User:Rozeon/Rebellion of the Conservatives

The Rebellion of the Conservatives was an uprising against the constitutional government of Uruguay, at that point led by Venancio Flores in August 1855.

The rebellion was executed by a group of Colorado anti-caudillo conservative leaders in Montevideo, who viewed fusionism as a move by the National Party to bypass the results of the Uruguayan Civil War. The rebellion’s leaders, Juan Carlos Gómez, José María Múñoz and César Díaz (militar), accused Venancio Flores, among others, of treason. The rebellion concluded with Flores’ resignation as the president of Uruguay.

Background
After the treaty of October 1851, which marked the end of the Uruguayan Civil War between the National Party and the Colorado Party, it was widely believed that Eugenio Garzón would be the next President of Uruguay. However, his sudden death led to the election of Juan Francisco Giró.

Giró’s administration made efforts to integrate the National and Colorado partisans, through what was termed “politics of fusion”. As part of this effort, he appointed Flores to the post of Minister of War and Navy. This proved counterproductive in reducing tensions between the two groups, due to the rivalry between the Flores-led majority Colorado army and the Oribe-led National Guard, as Oribe was a member of the National Party, and fought against Flores during the Uruguayan Civil War.

The political turmoil during Giró’s administration led to Flores forcing Giró to resign. He was replaced by a Triunvirato de Gobierno de 1853 led by Flores, Juan Antonio Lavalleja y Fructuoso Rivera. The deaths of the other two members of the triumvirate left Flores as the sole leader of Uruguay’s executive branch.

Political tensions were further heightened by Flores’ request of a Brazilian military presence to help defend his government, through the 1851 Treaty for an Offensive and Defensive Alliance between Brasil, Uruguay, and the Argentine province of Entre Ríos Province.

The rebellion
In 1855, Andrés Lamas (escritor) published a manifesto which called for the elimination of the divisions between the “whites” (Members of the National Party) and the Colorados. Although many urban intellectuals supported his proposition of “fusionist politics”, others, like Flores, saw this proposition as an insult, and insisted that these divisions should be maintained, and that political pacts should instead be used in order to maintain peace.

Flores’ administration made the decision to shut down the conservative colorado newspaper “La Libertad” as Oribe was returning from his exile in Spain. However, conservatives, led by José María Múñoz, kept the newspaper publishing regardless. This tension escalated into an armed insurrection led by Múñoz, Díaz, and Lorenzo Batlle y Grau on the 27th of August, 1855, with many well-respected military officials joining the insurrection, such as León de Pallejas and Francisco Tajes.

Flores’ government requested aid from Brazil, but was denied and then subsequently ignored. This allowed conservatives to head towards and take control the Fort, the old seat of the Uruguayan government, located on what is now Plaza Zabala.

The conservatives set up a provisional government led by Luis Lamas, and managed to gain the support of “constitutionalist” whites.

Flores, refusing to resign, moved his administration to Canelones. The conservatives gained the support of the Brazilian troops, with guarantees that they could end Flores’ administration in the span of a few days. During this period, Oribe, who had still not been given permission to disembark, expressed his support for Flores, urging him to defend the constitution and the nation.

Thus, Flores allowed Oribe to disembark, and the two leaders decided to collaborate, with Oribe rejecting “white constitutionalists” in favour of Flores. Meanwhile, Lamas’ government was rapidly losing support.

On the 10th of September 1855, Flores handed in his resignation before parliament. Thus, Manuel Basilio Bustamante became acting president of Uruguay.

Aftermath
Many of the political figures involved, such as Díaz, Francisco Tajes, and Flores himself, exiled themselves in Buenos Aires, from where they led the Revolución de 1858 against Gabriel Antonio Pereira. They would face defeat at the hands of Anacleto Medina, who would go on to execute Díaz and over 150 other officials in the “‘’Masacre de Quinteros’’”. This made them martyrs, but marked the end of the Conservatives.

Flores would later go on to Cruzada Libertadora de 1863, proclaiming himself an avenger of the executed conservative leaders.