1828 Treaty of Montevideo
Encyclopedia
Treaty of Montevideo: In a treaty signed on August 27, 1828, after British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 mediation, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

 and Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 recognized the independence of Uruguay.

Called the Preliminary Peace Convention as a result of the meetings held by representatives from the Empire of Brazil and the United Provinces of Río de la Plata — another name for Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 — between 11 and 27 August 1828 in Río de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

, Brazil. This convention, or treaty, accorded independence to Uruguay in respect to Brazil and Argentina. Uruguay's independence would be definitively sealed on 4 October of the same year when, in Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...

, the signing nations ratified the treaty.

Purpose

The stalemate in the Cisplatine War, caused by the destruction of the Argentine fleet, the inability of the Argentine land forces to capture any major cities, the severe economic consequences imposed by the Brazilian blockade of Buenos Aires and the temporary lack of manpower for a full-scale Brazilian land offensive against Argentine forces, allied to increasing public pressure in Brazil to end the war motivated the interest on a peaceful solution for both sides.

In this context, on 20 February 1827, Brazil and Argentina decided to open peace talks with mediation by Great Britain, who also had interest in a peaceful resolution of the war, due to the fact that it´s trade interests in the Plata region were being severely harmed by the blockade of Buenos Aires.

After being chosen mediator for the peace talks, Lord John Ponsonby was sent from London and was quickly faced with the Argentine unwillingness to allow Brazil to retain it's sovereignty over Uruguay and the Brazilian demands to keep its soverignty over the Missões Orientales, to free navigation in the Plata River and the refusal to allow Argentina to annex any area of the Cisplatine Province.

Considering this scenario, Posonby proposed the independence of Uruguay towards both Brazil and Argentina as a means of reestablishing peace on La Plata, and conceded to the Brazilian demands to its soverignty over the Missões Orientales and the right to freely navigate in the Plata River.

Although faced with initial Argentine opposition, the diplomat managed to convince Argentina that it was no longer viable to spend money on a war for the Eastern Province and managed to struck a deal on August 27, 1828.

British Interests

The British Empire's true interests are made clear in a letter that Lord Ponsonby sent to London:

The interests and the security of British commerce will be greatly promoted in a state in which the governors cultivate a friendship with England. The Eastern Strip contains the key to La Plata and to South America; we must perpetuate a geographical division of states that benefits England. For a long time the easterners will not have a port and will not have the opportunity to impede English trade.


From that scopus, the British believed that Uruguyan independenc would consolidate English commerce and contain both Brazil and Argentina.

Form of Declaration of Independence

The first and second articles of the treaty declare the independence of the Eastern Province from the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, and Algarve or its immediate successor, the Empire of Brazil, and from the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata. This formula of compromise involved a sizable error and a profound historical injustice in making it appear that oriental independence was a great concession by the powers. In reality, eastern independence was a long process that was born in colonial Montevideo, took on a provincial character under the inspiration of José Gervasio Artigas, and culminated with the development of the "Liberty Crusade" in 1825. That is to say that liberty was given to the people of the East without their consent and in contradiction to that which was declared on 25 August 1825 in the Law of Union.

Character of Independence: Definitive or Temporary

The tenth article of the convention established that if five years after the approval of the constitution the interior tranquility and security was perturbed by a civil war, they (the signers) would give the legal government the necessary assistance to maintain and sustain itself. After that time all protection would cease and the province would be considered to be in a state of perfect and absolute independence. The right to intervene in assistance of the "legal government" was established by the contracting parties without need of express request on the part of the new state.

Control of the Constitution

The seventh article establishes that the Representatives will be occupied with forming the political constitution of the province and before being judged (approved), the constitution would be examined by commissioners of the contracting governments for the sole purpose of seeing if it contained any articles in opposition to the security of their respective states.

Free Navigation

One additional article guaranteed to the two nations (Argentina and Brazil) free navigation of the Río de la Plata and of all others that feed into it, for the period of fifteen years.

Other Grave Defects

The defects contained in the Preliminary Peace Convention would compromise the future of the new state: it did not fix the territorial limits and its submitted the constitution to the contracting governments' examination.

But some of the more dramatic consequences of this treaty were immediately suffered by Argentina. In effect, the Preliminary Peace Convention was signed by Manuel José García, an ambassador sent by Bernardino Rivadavia
Bernardino Rivadavia
Bernardino de la Trinidad Gónzalez Rivadavia y Rivadavia was the first president of Argentina, from February 8, 1826 to July 7, 1827 . He was a politician of the United Provinces of Río de la Plata, Argentina today...

 to Río de Janeiro at the beginning of 1828, in which moment the situation was as follows: The Brazilian troops had been defeated by the Argentines (the eastern troops voluntarily integrated with the First National Argentine Army) in almost every encounter. As a result, the entire Eastern Strip
Banda Oriental
The Banda Oriental del Uruguay was the South American territory east of the Uruguay River and north of the Río de la Plata, coinciding approximately with the modern nation of Uruguay, the Brazilian State of Rio Grande do Sul and some parts of Santa Catarina...

