The Portuguese-Brazilian invasion ( Spanish Invasión luso-brasileña ) or the War against Artigas ( port. Guerra contra Artigas ) - the fighting in the territory of the modern state of Uruguay and the surrounding lands that occurred in 1816-1820. The participants were the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarve on the one hand, and the forces of the former Spanish colonies in South America on the other.
Content
Background
The Treaty of Tordesillas granted Portugal the right to territories in South America . Since it was difficult to determine on the ground exactly where the line of distinction between the Portuguese and Spanish possessions defined by the treaty passes, the Portuguese settled west of the zone set aside for them, which eventually led to disputes with Spain over a number of territories. One of these zones was the area between the Uruguay River and the Atlantic Ocean (the so-called “ Eastern Strip ”), where the Colonia del Sacramento was founded by the Portuguese in 1680. To protect their possessions in this region by Spain, the Governorate of Montevideo was established in 1751, and in 1777 an agreement was signed in San Ildefonso , according to which the Eastern Strip was assigned to Spain.
In 1801, under the terms of the Treaty of Badajoz, Portugal received the Eastern missions . The flight of the Portuguese royal family to Brazil in 1807 during the Napoleonic Wars spurred Portuguese expansionism towards La Plata. When in 1810 Napoleon forced the Spanish royal family to abdicate, the Portuguese had an ambitious plan: instead of claiming only the eastern lane, they offered the vice kingdom of Rio de la Plata to recognize as his monarch the Spanish Infanta Carlot , who was married to the heir to the Portuguese throne, João . However, this plan failed.
The May Revolution of 1810 led to the removal of the Spanish viceroy of Rio de la Plata from power, the viceroy kingdom being transformed into the united provinces of Rio de la Plata . Taking advantage of the situation, the Portuguese in 1811–12 attempted to occupy the Eastern Strip , but thanks to the British mediation, on May 26, 1812, Herrera’s Reidmaker’s treatise was signed . In accordance with the third article of the treatise, the Portuguese troops had to leave the "Spanish territory".
The Second Triumvirate, which came to power in October 1812, convened the “Assembly of the 13th year” in January 1813, which was to declare independence from Spain and determine the state structure of the new country. Representatives of the Eastern Strip, whose leader was José Hervasio Artigas , demanded the separation of the Eastern Strip into a separate province. On March 7, 1814, the Supreme Director of the United Provinces of Hervasio, Antonio de Posadas , legislatively registering the actual situation, issued a decree on the creation of the Eastern Province . On June 29, 1815, the Federal League was formed at the Eastern Congress in Concepción del Uruguay , which declared its goal of transforming the United Provinces of Rio de la Plata into a confederal republic in the image of the United States of America. In September 1815, Artigas adopted a new land law in the Eastern Province, which allowed the land of "enemies of the revolution" to be confiscated.
Moving to America changed the views of the Portuguese court on the world, and in 1815 the kingdom of Portugal was transformed into the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarve . Brazil from the colony became an integral part of the kingdom, and the future king (and for now the regent) Juan VI again began to consider the possibility of shifting its southern border to La Plata. The eastern province ruled by Artigas was perceived as a dangerous center of radicalism, and the Spanish royalists who fled from there to Brazil asked the Portuguese king for intervention (hoping for the subsequent return of these lands under the rule of the Spanish crown).
The question was how the central government in Buenos Aires would react to the Portuguese intervention — Juan was not at all seduced by the prospect of acceding to the Eastern Province to get a war with all the provinces of Rio de la Plata. However, due to the fact that a civil war broke out in the United Provinces between the “Unitarianists” supporting the central government and the “Federalists” grouped around Artigas, and because the “Unitarianists” were clearly unable to do away with the “Federalists” on their own , the Portuguese had the impression that Buenos Aires would favor foreign assistance in the fight against Artigas.
