Dissolution of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata

The dissolution of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata was the independence and breaking up of the Spanish colony in South America. Most of the viceroyalty is now part of Argentina, and other regions belong to Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata was a colony of Spain in South America. It was established in 1776 by Charles III of Spain, with territories from the Viceroyalty of Peru. He aimed to strengthen the territories coveted by colonial Brazil, which invaded the Misiones Orientales and sought to expand towards the Río de la Plata. The cities that composed the viceroyalty were, for the most part, very distant from each other, and with few actual bounds; their organization was still similar to that of Feudal Europe.

Carlota Joaquina, sister of the Spanish king Ferdinand VII and married to the regent prince of Portugal, sought to take advantage of the Peninsular War to rule over the Spanish territories. Her project, however, was resisted and did not succeed.

Buenos Aires ousted the viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros and began the Argentine War of Independence, renaming the territory as the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata. However, other territories stood against Buenos Aires, staying loyal to the Spanish rule, and the actual status of each zone depended upon the military conflicts; Paraguay and the Upper Peru (modern Bolivia) could resist Buenos Aires. Spain declared Buenos Aires a rogue city and appointed Montevideo as the new capital of the Viceroyalty, but Javier de Elío was sieged by Buenos Aires and the rural populations, and could not maintain authority beyond the Banda Oriental (modern Uruguay). Montevideo would be finally captured by William Brown and Alvear.

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