HISTORY--_continued_
Condition of Uruguay at the conclusion of the war against
Rosas--Measures for the relief of poverty--Juan Francesco Giro
elected President--The arising of antagonistic elements--Giro
resigns in favour of Bernardo Berro--A revolution ends in the
formation of a triumvirate--On the death of Lavalleja and Rivera,
Flores becomes Dictator--Rebellion against his rule--Brazil sends
an army to the assistance of General Flores--Further
revolutionary movements--Manuel Basilio Bustamente succeeds
Flores--The policy of General César Diaz--His exile and return at
the head of an army--Defeat and death of Diaz--Two interim
Presidents--Continuous civil war--General Flores enters the
Republic in command of a strong force and is declared
Dictator--The Paraguayan war--Causes of its outbreak--The policy
and military strength of Paraguay--Strategic errors--Uruguay's
share in the campaign--Flores returns to Montevideo from the seat
of war--His assassination--General Lorenzo Batlle elected
President--The continuance of political unrest--Various
presidents and dictators--The Government of the present day--Don
José Batlle y Ordoñez--Doctor Claudio Williman--The Uruguayan
battle-fields in tabular form--Progress of the land.
With the Battle of Monte Caseros and the fall of Rosas the range of
episode enters comparatively modern times. Although the war had ended
successfully for the Uruguayan cause, its conclusion left the country
in an utterly impoverished and desolate condition. Through the
terrible stress of events in a land of such infinite natural resources
the population was roofless, and in many districts actually at the
point of starvation--an unheard of situation for such a country. As
for the treasury, it was virtually empty, and the harassed Government
found itself under the necessity of seeking for loans from without
its frontiers on any terms that it could obtain.
On the 1st of March, 1852, Don Juan Francisco Giro was elected as the
fourth constitutional President of Uruguay. The newly elected chief of
the State made desperate efforts towards ameliorating the financial
condition of the country, but political complications were destined to
work against success from the very start. A fortnight after he had
assumed power the Uruguayan army that had borne a brilliant share in
the victory of Monte Caseros returned home from Buenos Aires. Its
commander, General César Diaz, was acclaimed as a popular hero, and
was promptly created Minister for War and Marine, although his
sympathies were directly opposed to the Government.
It was not long ere the antagonistic elements that now surrounded him
led to the resignation of Giro, who in October delegated his authority
to Don Bernardo Berro. The latter, however, was able no more than his
predecessor to restrain the tide of partizanship, and in July of 1853
an open revolution broke out, headed by General Diaz and Colonel
Palleja. The outbreak occurred during a review in the centre of
Montevideo, and, dramatically conceived, proved definitely successful
within the course of a few minutes. In the first instance Berro was
forced merely to appoint a fresh set of ministers, whose views were
hostile to his own; but very shortly afterwards the President was
obliged to vacate his post in haste, and to take refuge in the French
legation.
At the end of September, 1853, a triumvirate was formed of Generals
Lavalleja, Rivera, and Colonel Flores. The deaths of both the former
occurred ere the new regime could be adopted in practice, and thus the
survivor, Colonel Venancio Flores, was elected to complete the term
of the presidency that Giro had vacated. He had scarcely taken charge
of the reins of government, however, when his authority was rebelled
against, this time by the party who had lately been in power. Leaving
General César Diaz in charge of the Government, Flores himself headed
a successful campaign against the revolutionists, at the end of which
his military rank was raised to that of General.
The unrest did not long remain quelled. Indeed, so threatening did the
situation become that Flores appealed to the Brazilians for aid. In
response the northern republic sent an army of four thousand men, who
occupied the principal cities of Uruguay. The result, as may be
imagined, was a yet more marked seething of discontent. In 1855,
despite the presence of the foreign troops, the Colorado, or red
party, now definitely formed, revolted, and by force of arms obtained
possession of the capital for a while.
The success of the revolutionists was short-lived. General Oribe and
many other members of the Blanco, or white, group, came to the
assistance of Flores. In the end a compromise was effected. The
revolutionists retired; Flores resigned his post, and Don Manuel
Basilio Bustamente was elected as temporary President. At this stage
of Uruguayan history, however, space does not permit a detailed
description of the various revolutions that followed the one upon the
heels of the other, and that were separated by intervals of merely a
few weeks or months.
An event of striking importance, however, occurred in 1858, during the
presidentship of Don Gabriel A. Pereira. The latter had been opposed
by General César Diaz, who had stood as an unsuccessful candidate for
the office, and the inevitable jealousies soon became embittered once
more to the point of active explosion. The policy of Diaz was now to
incorporate the Banda Oriental with the Argentine Provinces, and thus
to form a single country that should be known as the United States of
La Plata.
