Culture of Soccer in Uruguay, and how Uruguay Gained Independence - Research Paper Example

? Uruguay The struggle for independence of Uruguay began in February 1811, when Buenos Aires was about to face an offensive by Elio. Buenos Aires, which was the interior of Banda Oriental, was headed by the captain of Blandengues Corps, Jose Gervasio Artigas. Artigas was annoyed by this move and announced his offering of services to Buenos Aires (Burford 15). Artigas had been profoundly influenced by federalism; he always had had an issue with Elio regarding its discriminatory commercial policies against Montevideo. Artigas led an army that scored the most important victory against the Spaniards who played a decisive role in the independence of Uruguay on May 18, 1811through what is known as the “Battle of Las Piedras”. He then moved on to besiege Montevideo from May 1811 to October 1811. Elio was able to save Montevideo by inviting forces from Brazil, which was under Portuguese occupation, which entered the Uruguay and governed most of the country by July of 1811. In the October of that month Elio, signed a peace treaty with Buenos Aires which state that all the forces including that of Artigas, Portuguese and Brazilian will evacuate Uruguay and provide an airlift to the cordon of Montevideo. 13,000 civilian evacuated Salto and on the Rio Uruguay and moved to Argentinean town of Ayui, where they lived as refugees for quite some time. The series of steps marked the beginning of Uruguayan independence even though the Spanish and Portuguese troops did not withdraw until 1812. In 1813, after the return of Artigas to Banda Oriental (Scheina 50), where he was hailed as immortal campaigner for the cause of federalism and unitary centralism of Buenos Aires; a constituent assembly was called upon in Buenos Aires by the new government. Delegates from Banda Oriental’s started to elect assembly representatives congregated and under orders issued by Artigas, propositioned a series of political directives, which were later to be called as "Instructions of the Year Thirteen; these directives included of the colonies' independence and the formation of a confederation of the provinces (the United Provinces of the Rio de a Plata) from the former Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata (dissolved in 1810 when independence was declared). This political formula was based upon the constitution of ‘United States of America that would have led to political and economic freedom of for every area including Buenos Aires. Nevertheless, the assembly refused to let this happen, Buenos Aires pursue a form of government who ruled on the basis of Unitary Centralism which resulted in Artigas breaking with Buenos Aires for a second time besieged Montevideo. In 1814, Artigas lifted his siege but a civil war type situation rose in which resulted in massive casualties among the Uruguayans, Spaniards, and Argentines, until he capitulated to the troops of Buenos Aires, while his army was controlling the countryside after which he remerged and took the city again in 1815. The Banda Oriental appointed its first autonomous government after the troops left the city. Artigas then moved on establish an executive center in the northwest of the realm, where he managed a federal league under his authority. The new country consisted of six states including Rio Parana, Rio Uruguay, and Rio de la Plata with Montevideo as its overseas port. In the same year, Artigas attempted to put into practice agrarian reform in the Banda Oriental by allocating sequestered from his enemies of the revolution that included Mestizos (people of mixed Indian and Europe descent) and Indians. In 1816, Portuguese troops again took control of Banda Oriental from Brazil and took Montevideo the next year (Andrien 282). Artigas was defeated after 4 years of struggle and went into exile in to Paraguay and died there in 1850. Portuguese Brazil then appropriated the Banda Oriental as its Southern most Cisplatine province. After Brazil gained independence from Portugal in 1822, Brazil was faced by the strife in the Banda Oriental. In April, 1825, a group of Uruguayan revolutionaries ((the famous Thirty-Three Heroes) headed by Juan Antonio Lavalleja, reinforced by Argentine troops, crossed the Rio de la Plata from Buenos Aires, and managed a rebellion that was triumphant for them to take the independence of the countryside and on August of 1825 declared independence from Brazil and declared amalgamation into the Provinces of Rio de la Plata which resulted in Brazil declaring war on them that lasted from December 1825 to August 1828. (Sondhaus 14) Seeing this situation, and worrying about its trade route, the British Empire under Lord John Pnosonby, who was the envoy of British Foreign Office, proposed making the Banda Oriental an independent state. The original aim of the British was to create a buffer state between Argentina and Brazil so as to keep its trade route safe. This British attempt to mediate between Brazil and Argentina was successful and