The Chaco War (1932-1935) locked two smaller and less powerful South American neighbors into a lengthy conflict that absorbed enormous resources on the part of both and thrust into extended motion the diplomatic machinery of a number of American states and international peace organizations. Both Paraguay and Bolivia suffered painful defeat in nineteenth-century struggles, and this factor added an element of national ardor that made reconciliation of their differences more difficult. For reasons historical and economic, therefore, these nations fought over a mostly inhospitable chunk of land, Bolivia largely for an unobstructed outlet to the sea and Paraguay for hegemony over territories considered vital to the preservation of the state.
This book almost exclusively concerns the involvement of the Andean nation, written by a Bolivian who participated in the war. Drawn mostly from printed materials, three basic themes are skillfully interwoven into what is portrayed as an inexorable drift of hostilities toward Bolivian defeat: the progress of the war itself which the author details with a nice balance between battles and the impact of war on those who fought; the bitter civil–military discord (primarily between President Salamanca and army commanders in the Chaco—the bickering did much to undermine the effectiveness of Bolivian military forces); the international efforts to conclude the conflict, in which the Andean nation was more ably represented than on the field of battle.
The author does not touch upon the internal wartime politics of Bolivia, which would have added further depth and perspective to the book. There are a number of welcome maps, which vary in format and sometimes do not clarify all that they might. Nevertheless, the reader will find this volume readable, the flow of detail smooth, and the tone lacking the intensely partisan flavor that characterizes most of the literature on the Chaco War.
