History UsefulNotes / WarOfTheTripleAlliance

The war ended catastrophically for Paraguay, having lost almost 90% of the male population and a big part of its territory. Apart from the battle casualties, the isolation from foreign aid and deprivation of basic sustenance caused massive casualties due to famine and disease. To this day, no other country has lost as many people to war proportionally to their total population as Paraguay did. Brazil and Argentina had an increase of public debt that took decades to pay, but it brought some Brazilian slaves’ freedom (some of them were freed to fight in the war, although slavery would only be fully abolished in Brazil 18 years after the end of the war) -- the war also one of the several factors that contributed to the crisis in the Brazilian monarchy and the insatisfaction of the military, leading to the Proclamation of the Republic in 1889. Uruguay, on the other hand, was finally free of its neighbors’ meddling (kind of), but still had its own internal problems.

The war ended catastrophically for Paraguay, having lost almost 90% of the male population and a big part of its territory. Apart from the battle casualties, the isolation from foreign aid and deprivation of basic sustenance caused massive casualties due to famine and disease. To this day, no other country has lost as many people to war proportionally to their total population as Paraguay did. Brazil and Argentina had an increase of public debt that took decades to pay, but it brought some Brazilian slaves’ freedom (some of them were freed to fight in the war, although slavery would only be fully abolished in Brazil 18 years after the end of the war). Uruguay, on the other hand, was finally free of its neighbors’ meddling (kind of), but still had its own internal problems.

'''The War of the Triple Alliance''' (1864-1870), also known as the '''Paraguayan War''', was fought between Paraguay and an alliance of Argentina, Uruguay and the Empire of Brazil. It was a conflict with more deaths than any other in the history of Latin America, with estimates of 90,000-100,000 deaths on the alliance and circa 300,000 Paraguayans, both soldiers and civilians. There are a lot of speculations of the war’s motives, including British economic interests in the region, post-colonialism effects and expansionist goals of Paraguay’s president Francisco Solano López.

* A Brazilian Heavy metal Band called Armahda has a song chronicling the Battle of Itororó (in which [[UsefulNotes/DukeOfCaxias Duke of Caxias]] charged alone ahead of his troops) called "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DDAVv4hC10 The Iron Duke]]"

!!Tropes set during the war:

