Paraguay Independent

Paraguay, a landlocked province centered on Asuncion, had been administered as part of the viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata. When the Buenos Aires junta sought to extend its authority over the region after 1810, Paraguayan forces repelled an Argentine military expedition, demonstrating that local leaders intended to chart their own course rather than submit to either Spain or Buenos Aires.

On the night of May 14 to 15, 1811, creole officers in Asuncion deposed the Spanish governor and established a governing junta, and Paraguay was soon proclaimed independent of Spain, with a republican form of government taking shape. This made it one of the first lasting independent states in South America, avoiding the prolonged warfare that engulfed other regions.

Power was gradually consolidated by Jose Gaspar Rodriguez de Francia, who became supreme dictator and ruled until his death in 1840, pursuing a policy of isolation and self-sufficiency. Paraguay maintained its sovereignty against repeated pressure from Argentina, though its independence was later tested catastrophically in the War of the Triple Alliance of 1864 to 1870.