The Economic Penetration And Expansion Of Britain In The Region Of Río De La Plata During The Nineteenth Century

From the Age of the Discovery,the Spanish and Portuguese colonialists took the lead and succeeded in occupying the Americas,thus obtaining a large amount of such precious resources as metals.Britain had always longed for the Americas' wealth,especially for the Río de la Plata region with easily navigable waterways.Due to the trade monopoly by Spain and Portugal in the region,the British had to make a connection with Río de la Plata region through pirating and smuggling.At the end of the 18th century,numerous wars were broken out in Europe.At that time,the wars in the suzerains undermined the stability of the colonies and the idea of freedom and equality were gradually spread to the colonies,leading to the calls for independence in the Río de la Plata region.During this period,as the UK had improved its national strength by its enclosure movement and the industrial revolution,it needed to expand market and raw material resources urgently.At the same time,the increased power of the British navy provided favorable protection for British overseas activities.With the outbreak of the uprisings in the region,the UK army invaded Río de la Plata region twice but as a result it was beaten by the local people.The failure of the invasions indicated that only the colonial rule is no longer applicable to the region.Therefore,the UK had to transform its policy from armed invasion to economic penetration.Then the UK reached a series of agreements with Brazil and Argentina through negotiations and other means.Afterwards,it also participated in the Uruguay War and the Paraguayan War indirectly or directly and successfully opened the markets of the two countries.At this point,the United Kingdom obtained all free traffic rights in the Río de la Plata region and British capital also successfully entered into the region,thus establishing its "Informal Empire" in the Río de la Plata region.