Chaco War
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224467602
2008-07-08T23:38:31Z
24.3.205.90
/* The war */
{{Warbox|conflict=Chaco War
|image=[[Image:Disputed Bolivia Paraguay.jpg|250px]]
|caption=''Bolivia and Paraguay before the 1932 War''
|date=1932 – 1935
|campaign=Chaco War
|place=[[Gran Chaco]] region, [[South America]]
|casus=Bolivian-Paraguayan border dispute
|territory= Most of the [[Gran Chaco]] region is awarded to Paraguay. Bolivia keeps the strategic zones and a port on the Paraguay river.
|result=Paraguayan victory
|combatant1=<center>{{flagicon|Bolivia|state|size=75px}}<br>[[Bolivia|Republic of Bolivia]]
|combatant2=<center>{{flagicon|Paraguay|size=75px}}<br>[[Paraguay|Republic of Paraguay]]
|commander1=General [[Hans Kundt]]<br>General Enrique Peñaranda Castillo
|commander2=[[Field Marshal|Marshal]] [[José Félix Estigarribia]]
|strength1=Army of Bolivia (250 000)<br>
|strength2=Army of Paraguay (150 000)<br>
|casualties1=~57,000
|casualties2=~43,000
}}
The '''Chaco War''' (1932–1935) was fought between [[Bolivia]] and [[Paraguay]] over control of a great part of the [[Gran Chaco]] region of [[South America]], which was incorrectly thought to be rich in oil.
==Origins==
Though the region was sparsely populated, control of the [[Paraguay River]] running through it would have given one of the two landlocked countries access to the [[Atlantic Ocean]]. This was especially important to Bolivia, which had lost its [[Pacific Ocean]] coast to [[Chile]] in the [[War of the Pacific]] (1883).
===Control of natural resources===
Furthermore, the discovery of oil in the Andean foothills sparked speculation that the Chaco itself might be a rich source of petroleum. Foreign oil companies were involved in the exploration: companies mainly descended from ''[[Standard Oil]]'', backed Bolivia, while ''[[Shell Oil]]'' supported Paraguay. ''Standard'' was already producing oil from wells in the high hills of eastern Bolivia, around [[Villa Montes]]. [[Image:Parag.136.Chaco Paraguayo.jpeg|thumb|100px|Paraguayan stamp showing the Chaco]]
In international arbitration, Bolivia argued that the region had been part of the original Spanish colonial province of ''Moxos'' and ''Chiquitos'' to which Bolivia was heir. Meanwhile, Paraguay had begun to colonize the region. Indeed, both Paraguayan and Argentinian planters already bred cattle and exploited ''[[quebracho]]'' woods in the area, while the small indigenous population of [[Guaraní]]-speaking tribes was related to that country's own Guaraní heritage.
Paraguay had lost almost half of its territory to [[Brazil]] and [[Argentina]] in the [[War of the Triple Alliance]] and was not prepared to see what it perceived as its last chance for a viable economy fall victim to Bolivia.<ref>[http://worldatwar.net/chandelle/v1/v1n3/chaco.html#prof The Chaco War]</ref>
==The war==
<!-- Commented out because image was deleted: [[Image:Bolivian Patrol in Chaco.jpg|right|thumb|A Bolivian patrol during the Chaco War near the Pilcomayo River in the Chaco Boreal.]] -->
Border skirmishes throughout the late 1920s culminated in an all-out war in 1932, after the Bolivian army, following orders of President [[Daniel Salamanca]], attacked a Paraguayan garrison at [[Lake Pitiantuta]] in June. They later occupied another garrison further south, called ''Fortín Boquerón''. This stronghold would later become the scene of one of the bloodiest battles of this war, when some 600 Bolivian soldiers resisted a 22-days siege against 14,000 Paraguayan troops before surrendering (7-29 September 1932).
Paraguay had a population only a third as large as that of Bolivia (880,000 versus 2,150,000), but its guerrilla style of fighting, compared to Bolivia's more conventional strategy, enabled Paraguay to win more battles. Paraguay received military supplies and intelligence from [[Argentina]], and the Paraguayans took advantage of their ability to communicate over the radio in [[Guaraní language]], which was not intelligible to the typical Bolivian soldier. Also, Paraguayans were able to send trained native guinea pigs carrying messages as a sort of messenger pigeon back and forth between lines of military operation, thus helping the war effort. Paraguay had little trouble in mobilizing its troops in large barges on the Paraguay river right to the frontlines, whilst the majority of Bolivian soldiers came from the western highlands, some eight hundred kilometers away and with little or no logistic support. The heavy equipment of Bolivia's army made things worse. The supply of water, given the dry climate of the region, also played a key role during the conflict. There were thousands of non-combat casualties due to [[dehydration]], mostly among Bolivian troops.