On the discovery of his plan Diaz was exiled to Buenos Aires, and with
him many of the more prominent members of the Colorado party. Diaz,
however, soon made his way back across the river, and, collecting an
army of eight hundred men, marched upon Montevideo, his forces
swelling in numbers as he went. Unsuccessful in its attempt upon the
capital, the revolutionist army retired, and, after an indecisive
battle or two, met with total defeat at Cagancha. Diaz was taken
prisoner in this action, and was shot in company with fifty of his
followers.
The remainder of Pereira's term of office passed in comparative
tranquillity. He was succeeded in 1860 by another representative of
his own party, Don Bernardo Berro, who was elected in constitutional
fashion. Three years later, however, General Flores entered the arena
of politics once more. The pretext under which hostilities broke out
was slight enough in itself. A refusal on the part of the Government
to permit the celebration of the anniversary of the Battle of
Quinteros had enraged the Colorados, and Flores, espousing their
cause, led an army into the field. A lengthy series of battles ensued,
in the majority of which Flores was successful. While the war was
still raging, Berro, having completed his term, was succeeded as
President by Don Atanasio Aguirre. Flores, however, having now
obtained the active support of Brazil, was carrying all before him,
and in February of 1865 he entered Montevideo in triumph, and was
proclaimed provisional Governor and then Dictator of the Republic.
In recapitulating the history of Uruguay at this period the incessancy
of the stream of warlike events is amazing. Scarcely had Flores seated
himself upon what was virtually the throne of his dictatorship when
an event of international importance, the Paraguayan war, occurred
that was destined to convulse three republics and an empire.
The pretext on which war was declared was the armed intervention of
Brazil in the affairs of the Banda Oriental, and the support lent to
Flores by the Brazilian army--an interference that Francisco Solano
Lopez, the tyrannical Dictator of Paraguay, took upon himself to
resent hotly. Yet, even had not this particular bone of contention
come into being, the war was undoubtedly inevitable. Paraguay's
distrust of Brazil, and the latter's dread of the really formidable
military forces that the inland republic had gathered together, had
piled up a situation that only the faintest flame was required to set
ablaze.
The military strength of Paraguay at this period was considerable.
With an army of eighty thousand men of wild courage, backed by an
adequate number of cannon, she might well have bidden defiance to any
other single republic of South America. But her strength was exceeded
by her confidence. Desirous of sweeping all before him, Lopez divided
his forces, and dispatched an army to the north in order to invade
Brazil, while another corps was told off to strike in a south-easterly
direction. In order to effect this latter move it was necessary to
obtain Argentina's consent to cross her province of Corrientes. This
permission, which would have involved a breach of neutrality, was, not
unnaturally, refused. Incensed at this check to his plans, Lopez
declared war upon Argentina, and occupied the province of Argentina by
force of arms. In the meanwhile Flores, in return for the support he
had received from Brazil, threw in the lot of the Banda Oriental with
that of the northern empire.
Thus Paraguay found herself face to face with the allied powers of
Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, and a struggle ensued that cost the
lives of tens of thousands ere the death of Lopez ended the long and
desperate fight, at the conclusion of which Paraguay stood all but
bereft of her adult manhood. Flores assumed command of the Uruguayan
forces that took part in the campaign, and the Oriental division
distinguished itself on numerous occasions in the course of the
arduous conflict.
Fifteen months after the beginning of the war Flores found it
necessary to return to Montevideo, where, in spite of the foreign
campaign, symptoms of internal unrest had again become evident. Here
in 1868 he met with the fate that had passed him by in the course of
the Paraguayan war. Learning that a _coup d'état_ had suddenly come
about, and that a body of men had taken the Government House by
assault, Flores without delay started out in his carriage to gain the
scene of action. This move, as a matter of fact, had been foreseen by
the conspirators, and a broken-down wagon blocked one of the streets
through which he had to pass. As the General's carriage came to a halt
in front of the obstruction, a group of men rushed out from the
neighbouring doorways, and a minute later the body of Flores, mortally
wounded by gunshots and knives, was left lying in the roadway.
This tragedy, however, was of little material assistance to the Blanco
party. Indeed, the sole result, so far as they were concerned, was the
execution of one or two of their leaders. The power remained with the
party of the dead Flores, and General Lorenzo Batlle was elected
President, ruling with no little determination despite the frequent
revolutionary movements that continued to occur. On various occasions,
it is true, the situation of the Government became critical enough,
and in 1870 the capital itself was besieged by the insurrectionists;
but in the end Batlle prevailed, and the insurrectionists were
repulsed, at all events for the time being.
