“Uruguay is an independent and sovereign country!”
"Uruguayans unite to defend their homeland."
…
On the morning of February 2, 1913, people of all classes in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, took to the streets to express their anger.
The Uruguayan people lined up in a mighty parade to march towards the Portuguese Embassy in Uruguay. They carried various patriotic banners, loudly denounced the shamelessness of Portuguese imperialism, and spoke passionately about their commitment to defending their motherland. determination.
Not only the capital, but with the exception of the pro-Portugal provinces on the border, the entire people of the Republic of Uruguay on the east coast are united and resolutely oppose imperialism, vowing to defend the independence and sovereignty of the motherland.
There is a reason why the relationship between Uruguay and Portugal suddenly took a turn for the worse.
The reason why Uruguay has overwhelming resentment and malice towards the Portuguese Empire is not groundless. They are completely angered by the unilateral hegemony and humiliation of the Portuguese Empire.
Just yesterday, at 5 pm on February 1, the Portuguese government sent electricity to the world and officially announced that it would cancel the recognition of Uruguay's statehood, proposing that Uruguay is part of the Portuguese Empire and that Portugal will regain the area occupied by the rebels in an appropriate period.
In its external announcement, Portugal made a bold and straightforward declaration: There has never been a country called the Eastern Republic of Uruguay in the world. The existence of this country is an illegal organization, a rebel area of the empire, and a small group of Castilian descendants. The product of a conspiracy to divide the country.
When talking about national jurisprudence, Portugal has spoken with certainty, and it has been mentioned since ancient times.
Faced with the legitimacy of the source of its rule, the Portuguese Empire claimed to have the ancient basis for the east bank of the Uruguay River, and the legal principle of sovereignty was indisputable.
As early as 1680, Portugal was the first to develop this area, established a stronghold, and occupied the east bank of the Uruguay River reasonably and legally.
Although Uruguay was later invaded and taken away by Spain, in 1820 the entire east coast of Uruguay was recovered by Portugal. It is the West Platine Province of Brazil and an integral part of Portuguese Brazil.
The current Republic of Uruguay is a rebel separatist region of Castilian origin in Brazil. It is a rebel government established under the instigation of foreign forces. Now Portugal needs to correct its mistakes and prepare to annihilate the separatists and regain its territory.
Portugal's political stance frightened Uruguay. The strength of the two countries has never been on the same level. With a population of more than one million, Uruguay is at the bottom of the small countries in South America and is a younger brother among younger brothers.
Although they clearly knew that the Portuguese government was shamelessly exerting imperialist hegemony and bullying, the Uruguayan government did not hesitate at all. While it did not dare to resist and cause greater fluctuations, it actively sought a peaceful solution to the political trouble provoked by Portugal.
The Uruguayan government immediately sought dialogue with Brazil, and at the same time it sent the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to actively seek help from abroad.
The then President José Batlle Ordoñez immediately contacted Portugal for negotiation and urgently summoned the Portuguese diplomatic minister in Uruguay, Jeharis.
Jeharis was also confused when he heard Portugal's declaration on Uruguay. He had not received any relevant domestic news before.
Faced with the summons from Jose Batlle Ordonez, Jeharis was just about to respond when he received a recall notice from China.
For Uruguay, on February 1, the moment they received Portugal's political demands and severed diplomatic ties, it seemed like they had returned to the dark days before the second Uruguay War.
Uruguay is a standard small country, sandwiched between the strongest Brazil and Argentina. It has always been cautious and never dared to offend either party, but fate will not let you go because you are innocent.
Historically speaking, as early as the colonial period of great navigation, the area on the east bank of the Uruguay River became a hot spot for competition between Spain and Portugal, and post-independence Uruguay did not escape this fate.
Uruguay is located between the two major countries of Brazil and Argentina and at the mouth of the Rio de la Plata. It has an important strategic position. This geographical environment is its original sin.
Uruguay's grievances with Argentina and Brazil originated from the colonial expansion of Spain and Portugal in South America.
When Spain and Portugal divided the American continent, Portugal occupied the northeastern coast and Spain occupied most of the northwest area of the continent.
After the competition in the north was completed, the southern part of South America, which had not yet been occupied by Spain and Portugal, became the front line of the struggle between the two countries.
In 1680, Portugal moved south along the coast and established settlements on the east bank of the Uruguay River, a tributary of the Rio de la Plata. Portugal's actions on the east bank of the Uruguay River caused panic in Spain, and Spain began to force Portugal to withdraw from the occupied territories.
land.
After 40 years of fighting, Spain drove Portugal away from the east bank of the Uruguay River in 1726. On the east bank of the Uruguay River, the Spanish established the Montevideo military port to resist the Portuguese invasion.
During the hundred years of Spanish rule in Uruguay, Portugal was generally peaceful except for small-scale harassment.
But the course of history changed everything!
