The first Spanish explorers of Uruguay met with fierce resistance from the natives and retreated, helped along by the fact there was no gold to be had in the region. The trend of struggle against colonization continued through Uruguay’s history, even through its occupation by Portugal. A lot of times the two European countries preferred to leave Uruguay independent as a buffer state, but still jockeyed for influence using proxy forces.

On this day, August 25, in 1825, after Portugal-supported Brazil invaded Montevideo and annexed the Eastern Province of the Río de la Plata (present-day Uruguay) Juan Antonio Lavalleja declared independence from Brazil, and began a campaign to reunite the Brazilian-held territory with the rest of Rio de La Plata.

Argentina’s open support of Lavalleja and his forces sparked the Argentine-Brazilian war. The Argentine fleet was destroyed, and Brazil established a naval blockade around the region. But Brazil was faring poorly itself, with large-scale uprisings at home sapping away a lot of ther strength. The resulting stalemate went on over a year, until resolved by the British empire with the granting of complete independence to Uruguay.