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Lore & Background

The invasions occurred in two phases. A detachment from the British army occupied Buenos Aires for 46 days in 1806 before being expelled. In 1807, a second force stormed and occupied Montevideo, remaining for several months, and a third force made a second attempt to take Buenos Aires. After several days of street fighting against the local militia and Spanish colonial army, in which half of the British forces were killed or wounded, the British were forced to capitulate and withdraw from Montevideo two months later. The social effects of the invasions are among the causes of the May Revolution. The criollos, who had so far been denied important positions, could get political strength through military roles. The successful resistance with little help from Spain fostered the desire for self-determination. An open cabildo and the Royal Audiencia of Buenos Aires deposed the viceroy Rafael de Sobremonte and designated instead the local popular hero Santiago de Liniers, which was a completely unprecedented action: before that, the viceroy was only subject to the King of Spain himself, and no one from the colonies had authority over him.

In Their Own Story

Pedro de Mendoza founded the Ciudad de Nuestra Señora del Buen Ayre on 2 February 1536 as a Spanish settlement. The site was abandoned in 1541, but it was re-established in 1580 by Juan de Garay with the name Ciudad de la Santísima Trinidad y Puerto de Santa María del Buen Ayre, and the city became one of the largest in the Americas. A Portuguese colony was founded at Colonia del Sacramento, on the opposite bank of the Río de la Plata, in 1680. To deter Portuguese expansion, the Spanish founded Montevideo in 1726, and Colonia was finally ceded to Spain under the Treaty of San Ildefonso in 1777, one year after the creation of the Spanish Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, the forerunner of modern Argentina. The South Sea Company was granted trading concessions in South America in the time of Queen Anne, under the Treaty of Utrecht. The British had long harboured ambitions in South America, considering the estuary of the Río de la Plata as the most favourable location for a British colony. The Napoleonic Wars played a key role in the Rio de la Plata conflict and since the beginning of the European conquest of the Americas, the British had been interested in the riches of the region. The Peace of Basel in 1795 ended the war between Spain and France. In 1796, by the Second Treaty of San Ildefonso, Spain joined France in its war with the United Kingdom, thus giving the United Kingdom cause for military action against Spanish colonies. In 1805 the United Kingdom judged it the right moment after the defeat of the Franco-Spanish fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar. This battle forced Spain to reduce to a minimum its naval communications with its American colonies. Historically, Buenos Aires had been relatively neglected by Spain, which sent most of its ships to the more economically important city of Lima. The last time a significant Spanish military force had arrived in Buenos Aires had been in 1784.

Reader's Guide

Great Britain had long harboured interests in taking control of the region from the Spanish before the invasions. Attempts had been made by the British in past conflicts to establish a foothold in South America, like in the Battle of Cartagena de Indias, at the peak of the War of Jenkins' Ear. In 1711, John Pullen stated that the Río de la Plata was the best place in the world for making a British colonial trading base. His proposal included Santa Fe and Asunción, and would have generated an agricultural area with Buenos Aires as the main port. Admiral Vernon also declared the benefit of opening markets in those areas in 1741. By 1780 the British government approved a project of colonel William Fullarton to take the Americas with attacks from both the Atlantic (from Europe) and the Pacific (from India). This project was cancelled. In 1789 war between Great Britain and Spain seemed imminent during the Nootka Crisis. The Venezuelan revolutionary Francisco de Miranda took the opportunity to appear before prime Minister William Pitt with his proposal to emancipate the New World territories under Portuguese and Spanish rule and turn them into a great independent empire governed by a descendant of the Incas. The plan presented in London requested the assistance of Great Britain and the United States to militarily occupy the major South American cities, ensuring that the people would greet the British cordially and would rush to organize sovereign governments. In return for this help, the British would receive the benefits of unrestricted trade and usufruct of the Isthmus of Panama, in order to build a channel for the passage of ships. Pitt accepted the proposal and began to organize the expedition. The Nootka Convention in 1790 ended hostilities, and the Miranda mission was canceled. Nicholas Vansittart made a new proposal in 1796: the plan was to take Buenos Aires, then move to Chile and attack from there the Spanish stronghold of El Callao in Peru. This proposal was canceled the following year, but was improved by Thomas Maitland in 1800 as the Maitland Plan. The new plan was to seize control of Buenos Aires with 4,000 soldiers and 1,500 cavalry, move to Mendoza, and prepare a military expedition to cross the Andes and conquer Chile. From there, the British would move from sea to seize Peru and then Quito. All these proposals were discussed in 1804 by William Pitt, Lord Henry Melville, Francisco de Miranda and Sir Home Riggs Popham. Popham did not believe a complete military occupation of South America was practical but argued for taking control of key locations to allow the main objective, to open new markets for the British economy. Although there was consensus for weakening Spanish control over its South American colonies, there was no agreement as to the system and the moment to take such action. For instance, it was not even agreed whether the cities be turned into British colonies after their capture or just be made into British protectorates.

Did You Know?

• The British occupied Buenos Aires for 46 days in 1806 before being expelled.
• In 1807, half of the British forces were killed or wounded during street fighting in Buenos Aires.
• The open cabildo and Royal Audiencia of Buenos Aires deposed Viceroy Rafael de Sobremonte and designated Santiago de Liniers, an unprecedented action as the viceroy was previously subject only to the King of Spain.
• The Maitland Plan of 1800 proposed seizing Buenos Aires with 4,000 soldiers and 1,500 cavalry, then crossing the Andes to conquer Chile.