Portugal, he returned to the east bank of the Uruguay River.
During the Napoleonic Wars, French ideas of independence and freedom spread to the Americas. In 1814, Uruguay took advantage of Spain's weakness and got rid of Spanish colonial rule.
But not long after independence, it came under the gaze of Portuguese Brazil in 1820, and was annexed by Portuguese Brazil in 1821.
After being annexed, the Uruguayans never gave up their independence. In April 1825, the Uruguayan patriots revolted and in October announced that Uruguay would break away from Brazil and merge with Argentina.
In December of the same year, the Uruguay War broke out. Brazil declared war on Argentina. The Brazilian army invaded Uruguay, but failed in both naval and land battles. At the same time, the Argentine government was in a very difficult situation due to opposition from local separatist forces in the country.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! In May 1827, Brazil and Argentina held negotiations and initialed a peace treaty, stipulating that Uruguay would still belong to Brazil.
Originally, the legal principles were established, but the British, who never did anything for human affairs, took advantage of the situation. The British attempted to use the capital of Uruguay as a base to expand their power in the La Plata region, so they instigated Argentina to continue the war against Brazil.
In 1828, the Brazilian army was expelled from Uruguay. On August 27 of the same year, with British intervention, Brazil and Argentina signed a peace treaty in Montevideo, recognizing Uruguay as an independent country.
In the early days of Uruguay's independence, Uruguay did not embark on a path of stable development. At that time, the local armed forces controlled by the military Caudillo were far stronger than the regular army, and the country fell into a state of civil war. During the long-term struggle, two major political factions were formed within the Caudillo.
The power struggle between the Red Party and the White Party, Caudillo and the interference of foreign forces have plunged the entire country of Uruguay into long-term turmoil and chaos.
In 1835, two opposing political parties emerged in Uruguay, namely the Red Party and the White Party. For the sake of their own interests, the two parties targeted each other and never let go, while Brazil and Argentina took advantage of the struggle between the two parties to get involved in Uruguay affairs.
In 1839, President J.F. Rivera of the Red Party of Uruguay exiled the leader of the White Party, former President Olibe.
In the same year, Argentine dictator Rosas sent troops to attack Uruguay with the support of the Uruguayan White Party, and the Second Uruguay War began. In 1842, Rosas's army occupied most of Uruguay's territory. In February 1843, Rosas and Austria
Rivet's army surrounded Montevideo. The Uruguayan people fought an arduous struggle for nine years to defend their capital.
In October 1851, the military and political governor of Entre Rios Province in Argentina formed an anti-Rosas alliance with the red party governments of Brazil and Uruguay Rivera, led the coalition forces into Uruguay, defeated the Rosas invading army, and liberated Montenegro.
Siege of Vidia.
In February 1852, Urquiza led his army into Argentina and wiped out Rosas' troops in the Battle of Caseros Mountain near Buenos Aires. Rosas fled to England, and the Second Uruguay War ended.
The Second Uruguay War was of great significance. This war eliminated the threat to Uruguay's independence and freed the Uruguay River from Argentina's control. Later, Uruguay ceded part of its northern territory to Brazil and determined that the Cuarem River would be the country's territory.
The northwest border between the two countries.
Since the end of the Uruguay War, Uruguay has gradually shed the influence of Argentina and Brazil and embarked on the path of independence. Although the Red Party and the White Party still have constant disputes and even civil war, it has become a modern nationalist country.
From 1875 to 1890, the military governments that came to power one after another greatly weakened the power of Caudillo in the inland areas and consolidated the power of the central government through the implementation of iron-blood policies. After 1890, civilians came to power. During this period, Uruguay
Order was restored, production developed, and the modern nation-state was formally formed.
After 1890, Uruguay was the most stable country in South America. Its current leader, Jose Batlle Ordonez, was also a rare outstanding politician in the history of South American politics. He ended military politics and started modern constitutionalism.
The current President of Uruguay, José Pablo Torquato Batlle-Ordonez, is known in later history as the "Father of Modern Uruguay".
The Red Party he leads is a relatively liberal political party in Uruguay, and it was during his term that he put Uruguay on the right path of development.
It is a pity that a small country with outstanding leaders cannot change the current situation of a small country with a population of one million.
Tangning didn't know much about the history of South America before traveling across the country, so he didn't know the excellence of the current president of Uruguay, but this did not affect his decision-making.
Before World War I, Portugal was indeed unable to expand in South America, but this did not prevent it from laying the foundation for subsequent expansion.
The reason why the Portuguese Empire declared its legal status against Uruguay and severed diplomatic relations with Uruguay was because it wanted to use this method to pressure Uruguay to seek support from Argentina in order to consume Argentina's military and national power.
Uruguay is a buffer state between Brazil and Argentina. If it is annexed by Brazil, the Argentine capital area will be wide open. No matter what the circumstances, Argentina must spend time and energy on Uruguay.