Uruguayan History and Politics

Colonial Times to Independence

25 practice questions, each with the answer and an explanation.

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Random questions from this topic, one at a time. You see the answer and the explanation straight after each one.

All 25 questions

  1. Which city was founded by the Portuguese in 1680 across the river from Buenos Aires?
  2. Who officially founded Montevideo in 1726?
  3. Which Indigenous people lived in the territory of present-day Uruguay when the Europeans arrived?
  4. Who is regarded as the national hero of Uruguay and the father of its nationhood?
  5. Why is the country officially called the Oriental Republic of Uruguay?
  6. Which battle of 18 May 1811, won by Artigas against the Spanish, is remembered as the first great victory of the independence movement?
  7. What was the Exodus of the Oriental People, led by Artigas in 1811?
  8. Which neighbour occupied the Banda Oriental from 1816 and annexed it in 1821 as the Cisplatina province?
  9. The Thirty-Three Orientals landed in 1825 under which leader to free the territory from Brazil?
  10. On which date in 1825 did the assembly at La Florida declare the independence of the Orientals from Brazil?
  11. Which country mediated the 1828 peace agreement that led to an independent Uruguayan state?
  12. On which date is Constitution Day observed in Uruguay?
  13. Who was the first constitutional president of Uruguay, elected in 1830?
  14. Which two traditional political parties arose from the rivalry of Oribe and Rivera?
  15. What was the Guerra Grande of 1839 to 1851?
  16. In which war did Uruguay fight alongside Brazil and Argentina from 1864 to 1870?
  17. How many stripes are on the national flag of Uruguay, and what colours are they?
  18. In 1807 which foreign force took Montevideo by assault before leaving in the same year?
  19. Which Spanish colonial unit, created in 1776, included the Banda Oriental?
  20. Where did Artigas spend the last thirty years of his life, dying there in 1850?
  21. In which year was Artigas born in Montevideo?
  22. The Battle of Sarandi in 1825 was a victory of the Orientals against which army?
  23. Which hill overlooks the bay of Montevideo and carried a colonial fortress on its summit?
  24. The Instructions of the Year XIII, sent by Artigas to the Assembly of 1813, demanded what kind of state?
  25. Artigas's land regulation of 1815 gave preference in distributing land to which groups?

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