After Tangning reminded her, Helen remembered it, but she was very cold about being the Grand Duke of Paraguay.
"Brother, you asked me to be the Grand Duchess of this country, but I really don't want to be.
Paraguay, a country that once produced the "American Napoleon" Perros, has no future at all and the country is in extremely decline.
I have investigated and found that Paraguay is a mess, with more women than men, and a chaotic social atmosphere, which is not suitable for a lady like me.
Brother, why do I feel like you are retaliating against me? I don’t want to be a Grand Duke in this country!"
After Tang Ning told her about this country, Helen investigated the country and found that she was very dissatisfied. She felt that her brother was cheating her and she didn't want to go.
Paraguay used to be quite good, but this country had a so-called American Napoleon, which led the country that was originally prosperous to hell.
Paraguay was once a small powerhouse in South America.
Since breaking away from Spanish colonial rule, Paraguay has experienced several dictatorships, but these dictatorships are not as bad as others imagined, and their results are quite good.
However, although several dictatorial governments have worked hard, the last one was too radical and lost all their money, and all previous efforts were in vain.
Paraguay's spotlight focuses on the first two dictators, especially the second dictator's reign.
After the death of José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, Paraguay's first dictator, in 1840, Carlos Antonio Lopez took office and directly brought Paraguay to prosperity.
Under the rule of the second dictator, Carlos Antonio López, the country abandoned its previous closed-door defense policy and actively opened its doors to introduce Western European immigrants, open markets, and carry out industrialization.
By 1862, before the death of Carlos Antonio Lopez, Paraguay successfully became the first country in South America to get rid of foreign debt and initially industrialize, with a population of 530,000.
This development achievement is quite good for a small country.
However, Paraguay had no choice but to find a successor who called himself "American Napoleon", Francisco Solano Lopez.
This American Napoleon is ambitious, wants to bring Paraguay to a higher level, and is determined to change the history of the landlocked country of Paraguay.
This is a bit unclear.
Paraguay has three neighboring countries, Brazil, Argentina, and Bolivia. Bolivia is to the north of Paraguay and obviously cannot reach the sea outlet. So the only way to find the sea outlet is Brazil and Argentina.
Brazil and Argentina are rearranged countries in the Americas, with a population several times that of Paraguay.
This little Lopez is not completely crazy. He doesn't think he can swallow these two countries. He only has two small goals.
First of all, he just wants to get the land between the Parana River and the Uruguay River, which is the disputed territory between Paraguay and Argentina.
In addition to this, it is to merge with Uruguay and expand Paraguay’s sea access.
Although these two goals are small, they are actually quite radical.
The first disputed territory directly offends Argentina, because this land between the rivers is controlled by Argentina.
The second one is Uruguay. Uruguay has always been considered as its own territory by Brazil. Although it cannot win because of Argentina, it has always had a secret influence.
Merging Uruguay is destined to offend Brazil.
The first person that Paraguay offended was Brazil. Because of the poor internal road traffic in Brazil, the most convenient transportation between the Brazilian coast and Mato Grosso is the Paraná River.
Paraguay controlled a large section of the Paraná River and its transportation. Little Pelos declared that he would not welcome Brazilian shipping to pass through Paraguay, which greatly offended the Kingdom of Brazil at that time.
There is a dispute between red and white in Uruguay. Paraguay supports the white party, Brazil and Argentina support the red party, and the red party defeats the white party. The merger of Uruguay planned by Pelos Jr. was in vain.
Because Brazil was the most powerful in this process and ignored Paraguay's political demands, Peros was furious and led Paraguay, a country with a population of 530,000, to declare war on the Kingdom of Brazil, which has a population of more than 10 million.
On December 13, 1864, Paraguay declared war on Brazil and sent troops to the Mato Grosso region. Because Argentina refused to allow Paraguayan troops to pass through Argentina to aid Uruguay, Paraguay declared war on Argentina on March 18, 1865 and sent troops to Corriente, Argentina.
Sri Lanka.
In May of the same year, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay formed a three-nation alliance to fight against Paraguay, and the Paraguay War officially broke out.
The military level of this "South American Napoleon" Pelosi is not bad, but how can a country of 530,000 face the attacks of three countries?
