Argentina's 1868 Chaco War: The Green Hell Campaign

In 1868, just as Argentina was beginning to unify after decades of civil war, President Bartolomé Mitre launched a brutal military campaign into the Gran Chaco — a vast, sweltering thorn-forest that had resisted Spanish and Argentine control for three centuries. This episode follows the Chaco War (often called the 'Green Hell' campaign), its forgotten commander Colonel Napoleón Uriburu, the role of the Wichí and Qom peoples, and why Bolivia and Paraguay still disputed the territory decades later. We explore the logistical nightmare of moving army supplies through mosquito-infested swamps, the near-mutiny of soldiers who had no maps, and how the campaign ultimately reshaped Argentina's northern frontier. Along the way, we touch on the little-known town of Formosa, founded as a military outpost in 1879, and the lingering impact of Argentine colonization on the indigenous peoples of the Chaco.

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