In service of homeland: military recruitment in the Province of Paraná during the Paraguayan War (1865-1870)

Abstract

The research analyzes the military recruitment in the Province of Paraná, Brazil, for the Paraguayan War. It is based on a wide range of historical sources: news on recruitment and war, letters sent by local authorities and private individuals to the president of the Province, reports presented by the president to the Provincial Assembly, ministerial reports (Navy and War ministries), letters sent by the president of the Province of Paraná to the Ministry of Empire and of War, and literary works related to the war. It covers the period from 1865 to 1870 and focuses on Paraná because of the province’s importance and specificity in Brazil. Unlike previous research on military history, this work highlighted the experience of common people. The chapters discuss the recruitment of free and poor men, freed persons and indigenous people for the most important South-American conflict. We consider recruitment through the perspective of labor history, since recruitment and service in the Army or Navy can often be associated to forced labor.