Below is a timeline of the history of Paraguay:
1516: Conquistador Juan Díaz de Solís leads failed expedition to the area to be known as Paraguay
1524: Explorer Alejo García Leads Guarani army of 200 across the Gran Chaco
1526: Navigator Sebastian Cabot sails up the River Paraná where he establishes a settlement known as Sancti Spititu
1530: Conquistador Don Pedro de Mendoza attempts to reach the area, but fails at the banks of the River Plate. His second in command however, Juan de Ayolas sails up the River Paraguay, where he discovers that Cabot's settlement has been abandoned. He is soon joined by fellow sailor Domingo Martínez de Irala. Irala is appointed lieutenant and keeps charge of the area. Ayolas ventures into the Chaco and disappears forever
1537: Two other explorers, Juan de Salazar de Espinosa and Gonzalo de Mendoza sail upstream to meet Irala, who then guides them to a safe area to dock. On the day of the Assumption of Mary, a fort is constructed on the bank, named Asunción. This is to become the capital of the colony. It becomes a pinpoint for goods being shipped up the continent. Settlers given the right to elect leaders of the colony
1541: The garrison of Buenos Aires evacuates the city and resettles in Asunción
1542: The province of Paraguay appointed the Viceroyalty of Peru. Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca appointed governor
1543-44: War over placement of government breaks out, Vaca moves towards Lima, but is defeated by the Indians and returned to Spain. Irala re-appointed governor
1544–1555: Irala modernizes Paraguay by introducing agriculture and local industry, as well as repairs relations with the natives.
1556: Irala dies
Jesuit era
1588: Jesuits appear in Paraguay, taking control; Guarani integrated with colonial Spaniards
1589–1639: Slave raids ravish Paraguay, until natives are given the right to defend themselves by combat
1640–1720: Paraguay prospers under the Jesuits
1721–1732: Settlers rebel against the Jesuits. Revolt put down
1750: Jesuits lose support from Spanish government
1750–1761: Guarani War; Spanish-Portuguese forces sack the Jesuit missions: c.1500 Guarani killed
1767: Last Jesuits expelled from Paraguay
Royalist period
1790–1805: Governor Lazaro de Rivera is put in charge of Paraguay. Heavy taxes imposed by the Spanish cause popular revolt, which he puts down by force
1810: Royalism declines in South America as the king of Spain is deposed by Napoleon. A final attempt by the British to keep Argentina under Spanish control failed two years earlier, and Argentina since gains independence, threatening pro-royalist Paraguay. To retain stability in the area, José Espínola y Peña is appointed governor of Paraguay. A hugely unpopular figure because of his ties with Rivera and his dishonesty.
Independence
1811: Espinola flees Asunción to Buenos Aires. Argentine general, Manuel Belgrano sends in an army of 1100 troops to capture royalist Asunción, and defeats a small force of Paraguayans at the Battle of Campichuelo, but is suddenly defeated when general Bernardo de Velazco musters 7000 regulars from the city and defeats the Argentinians at the Battle of Paraguari, just outside the city. The remaining 500 of Belgrano's men are defeated once again at Tacuari. Later that year, after being influenced by the power Paraguay alone could demonstrate, various soldiers and politicians group together and on the night of 14 May politician Pedro Caballero with a contingent of 34 men seized the armoury and courtyard of the government building. Afterwards, fellow soldier and politician Fulgencio Yegros came and demanded that the new governor Bernardo de Valesco resign. Independence is declared. Cabildo formed, with Yegros appointed consul alongside de Francia with other members of the cabinet being; Caballero, Mauricio Troche, Vicente Ignacio Iturbe, Antonio Tomás Yegros, Fernando de la Mora, Francisco Xavier Bogarin, Mariano Antonio Molas and Juan Bautista Rivarola.