Moreover, Bolivia deployed at least three [[Vickers 6-Ton]] [[tank]]s during the war, in what was the first ever (and to this day the only) case of cross-border armoured warfare inside the Americas. These machines proved to be ill-suited to the terrain and weather of Gran Chaco, when compared with the lightly-armed Paraguayan forces.<ref>[http://www.brushfirewars.org/armor/gran_chaco_war_armor/gran_chaco_war_armor.htm#prof Chaco War armor]</ref>
The Chaco War is also important historically as the first instance of large scale [[aerial warfare]] to take place in the Americas. Both sides made use of obsolete single-engined [[biplane]] bombers; despite an international [[arms embargo]] imposed by the [[League of Nations]]. Bolivia in particular went to great lengths in trying to import a small number of advanced twin-engined bombers masqueraded as civil transports - namely the [[B-2 Condor|Curtiss C-30 Condor]] (which were halted in [[Peru]] during deliveries) and the [[Junkers Ju 86]] (which were delivered to Bolivia).
The deployment of these "advanced" weapons, however small in quantity, caused enormous strains on both countries, particularly Bolivia, and their impoverished economies were already stretched to the limit due to war expenses.
While the military conflict ended with a comprehensive Paraguayan victory, from a wider point of view it was a disaster for both sides. Bolivia's European elite forcibly enlisted the large indigenous population into the army, though they felt little connection to the nation-state, while Paraguay was able to foment nationalist fervour among its predominantly mixed population. On both sides, but more so in the case of Bolivia, soldiers were ill-prepared for the dearth of water or the harsh conditions of terrain and climate they encountered. In fact, of the war's 100,000 casualties, more died from diseases such as [[malaria]] and other infections than from the actual fighting (about 57,000 of the total were Bolivian). At the same time, the war brought both countries to the brink of economic disaster.
On [[November 27]], [[1934]], Bolivian generals, frustrated by the progress of the war, seized President [[Daniel Salamanca|Salamanca]] while he was visiting their headquarters in Villa Montes and replaced him with the vice-president, [[José Luis Tejada Sorzano|José Luis Tejada]].
==Aftermath==
[[Image:Parag.629.Chaco Peace.jpeg|right|thumb|Chaco Peace. The stamp is Scott no. 629]]
By the time a ceasefire was negotiated on [[June 10]], [[1935]], Paraguay controlled most of the region. This was recognised in a 1938 truce, signed in [[Argentina]], by which Paraguay was awarded three-quarters of the Chaco Boreal. Bolivia did get a small strip of land that bordered the Paraguay's River [[Puerto Busch]]. Some years later it was found that there were no oil resources in the Chaco proper.
Many middle class Bolivians were humiliated by their country's stunning military defeat during the Chaco War, which led to a mass-movement away from the traditional order known as the ''Generación del Chaco''{{Vague|Is Generación del Chaco the traditional order they moved away from, or what the moving away was called|date=March 2008}}, which was epitomised by the [[Revolutionary Nationalist Movement|MNR]]-led Revolution of 1952.
==Cultural references==
Some aspects of the Chaco War are the inspiration for [[The Adventures of Tintin|Tintin]]'s [[comic book]] adventure ''[[The Broken Ear]]'' by [[Hergé]], which began publication in 1935.
The conflict inspired [[Lester Dent]] to write the [[Doc Savage]] adventure ''The Dust of Death'', also in 1935.
==See also==
* [[Vickers 6-Ton]] tank
* [[Carden Loyd tankette]]
* [[Junkers W 34]]
==Notes==
<references/>
[[Category:History of South America]]
[[Category:Wars involving Bolivia]]
[[Category:Wars involving Paraguay]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1935]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1934]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1933]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1932]]
[[gn:Cháko Ñorairõ]]
[[bn:চাকো যুদ্ধ]]
[[de:Chacokrieg]]
[[es:Guerra del Chaco]]
[[eo:Ĉaka milito]]
[[fr:Guerre du Chaco]]
[[ko:차코 전쟁]]
[[it:Guerra del Chaco]]
[[he:מלחמת הצ'אקו]]
[[nl:Chaco-oorlog]]
[[ja:チャコ戦争]]
[[pl:Wojna o Chaco]]
[[pt:Guerra do Chaco]]
[[ru:Чакская война]]
[[fi:Chacon sota]]
[[sv:Chacokriget]]
[[tr:Chaco Savaşı]]
[[zh:大厦谷战争]]