Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 2.djvu/552

Rh 492 trade of the confederated states from taking its ordinary course through Buenos Ayres caused great irritation in the latter province ; but peace was, nevertheless, maintained until 1859, when Alsina again became governor of Buenos Ayres, and the numerous questions in dispute soon led to active hostilities between the Government at Parana and Buenos Ayres. The army of the latter, under General (then Colonel) Mitre, was defeated by the Confederate forces at Cepeda, in the province of Buenos Ayres, in October 1859 ; and Urquiza re-entered the city, when Alsina resigned his office of governor to Ocampo, and Buenos Ayres rejoined the Confederation, of which Urquiza resigned the presidency. Derqui was then elected president of the fourteen provinces, with the seat of government at Parana ; whilst Urquiza became governor of Entre Rios, and Mitre governor of Buenos Ayres. Hostilities, however, recommenced in 18G1, and the armies of the opposite parties, under Generals Urquiza and Mitre respectively, met at Pavon, in the province of Santa F4. Mitre this time was victorious, and in 1862 he was elected president of the Argentine Confederation, of which, with the consent of the provincial Legislature, the city of Buenos Ayres became provisionally the capital. Urquiza retired to the province of Entre Rios, of which he continued to be governor. The history of these struggles is ably told by Mr Latham from a Buenos Ayrean point of view ; and also, from the opposite side, by M. De Moussy, in his able and elaborate work dedicated to Urquiza. In 1864 the Republic of Paraguay commenced war against Brazil, and on the 5th February 1865, President Lopez sent a despatch to the Argentine Government, requesting permission for the passage of a Paraguayan army through the province of Corrientes. This Mitre refused, the neu trality of the country having previously been declared. On the morning of the 13th April a Paraguayan fleet entered the port of Corrientes, and, without any previous warning of belligerent intentions, fired into and took pos session of two vessels of the Argentine navy which were lying at anchor in the port, and also fired on the crew as they endeavoured to swirn ashore to escape the unexpected slaughter. In the course of the following day a detach ment of Paraguayan troops took possession of the city, whilst the main body of an invading army marched across the province, and, crossing the Uruguay, invaded Brazil. The sudden seizure of the vessels in the port of Corrientes was the first notification of war which reached the Argentine Government. The official declaration of war, which was dated the 29th March, and was based on a declaration passed in Congress on the 18th, did not reach the Argentine Government until the 3d May. The people of Buenos Ayres were thrown into a fren/y of indignation on the receipt of the news of the above-mentioned hos tilities ; and on the 1 st May a treaty was signed between the Argentine Government, Brazil, and the Oriental Re public, by which these powers mutually bound them selves not to lay down their arms until they had abolished the Government of Lopez, but at the same time guar anteeing the independence of Paraguay. Thus the National Government established at Buenos Ayres was launched into a war which sorely tried its resources, both for the prosecution of the war itself, and for the suppression of the opponents of its policy in some districts. The war was soon carried into Paraguay ; but the withdrawal of the main body of the Argentine army, under Generals Paunero and Arredondo, was necessitated by a rebellion in the north-west (January 1867), where the rebels, under Saaand Videla, had obtained control of several of the Provincial Governments. The rebel army was not able to cope with the veterans fresh from the battlefields of Paraguay, who drove them across the Andes into Chili, where they laid down their arms. These internal troubles made it requisite for Mitre to retire from the post of commandcr-in-chief of the allied forces in the field, which then devolved upon the Brazilian General Caxias. Urquiza, though nominally under the order of the National Government, having, on the outbreak of the war accepted from them the appoint ment of commander-in- chief of the forces of Entre Rios, virtually held that province in a state of neutrality through out the war, which was ended by the shooting of Lopez on the 1st March 1870, after the extermination of his army and a large majority of the inhabitants of the country. Urquiza, at the outbreak of the war, was the most renowned and powerful chieftain in the country, and doubt regarding the course he might take was a source of anxiety in Buenos Ayres. He had accumulated immense estates and wealth in Entre Rios ; and he was doubtless actuated by an earnest desire to preserve to his province the blessings of peace and commercial prosperity in the midst of the sur rounding disturbances. The hope of obtaining support from him is, however, supposed to have encouraged the rebellion of the north-western provinces, which neutralised the reckless audacity with which the Argentine troops fought their first battle in Paraguay. In 1868, whilst the war was going on, Mitre s term of office as president expired, and Sarmiento was peacefully elected in his place. The close of the Paraguayan war did not bring permanent peace to the country; for, on the 12th April 1870, Urquiza was assassinated at his family residence by some well-known officers of his army, and the provincial Legislature immedi ately elected Lopez Jordan as governor in his place. The new governor, in his address to Congress on his installation, took upon himself the responsibility of the assassination, and the National Government refused to acknowledge him as governor of the province, on the ground of undue influence having been brought to bear on the members of the Legislature by which he had been elected. The National troops accordingly invaded the province, for the avowed purpose of affording protection for the free expres sion of opinion in a new election. This became the com mencement of a civil war, which materially interfered with the former prosperity of the province, but which was fortunately brought to a conclusion in the end of January 1873, by the Entre-Riano army being completely routed by the National troops, armed with Remington rifles, under Colonel Gainza. The Entre-Riano leader, with about 40 followers, escaped across the Uruguay. Tranquillity has since that time prevailed in Entre Rios. Whilst these events were in progress, a rupture between the Argentine Republic and Brazil regarding the settlement of the boundaries of Paraguay, was at one time imminent ; but, by the influence of Mitre, who went as special envoy to Rio on the occasion, the friendly relations of the two Governments have, it is hoped, been placed on a secure basis. The prosperity of the country received a temporary check in 1874, from a brief revolution initiated when President Avellanda was declared elected. The unsuccess ful party, under Brigadier-General Mitre, incensed at their defeat, asserted that the elections had been gained by corrupt and fraudulent practices, and resolved to appeal to arms to overthrow the president-elect. The revolution was declared on 24th September. President Sarmiento, whose tenure of office was just expiring, took active mea sures to repress the revolt ; and no collision of forces had taken place when the new president, Don Nicolas Avellanda, was constitutionally installed on the 12th October. The president followed up with energy the measures of his predecessor to suppress the revolution, and his efforts were crowned with success in two decisive victories over the insurgents by the Government troops;