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Nearly 100,000 men died during the course of the tragic three-year war between two of the world's poorest nations, Bolivia and Paraguay, in the 1930s. The Chaco War was fought over a worthless stretch of desert scrubland for the pride of political leaders and the ambition of a few military officers. While thousands of illiterate, barefoot, undernourished peasant soldiers fought and died with incredible bravery, their commanders and national leaders fussed and fumed over imagined slights and avoided the peace which was so easily within their reach. The Bolivian military, in particular, performed abysmally. Few wars have been as unnecessary or as costly as the Chaco War.
The Chaco War was massive territorial war between Bolivia and Paraguay, which cost almost a 100,000 lives. An old fashioned territorial dispute, the contested area was the Gran Chaco Boreal, a 100,000-square mile region of swamp, jungle and pampas with isolated fortified towns. The wilderness terrain made operations difficult and costly as the war see-sawed between the two sides. Bolivian troops, under the command of a German general, Hans von Kundt, had early successes, but these stalled in the face of a massive mobilization programme by the Paraguans which saw their force increase in size ten-fold to 60,000 men. This book sheds light on a vicious territorial war that waged in the jungles and swamps of the Gran Chaco and is illustrated with rare photographs and especially commissioned artwork.
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Ranging from the 1840s through the early twenty-first century, this study of shared political, economic, and cultural histories fills significant gaps in our understanding of Paraguayan-U.S. relations. Frank O. Mora and Jerry W. Cooney tell how an initially rocky beginning between the two countries, marked by diplomatic posturing, shows of military force, and failed business schemes, gave way to a calmer period during which the United States backed Paraguay's territorial claims against its neighbors, prospects grew brighter for American entrepreneurs, and Paraguay embraced Pan-Americanism. It was not until the 1930s that the two countries engaged in earnest as the United States attempted to ...
A scholarly study of Paraguay in the decades dominated by the Colorados, immediately following the Allied occupation of the country after the disastrous War of the Triple Alliance, when half of Paraguay's population died. This period of rebirth saw the formal organization of Paraguay's major political parties, the Colorados and the Liberals, and the dominance of the Colorados until the Liberal revolution of 1904.