Its lands, which until than had been inhabited by
three native groups —Gê or Tapuia, Pampeano and Guarani— began
to be occupied after 1610, a period that also marked the start
of a series of conflicts and revolutions that were to last at
least three hundred years, until the beginning of the twentieth
century.In the struggle for land, the
Indians and the bandits took up arms and became involved in
various disputes. With the aim of civilizing and converting the
Indians, the Spanish Jesuits gathered together several tribes
and created seven townships, the so called Seven Townships of
the Missões, in the western part of the state. Nowadays this is
a major tourist attraction, with ruins designated by UNESCO as a
heritage site. Whilst seven townships were formed in the west,
the Portuguese occupied the coastal strip and in 1680 created
the colony of Sacramento on the banks of the River Plate, the
present day city of Colonia in Uruguay. Organized by the
Jesuits, the colony became one of the focuses of border wars
that were waged between the Portuguese and the Spanish during
the eighteenth century.
In addition to conflicts between the Indians
and bandits over the possession of land, and between the Spanish
and Portuguese for supremacy of the River Plate basin, other
struggles took place in the area now occupied by Rio Grande do
Sul. Between 1835 and 1845, the state was the battleground
during the Farroupilha Revolution, with separatist ideals
uniting the republican liberals against the imperial government.
After some years of truce another war began in 1893, the
Federalist Revolution between two political factions - on one
side the Republican Party, led by Júlio Castilhos, with
followers known as "chimangos", presidential supporters who were
identified by their use of white handkerchiefs; and on the other
side, the liberals and parliamentarians, commanded by Gaspar
Silveira Martins, whose symbol was red handkerchiefs. Although
it lasted less than two years, this conflict left behind
unfinished business that led to the other revolution in 1923. It
was only after 1928 that peace came to the state, during the
Government of Getúlio Vargas, later to become President of
Brazil.
In the midst of the conflicts, waves of
immigrants began to arrive in Rio Grand do Sul. First came the
Germans who established themselves in the Vale do Rio dos Sinos,
close to Porto Alegre, the state capital; then came the Italians
who headed towards the mountain ridges and the towns of Caxias
do Sul, Flores da Cunha, Bento Gonçalves and Garibaldi where
they planted vines and started producing wine.