XXXIX ICMH CONGRESS, TORINO, 2013
“JOINT AND COMBINED OPERATIONS IN THE HISTORY OF
WARFARE”
ABSTRACT
Col. Sérgio Paulo MUNIZ COSTA (Brazil)
The Strategy of Brazil on the Cisplatina’s War 1825-1828
This paper treats the fundamental element of joint and combined
operations: namely strategy. Both for military operations conducted by a single
country or those involving joint operations by various countries, strategy is the
first condition for the coordination of land and naval operations. This
dependence on land and naval operations on relation strategy can be seen
throughout history, perhaps beginning with the grant joint & combined
operations in the Persian Wars.
If operations are dependent on land and naval strategy, coordination is
necessary between them to produce synergy - even when they do not happen in
the same place and time. This can be seen in the Cisplatine War of (1825-1828),
between Brazil and the Confederation of the United Provinces of the Rio de La
Plata, a chapter in the Hundred Years War in the Plata, which proved decisive in
the formation of region’s nationalities and the limitation of State sovereignties.
In this work, the strategy of Brazil is examined according to current theoretical
models, reinforcing the permanent role of history as a source of knowledge.
At the operational level, the strategies of both contenders are analyzed as
they were conceived an as they played out on the battlefield. The analysis of
operational strategy focusses on the land campaign of 1827 which culminated in
the Battle of Passo do Rosário (February 20), while the naval operational
strategy is analyzed against the methods chosen by the two sides, their results
and their impact on the course of war. This paper also explored the connections
of the operational strategies with grand strategy and policy, permitting an
evaluation of their consistency.
Comparative analysis of Brazil's strategy in the Cisplatine War includes
political, diplomatic, psychological, historical and military aspects, showing that
regardless of any value judgment this war was of singular importance to the
formation and evolution of the nation states of the Plata region.