The Rebel Province
The history of how Uruguay came to be an independent buffer zone between Brazil and Argentina
Welcome Avatar! Argentines and Brazilians often joke about Uruguay being a “rebel province/state”, and Buenos Aires is the city with the second biggest population of Uruguayans after Montevideo. How did Uruguay become an independent buffer state sandwiched in between these two giants, and who was involved? Let’s dig in.
Every August 25, when Uruguay celebrates its Independence Day, a debate is reopened between historians who claim that the celebration does not fit with what happened almost 200 years ago.
On August 25, 1825, an assembly of representatives signed the law of independence from the Empire of Brazil... to join the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (Argentina).
The country we know as Uruguay today would only be created three years later. But let’s go over some turbulent history first.
Starting point: Banda Oriental
Before Spain had to cede its overseas territories to independence armies, the territories that today make up the Eastern Republic of Uruguay were originally part of the Spanish Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata.
At that time the area east of the center of what is now Argentina was called the Banda Oriental, and its inhabitants were referred to as Orientals.
After independence from Spain, led in the eastern part by José Artigas, this territory began to be called the Eastern Province, or Provincia Oriental in Spanish.
For Artigas, who is considered as the father of Uruguayan nationality, this province should have been part of a federal league, along with the rest of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (Argentina), but with a certain degree of autonomy.
Artigas' plan failed and in the years that followed, the Eastern Province became a disputed territory, which led to war.
Only two years after the Orientales had expelled the Spanish in 1814, the Eastern Province was invaded by troops from the Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarve, which in 1821 incorporated it into its territory and baptized it Cisplatine Province.
Cisplatine War (Guerra del Brasil) - (1825-1828)
In 1825, with the support of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (which would later form Argentina), thirty-three Orientals entered the territory to start an uprising against the Brazilian occupiers.
The campaign, to which a large part of the population joined, is successful and often referred to as the “Cisplatine War”.
On August 25, 1825, the Eastern Province signed the declaration of independence from Brazil, and was officially incorporated into the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (Argentina) — this is where the “Rebel Province” remarks come from during soccer matches whenever Argentina plays against Uruguay.
Brazil does not recognize this declaration and the war continues, with increasing military successes for the Orientals.
And at this point a usual suspect and key actor in the Southern Cone after the Spanish left intervened: the United Kingdom.
Autist note: read more about the turbulent history between the United Kingdom and Argentina in particular here:
The role of England in creating Uruguay
As the Spanish lost their overseas territories, the English crown was gaining ground as a beneficiary of the trade that was generated in South America.
War can be good for business depending on what side you’re on, but it can make trade a lot harder in the regions affected by war. Great Britain was in the midst of its industrial revolution, and this war over the Eastern Province caused many problems.
In view of the instability and the impact on international trade, England decides to promote negotiations between both parties.
The one chosen for this is the diplomat and politician John Ponsonby, first Viscount Ponsonby (approx. 1770-1855), of Irish origin. He had direct ties to the Eastern Province: an uncle of his was a partner in a meat salting factory.
In 1827, Ponsonby wrote to his Government: "The Orientals are as unwilling to allow Buenos Aires to have predominance over them as to submit to the sovereignty of the Emperor of Brazil."
Simultaneously, Buenos Aires was going through a serious economic crisis, due to the blockade of its port by the Brazilians, and low and behold, a brutal inflation unleashed because its bills had no backing and the other provinces rejected its centralism.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Buenos Aires urgently needed to end the hostilities, and Great Britain also needed the war to end to improve trade routes and business in the region.
The birth of Uruguay
After several failed proposals for an agreement, Ponsonby begins to convince England that to end the discord, the Eastern Province could become an independent state.
In several letters sent to London, he highlights the independent spirit of the Easterners and their ability to carry out a national project.
Autist note: Lord Ponsonby was also essential for intermediating in the creation of Belgium as a nation state, split off from France and the Netherlands. A minority of Uruguayans does not know about Ponsonby, but even less Belgians do. A kickstarter project for a documentary called “Ponsonbyland” will discuss the hidden brotherhood between Uruguay and Belgium is seeking funding to tell the story of Lord Ponsonby. It was fully funded and should be coming out soon. An interview with the creators here.
In August 1828, independence of the Eastern Province from the United Provinces (Argentina) was declared during a preliminary Peace Convention.
Representatives of the United Provinces (Argentina) and Brazil were present, together with English diplomats, but curiously there were no representatives from the Eastern Province itself.
In this triangle of tensions and interests, through his skilful diplomacy, Ponsonby was able to get both the United Provinces and the Empire of Brazil to agree to the Uruguayan independence solution.
On August 27, 1828, what is now Argentina and Brazil, signed an agreement in Rio de Janeiro by which they recognized the independence of what in the text they call the "State of Montevideo", the current Uruguay.
This recognition also ended de Cisplatine War.
Autist note: less than 40 years later, Uruguay would get battle tested as a nation through its involvement in a direct war with Argentina and Brazil against Paraguay. The Paraguayan War was one of the bloodiest conflicts in Latin America, with more than 400,000 casualties in which more than 90% of the male population of Paraguay perished.
Final Thoughts
Uruguay emerged from a confrontation between neighbors, and is often referred to as a Buffer State between two giants.
In a way, Uruguay was also an English invention: the British crown benefited from unhindered access to the La Plata basin after the creation of Uruguay.
The emergence of Uruguay as a new nation could not have occurred without the British negotiation through lord Ponsonby, but neither without an acceptance of independence on the part of the Uruguayans.
Up to this day many Argentines and Brazilians jokingly call Uruguay another province of Argentina, or another state in the Brazilian case.
See you in the Jungle, anon!
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Gracias; interesante!
Very interesting.