* TheAlliance: Or rather, [[RuleOfThree The Triple Alliance]].
* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Francisco Solano López. Fearless leader against more powerful nations backed by imperialism or madman bent on conquering without thinking of his people?
* ApocalypseHow: Class 1 for Paraguay. It lost over 60% of the population and 90% of the male population.
* ArmyOfThievesAndWhores / RagtagBunchOfMisfits: The bulk of the Brazilian army was composed of slaves sent to fight in place of their owners and poor white citizens who didn't have any slaves to send in their place.
* BadassBeard: Practically everyone. The main ones being: Paraguayan ruler Francisco López, Paraguayan war hero Pedro Diaz, Argentinian commander Bartolomé Mitre, D. Pedro II Emperor of Brazil, The [[UsefulNotes/DukeOfCaxias Duke of Caxias]], Deodoro Fonseca,
* BadassFamily: The Fonseca Family was a renowned military family, remarkable for more than ten members of that family fighting in the war.
* BadBoss: Solano López towards the end of the war at least, since he started putting old men and boys into the military with even less adequate supplies than the other combatants, began acting erratically in command, and started shooting anybody who so much as voiced that Paraguay's only chance to survive was to make peace.
* BattleCry: "[[PreAssKickingOneLiner Those who are true Brazilians, follow me!]]" shouted by the Marquis (later [[UsefulNotes/DukeOfCaxias Duke]]) of Caxias when he charged alone the Paraguayans during the the Battle of Ytororó.
* BayonetYa: The main weapon of choice, in both sides.
* BigBadassBattleSequence: Many battles qualify, but the Battle Of Tuyuti is ''definitely'' one: it is, to this day, the largest land battle ever fought in South America.
* TheCavalry: The Brazilian Cavalry served as this for the Allied Forces many times.
* TheChessmaster: The Duke of Caxias, A.K.A [[RedBaron The Iron Duke]]. Commander of the Allied forces on the latter part of the war, described as a [[TheStrategist military genius]], he played a mean game of XanatosSpeedChess outmaneuvering the Paraguayan forces at every turn. In particular, his "Piquissiri Maneuver" is legendary.
* ChildSoldiers: Sadly, not only children but old people too were dragged into the Paraguayan army at the end of the war; most of these children were killed in [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Acosta_Nu the Battle of Acosta Ñu]] ("Acosta's Field").
* CrazyEnoughToWork: At the Battle Of Riachuelo (the most important nautical battle of the war, fought for the control of the most important river), the Brazilian side was trapped by Paraguayan forces and losing badly. Admiral Barroso, in this moment of desperation, had an idea: ''[[RefugeInAudacity to ram his ship in the Paraguayan ones]]''. The daring move sunk four Paraguayan warships and turned the tide of the battle, ensuring Allied victory.
* CulturedWarrior: Bartolomé Mitré was a writer.
* CurbStompBattle: Firstly deployed by the Paraguayans on the Brazilians on the first year of the war, but from the moment The Alliance was formed onwards, the Paraguayans suffered ''[[HumiliationConga a lot]]'' of those.
* DecisiveBattle: The aforementioned Battle of Riachuelo: It was the most important water route on that region, whoever won the battle, controlled the river and so gained the nautical advantage. With the absolute destruction of the Paraguayan fleet, the Allied Forces had total control over the river and pretty much won the War on the nautical side.
** On land, the [[BigBadassBattleSequence Battle of Tuyuti]]: The devastating losses of men and the strategic defeat sealed the fate of the Paraguayan Army, and what followed was a string of defeats.
* DidntSeeThatComing: López suffered from this a lot in the later stage of the war. In particular, The "Piquissiri Maneuver" executed by The Duke of Caxias, which managed to perfectly avoid the bulk of the paraguayan forces and emerge straight on its rear. This lead to disastrous defeats that only further solidified the Paraguayan defeat.
* EatTheDog: At one point, the Paraguayans had to eat their horses to survive.
* EnemyMine: Argentina and Brazil were very antagonistic toward each other, but they decided to forge an alliance to fight their common enemy.
* FollowTheLeader: López was greatly inspired by Napoleon Bonaparte's campaigns, and modeled both his war politics and himself after the man.
* FreudianTrio: The Triple Alliance: Bartolomé Mitre (The Id), [[TheChessmaster The Duke of Caxias]] (The Superego), [[TheKirk Venancio Flores]] (The Ego)
* GatlingGood: Deployed mostly by the Allied forces.
* GloryHound: López is often considered such.
* GodwinsLaw: The South American equivalent. Whenever international policies affect Paraguay for the worse, especially those whose initiatives come from any of the countries of the Triple Alliance, invoking the war or Solano López devolves all debates into name-calling and mudslinging.
* GondorCallsForAid: The formation of the Triple Alliance went somewhat like this, with Brazil assembling the aid of Argentina and Uruguay.
* TheGreatestHistoryNeverTold: It's one of the most important events in the history of Latin America because it helped Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay to consolidate themselves as ''nations'', though Paraguay had to pay for it. Apart from the involved countries, the conflict is barely, if ever mentioned or taught about at all in other Latin countries due to their own simultaneous conflicts, as the 19th Century was rather event-charged for the continent as a whole. It doesn't quite help that the opinions of this controversial war are markedly politically charged even to this day, and the consequences are ''still affecting Paraguay to this day''.
* HonorBeforeReason: López had a serious case of this. Refusing to surrender even though his country was going to Hell in a handbasket and his defeat was certain, and when he was finally cornered by soldiers (see LastStand for more details) he refused to surrender and charged to his death, even though he was absurdly outnumbered AND he was assured he would be spared if he surrendered.
* HopelessWar: From the point of view of the Paraguayans. Things looked promising at first, but got worse in ridiculous proportions. Historians agree that Paraguay had no chance to win this war in any way whatsoever.
