.

Leuchars does an excellent job of sorting out the motives of each government and reexamining established historical conclusions. The maps are frequent and excellent. The "big picture" analysis of the war's impact on the region, and particularly on Paraguay's future, is persuasive. Ultimately, Paraguay's population was reduced to 125,000, less than half of its prewar number through military losses and the extreme hardship endured by the citizens. Brazil lost an estimated 100,000 troops and civilians and Argentina another 25,000. These numbers, given the rural nature of the societies, are unimaginable in today's wars.

"To The Bitter End" is timely. There is simply not much recent writing in English about the War of the Triple Alliance. And apart from Paraguay, where the consequences remain an indelible part of the national character, it is a war in danger of being forgotten even in South America. This is an excellent book.

I wanted this book to help me reconcile two very different interpretations of this disastrous war, which killed more than half of Paraguay's population. Eduardo Galeano's leftist polemic history, Open Veins of Latin America, calls it `a war of extermination', funded by British commerce, to rid the continent of a `dangerous example' of `autarchic internal development'. Meanwhile, Robert Harvey's Liberators, a tale of `larger-than-life heroes' puts the blame squarely on the `megalomaniac' Paraguayan president, Francisco Lopez, for `declaring war on Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay almost simultaneously'. Although Leuchars' book is self-declaredly a _military_ history, it seems to be one of the few studies of the war in print in English, and does yield some insights into the social, economic and diplomatic processes behind the war.

Simmering border disputes in the River Plate region came to a head with the Brazilian invasion of Uruguay in October 1864, which removed the Blanco government allied with Paraguay. In response, Paraguay declared war on Brazil, and later sent its forces into the strip of Argentina which separates it from Uruguay. Although Lopez doubtless played some of his cards badly, his fear that his larger neighbours would, at some point, try to dismember his country seems to have been borne out by the terms of Triple Alliance treaty between Brazil, Argentina, and (nominally) Uruguay. These hardly referred to the supposed causes of the war, but concentrated on how Paraguay's land was to be divided up between its two largest neighbours.

The war lasted until the Paraguayan forces were obliterated, which took over four years. Leuchars spends a lot of time wondering why Lopez was determined to fight on, but not why his compatriots, including many women and boys, continued to rally to his flag, even after the Allies had obviously won. So often does the author describe the Paraguayans' courage that he apologises to the reader for the lack of variety in his superlatives. Lopez' vicious behaviour - - he even accused his mother of betraying him and had her publicly whipped - - only highlights the need to understand why so many were willing to follow him to death. The book has only an occasional hint at any ideology motivating the Allies, such as their troops mocking Lopez as an `old Indian', and their post-war prohibition of the Guarani language in schools.

It's often easy to write off a national catastrophe by blaming it on the victims' leader. This book does demonstrate that there were other causes, but stops short of exploring them fully.

The previous reviewer does a good job of detailing what the book is about. Francisco Lopez declares war on Brazil and Argentina because they interfered in the internal politics of Uruguay. Uruguay (under a Liberal government) sides with Brazil and Argentina. Paraguay invades both Argentina and Brazil and seizes property and land. These three states form the Triple Alliance and roll back the Paraguay invasion and then invade Paraguay.
It is interesting to make a present day equation with another state called North Korea. Both are headed by sons of dictators who assume the dictatorship. Both are isolationist and militaristic. Both pose a threat to their neighbors. I am surprised that in the summary, the author did not make the comparison. But the author strictly details the history and politics of the war. Hats off to Mr. Leuchars for detailing this bloody conflict which caused the death of 60% of Paraguay's population.
After reading the book, the military battles come off a bit dry. Lopez's terrorism is something else. He shot his own brother and had his mother and sisters whipped because he thought they were plotting against him. Presently Paraguay makes him out as a hero, but the reader is left to come to his own conclusion. Leuchars explains that without him, Paraguay may have ceased being a nation.
Again I commend the author for writing about a little known conflict. I wish he would have included some photographs in this book, although the maps were great. The only reason I gave it a four rather than a five star, is that the military aspect was rather dry reading.

in the history of this long and brutal war which shaped the destiny of much of the continent. Maps and explanations make us feel that we need search no furthur accounts to comprehend this.

The war of the Triple Alliance is the only true war involving Latin American countries. The efforts of Francisco Solano Lopez to expand his territory are truly nefarious and Leuchars does an excellent job of showing how Paraguay was dragged into war by a dictator. He shows how one man willed his countries power against Brazil and Argentina the superpowers of Latin America. This book is a great microcosm of how one dictator was able to challenge two super powers and bring them to the point of exhaustion. The battles were truly amazing and Leuchars provides the best account to date on the fight. Highly recommend for those interested in Latin America.