 (Banda Oriental) and the Eastern Missions (Misiones Orientales) were liberated. However, British pressure on Argentina was intense (warships from the United Kingdom were capturing as "pirates" Argentine ships) and the Argentine treasury seemed exhausted. In this way, unexpectedly for the Argentine combatants —and for the entire Argentine nation— Manuel José García signed a paradoxical treaty: Argentina accepted Brazilian occupation of the Eastern Province (including the island Martín García Island) and the Eastern Missions. Moreover, Argentina compromised to pay indemnities to Brazil. The knowledge of such a capitulation made the Argentine people rebel and consequently Bernardino Rivadavia abandoned the government, and the National government was dissolved. Buenos Aires Province
Buenos Aires Province
The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...

 Governor Manuel Dorrego
Manuel Dorrego
Manuel Dorrego was an Argentine statesman and soldier. He was governor of Buenos Aires in 1820, and then again from 1827 to 1828....

 then resume negotiations: the intent was to annul the convention with Brazil in its entirety, but Ponsonby's pressure was absolute —as noted— and independence was declared on behalf of the East Province (the rest remaining in Brazil's power) with the name Eastern State of Uruguay.

The Argentine military chiefs forcibly divided between themselves. Those born in the Eastern Strip came to be the first Uruguayan military chiefs, who rapidly entered into bloody conflict: Juan Antonio Lavalleja
Juan Antonio Lavalleja
Juan Antonio Lavalleja was an Uruguayan revolutionary and political figure. Today's Lavalleja Department is named after him.-Pre-Independence role:...

 against Fructuoso Rivera
Fructuoso Rivera
José Fructuoso Rivera y Toscana was an Uruguayan general and patriot who assisted in the efforts to force Brazilians out of the Banda Oriental.-Founder of Colorado Party and President of Uruguay:...

, or Manuel Oribe
Manuel Oribe
Manuel Ceferino Oribe y Viana was the fourth president of Uruguay.-Biography:Manuel Oribe was the son of Captain Francisco Oribe and María Francisca Viana, a descendant of the first governor of Montevideo, José Joaquín de Viana...

 against F. Rivera. A great many of the military chiefs who remained Argentine and who had directly fought the Brazilians, quickly and erroneously considered that the responsibility for the ignominious surrender lay with Manuel Dorrego. Consequently, in 1829 Juan Lavalle
Juan Lavalle
Juan Galo de Lavalle was an Argentine military and political figure.-Biography:Lavalle was born in Buenos Aires to María Mercedes González Bordallo and Manuel José de La Vallée y Cortés, general accountant of rents and tobacco for the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata.In 1799, the family moved to...

, returned to Buenos Aires with the troops that had participated in the war, overthrew and executed Dorrego in Navarro
Navarro, Buenos Aires
Navarro is a town in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the head town of the Navarro Partido....

, Buenos Aires Province
Buenos Aires Province
The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...

. This act signified the resume of a bloody fratricidal war
Argentine Civil War
The Argentine Civil Wars were a series of internecine wars that took place in Argentina from 1814 to 1876. These conflicts were separate from the Argentine War of Independence , though they first arose during this period....

 that involved all of Argentina (Unitarians
Unitarian Party
Unitarianists or Unitarians were the proponents of the concept of a Unitary state in Buenos Aires during the civil wars which shortly followed the Declaration of Independence of Argentina in 1816. They were opposed to the Argentine Federalists, who wanted a federation of independent provinces...

 against Federalists
Federales (Argentina)
Federales was the name under which the supporters of federalism in Argentina were known, opposing the Unitarios that claimed a centralised government of Buenos Aires Province, with no participation of the other provinces of the custom taxes benefits of the Buenos Aires port...

) as well as the Uruguayan Civil War
Uruguayan Civil War
The Uruguayan Civil War, also known as "Guerra Grande", was a series of armed conflicts that took place between the Colorado Party and the National Party in Uruguay from 1839 to 1851...

 (Guerra Grande) in the new state of Uruguay, involving Colorados
Colorado Party (Uruguay)
The Colorado Party is a political party in Uruguay.- Aims :It unites Conservative, Moderate and Social democratic groups. It was the dominant party of government almost without exception during the stabilisation of the Uruguayan republic....

 against Blancos
National Party (Uruguay)
The National Party , also known as the White Party , is a major right-wing conservative political party in Uruguay, currently the major opposition party to the ruling Frente Amplio government....

.
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