History of Paraguay

The history of Paraguay is a result of development and interaction of varying cultures of indigenous peoples in Paraguay and overseas immigrants who together have created the modern-day Paraguay.

William E. Barrett wrote: "Paraguay is the country of prophecy. One of the two smallest nations [as of 1952] on the American continent, it was the first American communistic state, the first American nation to be governed by an absolute dictator (in the modern sense of the term)."

The first Spaniards reached this territory in early 16th century as part of colonial expeditions that created the global Spanish Empire. They were predominantly young men, as almost no European women participated in these expeditions. They intermarried with native women, resulting in a largely mixed (mestizo) and Creole population. Their children spoke the languages of their indigenous mothers but were raised in the Catholic Spanish culture.

Paraguay's colonial history was one of general calm punctuated by turbulent political events; the country's undeveloped economy at the time made it unimportant to the Spanish crown, and the distance of its capital Asunción from the coastal region and other new cities on the South American continent only increased the isolation.

On May 14/15, 1811 Paraguay declared its independence from Spain. Since then, the country has had a history of dictatorial governments, from the Utopian regime of José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia (El Supremo) to the suicidal reign of Francisco Solano López, who nearly destroyed the country in warfare against the combined forces of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay from 1865 through 1870. The Paraguayan War ended with massive population losses in Paraguay, and cessions of extensive territories to Argentina and Brazil. The post-war nation gradually formed a two-party (Colorado vs. Liberal) political system which came to be totally dominated by the Colorado party and only recently has changed into a multiparty system.

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