Early Life
Stroessner's parents were Hugo Strößner, who emigrated from Hof, Bavaria, Germany, and worked as an accountant for a brewery, and Heriberta Matiauda, who grew up in a wealthy Paraguayan family of criollo Spanish descent. He joined the Paraguayan army in 1929, becoming a lieutenant in 1931. During the Chaco War against Bolivia (1932–1935) he enlisted as an artillery cadet and fought in the Battle of Boquerón. After the war he rose steadily in rank. In the Paraguayan Civil War he commanded the artillery division at Paraguarí that ensured President Moríñigo won by staying loyal and destroying a working-class rebel area of Asunción. He eventually became a brigadier and the youngest general officer in South America in 1948.
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