The Paraguayan Civil War (1922), took place between 27 May 1922 and 10 July 1923, within the borders of Paraguay. It started when supporters of candidate Adolfo Chirife attempted to forcefully restore the implementation of presidential elections canceled by President Eusebio Ayala. Chirife represented the so-called Constitutionalist or Schaererist side ideologically supporting liberal politician Eduardo Schaerer, while troops under Ayala were named Loyalists or Gondrists ideologically pledging allegiance to former President Manuel Gondra. The conflict concluded when Gondrist forces defeated the remnants of the Schaererist army in Asunción.
In the aftermath of the 1904 revolution, the Paraguayan liberal movement entered a period of instability and factional fighting. Between 1904 and 1922, 15 Paraguayan presidents assumed office. The coups of 1908 and 1910 cemented the division of Paraguayan liberals into the "radicales" and "civicos" factions. A further split of the radicales faction into two sub-factions led by Manuel Gondra and Eduardo Schaerer respectively, gradually escalated into a full-scale civil war.[3]
In 1920, Gondra came out victorious in the presidential election. Schaerer immediately attempted to undermine Gondra by forcing the resignation of Interior Minister José Guggiari, Gondra's most vocal supporter. After Gondra's refusal to dismiss Guggiari, Gondra himself resigned, due to the emergence of a split in Paraguay's armed forces. After Vice President Félix Paiva's refusal to assume office, the congress placed senator Eusebio Ayala, a moderate Gondra supporter into interim presidency.[2]
Another crisis ensued when Adolfo Chirife, a supporter of Schaerer, became a presidential candidate. Amassing the support of the Colorado party along with a large percentage of supporters in the Liberal Party, Chirife gathered enough support to ensure a victory in the upcoming elections. When Ayala reacted by blocking implementation of the elections, Schaerer's supporters attempted to restore the electoral process by force.[1]
Conflict
Troops belonging to the 1st, 2nd and 4th military zones totaling 1,700 men, united under the name of the Constitutional Army, declaring its loyalty to Schaerer. Opposing them, loyalist elements of the Paraguayan Navy and the wider Asunción area garrisons pledged allegiance to Gondra. On 27 May 1922, following the failure of two weeks of negotiations between the two sides, Adolfo Chirife ordered his military and civilian supporters in Paraguarí to launch an offensive on the capital, thus beginning a civil war. Passing through Luque, the constitutionalists reached Asunción on June 9. By this time the Gondrists had mustered 600 regular soldiers as well as 1,000 members of the anarcho syndicalist Marine Workers Union. Despite enjoying limited success, the Schaererists were forced to abandon the siege of the barricaded suburbs and on June 14, battles took place in Pirayú and Yaguarón as the Schaererists retreated to Paraguarí.[2]
Between 28 and 29 June 1922, a loyalist Armstrong Whitworth F.K.8 conducted two raids on Paraguarí, first dropping pamphlets and then bombing the city. On 3 July, the same F.K.8 mistakenly bombed train wagons housing imprisoned soldiers who refused to join the Constitutionalist Army. Numerous prisoners were killed or injured in the action. On 8 July 1922, the F.K.8 was shot down over Pirayú, and British pilot Sydney Stewart was killed.[1][2]
In the aftermath of the July 14 loss of Pirayú and Yaguarón, Schaererists began evacuating their troops from Paraguarí to Villarrica. Between 23 and 24 July, Loyalists overran Constitutionalist positions in Ybitimí and Sapucaí. The Gondristas continued their advance, taking Itapé and Salitre Cué, and finally entering Villarrica without firing a single shot on July 31. The town of San Estanislao changed hands several times as opposing cavalries skirmished in the area during early August. The Gondrista Air Force relocated to Villarrica. Reinforced with several Italian World War I veterans including ace Cosimo Damiano Rizzotto, it intensified its reconnaissance and bombing missions. On 5 September, a Constitutionalist Ansaldo SVA.5 bombed Salitre-Cué. A Gondrista aircraft of the same model then took off, piloted by British aviator Patrick Hassett, who fired at the bomber and forced it to retreat to Cangó, in an engagement that is considered to be the first recorded dogfight in South America.[2] The following day another Constitutionalist SVA.5 attacked Salitre-cué, only to be forced down near Cangó by Hassett after an intense dogfight, making him the first airmen to shoot down another aircraft over South America. Italian pilot Nicolá Bo would also damage another rebel aircraft on the 25th of September, but was forced to return to Isla Alta after running out of ammunition.[4]