Beyond these warlike episodes much of importance occurred during the
rule of this President, which lasted until 1872. Two distinct
catastrophes marked the years 1868 and 1869. The former was darkened
by a terrible visitation of cholera, while during the latter a
financial crisis arose that caused the ruin of many thousands of
Oriental families. Nevertheless, the year 1869 is to be marked in
white among the milestones of Uruguay's progress; for it was then that
the railway was inaugurated, and a line completed between Montevideo
and Canelones that marked the first falling into line of the Republic
with the more advanced countries.
The next President, Doctor José Ellauri, failed to complete his term
of office. In January of 1875 a military revolution forced him to take
hasty refuge in a Brazilian warship that was lying in the port of
Montevideo, while Don Pedro Varela was acclaimed by the army as chief
of state. Raised to power at the point of the bayonet, Varela found it
necessary to sustain his post by the same force. Although his armies
succeeded in suppressing the numerous popular risings, the
dissatisfaction in the end became so general and a condition of
monetary crisis so pronounced that Varela was forced to resign.
[Illustration: LAGO DEL PRADO: MONTEVIDEO.]
[Illustration: THE PRADO: MONTEVIDEO.
To face p. 124.]
Colonel Latorre next assumed power as Dictator. His handling of this
dangerously powerful office was liberal, and after three years of
office he was elected in 1879 as constitutional President of the
Republic. Almost immediately after this, however, the political
situation became too complicated for his patience, and he vacated his
post, declaring, it is said, that the Uruguayans were ungovernable as
a race. Doctor Francisco Vidal, who succeeded him, was replaced in
1882 by General Santos. Although no marked internal disturbances
occurred during the presidentship of this latter, the Blanco party
were making strenuous efforts just outside the frontiers of the
Republic to organise a revolutionary campaign on a serious scale. In
1886, when his office was completed, Santos caused Vidal to be elected
once more, meaning to succeed him again, as he had already done on a
previous occasion.
No sooner had Vidal occupied the presidential chair than the
threatened revolution broke out. General Santos, at the head of the
Government forces, effectually suppressed the rising, whereupon Vidal
resigned in his favour. A governmental crisis ensued; the Ministry
resigned in a body, and Santos was wounded in the course of an attempt
upon his life. Efforts towards the keeping of the national peace were
now made on both sides, and by means of strenuous endeavour a mixed
Ministry was formed. Known by the title of "the Ministry of
Conciliation," the new Government was acclaimed with enthusiastic
rejoicings throughout Uruguay. Shortly after its formation Santos
proceeded to Europe in order to obtain a complete recovery from his
wound, and General Tajes was elected President of the Republic.
During Tajes's term of office and that of his successor, Doctor Julio
Herrera y Obes, matters remained fairly quiet. In 1894 Don Juan
Idiarte Borda became chief of state by election, and three years later
a revolution on the part of the Blanco party broke out afresh. At the
end of six months' fighting Borda was assassinated in the streets of
Montevideo, and the tragic event was followed by the patching up of a
temporary peace.
Don Juan Lindolfo Cuestas, who next assumed control of the Government,
was successful in bringing about a treaty with the Blanco party, and
in September of 1897 the revolutionists laid down their arms. We now
arrive at a period that is practically that of the present day. In
1903 Don José Batlle y Ordoñez was elected President. For the first
year of his rule he had to contend with further risings of the Blanco
party, in the course of which numerous battles were fought. In the end
the Government forces were signally successful, and in September of
1904 peace was signed and a general amnesty declared.
In 1907 Doctor Claudio Williman succeeded Señor Batlle. The first
years of his tenure of office passed in tranquillity; but at the end
of 1910 the Blancos became active once more, and various actions were
contested ere the Government troops once more obtained the mastery of
the situation in January of 1911.
Having thus brought this rough sketch of Uruguayan history to its
conclusion at the present day, it must be admitted that the trend
revealed throughout is distinctly warlike. Indeed, the battles that
have reddened the soil of the Banda Oriental since its first
colonisation are amazingly numerous. I have compiled a list of some
120, and were minor skirmishes included a volume would be needed to
contain the list. It is, indeed, the militant portion of history that
must necessarily stand out chiefly in a cursory survey such as this.
The progress of industry, education, science, and art by the side of
the roar of strife is necessarily a silent one. Its course has been
none the less forceful for all that; and universities, schools,
national institutions of every kind, port-works, and the general
paraphernalia of commerce testify to the fact that Uruguay has not
permitted her numerous internal struggles to divert the nation from
its true forward march. In at least one sense the situation renders
tribute to the virile qualities of the Uruguayan. For there are
surely few nations that can exhibit a battle-roll such as this, and
yet at the same time produce convincing evidence of prosperity and
progress. With a proper manipulation of the great national energies,
and their devotion to the pursuits of peace alone--tendencies that are
becoming each year more marked--the prospects of the Banda Oriental
would excel even the present fair promise of her future.