- Oct 2018
- 1,862
- Sydney
I'm not really sure what the point of this thread is, but I have to express my amazement that this is not a more well-known war: The War of the Triple Alliance 1864-1870. At the time Paraguay had one of the largest armies in South America. Under the militaristic leadership of their president Francisco Solano Lopez they intervened in Uruguay and ultimately found themselves at war with the Triple Alliance of the Empire of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. After losing on the conventional battlefield, Paraguay was invaded and her army and people resorted to guerilla tactics. The war finally ended when Lopez was killed in the fighting (he attempted to rush a Brazilian officer with a sword), but by then Paraguay had suffered staggering losses. Kleinpennig has argued that 50% of Paraguay's male population died through fighting, disease and starvation, and Whigham and Potthast have argued for 69%! Paraguayan War casualties - Wikipedia