By 1810 Spain had been occupied by the French, who had taken King Ferdinand VII prisoner and wanted José Bonaparte, Napoleon’s brother, to be recognized as King of Spain. The city of Buenos Aires was faithful to the Spanish monarch, and in May 1810 a group of patricians from Buenos Aires met in a Governing Board. [9] That fact that would begin as a revolt for the succession rights of Fernando VII would become a revolution for the total independence of the Viceroyalty. In Montevideo, during the revolt, Governor Francisco Javier de Elío He recognized the authority of the Regency Council (installed in Spain to replace the authority of Fernando VII), for which he was appointed viceroy, and Montevideo became the capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. [9] The hero José Gervasio Artigas stands out at the beginning of the formation of the revolution, who until that moment had been captain of Blandengues in the Spanish army, but on February 15, 1811, he left that side and traveled to Buenos Aires to offer their services to the May Board. [9] The intention of Artigas was to create in the Eastern Province the nucleus of a great Confederation, without becoming independent from the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata.
For this purpose, he designed a flag that would be an emblem of the Federal League of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata. This flag was known as the Flag of Artigas. The first revolutionary action was the Grito de Asencio, on February 28,1811, carried out by Pedro Viera and Venancio Benavides, on the banks of the Asencio stream (Soriano), an episode that is considered the beginning of the Eastern Revolution. In the early days of April 1811 Artigas landed on the coast of Paysandú, joined the revolutionary contingent and after taking command he installed his headquarters in Mercedes, department of Soriano. Artigas’ first care is to consolidate the initial focus, trying to avoid the excessive dispersion of the forces, as was happening because the free initiative of the caudillos was not guided by a centralized command. Such a situation endangered the security and power of the revolution.
In mid-April, Manuel Belgrano, who was called to Buenos Aires to account for his defeat in the Expedition to Paraguay, appoints Artigas Second Internal Chief of the Operations Army of the Eastern Band, as communicated to the Board in his office dated at Mercedes on April 27 1811. The Junta Grande, on the other hand, appoints Rondeau as second chief, who will only arrive in Mercedes at the beginning of May. In accordance with the orders that the Junta had received, Belgrano appoints Artigas as Principal Commander of the Patriotic Militias. Before starting the offensive operations on Montevideo, Artigas established order in the towns of Arroyo de la China (current Concepción del Uruguay), Paysandú and Mercedes, in order to consolidate his rear and organize the forces and means to obtain resources.
In the first days of May, Artigas left with the bulk of his forces from San José, marching towards Montevideo in order to reduce this focus of resistance, and prevent it from organizing or receiving reinforcements. [10] On his way to Montevideo on the morning of May 18 he confronts royalist forces, concentrated in Las Piedras in an attempt by the Viceroy to quell the revolution. Despite the superiority of the enemy artillery and its advantageous situation, Artigas and his army managed to defeat the royalists. Due to the concentration of the monarchical forces and their defeat, Montevideo and Colonia remain practically the only remnants of colonial power. Taking advantage of the victory Artigas continues his march towards Montevideo and besieges the city
Faced with the revolutionary situation in the Banda Oriental, the Portuguese received orders to come to the aid of Viceroy Elío and invaded with a force of approximately 4000 men. [10] Faced with the push of the Portuguese and the defeats suffered in Upper Peru by the revolutionary forces, the Junta of Buenos Aires decided to sign an armistice with Elío, which left the Banda Oriental in Spanish hands. Artigas reacts with animosity to such an affront and there is a massive exodus of the eastern people into exile.
Since 1816 the Banda Oriental falls under the power of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarve. In 1821, the Cisplatino Congress decided to incorporate the territory into Portugal with the name Cisplatina Province. In 1825 therewas a revolution known as the emancipatory deed of the Thirty-Three Orientals, immediately followed by the War in Brazil, between the Empire and the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata. This concluded with the constitution of the Eastern State of Uruguay in 1828 after the Preliminary Peace Convention was signed.
Declaration of Independence
Shortly after the landing of the Thirty-Three, produced the uprising of the Banda Oriental campaign, Lavalleja constituted a Provisional Government of the Eastern Province, and summoned the Cabildos to name their representatives for a Chamber to meet in the town of San Fernando de la Florida in order to proceed with the declaration of independence.
The 20 of August of 1825 was installed in the village of Florida, the House of Representatives of the Eastern Province. It was chaired by the Deputy for Guadalupe, Juan Francisco Larrobla; being vice president Luis Eduardo Pérez and secretary Felipe Álvarez de Bengochea.
According to Youremailverifier, a commission was immediately appointed to draw up a declaration of annulment of the acts of incorporation to Brazil and Portugal. After that, he paid attention to the need to erect an authority with executive functions, for which General Juan Antonio Lavalleja was appointed as Captain General and Governor, and the Ministries of Government, War and Finance were created.
The 25 of August of 1825, the Board of Representatives approved two constitutional laws; by the first, independence was declared, and by the second, the union with the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata was ordered.
Battles of independence
- Little Tree – February 28, 1897.
- Arroyo Grande – December 6, 1842.
- Ayacucho – December 9, 1824.
- Cagancha – December 29, 1839.
- Cardial – January 20, 1807.
- Carpentry – September 19, 1836.
- Caseros – February 3, 1852.
- Cerrito – December 31, 1812.
- Chacabuco – February 12, 1817.
- Famaillá – September 19, 1841.
- Guayabos – January 10, 1815.
- Dead India – March 27, 1845.
- Ituzaingó – February 20, 1827.
- Las Piedras – May 18, 1811.
- Maipú – April 5, 1818.
- Missions – April 1828.
- Forced – November 20, 1845.
- Palmar – June 15, 1838.
- Paysandú – January 2, 1865.
- Pavón – September 17, 1861.
- Rincón – September 24, 1825.
- Sarandí – October 12, 1825.
