4 phases of the Chaco WAR

Speaking about the many war conflicts that took place in the twentieth century we tend to focus on those in which European nations or the United States intervened, forgetting important confrontations in other parts of the world. One of the most important wars on American soil during the 20th century was the chaco war, which faced Paraguay and Bolivia for control of the area known as Boreal Chaco. To get to know this conflict in depth, in this lesson from a Teacher we are going to talk about the Phases of the Chaco War.

Index

1. First phase of the Chaco War: The Bolivian offensive
2. Second phase: The decline of the Bolivian attack
3. Third phase: Paraguayan offensive
4. End of the Chaco War

The first phase of the Chaco War is known as the Bolivian offensive, which took place between June 1932 and September 1932. It was marked by the great advance of Bolivian troops against Paraguayan armies that were not yet fully prepared for the attack.

The Bolivians attacked the Paraguayan forts of the area, understanding that finishing these places quickly would give them a quick victory. The Paraguayans complained internationally about the occupation of these forts by the Bolivians, but they denied that they had attacked any Paraguayan position. For this reason, the government decided to officially initiate military hostilities by attacking the forts that the Bolivians had taken to recover it, which was when the blood in the war began.

Of all the first phase, the most important and well-known moment was the defense of Fort Boquerón. In September 1932, the Bolivians were located in Fortín Boquerón, which they had conquered from Paraguayan hands and to recover it they sent a troop of 10,000 soldiers.

The Bolivians there were only about 600 men, and although they resisted for almost a month, finally were annihilated by the Paraguayans who achieved their first great victory in the war.

Discover here all the history of the chaco war to understand the causes of this conflict.

The second phase of the war goes from December from 1932 to December 1933. It is known as the moment when the Bolivian offensive began to fail, since they continued their constant attacks against the Paraguayans, but almost all of them were repelled or failed.

Bolivia, at this stage of the war, was led by a German general named General Hans Kundt, a World War I veteran on the German side. The idea of ​​this general was to maintain the offensive, seeking continuous attacks against forts and Paraguayan troops, so that they could not breathe and thus achieve victories. But the plan was an utter failure, leading to continuous defeats of Bolivia, and leaving very few wins in a year. Bolivia lost battles in Nanawa, Campo Grande or Campo Vía among others, losing a lot of ground and men in the effort.

Bolivia's defeats were so great and numerous that they led to a huge human loss among his troops, since when the war began the Bolivians had 77,000 soldiers, and at the end of this second phase their army was only about 15,000 men.

This disaster caused the dismissal of Kundt as leader of the troops and his replacement by high command of the Bolivian armies.

The third of the phases of the Chaco War encompasses from December 1933 to January 1935. It is known as the Paraguayan offensive, since after a year of repelling the Bolivians, the Paraguayans understood that it was time to go on the attack to end the war.

for months, the Paraguayans were conquering all the territories of Bolivia and forcing their troops to retreat into their own territory. There are many reasons that led to this advance, but it is especially important to understand that Paraguay had more than 50,000 soldiers, compared to the few men left on the side of Bolivia.

Paraguay pushed Bolivia to the Villamontes region, which led to the resignation of the president of Bolivia, Daniel Salamanca, due to a rebellion carried out by the main Bolivian officers who considered that the war had been a mistake.

To conclude this lesson on the phases of the Chaco War, we must talk about the last of those phases, being the one that ends the war, bringing the end of hostilities and the victory for Paraguay.

This last phase located between January 1935 and June 1935, It was focused on the Villamontes region, and more specifically on the defense of the Bolivians in this area, withstanding the constant attacks of the Paraguayans.

Bolivia showed a lot of guts, withstanding attacks from Paraguay, with much larger troops, for months. For all this the war was prolonged, although the victory was clear for the Paraguayans who had Bolivia surrounded, but prolonging the war was not convenient for Paraguay, so they decided sign a truce with the Bolivians.

The peace agreement was disastrous for Bolivia. The agreement stated that the vast majority of lands of the Chaco passed into the hands of Paraguay, leaving only a small part to Bolivia.

If you want to read more articles similar to Phases of the Chaco War, we recommend that you enter our category of History.

• Richard, N. (Ed.). (2008). Bad war: indigenous people in the Chaco War, 1932-1935. ServiLibros-Clay Museum-CoLibris éditions.
• Zuccarino, M. A. X. YO. m. YO. L. YO. A. N. EITHER. (2010). The Chaco War (1932-1935). Internal and External Variables, and the Position of Argentina in the Face of the Conflict. Tandil: Unicen.
• Capdevila, L., Combès, I., Richard, N., & Barbosa, P. (2010). The transparent, indigenous and military men in the Chaco War (1932-1935) (pp. 230-p). ILAMIS Latin American Institute of Missiology.