The Road to Revolution!

In the last thirty years of colonial rule, the province of Paraguay made significant economic and cultural progress due to reforms from the Bourbon crown. Asuncion became the center of shipbuilding in the Rio de la Plata, a reduction in taxation and commercial restrictions, the establishment of tobacco crops and the thriving yerba mate industry boosted the economy. Paraguay also enjoyed competent governors and administrators who made substantial reforms in education of the population.

Despite the reforms and progress of Paraguay several factors were instrumental in priming the province for revolution. The reforms had created a small creole elite that was educated in the Enlightenment but deprived of important government positions. The long isolation and neglect of Paraguay by the Spanish crown had resulted in a spirit of localism. The taxation of Paraguayan goods for the benefit of the Spanish plus economic competition from the Jesuit Reductions in the 17th and 18th century had produced resentment which did not disappear. The lack of immigration in Paraguay plus the large number of Guaraní Indians had created a homogenous population. By the beginning of the nineteenth century Paraguay possessed many of the necessary qualities for nationhood.

Paraguay was also affected by the events in the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century that accompanied the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. In 1806, the governor of Paraguay, Bernardo de Velasco, was ordered to send the Paraguayan militia to aid Rio de la Plata in defending against the British invasion. Paraguayan farmers were forced into the militia, forcing them to abandon their farms and families whether they joined the militia or evaded military service. The defense of Montevideo was mishandled by the Viceroy of Rio de la Plata and officers of the Paraguayan militia resentfully returned home. The officers carried with them copies of the British newspaper La Estrella del Sur that advocated the rebellion of the Spanish colonies. "The results of this expedition were bitterness in the militia and population of Paraguay, social and economic dislocation within the province, and a dread of future involvement in the Rio de la Plata...the events of the British invasion were remembered." (409)

In 1810, creoles of Buenos Aires revolted against the Spanish and desired for the rest of the provinces of the Rio de la Plata to do the same. When Paraguay resisted, a military expedition was ordered to deliver Paraguay from Spanish rule. Governor Velasco prepared Paraguay for a fight with the capital by urging Paraguayans to defend the rights of Fernando VII, assembling and increasing the militia, and secretly asking the Portuguese for aid. While no aid from the Portuguese arrived, the Paraguayan militia defeated the force from Rio de la Plata on January 19, 1811 and March 9, 1811.

The final event which led to the Paraguayan revolution of May 14, 1811 was the arrival of a Portuguese emissary to Asuncion. The Portuguese wanted to expand in the Rio de la Plata and therefore went to Asuncion to meet with Governor Velasco. The Paraguayan militia vehemently opposed Portuguese involvement and on May 14, 1811 Paraguayan militia officers seized the Cuartel General of Asuncion and forced Velasco to accede to their demands. Velasco was forced to terminate all negotiations with Portugal, deliver all arms in the city to insurgents, and accept two civilians to rule jointly with him. Paraguay was permanently freed from Spanish rule.


Cooney, Jerry W.. "Paraguayan Independence and Doctor Francia." The Americas 28, no. 4 (1972): 407-428.

Jesuit and Guarani Reaction to Treaty of Madrid

The Treaty of Madrid in 1750 that was signed by Spain and Portugal forced 29,000 Guarani and their Jesuit missionaries to move from their seven missions in the Rio de la Plata region to the Jesuit missions west of the Uruguay River. The seven Jesuit missions east of the Uruguay River had been turned over to Portugal in exchange for Portugal's withdrawal from Colonia de Sacramento. The Guarani were given the option to stay by the Spanish but their land would now belong to the Portuguese and they would be subjects of the Portuguese crown.

The Guarani's reaction to the Treaty of Madrid was at first, peaceful disbelief. They did not understand why the Spanish would give up their land to the Portuguese after they were the ones who worked the land and constructed the Spanish churches and towns for them. They could also not understand why the Spanish would bring them out of the forest, educate them, and then sacrifice them to the Portuguese, especially after the King of Spain promised them that he would look after their needs and always protect them.

In 1754, the Jesuits surrendered control of the missions to the Portuguese but the Guarani in the seven missions refused to relocate. This led to the Guarani War (or War of the Seven Reductions 1754-1756) between a combined Spanish-Portuguese army and the Guarani of the seven reductions. In 1756, after two years of skirmishes the Spanish and Portuguese led a force of 3,000 against the Guarani that resulted in the death of 1500+ Guarani and the occupation of the seven reductions by the Spanish and Portuguese.

Spain and Portugal eventually anulled the 1750 Treaty of Madrid in 1761 with the Treaty of El Pardo that allowed Spain to regain control of the seven reductions in the Rio de la Plata region.


Ganson,Barbara A. The Guarani Under Spanish Rule in the Rio de la Plata. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2003.