From the middle of 1815, Portugal began to prepare for the intervention in the Eastern Province. An army of 10–12 thousand people, veterans of the Napoleonic wars, was trained, and Carlos Federico Lécor was put in charge of the army. The original plan called for a strike from the territory of the Eastern Missions in the Argentinean Interfluve and the subsequent movement south of the right bank of the Uruguay River, to lock up the Artigas forces in the Eastern Belt, and then destroy them; in relation to the central government in Buenos Aires it was supposed to observe strict neutrality. Then Lekor chose to choose a plan with the main strike along the coast, since at the same time his left flank would have been covered by the fleet, and he would have to cover communications on one side only.
Artigas received information about the impending Portuguese invasion in the first half of January 1816, and began preparations for its reflection. He managed to gather 8-9 thousand people, but it was mostly armed militia with poor combat training. The plan of the war was to try to move the war into the territory of Brazil with active operations in the north and cut the communications of the Portuguese expeditionary force; in the south it was supposed to stick to the tactics of elastic defense.
The course of events
1816
August 28, 1816 with the occupation of the fortress of Santa Teresa began the Portuguese invasion. Having received news of this, Artigas set in motion a developed plan and moved troops to the north, starting fighting in the Eastern missions. The government of Montevideo, meanwhile, sent an envoy to Buenos Aires, recalling that the Eastern Province is still part of the United Provinces of Rio de la Plata, and asking for help in the fight against aggression. Chief Executive Juan Martin de Pueyredon agreed to provide assistance on the condition that the Eastern Province recognizes the Congress of Tucuman. Artigas, having learned about the negotiations, spoke out strongly against giving up everything for which he fought, and then the central government washed its hands, leaving the rebellious province to deal with a foreign invasion alone.
Meanwhile, the main forces of the Portuguese fought along the coast to the south and west, and by the end of the year the forces of Artigas were halved.
1817
In early 1817, the Portuguese launched an offensive in the north, liberating the Eastern missions and transferring hostilities to enemy territory. Since the main forces of the Artigas supporters were there, they were able to respond to the Portuguese offensive with a counterstrike, and the battles were fought one way or another on the other side of the border, as a result of which a considerable territory was destroyed. However, on the coast the main forces of the Portuguese moved forward and occupied Montevideo on January 20, 1817. In April 1817, Artigas resigned from his post as supreme commander, and among his generals began disputes over supremacy. A number of governors belonging to the provincial league, believing that the Portuguese could not be beaten off without the help of the central government of the United Provinces, agreed to conclude agreements with Pueiredon. Artigas, believing that Pueiredon was supporting the Portuguese invasion, declared war on Buenos Aires on November 13, 1817.
1818
In 1818, Artigas continued to hold the area of the Uruguay River, preventing the northern and southern factions of the Portuguese forces from connecting; based on this area, he led a successful guerrilla war on the Portuguese communications. To turn the tide, Lekor sent a Portuguese squadron to the Uruguay River; the central government of the United Provinces allowed it to enter the river. By the end of the year, the main commanders of the Artigas were either killed or captured, and only the sparsely populated lands of the northern part of present-day Uruguay remained under its control.
1819
At the beginning of 1819, José San Martin , one of the major leaders of the liberation movement in South America, tried to stop the civil war in the United Provinces, sending personal letters to Artigas and Pueyredon, but Pueyredon refused to communicate with Artigas.
Artigas again attempted to implement the plan of 1816, and ordered the northern army to invade the Eastern missions, but the Portuguese repulsed this attack.
1820
In early 1820, the Portuguese managed to finally knock the Artigas forces from the territories east of the Uruguay River.
Results and implications
At the beginning of 1820, the troops of the provinces of Entre Rios and Santa Fe went south and, after breaking down the forces of the central government of the United Provinces, established a new power in the country, closer in spirit to the ideas of federalism. The united provinces recognized the Eastern province as an ally, however, contrary to the demands of the Artigas, they did not declare war on Portugal. Artigas with the remnants of his forces began a war against his former allies, but was defeated and in September 1820 went to Paraguay. The Portuguese gathered in the occupied territory of the Eastern Belt the Sisplatinsky Congress , which in July 1821 proclaimed the accession of these lands to Brazil as a province of Sisplatina . The united provinces of South America did not recognize this annexation, which in a few years led to a new war .