1812: De Francia expelled from the Cabildo. Moves to the countryside to gain support from the rural population. Yegros Re-appointed
1813: First meeting of congress; de Francia regains popularity from the impoverished masses
De Francia era
1814: De Francia re-appointed consul
1816: De Francia Declares himself supreme dictator (El Supremo) for life
1820: Power of clergy abolished
1821: Plot uncovered by slaves to de Francia that the ex-cabinet members are plotting against him. Revolt put down with members arrested. Spaniards of Asunción forced to pay 100 000 Pesos. Caballero commits suicide in his cell and Yegros is executed
1824: Property of clergy confiscated
1828: All private land confiscated. Education made compulsory.
1836: First public library opens
1840: De Francia dies aged 74. Manuel Antonio Ortiz appointed consul
Dictatorship
1841: Juan Jose Medina appointed consul, followed the same year by Mariano Roque Alonzo
1844: Carlos Antonio López, nephew of de Francia appointed president; abolishes slavery
1862: C.A Lopez dies. Eldest son Francisco Solano López appointed president
1864: Declares war on Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. War of the Triple Alliance begins.
Paraguayans succeed in conquering the Brazilian province of Mato Grosso
1865: Battle of Riachuelo. Paraguayan navy destroyed. Remaining ships scuttled in the River Yhaguy.
Allied victory at the Battle of Yatay. Paraguayan advance halted
1866: Battle of Tuyuti. Largest battle ever fought on South American soil. Allied advance halted by Paraguay at Curupaity
1867: Fall of Humaita. Allies begin march on Asunción
1868: Paraguay defeated at the Battle of Avai. Paraguayan army begins to collapse
1869: Regular Paraguayan army defeated at the Battle of Campo Grande. Lopez goes on the run with his wife Eliza Lynch and his children, as well as the remainder of his army, mostly children and elderly
1870: Battle of Cerro Cora. Last of the Paraguayan army destroyed, Lopez and his eldest son are killed and Eliza Lynch and her daughters are exiled. The war is over, with c.40% of Paraguay's population killed. Allies sanction Paraguay's bordering territory. Cirilo Antonio Rivarola appointed president
1871: Salvador Jovellanos appointed president.
Trams and proper sanitation introduced to the streets of Paraguay's cities
1874: Juan Bautista Gill appointed president. The perpetual dictatorship which governs Paraguay becomes increasingly unpopular
1875: Riots break out in Caacupe, and soon spread all over the country. Rebellion quashed
1877: Gill assassinated under orders of Juan Silvano Godoi. Higinio Uriarte elected president
1878: Cándido Bareiro elected president
1880: Adolfo Saguier, vice president of Bareiro appointed president.
Colorado period
1881: Bernardino Caballero elected president
1886: Caballero removed from office. Rigs next election so that colleague Patricio Escobar wins. Liberal Party established in response
1887: Colorado Party established by Caballero
Ultra-Nationalist anti-Semite Bernhard Förster and his wife Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche (sister of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche) establish Nueva Germania, an ultra-nationalist, white supremacist community in the San Pedro Department
1889: National University is founded. Electric power installed for the first time in the country.
Nueva Germania fails and Forster commits suicide
1890: Juan Gualberto González elected
1894: Marcos Morínigo installed after Gonzalez is removed due to incompetence. Juan Bautista Egusquiza then elected
1898: Emilio Aceval elected
1901: Metric System introduced
1902: Andrés Héctor Carvallo appointed president, followed by Juan Antonio Escurra
Liberal period
1904: Escurra deposed in coup; exiled to Villa Hayes. Juan Bautista Gaona elected president: the first liberal to be given such position
1905: Cecilio Báez elected
1906: Benigno Ferreira elected
1908: Ferreira dismissed and exiled in coup. Emiliano González Navero elected. Paraguayan cities re-developed.
1911: Manuel Gondra elected.