* LastStand: Francisco Solano López, ruler of Paraguay, died charging against his captors and screaming "[[FamousLastWords I die with my nation.]]".
* MajorlyAwesome: Deodoro Fonseca, the future first president of Brazil, was a renowed soldier with many honors with a ChestOfMedals.
* {{Matricide}}: López ordered his own mother executed, though his order was never carried out.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: A Brazilian soldier called José Francisco Lacerda was nicknamed "Chico Diabo". It roughly means "Frank [[{{Satan}} Devil]]". He was the one to finally kill López, for once.
* OldSoldier: The [[UsefulNotes/DukeOfCaxias Duke of Caxias]] was pushing 65, but still leading his soldiers from the front lines.
* OnlyYouCanRepopulateMyRace: After the war male Paraguayans were in high demand. The Catholic Church in Paraguay even allowed men to take multiple wives to rebuild the population.
* OutGambitted: One could say the entire latter stage of the War was a BattleOfWits between López and The Allied Command: He was trying to make the war as costly as possible for them (both in economic and men terms), forcing them to back off and let him keep the territory he invaded. However, The Duke Of Caxias caught up on his strategy and developed maneuvers (Like the Piquissiri Maneuver mentioned above) to avoid every single drawback he designed, avoiding as much losses as possible and increasing the costs for the Paraguayan side. Result: It was still a very costly war, but not nearly as López hoped. And doubly as costly for him.
* ThePurge:
** While this had been a fixture of Paraguayan political life for decades, Solano López started it in earnest towards the end of the war. Which unsurprisingly did not do his already failing war effort or his country any favors...
** By the end of the war, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay had killed so many Paraguayans that ''it almost ceased to be a nation altogether'' by causing a bona-fide population crisis. Solano López's dying opinion was that Paraguay would die indeed.
* RammingAlwaysWorks: The Amazonas, the Brazilian Flagship, during the Battle of Riachuelo, used its bow to ram Paraguyan ships (even though the ship wasan't designed for ramming).
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Dom Pedro II tried to conduct the war as honorably as he could, ordered surrender when the losses were too great and had multiple diplomatic meetings with López (all of them resulted in failure, but he gets points for trying). He was also the one who proposed freeing slaves who fought in the war (he was campaigning for their freedom for a few decades).
* RedBaron: Duke Of Caxias, The Iron Duke. He was also known as "The Peacemaker".
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Prince [[WarriorPrince Gaston, Count of Eu]], son-in-law of Emperor Pedro II, was the Brazilian commander-in-chief from 1869 until the end of the war in 1870.
** Dom Pedro II, Emperor of Brazil, also went to the battlefront with his troops, and while he did not see any battles, he personally coordinated the troops, stood within firing range of the paraguayan forces and slept in the campaign tents.
* SanitySlippage: The war wasn't good for López's mental health. As the war went on, he became increasingly more paranoid and suspicious of betrayal among his peers (which, to be fair, is not a entirely unlikely assumption, since he was losing badly), and had a lot of his men executed out of sheer paranoia. Including his two brothers and his two brothers-in-law.
* ScrewTheRulesItsTheApocalypse: A mild example--in the Catholic Church, polygamy is outlawed. However, so few Paraguayan men were left when the dust settled the Pope lifted the ban.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: In the final year of the war, the Marquis (Later Duke) of Caxias left Paraguay without warning, disobeying the orders of his commanders. According to Caxias, he'd have died if he stood there any longer; considering his age and [[DentedIron health]], one can understand why.
* TheSiege: The Paraguayan fortress of Humaitá (Nicknamed the "South American Sevastopol") was sieged by Allied forces for two whole years.
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Had the highest percentage of a country's population lost in any war ''ever'', with ''half'' of them dead.
* TiredOfRunning: López, after spending the entire later stage of the war in what can be described as a game of cat and mouse with the allied forces (him being the mouse), suddenly decided against escaping his country, and stopped at Cerro-Corá with his forces, making there his LastStand.
* UndyingLoyalty: Most of the Paraguyan army had this towards López, and so did the population at first, but as the war dragged on, he became much less well-seen.
* WarIsHell: Both sides endured Hell. Paraguayans were driven to near extinction by the bloody conflicts, Allied Forces were plagued by numerous painful diseases in Paraguayan soil besides the battles itself.
** WarIsGlorious: Not from the point of view of the soldiers, but the legendary heroics of the Brazilian army renewed the brazilian patriotism and gave the military a much stronger role into politics, which eventually led to a revolution that installed the first Republic. TropesAreNotBad ?
* TheWoobie: If you know something about the region’s history, you’d know Uruguay was bullied by its neighbors all the time. In this war, it was almost a puppet state for Brazil.
* WinYourFreedom: The Brazilian Empire promised freedom to any slaves who fought in the War. [[BittersweetEnding Some of them got it, some of them didn't]].
* YouShallNotPass: Attempted by the paraguayan commander Pedro Duarte at the Battle of Jataí, he led one last cavalry charge in a last-ditch effort to stop the Allied forces from advancing, but his horse was shot from underneath him, his forces slaughtered and he was eventually convinced to surrender.
* ZergRush: Employed by both sides in different periods of the War, with varying results. In Paraguay's case, this could be seen as a Deconstruction: The War ended with 90% of the male population wiped out, proving why this strategy can be devastating.