Fighting continued through late October and early November, as Isla Alta and Cangó fell under Gondrist control. Schaererists entrenched themselves in the Caí Puente Coronel Bogado area 30 kilometers north west of Encarnación. On 13 November, a loyalist detachment marched on Caí Puente, while a second column perpetrated a surprise attack on the Constitutionalist rearguard, capturing Carmen del Paraná. Three days later Gondrists took the Schaererirst stronghold of Caí Puente, but many Constitutionalists managed to escape detention, reorganising and moving north towards the unprotected capital. Utilizing rail transport, the Gondrists halted the Schaererist advance, and after heavy fighting in Paraguarí, Piribebuy and Yhú, the defeated Gondrists fell back beyond Carayaó.[2]
On 18 March 1923, the Schaererists mounted their first attack in three months, seizing the under-protected Villarrica. The Constitutionalists then ambushed a 20-wagon supply convoy at Pañetey, killing almost 500 soldiers. On 18 May, after Schaererist commander-in-chief Adolfo Chirife died of pneumonia, newly elected commander Pedro Mendoza initiated an offensive on Asunción. Passing through the densely forested areas of Carapeguá, Itá and San Lorenzo, Mendoza entered the capital on 9 July 1923 without encountering significant resistance. A day later Loyalists counterattacked the capital from the north, routing the Schaererists and effectively ending the war.[2]
As Sapienza (2018) notes: "The insurgents, led by Lt. Col. Brizuela, advanced against only limited resistance, mainly from the police force in the capital, reaching the center of the city by the evening of 9 July. The rebels took the Nu-Guazu air base and captured three aircraft in flying condition, but since they did not have anybody to fly them, they were useless. The following day, with victor apparently in their grasp, the insurgents were undermined by their old nemesis, defective logistic support, and ran out of ammunition and had to retreat in the face of a resolute counter-attack; coincidently as the Loyalist forces from the north arrived at the outskirts of Asuncion, taking them in the rear. Rebel morale, always fragile, now collapsed completely, and with it the uprising. Col. Brizuela led what was left of the insurgent army to Villeta where they threw away their weapons before crossing the river to exile in Argentina."[citation needed]
Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. It has a population of 7 million, nearly 3 million of whom live in the capital and largest city of Asunción, and its surrounding metro. Although one of only two landlocked countries in South America, Paraguay has ports on the Paraguay and Paraná rivers that give exit to the Atlantic Ocean, through the Paraná-Paraguay Waterway.
The history of Paraguay begins with the interaction between the early Spanish colonists and the indigenous people. The agricultural Guaraní lived in eastern Paraguay and neighboring countries and the nomadic Guaycuruan tribes lived in western Paraguay. The first Spanish explorers reached Paraguay in 1524. As Paraguay lacked mineral wealth and was isolated and land-locked, it was relatively unimportant to the Spanish. The small number of Spanish men resident in Paraguay intermarried with native women, resulting in a mestizo population. Most of the Guaraní adopted the Roman Catholic religion of the Spaniards, but continued to speak the Guaraní language which along with Spanish is spoken by most people in Paraguay. In the 17th and 18th century the Jesuits established missions among the Guaraní which were called reductions. The Jesuits succeeded in spreading Christianity and giving the Guaraní some degree of protection from slave raiders and the labor demands of the Spanish and mestizo population.
The Chaco War was fought from 1932 to 1935 between Bolivia and Paraguay, over the control of the northern part of the Gran Chaco region of South America, which was thought to be rich in oil. The war is also referred to as La Guerra de la Sed in literary circles since it was fought in the semi-arid Chaco. The bloodiest interstate military conflict fought in South America in the 20th century, it was fought between two of its poorest countries, both of which had lost territory to neighbours in 19th-century wars.
Higinio Nicolás Morínigo Martínez was a military officer, politician and Paraguayan dictator. He participated in the Chaco War (1932–1935) as a prominent officer of the Paraguayan Army. After the war he was appointed Chief of the Cabinet of the Ministry of War and Navy during the presidency of Félix Paiva. He was Minister of the Interior between January and August 1939, then appointed Minister of War and Navy and promoted to brigadier general in May 1940 during the government of José Félix Estigarribia. When the latter died in a plane crash a few months later. Morínigo became President of Paraguay, a position he would hold until 1948.
