The Triple Alliance Treaty was a secret agreement signed on May 1, 1865, in the city of Buenos Aires, between Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.
The three countries allied themselves against the Paraguayan dictator Solano López and fought together in the Paraguayan War (1864-1870).
This event was considered the biggest and one of the bloodiest conflicts that took place in Latin America in the 19th century.
Triple Alliance Treaty Summary
The Triple Alliance Treaty was made up of 19 articles. The document proposed, among other things, the union of forces between the three signatory countries, with the main aim of defeating Paraguay, thus overthrowing the expansionist government of Francisco Solano López.
López mainly sought the conquest of neighboring territories to obtain an outlet to the sea, while the countries defended their territories and forced the free navigation of the Paraná and Paraguay rivers.
This agreement was necessary, as Paraguay had a more organized and better armed army than its opponents.
Article 1 of the document defines the main objective of the Triple Alliance:
Thus, Paraguay had approximately 60,000 men, in addition to ships, squadrons and artillery, while Brazil had around 12,000 soldiers, Argentina 8,000 and Uruguay, 3,000. Note that together, they did not reach the number of Paraguayan soldiers.
Therefore, it was difficult to hold the power of that country, which led to the alliance between Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.
Representatives of the signatory countries were:
- Vice Admiral Viscount of Tamandaré, Brigadier Manoel Osório and Francisco Otaviano de Almeida Rosa, from Brazil;
- Brigadier General D. Bartolomé Miter and Dom Rufino de Eliralde, from Argentina;
- Brigadier General D. Venâncio FIores and Dom Carlos de Castro, from Uruguay.
Another important point of the document emphasizes that this alliance corroborated the position of the signatory countries against the Paraguayan government, and not of its population:
Although they defeated Paraguay, with the help of England, the Treaty did not specify the forces that each ally should contribute, as indicated in Art. 2nd:
This resulted in a very expensive war, leaving the economy of the countries involved shaken, especially that of Brazil.
As it had the support of England, the debt of the countries of the Triple Alliance increased considerably with this power.
The defeat of Paraguay left the country in a critical state of misery, hunger and epidemics. Much of the male population was decimated which shook the country's economy.
Currently, Paraguay is one of the least developed countries in Latin America.
See also:War in Paraguay