Editing Paraguay (section)

===Paraguayan War (1864–1870)===
{{main|Paraguayan War|Paraguayan War casualties}}
[[File:FRANCISCO SOLANO LOPEZ (From a Photograph taken in 1859).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Francisco Solano López]]]]
On 12&nbsp;October 1864, despite Paraguayan ultimatums, [[Empire of Brazil|Brazil]] (allied with the Argentine Government under General [[Bartolomé Mitre]] and the rebellious [[Colorado Party (Uruguay)|Uruguayan colorados]] led by Gen. [[Venancio Flores]]) invaded the Republic of Uruguay in order to overthrow the government of that time (which was under the rule of the [[National Party (Uruguay)|Blanco Party]], an ally of López),{{efn|The Blanco Party of Uruguay, hardline right wing and reactionary at those days, was in the Uruguayan Government during the outbreak of the war and were allies of the Paraguayan Government.<ref>{{cite book |first=Luis Alberto |last=de&nbsp;Herrera |year=1927 |title=El Drama del 65 – La Culpa Mitrista |pages=11–33 |publisher=Bareiro y Ramos |location=Montevideo, Uruguay}} — classic book by Blanco leader</ref>}} thus starting the [[Paraguayan War]].{{efn| [[Richard Francis Burton|Burton]], a witness of the conflict, marks this date (12–16 October 1864) as the real beginning of the war. He writes (and it is the most logic account, considering the facts): ''The Brazilian Army invades the [[Banda Oriental]], despite the protestations of President López, who declared that such invasion would be held a "casus belli"''.<ref>{{cite book |first=Richard Francis, Sir |last=Burton |author-link=Richard Francis Burton |year=1870 |title=Letters from the Battlefields of Paraguay |page=76 |publisher=Tinsley Brothers |location=London}}</ref>}}

The Paraguayans, led by the [[Grand marshal|Marshal of the Republic]] [[Francisco Solano López]], retaliated by [[Mato Grosso Campaign|attacking Mato Grosso]] on 15 December 1864 and later declared war against Argentina on 23 March 1865. The Blanco Government was toppled and replaced by a Colorado government under General Venancio Flores on 22 February 1865. Afterward, the [[Argentine Republic]], the [[Empire of Brazil]] and the Republic of Uruguay signed the [[Treaty of the Triple Alliance|Secret Treaty of the Triple Alliance]] against the Paraguayan Government on 1 May 1865.<ref>{{cite book |author=Pomer, León |year=2008 |title=La Guerra del Paraguay: Estado, política y negocios |language=es |pages=240–241 |location=Buenos Aires, Argentina |publisher=Editorial Colihue}}</ref>

On 24 May 1866, the [[Battle of Tuyutí]] led to the loss of 6,000 men when a Paraguayan attack was repelled by the Allies. It was marked as the bloodiest battle in South America during the war.

The Paraguayans put up a ferocious resistance but ultimately lost in 1870 in the [[Battle of Cerro Corá]], where Marshal Solano López refused to surrender and died in action.<ref>{{cite book |author=Hooker, T.D. |year=2008 |title=The Paraguayan War |location=Nottingham, UK |publisher=Foundry Books |pages=105–108 |isbn=978-1901543155}}</ref> The real causes of this war, which remains the bloodiest international conflict in the history of [[The Americas]], are still highly debatable.{{efn|The classical view asserts that Francisco Solano López's expansionist and hegemonic views are the main reason for the outbreak of the conflict. The traditional Paraguayan view, held by the "''lopistas''" (supporters of Solano López in Paraguay and elsewhere), holds that Paraguay acted in self-defense and for the protection of the equilibrium of the Plate Basin. This view is usually contested by the "''anti-lopistas''" (known in Paraguay as "''legionarios''"), who favored the "Triple Alliance". Revisionist views from right and left national populists put a great emphasis on the influence of the British Empire, a view that a majority of historians reject.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}}}

[[File:TuyutiDetail.jpg|thumb|The [[Battle of Tuyutí]], May 1866]]

Paraguay lost 25–33% of its territory to Argentina and Brazil, paid an enormous war debt, and sold large amounts of national properties to stabilize its internal budget. The worst consequence of the war was the catastrophic loss of population. At least 50% of Paraguayans died during the conflict, numbers to which it took many decades for the country to return. Of the disaster suffered by the Paraguayans at the outcome of the war, [[William D. Rubinstein]] wrote:

"The normal estimate is that of a Paraguayan population of somewhere between 450,000 and 900,000, only 220,000 survived the war, of whom only 28,000 were adult males."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rubinsein |first=W.D. |year=2004 |title=Genocide: a history |publisher=Pearson Education |page=94 |isbn=0-582-50601-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nMMAk4VwLLwC |url-status=live |access-date=18 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910110549/https://books.google.com/books?id=nMMAk4VwLLwC |archive-date=10 September 2015}}</ref>

During the pillaging of Asunción in 1869, the [[Imperial Brazilian Army]] packed up and transported the Paraguayan National Archives to [[Rio de Janeiro]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Sanchez Quell |first=Hipólito   |title=Los 50.000 Documentos Paraguayos Llevados al Brasil |publisher=Ediciones Comuneros |location=Asunción, Paraguay |year=2006}}</ref>{{efn|Some of the documents taken by Brasil during the war, were returned to Paraguay in the collection known as "Colección de Río Branco", nowadays in the National Archives of Asunción, Paraguay.}} Brazil's records from the war have remained classified. This has made Paraguayan history in the colonial and early national periods difficult to research and study.<ref name=Weinstein-2007-04>{{cite magazine |last=Weinstein |first=Barbara |title=Let the sunshine in: Government records and national insecurities |url=http://www.historians.org/perspectives/issues/2007/0704/0704pre1.cfm |url-status=live |department=From the President |magazine=[[Perspectives on History]] |publisher=[[American Historical Association]] |edition=online |volume=45 |issue=4 |date=1 April 2007 |access-date=5 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008191444/http://www.historians.org/perspectives/issues/2007/0704/0704pre1.cfm |archive-date=8 October 2012}}</ref>