History UsefulNotes / WarOfTheTripleAlliance

* GeneralFailure: Col. Camisao of the Allied Forces, responsible for the absurdly [[DidntThinkThisThrough badly plotted]] initial invasion of Paraguay, which resulted in numerous casualties and the known Retreat from Laguna where the Allied Forces were forced to retreat.

* BrokenBase: Regarding Francisco Solano. Not only in Paraguay, but in the other countries too.

* BadassGrandpa: The [[UsefulNotes/DukeOfCaxias Duke of Caxias]] was pushing 65, but still leading his soldiers from the front lines.

* FreudianTrio: The Triple Alliance: [[SmugSnake Bartolomé Mitre]] (The Id), [[TheChessmaster The Duke of Caxias]] (The Superego), [[TheKirk Venancio Flores]] (The Ego)

* 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 [[BadassGrandpa age]] and [[DentedIron health]], one can understand why.

* SmugSnake: Argentine president Bartolomé Mitre. He was convinced that Paraguay would be defeated in less than a year because their army was made of mostly mestizos (mixed-race people), believed that Brazil could never win the war without his help because of their large black population and had plans to invade and annex the weakened Uruguay after defeating Paraguay, but could never carry them out because the war extended beyond his presidency and because of the mounting debt.

* GrayAndGrayMorality: Like most wars.

* 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]]''. [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome The movement sunk four paraguayan warships and turned the tide of the battle]], ensuring Allied victory.

* [[EatTheDog Eat The Horse]]: At one point, the Paraguayans had to eat their horses to survive.

* NeverMyFault: The highly controversial Battle of Acosta Ñu saw one of the largest deployments of child soldiers ever fielded, Paraguayans, who were ''destroyed'' by the Triple Alliance forces. The consensus is divided into two factions: the blame is on either López for drafting them in the first place, or the Triple Alliance forces for massacring the children and even the mothers that took arms with their offspring. The children slain in the battle are commemorated yearly on August 16, Paraguay's Children's Day, a national holiday.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure / TheGoodKing : 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).

* 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_%C3%91u the Battle of Acosta Ñu]] ("Acosta's Field").

* LadyMacbeth: López's mistress Eliza Lynch has this reputation among many, partly thanks to Alliance propaganda.

* NightmareFuel: It's not only bad that Paraguay drafted boys at the end of the war and made them put up fake beards to appear older, but also there's the fact that the Argentinian and Brazilian armies completely wiped the floor with them at the Battle of Acosta Ñu... and then set the survivors afire.

* ZergRush / WeHaveReserves: 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.

* YoungFutureFamousPeople: Several Brazilian military officers who fought in the conflict would play a greater role in national politics in the late 19th century.

* BadBoss: Solano López towards the end of the war [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement 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.

* LastStand: Francisco Solano López, ruler of Paraguay, died charging against his captors and screaming "[[FamousLastWords I die with my nation.]]". If it qualifies as a LastVillainStand is [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement another matter entirely]].

Brazil was getting too involved in Uruguay’s internal politics and eventually invaded it, making Paraguay, Uruguay's political ally, declare war on Brazil. When López tried to pass through the province of Corrientes, and having lost his Uruguay allies Aguirre and Berro to a Brazilian-led coup, Argentina declared war on Paraguay and the three countries forged an alliance to fight López’s regime. This turned the tide of the war; Paraguay's army, despite having some victories against Brazil in the beginning, devolved into guerrilla warfare in its own territory. The war only ended with López’s death.

Brazil was getting too involved in Uruguay’s internal politics and eventually invaded it, making Paraguay declare war on Brazil. When López tried to pass through the province of Corrientes, Argentina declared war on Paraguay and the three countries forged an alliance to fight López’s regime. This turned the tide of the war; Paraguay's army, despite having some victories against Brazil in the beginning, devolved into guerrilla warfare in its own territory. The war only ended with López’s death.

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: A Brazilian soldier called Francisco Lacerda was nicknamed "Chico Diablo". It roughly means "Frank [[{{Satan}} Devil]]". He was the one to finally kill López, for once.

'''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.

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. 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.

** 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..

* 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.

'''The War of the Triple Alliance''' (1864-1870) 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.

The war ended catastrophically for Paraguay, having lost almost 90% of the male population and a big part of its territory. 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.

* 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 warhero 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 renowed military family, remarkable for more than ten members of that family fighting in the war.

* 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 [[BadassGrandpa age]] and [[DentedIron health]], one can understand why.

* 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.
* FollowTheLeader: López was greatly inspired by Napoleon Bonaparte's campaigns, and modelled both his war politics and himself after the man.

* TheGreatestHistoryNeverTold

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: A Brazilian soldier called Francisco Lacerda was nicknamed "Chico Diabo". It roughly means "Frank [[{{Satan}} Devil]]". He was the one to finally kill López, for once.

* ShiftingTheBlame: The highly controversial Battle of Acosta Ñu saw one of the largest deployments of child soldiers ever fielded, Paraguayans, who were ''destroyed'' by the Triple Alliance forces. The consensus is divided into two factions: the blame is on either López for drafting them in the first place, or the Triple Alliance forces for massacring the children and even the mothers that took arms with their offspring. The children slain in the battle are commemorated yearly on August 16, Paraguay's Children's Day, a national holiday.

* 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...

* ChildSoldiers: Sadly, not only children but old people too were dragged into the Paraguayan army at the end of the war.

* 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 econonic 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.

** Dom Pedro II, Emperor of Braazil, 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 paraguyan forces and slept in the campaign tents.

The war ended catastrophically for Paraguay, having lost almost 90% of the male population and a big part of its territory. Brazil and Argentina had an increase of public debt that took decades to pay, but it brought some Brazilians 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.

* 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]]"