The Paraguayan Civil War was a civil war in Paraguay that lasted from 7 March to 20 August 1947.
Emiliano González Navero was a Paraguayan politician of the Liberal Party, he served as President of Paraguay on three occasions and as Vice President of Paraguay on two occasions.
Manuel Gondra Pereira was the 21st President of Paraguay who served from 25 November 1910 to 11 January 1911 and again from 15 August 1920 to 31 October 1921. Born in Buenos Aires, he was also an author, a journalist and a member of the Liberal Party. His first presidency was ended by the rise of Albino Jara, while his second presidency by chaos in the Paraguayan Civil War of 1922, of which he led the Gondrist faction to victory.
Eduardo Schaerer Vera y Aragón was a Swiss-Paraguayan businessman, publisher and politician. He served as President of Paraguay from 1912 to 1916 for the Liberal Party, respectively briefly as the Minister of the Interior from March 22, 1912 to 15 August 1912, before assuming office as president. He previously served as mayor of Asuncion from 1908 to 1911.
Manuel Franco was President of Paraguay from August 15, 1916, to June 5, 1919.
José Pedro Montero was President of Paraguay from 1919 to 1920.
Eusebio Ayala was an intellectual and statesman, and President of Paraguay from 7 November 1921 to 12 April 1923 and again from 15 August 1932 to 17 February 1936. He was a member of the Liberal Party. He was overthrown by Rafael Franco.
José Eligio Ayala was President of Paraguay from 12 April 1923 to 17 March 1924 and again from 15 August 1924 until 15 August 1928. He was a member of the Liberal Party.
José Patricio Guggiari Corniglione was a Paraguayan politician by the Partido Liberal Radical Auténtico.
The Armstrong Whitworth F.K.8 was a British two-seat general-purpose biplane built by Armstrong Whitworth during the First World War. The type served alongside the better known R.E.8 until the end of the war, at which point 694 F.K.8s remained on RAF charge.
Efraím Cardozo (1906–1973) was a Paraguayan politician and historian.
El Porvenir Guaireño It is a social club Paraguay more than 100 years old. It has a Headquarters and another Campestre Headquarters, a significant list of founders and illustrious visitors who passed through the institution.
The Chaco War was the first major Latin American conflict in which aircraft were used. This aerial war carried a large human and materiel cost. At that time, Bolivia possessed one of the greatest aerial forces in the region, however this fact didn't prevent its final defeat. Bolivia lacked the expertise to utilise its aerial forces, and was thus unable to maximise its use of military aviation. Paraguay had a small number of pilots and technicians, all veterans of the revolution of 1922. The 1922 revolution was a brief civil war in which the government and the rebels used aircraft in the operations, and José Félix Estigarribia could be considered an innovator in the military use of aircraft on the continent.
ARP Tacuary was a riverine gunboat in service on the Paraguayan Navy for almost a century. She was built in 1907 by T. & J. Hosking, Ireland, as the steel-hulled yacht Clover and initially named Adolfo Riquelme when acquired in 1911. From 1930 the ship bore the name of another gunboat, which was the first Paraguayan naval vessel to cross the Atlantic in 1855.
Below is a timeline of the history of Paraguay:
Salvador Alvarado Rubio served in the Mexican military during the Mexican Revolution and as a statesman. He was a general of the Constitutionalist Army under the orders of Venustiano Carranza. Alvarado was the Governor of Yucatán from February 1915 to November, 1918. There is a Salvador Alvarado Municipality in the State of Sinaloa, where he was born, named in his honor.
↑ Adrian English. "La Guerra Civil Parguaya 1922–1923". Retrieved 20 October 2014.
Bibliography
Sapienza, Antonio Luis (April 1999). "Le role de aviation lors de la révolution de 1922 au Paraguay" [The Role of Aircraft during the 1922 Paraguayn Revolution]. Avions: Toute l'aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (73): 24–26. ISSN1243-8650.
Sapienza, Antonio Luis (Helion, 2018). Aerial Operations in the Revolutions of 1922 & 1947 in Paraguay. The First Dogfights in South America.
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Gondrists
