History of Uruguay

Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, 1776–1810 Draft, not yet reviewed

The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata was the last to be organised and also the shortest-lived viceroyalty of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. It was established in 1776 from several former Viceroyalty of Peru dependencies that mainly extended over the Río de la Plata Basin, roughly the present-day territories of Argentina, northern Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay, extending inland from the Atlantic Coast. Buenos Aires was chosen as the capital. These events proved decisive at the 1810 May Revolution events deposing Viceroy Cisneros at Buenos Aires.

Seat of power: Buenos Aires

Rulers

• Pedro de Cevallos, Viceroy of the Rio de la Plata, 1776–1778
• Juan José de Vértiz y Salcedo, Viceroy of the Rio de la Plata, 1778–1784
• Nicolás Antonio de Arredondo, Viceroy of the Rio de la Plata, 1789–1795
• Antonio de Olaguer y Feliú, Viceroy of the Rio de la Plata, 1797–1799
• Gabriel de Avilés, 2nd Marquis of Avilés, Viceroy of the Rio de la Plata, 1799–1801
• Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros, Viceroy of the Rio de la Plata, 1809–1810

Cisplatina Province, 1815–1828 Draft, not yet reviewed

Cisplatina was a Brazilian province created by the Luso-Brazilian invasion of the Banda Oriental. In 1811, José Gervasio Artigas, who became Uruguay's national hero, launched a successful revolt against Spain, defeating them on 18 May in the Battle of Las Piedras. The Luso-Brazilian expeditionary force, thanks to its material superiority, military experience and organization (including in part its European warfare experience), occupied Montevideo on 20 January 1817, and finally, after a three-year struggle in the countryside, defeated the pro-Artigas forces in the Battle of Tacuarembó. In 1828, following the Preliminary Peace Convention, the Cisplatina province became independent as Uruguay.

Seat of power: Montevideo

Uruguay, 1828 to today Draft, not yet reviewed

Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in southeastern South America. Neither side gained the upper hand, and in 1828, the Treaty of Montevideo, fostered by the United Kingdom through the diplomatic efforts of Viscount John Ponsonby, gave birth to Uruguay as an independent state. In 1830, the country enacted its constitution and was formally established as an independent state. A series of economic crises and the fight against far-left urban guerrilla warfare in the late 1960s and early 1970s culminated in the 1973 coup d'état, which established a civic-military dictatorship until 1985.

Seat of power: Montevideo

Rulers

• Fructuoso Rivera, President of Uruguay, 1830–1834
• Fructuoso Rivera, President of Uruguay, 1839–1843
• Manuel Oribe, President of Uruguay, 1843–1851
• Alfredo Baldomir, President of Uruguay, 1938–1943
• Jorge Pacheco Areco, President of Uruguay, 1967–1972
• Aparicio Méndez, President of Uruguay, 1976–1981
• Julio María Sanguinetti, President of Uruguay, 1985–1990
• Luis Alberto Lacalle, President of Uruguay, 1990–1995
• Julio María Sanguinetti, President of Uruguay, 1995–2000
• Jorge Batlle Ibáñez, President of Uruguay, 2000–2005
• Tabaré Vázquez, President of Uruguay, 2005–2010
• José Mujica, President of Uruguay, 2010–2015
• Tabaré Vázquez, President of Uruguay, 2015–2020
• Luis Lacalle Pou, President of Uruguay, 2020–2025
• Yamandú Orsi, President of Uruguay, 2025 to today