English invasions of the Río de la Plata
Miscellanea / / July 04, 2021
By Javier Navarro, on Sep. 2018
The history of continent American is marked by the intervention of three great colonial empires: the Spanish, the British and the Portuguese. At the beginning of the 19th century, Britain was in the industrial Revolution and this circumstance made its leaders consider the convenience of expanding their dominions in Spanish America. Thus, between 1806 and 1807 there were two unsuccessful attempts to occupy the territory of the Río de la Plata integrated into the Spanish Crown.
In those years Europe was ruined by the Napoleonic wars and by this reason the American colonies became an attractive loot.
The first invasion
Since 1776 Buenos Aires was the capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. Its port had a high strategic value and the British wanted to expand their commercial networks and increase the slave trade.
In 1806 a powerful English fleet managed to occupy the city of Buenos Aires militarily. For two months they took over the Argentine capital with the intention of creating a new commercial space in the area.
In Montevideo a group of militiamen was organized to liberate the city of Buenos Aires and after a short endurance the British troops were defeated.
The victory of the Montevideo people had a curious effect: the historical rivalry between Argentines and Uruguayans had faded before the threat real of a foreign invader.
The second invasion
The English navy did not fully withdraw from the Río de la Plata, as it was waiting to receive reinforcements. When they arrived there was a new attack, this time on Montevideo. The city was well fortified, but the British managed to enter through one of the walls and took the Uruguayan capital.
With the intention of controlling the river route, the city of Buenos Aires was attacked again, but this time the Argentine army managed to repel the enemy troops. The British decided to abandon their positions and withdrew definitively from the Río de la Plata.
Consequences
The victory over the British caused both Uruguayans and Argentines to have more patriotic pride. It had been shown that they were capable of defending themselves and that they did not need the support of the Spanish. Most historians agree on one idea: the English invasions in the Río de la Plata were a decisive step for the future declaration of independence of the two nations.
The British drew their own conclusions: it was preferable to forget about new colonial wars in Spanish America and it was much more effective to promote a strategy commercial in the American continent.
Photo: Fotolia - Alexandr Vorobev / Zlatovlaska2008
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