Struggle For Independence
In 1811, José Gervasio Artigas, who became Uruguay's national hero, launched a successful revolt against Spain, defeating Spanish forces on May 18 in the Battle of Las Piedras. In 1814 he formed the Liga Federal (Federal League) of which he was declared Protector.
The steady growth of influence and prestige of the Federal League frightened the Portuguese government, which did not want the League's republicanism to spread to the adjoining Portuguese colony of Brazil. In August, 1816 forces from Brazil invaded the Eastern Province, with the intention of destroying the protector and his revolution. The Portuguese forces, thanks to their numerical and material superiority, occupied Montevideo on January 20, 1817, and finally after struggling for three years in the countryside, defeated Artigas in the Battle of Tacuarembó. In 1821, the Eastern Province of the Río de la Plata (present-day Uruguay), was annexed by Brazil under the name of Província Cisplatina. In response, the Thirty-Three Orientals led by Juan Antonio Lavalleja declared independence on August 25, 1825 supported by the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, present-day Argentina.
This led to the 500-day Cisplatine War. Neither side gained the upper hand, and in 1828 the Treaty of Montevideo, fostered by Britain, gave birth to Uruguay as an independent state. The nation's first constitution was adopted on July 18, 1830. For the remainder of the 19th century, under a series of elected and appointed presidents, Uruguay saw interventions by — and conflicts with — neighboring states, political and economic fluctuations, and large inflows of immigrants, mostly from Europe.
Read more about this topic: History Of Uruguay
Famous quotes containing the words struggle and/or independence:
“It is thus that the few rare lucid well-disposed people who have had to struggle on the earth find themselves at certain hours of the day or night in the depth of certain authentic and waking nightmare states, surrounded by the formidable suction, the formidable tentacular oppression of a kind of civic magic which will soon be seen appearing openly in social behavior.”
—Antonin Artaud (1896–1948)
“In a famous Middletown study of Muncie, Indiana, in 1924, mothers were asked to rank the qualities they most desire in their children. At the top of the list were conformity and strict obedience. More than fifty years later, when the Middletown survey was replicated, mothers placed autonomy and independence first. The healthiest parenting probably promotes a balance of these qualities in children.”
—Richard Louv (20th century)