1912: Liberato Marcial Rojas elected. Navero re-installed. Army reformed
Eduardo Schaerer elected
1915: Revolt against Schaerer caused by censorship issues fails
1916: Manuel Franco elected
1919: Franco dies in office. José Pedro Montero appointed
1920: Gondra re-elected
1921: Eusebio Ayala elected
1924: Eligio Ayala elected, followed by Luis Alberto Riart, then again by Eligio Ayala
1928: José Patricio Guggiari elected
1932: Eusebio Ayala re-elected. Bolivia declares war on Paraguay over control of the disputed Gran Chaco. Chaco War begins
Paraguayan army beats Bolivia at the Battle of Boqueron, but are defeated later at the Battle of Kilometer 7.
1933: First Battle of Nanawa. Paraguayans win, but are driven back at Campo Jordan. Paraguay re-captures Nanawa 5 months later. Stalemate breaks out at the Battle of Gondra, but is broken that October by the Paraguayans at 2nd Campo Grande, and re-capture the Chaco after the fall of Campo Via. Ceasefire declared.
1934: Truce lifted, Bolivia re-launches offensive at the Battle of Canada Strongest, but Paraguayans counterattack at Ybybobo.
1935: Bolivian-occupied Villa Montes falls to Paraguayans. The last of the Bolivians are pushed out by a small Paraguayan force at Ingavi. Bolivia surrenders
1936: Ex-officer Rafael Franco overthrows Ayala. Franco overthrown later that year
1937: Félix Paiva elected president
1939: José Félix Estigarribia is elected
1940: Estigarribia is killed in a plane crash, Colorado Higinio Moríñigo assumes power
Morinigo era
1941: Morinigo bans all other political parties and un-sympathetic newspapers.
Serious considerations are made to assist Hitler, but is halted by Franklin D. Roosevelt
1945: Paraguay declares war on Germany, but does not see action
1948: Morinigo is overthrown and Juan Manuel Frutos inherits position of presidency, followed that year by Juan Natalicio González
Democracy restored
1949: Raimundo Rolon is appointed president, followed by Felipe Molas López. Federico Chávez is elected full-term
1954: Tomás Romero Pereira is elected. Hands over power to Alfredo Stroessner
Stroessner regime
1955: Stroessner declares state of siege and removes various civil rights from the people.
1959: Achne tribe enslaved and wiped out by order of Stroessner
1965-66: Assists USA in the invasion of the Dominican Republic
1972: University of Asunción is destroyed by police. The Archbishop of Paraguay, Ismael Rolón Silvero, excommunicates chief of police and minister of the interior
1974: Human rights abuses in Paraguay come to notice internationally, and Stroessner is accused of Slavery, Genocide [of tribes], corruption, torture and kidnapping, as well as supposedly protecting ex-Nazis living in Paraguay
1988: Pope John-Paul II visits Paraguay, increasing anti-Stroessner morale
1989: General Andrés Rodríguez starts an uprising against Stroessner, and succeeds after an artillery duel over Asunción, after which Stroessner flees to Brazil. Rodriguez appointed president after 35 years of oppression
Modern Period
1992: Rodriguez makes reforms including abolishing the death penalty, releasing many political prisoners and slaves and prosecutes and imprisons the main perpetrators of Stroessner's regime.
1993: Juan Carlos Wasmosy is elected president. However, he frees several of Stroessner's associates from prison, and re-posts them to their former government positions.
1996: Field marshal Lino Oviedo attempts coup against Wasmosy, but is imprisoned, much to the distress of the Paraguayan public
1998: Raúl Cubas Grau elected under promise that Oviedo would be released, but does not perpetrate action. After his vice president Luis María Argaña is murdered with Cubas himself implicated, mass protests erupt in Asunción, with seven people killed by riot police
1999: Cubas resigns, Oviedo flees to Argentina Luis Ángel González Macchi elected president
2003: Nicanor Duarte is elected president
2004: Fire breaks out in the Ycuá Bolaños supermarket. 400 people killed and 500 injured
2008: Fernando Lugo is elected president. After a 66 year era of Colorado rule, the Liberal Party has returned to power