casahistoria: Latin America visit the casahistoria general Latin American page for many more background sites.

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2. Colonial Uruguay 

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• From Pre Columbian times to the Conquest For general political background to this section: US Library of Congress country Study
• América Precolombina: Prehistoria del Uruguay El Liceo Digital Uruguay before the conquest. In Spanish
• Los charrúas del Uruguay well detailed site on the Charruas people and their relations with the Spanish. In Spanish.
• El Gaucho Article on the origins and lifestyle of the the Uruguayan "cowboy." In Spanish. illustrated
• Ciudad de Colonia del Sacramento site on the UNESCO colonial city of Colonia, one of the gems of south America.
• Colonia del Sacramento by Pedro Gonçalves. Useful, illustrated, page from Marco Ramerini's Dutch & Portuguese Colonialism site

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3. Independence 

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Wars of Independence See also the casahistoria Latin Americas site to place the war in its continental context

• For general political background to this section: See these US Library of Congress Country Study sections on
  • The Struggle for Independence
    • Artigas's Revolution, 1811-20
    • From Insurrection to State Organization, 1820-30
  • Beginnings of Independent Life, 1830-52:
    • The First Presidents, 1830-38
    • The Great War, 1843-52
  • The Struggle for Survival, 1852-75:
    • Intervention by Neighboring Countries
    • Evolution of the Economy and Society
    • Caudillos and Political Stability
  • Modern Uruguay, 1875-1903:
    • Militarism, 1875-90
    • The Return of Civilians
• Mini-Historia Electoral del Uruguay. as it suggests, detailed, lengthy article in Spanish
• from the Universidad de la Republica history pages:
  • El Uruguay Pastoril y Caudillesco en la Primera Mitad del Siglo XIX
  • El Nacimiento del Uruguay Moderno en la Segunda Mitad del Siglo XIX

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4. War and Insurrection 

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• The Shatterbelts of the Americas By Phil Kelly y Luisa Pérez An interesting article based on the shatterbelt concept: ie an area where Great Powers compete because they perceive a strong interest for doing so and because opportunities are present for gaining alliance footholds with states of the region. Shatterbelt discussed include: Amazonian,- Banda Oriental, Cuba, South Atlantic. From HTS
• Internal 20th century military involvement from Armed Conflict Events Data site:
  • Banda Oriental Occupation 1811
  • Annexation of the Banda Oriental 1819
  • Colorados & Blancos: Uruguay 1836-8
• Argentine-Uruguayan War 1839-42
• Uruguay's Great War 1843-52
• Rosa's War 1852
• National Party in Uruguay 1870-2
• Opposition Insurrection in Uruguayan 1886
• Saravia's Revolution in Uruguay 1897
• Cuestas' Coup: Uruguay 1898

• Paraguayan War 1864-70 from Armed Conflict Events Data site
• The Triple Alliance War, 1864-70 Conflict that put the Argentina Confederation, Brazilian Empire and Uruguay up against the Republic of Paraguay. The (somewhat confused) site tells the story and has sections on related military developments in the southern cone. At times it needs patience to use. Also: turn off the music!
• The Triple Alliance War and the Positivist Tide  Straightforward account from Historical Text Archive 

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5. Industry 

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• Social Networks and innovation in the South American industry during the pre-refrigeration era: Southern Brazil and Uruguay in comparison Essay giving a clear overview of the development of the beef industry before refrigeration. By Stephen Bell, University of California.
• El Anglo and Fray Bentos Interesting extract from Lost Cowboys by Hang Wangford. Detailed history of the Anglo frigorifico including a "tour" of the site today. Illustrated.
• Fray Bentos... a very well known name Layout marred by pop-ups but good information and illustrations on the Fray Bentos plant and the Liebig company. Wonderful pictures of pies in tins...(In Spanish too: )
• The British: End of Empire in the Slaughterhouse; Fábrica Colόn & Corned Beef Article about Fábrica Colόn, now Pueblo Liebig, the frigorífico across the river Uruguay from the Fray Bentos Anglo Corned beef factory. Good history of the plant and an outline of their position today. Pictures of Fray Bentos Anglo plant today. By Andrew Graham-Yooll, senior editor, Buenos Aires Herald.

