Solano López is not wholly responsible for…

Solano López is not wholly responsible for the war, despite several historians' accounts of what happened between 1865 and 1870.

Its causes were complex and included Argentine anger over Antonio López's meddling in Corrientes.

The elder López also had infuriated the Brazilians by not helping to overthrow Rosas in 1852 and by forcing Brazilian garrisons out of territory claimed by Paraguay in 1850 and 1855.

Antonio López also resented having been forced to grant Brazil free navigation rights on the Rio Paraguay in 1858.

Argentina meanwhile disputed ownership of the Misiones district between the Rio Parana and Rio Uruguay, and Brazil had its own ideas about the Brazil-Paraguay boundary.

To these problems had been added the Uruguayan vortex.

Carlos Antonio López had survived mainly with caution and a good bit of luck; Solano López had neither.