A LOOK AT THE PAST
The original inhabitants of the area were the Charrúas and Guaranis, who lived by hunting and gathering food. Beginning in the 16th century, the Spanish settled on the west bank of the Río de la Plata, and the Portuguese colonized the region to the north that is now Brazil. In the early 17th century, the Spanish began to use the east bank of the Río de la Plata to pasture cattle. Jesuit priests and Franciscan friars converted some of the indigenous people to Christianity. As the area gradually came under European control, the Charrúas people died out and their culture disappeared.
The Portuguese established a settlement in Colonia de Sacramento in 1680 to counter the Spanish settlement of Buenos Aires on the opposite shore of the Río de la Plata. Although the Portuguese planned further settlements, the Spanish pre-empted them, building a fortress in Montevideo in 1726 and driving the Portuguese out of the area. They integrated the area into the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, ruled from Buenos Aires.

 In 1811, the Portuguese attacked the area from the north, but were driven back by a force led by José Gervasio Artigas. The Spanish in Argentina also tried to annex the area. Fighting continued until 1820, when the Portuguese took Montevideo and Artigas was forced to flee to Paraguay. In 1825, Juan Antonio Lavalleja and 33 volunteers (the Treinta y Tres) marched into Uruguay from northern Argentina and attacked the Portuguese. Argentina supported Lavalleja's forces and soon Argentina and Brazil were at war. Britain, which had economic interests in the area, intervened as peacemaker. The 1828 Treaty of Rio de Janeiro ensured the independence of the territory of Uruguay from both Argentina and Brazil.
  Did you know?
In 1939, the Graf Spee, a small German battleship, after sinking several British ships in the Battle of the Atlantic, was cornered near Montevideo harbour by the British navy. The Uruguayans were not sympathetic to the Germans and insisted that the battleship leave the harbour. Rather than surrender to the British, Captain Hans Langsdorf sent his crew ashore and scuttled his ship in the Río de la Plata. This event is remembered as an important confrontation early in the Second World War.
A constitution was established in 1830. Juan Rivera was elected as the first president. A few years later, Manuel Oribe was elected as the second president. Rivera and his liberal supporters tried to depose Oribe, who represented the landowners. The subsequent civil war lasted until 1852. The liberals were called the Colorados or Reds, and the landowners and merchants were known as the Blancos or Whites. To this day the Colorados and the Blancos are important political parties in Uruguay. 

In 1903, José Batlle y Ordóñez was elected president. He dominated Uruguayan politics until his death in 1928. He began a program of social reforms that profoundly affected Uruguayan society, including free education for all children, medical care, old age pensions and unemployment pay. The Uruguayan welfare state became one of the most comprehensive and progressive in Latin America.
Uruguay remained fairly stable until an economic crisis in the 1970s led to a confrontation between the right-wing government and a left-wing group called the Tupamaros. A military coup in 1973 led to 12 years of military rule. In 1985 civilian rule was re-established and full civil and political rights were returned to all citizens.