• First Railway in Uruguay Brief history, but has links to the Railway Studies Circle of Uruguay (CEFU) for further pictures and details
• Ferrocarriles del Uruguay A history of Uruguayan railways. Can be easily googled for the key points
• The nationalisation of the British Railways in Uruguay The aim of this paper is to study in detail how British economic interests retreated from Uruguay after the Second World War. It also throws some light on how certain Latin American countries behaved as creditor nations: we know much about their behaviour as debtors but almost nothing about how they used their creditor status. In these negotiations, where financial and economic aspects were closely linked, Uruguay accepted most of Britain’s demands, including the use of its sterling balances for the nationalization of the British owned railways. By doing this, and not buying back its foreign debt, Uruguay was soon in need to ask for a credit to Britain and thus return to an old pattern of indebtedness. By Giorgio Fodor Dipartimento di Economia Università di Trento, 1999
• Montevideo Tramways an Illustrated history from the capital...
• Uruguayan Trains, Tramways and Trolleybuses in the net Short but useful list. mainly in English

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6. 20th century 

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• For general political background to this section: US Library of Congress Country Study sections (up to 1990) on:
  • The New Country, 1903-33 
    • Batlle y Ordóñez and the Modern State
    • The Consolidation of Political Democracy
  • The Conservative Adjustment, 1931-43:
    • The Terra Era, 1931-38
    • Baldomir and the End of Dictatorship
  • There's no place like Uruguay, 1943-58: 
    • The Administration of Amézaga, 1943-47
    • Neo-Batllism, 1947-51
    • Decline of the Economy and the Colorado Party, 1951-58
  • Economic Crisis & Decline:   
    • The Blanco Administrations, 1959-67
    • Pachequism, 1967-72
    • The Emergence of Militarism, 1972-73

• Uruguay siglo XX  from the Universidad de la Republica history pages.
• Admiral Graf Spee and the life and career of Captain Hans Langsdorff  interesting site on this aspect of world war 2.

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7. Military Government 1973-85 

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The background: the Tupamaros

• The Tupamaros, Uruguay's Marxist Revolutionaries Useful place to start for an overview of terrorism and the military government that followed. By Christopher Minster, About.com
• Tupamaros Terrorism 1963-73 from Armed Conflict Events Data site
• Tupamaros National Liberation Movement, Uruguay (Movimiento de Liberación Nacional - MLN - Tupamaros) Useful, keyfacts about the organisation in non partisan manner
• Living with Terror Irwin Rubenstein, US Diplomat recounts how close Uruguay’s Tupamaros came to kidnapping him from his home in Montevideo in 1969.
• Tupamaros Uprising From Global security site. Looks at uprising and the emergence of Juan María Bordaberry Arocena.
• Eleuterio Fernández Huidobro Lush website of former Tupamaro leader which unfortunately sees form as more important than function. Difficult to use....

Military Government

• For general political background to this section: US Library of Congress Country Study sections (up to 1990) on:
  • The Military Government 
  • The New Situation, 1973-80
  • Restructuring under the Military Regime, 1973-85
  • Military's Economic Record 
• The Opposition and the Reemergence of Parties, 1980-84
• The Transition to Democracy, 1984-85
• Military Regime in Uruguay (1973 - 1985) Brief illustrated account by left wing author - but turn off the sound! §
• General Lber Seregni Obituary from UK Independent of an unusual figure in Latin American politics: an army general who became a hero of the left. He stood for President of Uruguay for a left-wing coalition in 1971, was arrested when the military took power two years later, and spent most of the next decade in prison becoming a powerful symbol of resistance to the conservative military regimes that dominated the continent.

Uruguay & Operation Condor

• Uruguay - Argentina: Hunting the Condor, 28 Years On article on investigating Operation Condor. Contains brief summary of Uruguay involvement
• Uruguay cierra los ojos a la existencia del Plan Cóndor   Article from la republica
• Nixon & Uruguay, 1971 US National Security Archive declassified documents detail the Nixon administration's efforts to prevent a victory by the leftist “Frente Amplio” in the Uruguayan presidential elections of 1971. Accompanied by useful essay.

Repression

• Church Cowed by Uruguayan Military 1977 detailed article on how the regime repressed the Catholic Church in Uruguay by Penny Lernoux, Latin American correspondent for The Nation
• Servicio Paz y Justicia (SERPAJ), Uruguay (Slow to load) site dedicated to Uruguayan disappeared
• Collective Memories of the Trauma of Political Disappearance: Reflections on the Case of the Disappeared Political Detainees in the Aftermath of Uruguay’s State Terror (1985-2001) Research article prepared for conference presentation. Looks at impact of repression in Uruguay. By Gabriela Fried, California State University Los Angeles.

and today?

• Uruguay Human Rights Watch page for recent updates on the legal moves to bring the military regime perpetrators to justice go to this page. Very useful links to current articles from newspapers world wide.
• Uruguayan Peace Commission Examines progress towards following through on the repression of the military period. Contains useful historical intro.

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8. Modern Uruguay 

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• Constitución of modern Uruguay
• Uruguay's rich football history Outline football history by  Tim Vickery of the BBC