THE Cisplatin War happened between the Brazil and the provincesunitedof the river ofSilver, current Argentina. This was Brazil's first conflict as an independent nation and was caused by the dispute between the two nations for control of the Cisplatin, a province in the extreme south of Brazil. The war lasted from 1825 to 1828 and had two major consequences for Brazil: the loss of the territory of Cisplatina, which became an independent nation, and the loss of popularity of the emperor d. Peter I.
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historical background
Cisplatina, historically, was a region that caused tensions and was strongly disputed, first by the Portuguese and Spaniards and, later, by the nations that became independent. The tension over this region dates back to the colonial period, when Portugal made official the creation of the Colony of Sacramento, in 1680.
The existence of a Portuguese colony in the region sparked a great dispute between the Portuguese and the Spaniards. The solution found was to redraw the territorial limits of the two nations in America from various treaties, such as the Madrid Treaty (1750) and the TreatedinHolyIldefonso (1777).
The issue, however, was never fully resolved and, in the 19th century, the dispute for the region returned with force. In 1807, d. John (known as d. João VI from 1816) was the regent of Portugal and, in the exercise of the function, decided to transfer the Portuguese Court to Brazil with the aim of fleeing the French troops who had invaded Portuguese territory.
Once installed here in Brazil, in 1808, the Prince Regent carried out profound changes in Brazil, including in international relations. One of the measures taken by d. João VI went to order the Sacramento invasion in retaliation for the fact that the Spaniards authorized the French to cross their territory to invade Portugal. If you want to know more about this period, visit our text:Joanine Period.
Cisplatin Formation
After the decision of d. João VI, were carried out twoinvasions of Portuguese troops in the region, one in 1811 and the other in 1816. The 1816 expedition was led by Francisco Frederico Lecor, who, leading 14,000 soldiers, conquered the region and annexed it to the Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. In 1817, the creation of the Cisplatin Province. Due to the presence of Portuguese troops and Lecor's intervention, the climate of tension increased considerably.
Causes
The Portuguese presence in the region was maintained, but the process of independence generated new movements in the region. First, troops loyal to Portugal did not accept the declaration of independence. It was necessary that they were defeated so that the region was guaranteed as a Brazilian province.
Cisplatin even elected and sent representatives to the constituent Assembly which drafted the first Constitution of Brazil in 1823 (rejected by D. Peter I). The tension between Brazil and the inhabitants of Cisplatina was permanent and aggravated by the way in which the local inhabitants were treated by the Brazilian authorities.
The height of tension occurred in April 1825, when Juan Antonio Lavalleja, leading a group known as 33 oriental, started a rebellion against the domination of the Empire of Brazil in Cisplatin. The idea of the 33 Orientals was, in addition tooverthrow Brazilian power in the region, to annex Cisplatine to the United Provinces of Rio de la Plata.
The beginning of this rebellion was the trigger for the War of Cisplatin. Throughout the remainder of 1825, Lecor proved unable to fight the rebellion that was spreading through the interior of Cisplatin. On December 10, 1825, the emperor d. Peter I is over declaring war on the United Provinces, since the porteños were supporting the rebel movement in Cisplatina.
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Motivations
The War of Cisplatin lasted for three years and, during this period, the objectives of the nations involved in this struggle were as follows:
Brazil: the Empire's objective was to put an end to the rebellion that was taking place in Cisplatin and to recover the rebellious territory.
Cisplatin: Lavalleja's objective, in the leadership of the 33 Orientals, was to annul Brazilian domination in the region, and then annexed to the United Provinces. There were also Uruguayans who defended the independence of the region.
provincesunited: attach Cisplatin to its territory.
Main events
The Cisplatin War, over its three years, was an extremely unpopular, mainly because it is not identified as a legitimately Brazilian cause and because of its impact on the country's economy. The desire of the national elites, in the 1820s, was the maintenance of peace to guarantee the country's development.
The war was marked as a big mistake of d. Peter I, which was involved in a conflict that it was unable to win and that only harmed the economy of the country, internationally humiliated Brazil and made the popularity – already shaken – of the emperor.
The emperor ordered the closure of ports in the platinum region and announced a reward for the capture of Lavalleja and Frutuoso Rivera (another military leader of the Uruguayans). These decisions only fueled more tempers. The lack of preparation for the conflict was costly to the country, which was defeated in numerous battles, such as the Battle of Ituzaingó, in February 1827.
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The end of the war
After being defeated in Ituzaingó, the imperial government agreed to negotiate terms for the end of the war. After much negotiation, it was decided on the Preliminary Peace Convention that Brazil accepted giving up Cisplatin and agreed with the military defeat suffered in that conflict. Historian Isabel Lustosa says that, throughout this war, Brazil spent around 30 million dollars and about 8,000 soldiers died|1|.
As part of this peace agreement, there was the independence of Cisplatin and thus, on August 27, 1828, the Eastern Republic of Uruguay. This agreement between Brazilians and Argentines was mediated by representatives from the United Kingdom and France. The War of Cisplatin only indebted Brazil and greatly shook the popularity of d. Peter I.
Note
|1| LUSTOSA, Isabel. D. Peter I. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2007, p. 277
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