on August 27, 1828 and Argentina signed the Treaty of Montevideo at Rio de Janeiro under which both the countries would not claim any part of the state that was about to be formed. However both countries agreed upon the condition to the treaty that they will have the right to intervene in the country in case of civil war and creation of a new constitution. (O'Keefe 6) While a constituent assembly began to draft a new constitution, Brazilian and Spanish troops started to withdraw from the state, which would soon to be called the Republica Oriental del Uruguay (Oriental Republic of Uruguay) or just Uruguay. Soccer is the national game of Uruguay and football is almost followed like a religion in Uruguay. The national team is nick names as Charrus or the Olympic Blue Sky, or The Sky Blue. It is managed by Asociacion Uruguaya de Futbol, which is in partnership with to CONMEBOL of South America with which almost every country in South American continent is affiliated with. The first match that was played by Uruguay was in 1901 against Argentina, which it lost by 3 to 2 goals. After that it suffered its worst defeat in against Argentina in 1902, when it was crushed by the by South American team by 6 goals to zilch. Years passed then came one of the most memorable times in the history of Uruguay when it scored a blockbuster 9-0 win over Bolivia in Peru, in the November of 1927. Both Argentina and Uruguay has a strong rivalry in soccer against each other which can only be compared to Ashes cricket series between Australia and England or fight between Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali, and both the countries hold a record of 161 matches against each other since 1901, which is more than any two teams in the world. The first soccer world cup was held in 1930 in Uruguay, which coincided with the independence celebrations in the country. IT was during this time that Uruguay achieved fame in football in the international arena, when it won the world cup by defeating its arch rivals Argentina by 4 goals to 2 (Kraba 32). After this win, Uruguay and its people were known around the world because of its football, but unfortunately it boycotted the next two world cups after which the World War 2 happened which led to world cup not being held for 12 years, when world cup was held in 1950. Uruguay participated in this world cup which was held in Brazil. Uruguay easily passed the group stages and after a close semi-final qualified to the final of the world cup where it was to meet Brazil which looked almost destined to win the world cup, but Uruguay played and displayed talent more than what was expected by football pundits and defeated Brazil by 2 goals to 1 and was subsequently holding the cup for the second time in their two appearances. (Sukh 163) It has one of the best football (Uruguayan Primera Division) leagues in South America after Brazil and Argentina with prominent teams like Atenas De San Carlos, Basanez, Platense, Club Atletico River Plate, Club Sportivo Cerrito and these clubs have been performing well in the super league of South America (Copa Libertadores) According to Fox sports website on March 17 2011, Uruguay is most likely to host the 2030 world cup in alongside Paraguay. It has submitted it bid for the tournament to be held in the country and is most likely to host the world cup because it will mark the 100 the anniversary of the 1st football world cup which was also held in Uruguay. It people are already putting in money and effort to make sure that the world cup indeed happens in their nation and have been organizing fundraisers for the cause of the world cup. Uruguay is known for its obsession with Football, its popularity can be compared to the popularity of NFL in United States of America and to that of Cricket in the South Asian Subcontinent. Although it has won many titles to its name the football is in decline but still many of their towns are known for their passion of regarding football with many clubs and hotels being named after the legends of the game. It is their most basic form of outdoor entertainment and men along with women are crazy about football. Works Cited Andrien, Kenneth J. The human tradition in Colonial Latin America. London: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc., 2002. Burford, Tim. Uruguay. Connecticut: The Globe Pequot Press Inc., 2010. Kraba, Milile. The Story Has Been Told. New York: Xlibris Corporation, 2010. O'Keefe, Thomas Andrew. Latin American and Caribbean trade agreements: keys to a prosperous community of Americas. Leiden: KoninKlijke Brill Nv Incorporates, 2009. Scheina, Robert L. Latin America's Wars: The age of the caudillo, 1791-1899. New York: Brassey's Inc., 2003. Sondhaus, Lawrence. Naval warfare, 1815-1914. 2001: Routledge: Taylor and Francis Group Ltd., London. Sukh, Shammi. Be A Winner. Mumbai: The Bombay Saint Paul Society, 2004. Writers, Staff. Argentina and Uruguay will analyse whether they will consider a joint bid for the 2030 FIFA World Cup. 17 March 2011. 5 April 2011 . Read More