[[caption-width-right:350:Death of Francisco Solano López in Aquidabán --by Adolfo Methfessel-- (from [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cerro_Cor%C3%A1 Wikipedia]])]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Death of Francisco Solano López at Aquidabán --by Adolfo Methfessel-- (from [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cerro_Cor%C3%A1 Wikipedia]])]]

'''The War of the Triple Alliance''' (1864-1870), also known as the '''Paraguayan War''', was fought between Paraguay and an alliance of Argentina, Uruguay and the Empire of Brazil. It was a conflict with more deaths than any other in the history of Latin America, with estimates of 90,000-100,000 deaths on the alliance and circa 300,000 Paraguayans, both soldiers and civilians. There are a lot of speculations of the war’s motives, including British economic interests in the region, after-colonialism effects and expansionist goals of Paraguay’s president Francisco Solano López.

* BigBadassBattleSequence: Many battles qualify, but The Battle Of Tuyuti qualifies in spades: it is, to this day, the largest land battle ever fought in South America.

* CrazyEnoughToWork: At the Battle Of Riachuelo (the most important nautical battle of the war, fought for the control of the most important river), the brazilian side was trapped by Paraguayan forces and losing badly. Admiral Barroso, in this moment of desperation, had an idea: ''[[RefugeInAudacity to ram his ship in the paraguayan ones]]''. The movement sunk four paraguayan warships and turned the tide of the battle, ensuring Allied victory.

** On land, the [[BigBadassBattleSequence Battle of Tuyuti]]: The devastating losses of men and the strategic defeat sealed the fate of the paraguayan army, and what followed was a string of defeats.

* CrazyEnoughToWork: At the Battle Of Riachuelo (the most important nautical battle of the war, fought for the control of the most important river), the brazilian side was trapped by Paraguayan forces and losing badly. [[FourStarBadass Admiral Barroso]], in this moment of desperation, had an idea: ''[[RefugeInAudacity to ram his ship in the paraguayan ones]]''. The movement sunk four paraguayan warships and turned the tide of the battle, ensuring Allied victory.

* FourStarBadass: On the Paraguayan side, José E. Diaz was known for his bravery and heroics on the War (and for being responsible for one the few Paraguayan victories in the latter stage of the war), while on the Allied side, The Duke of Caxias.

* OrcusOnHisThrone: A great deal of mocking by the Allied forces was aimed at López's tendency to basically stand in Humaitá giving orders through the entire later stage of the war, instead of leading his troops like the Allied leaders.