Brazil has a population of more than 10 million, Argentina has about 1.5 million, Uruguay has about 250,000, and Paraguay has only 530,000. It is simply a crushing situation.
The four parties participating in the war are Paraguay: 150,000, Brazil: 150,000, Argentina: 30,000, and Uruguay: 5,583.
Although Argentina and Uruguay are fighting each other in the four-nation war, Brazil, the main force, is a country with a population of tens of millions, and Paraguay is definitely not able to fight.
Although Brazil suffered a loss at first, it exerted a little effort and directly captured Ascension, the capital of Paraguay. Little Pelos, a Napoleon, could only run away to fight guerrillas, and was finally strangled by Brazil.
In this watershed between modern wars and modern wars - the Paraguay War, Paraguay lost completely.
The Paraguayan War resulted in the long-term occupation of Paraguay by Argentina and Brazil. In addition, Paraguay also lost 55,000 square miles of land.
After this devastating blow, Paraguay's population dropped from 530,000 to 220,000, of which less than 30,000 were men; Paraguay also paid huge compensation to Brazil and Argentina.
Many years after the war ended, it was initially stabilized in 1871. According to the census at that time, Paraguay had a total population of 10,000 women, 10,000 children, and only 10,000 adult men.
Under this circumstance, Paraguay's future development will be extremely unfavorable. Due to the imbalance in the ratio of men to women, women have launched fierce competition to win the favor of men, resulting in widespread incest marriages, illegitimacy, and men's laziness.
After the war, diseases such as cholera and yellow fever were also prevalent in Paraguay, which caused great social and economic damage. Over the years, this country has been relying on Brazil for life.
Because the main force in the war against Paraguay was Brazil, and Brazil suffered the greatest losses, it finally fell into the hands of Brazil. Brazil was also the last to withdraw from Paraguay, but it has been secretly controlling it.
"Helen, when I ask you to be the Grand Duchess, I don't want to drive you to Paraguay."
When Tangning heard her sister say she didn't want to go to this country, she knew she had misunderstood and quickly explained.
"I'm just giving you a name, I'm not asking you to actually go. How could I let you suffer in such a terrible country?
You are just showing off your reputation, but in fact this country is still controlled by Brazil. I let you serve as the Grand Duchess of this country for the sake of future development."
"Oh, so it's just a name? I thought you wanted to trick me!"
After hearing these words of my dear sister, Tangning rolled her eyes at Helen.
"Helen, when have I ever really cheated you?
My good sister, if you can become the Grand Duke of this country, you will be helping me and Brazil."
"Hmm~
Of course that’s no problem!
It’s just a noble title. It’s a small problem. As long as I can help my brother, I will do my best.”
Seeing the expectant look in her brother's face, Helen hesitated on purpose and then happily agreed.
"It's just that, brother, you asked me to be the Grand Duchess. You said you had a plan. Can you tell me what it is?"
Helen is quite curious, but she is still sensible. She just makes tentative inquiries and does not force anything.
If her brother didn't tell her, Helen would only be unhappy for a while and would soon forget.
His sister's request was not excessive, and Helen was helpful to him, so Tangning was willing to answer.
"I want to deal with Argentina, and Paraguay is the best tool.
Although Paraguay is controlled by Brazil, it is still a sovereign country after all. I want to use your name to change the nature of this country and let Brazil fully control this country."
Brazil and Argentina have been in conflict for a long time.
The most direct reason is the Uruguay issue, which is Brazil's biggest territorial dispute. It has always wanted to regain it, but Argentina has been blocking it.
Argentina is actually not Brazil's rival. There is a big gap between it and Brazil in terms of land, population, economy and other aspects, but there are people behind Argentina.
"Brazil and Argentina do not have direct territorial disputes, but Paraguay does, which is a very good entry point.
Argentina is the biggest obstacle that restricts Brazil from dominating the north and south. Brazil must get rid of this obstacle, but the British have always been vigilant and have been preventing any tendency to war.
Britain has great power in South America, especially in coastal areas. It has always been wary of Brazil's actions and protected Argentina.
Paraguay is a subject country.
It is inland and is a complete vassal of our country. The UK has no interests here. It is easy for me to avoid the UK when I do something here."
This chapter has been completed!