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50th Infantry Regiment (Bolivia)
The 50th Infantry Regiment (Cuchilleros de la Muerte) was a Bolivian infantry regiment that fought in the Chaco War. Nicknamed the Knives of Death (), the regiment relied almost exclusively on the use of blade weapons, particularly bayonets. The personnel were recruited from Bolivian prisons and under command from army and police officers. Their targets were Paraguayan isolated patrols and astray soldiers. The regiment was established by Bolivian Colonel Bernardino Bilbao Rioja after his men found the remains of 20 bodies of Bolivian soldiers, hacked to death by members of the Paraguayan Macheteros de Jara. As retaliation, the Bolivian Army recruited rogue police and military officers and a number of seasoned criminals into the new regiment, whose mission was to harass and spread panic among Paraguayan troops in the rearguard. See also *Macheteros de Jara The Macheteros de Jara was an auxiliary cavalry regiment that was organized since August 15, 1932, before the Battle of ...
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Bolivians
Bolivians ( es, Bolivianos) are people identified with the country of Bolivia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Bolivians, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being Bolivian. Bolivia is, as its neighboring countries, a multiethnic and multilingual society, home to people of various ethnic, religious, and national origins, with the majority of the population made up of indigenous and Old World immigrants and their descendants. As a result, Bolivians do not equate their nationality with ethnicity, but with citizenship and allegiance to Bolivia. Aside from the indigenous populations, Bolivians trace their ancestry to the Old World, primarily Europe and Africa, ever since the Spanish conquest of South America and founding of first Spanish settlements in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. Modern Bolivian population, estimated at 11 million is formally broken down into Amerindians (prima ...
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Chaco War
The Chaco War ( es, link=no, Guerra del Chaco, gn, Cháko ÑorairõMombe’uhára Paraguái ha Boliviaygua Jotopa III, Cháko Ñorairõ rehegua
Secretaría Nacional de Cultura de Paraguay
) was fought from 1932 to 1935 between and , over the control of the northern part of the region (known in Spanish as ''Chaco Boreal'') of South America, which ...
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Bayonet
A bayonet (from French ) is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit on the end of the muzzle of a rifle, musket or similar firearm, allowing it to be used as a spear-like weapon.Brayley, Martin, ''Bayonets: An Illustrated History'', Iola, WI: Krause Publications, , (2004), pp. 9–10, 83–85. From the 17th century to World War I, it was a weapon for infantry attacks. Today it is considered an ancillary weapon or a weapon of last resort. History The term ''bayonette'' itself dates back to the mid-to-late 16th century, but it is not clear whether bayonets at the time were knives that could be fitted to the ends of firearms, or simply a type of knife. For example, Cotgrave's 1611 ''Dictionarie'' describes the bayonet as "a kind of small flat pocket dagger, furnished with knives; or a great knife to hang at the girdle". Likewise, Pierre Borel wrote in 1655 that a kind of long-knife called a ''bayonette'' was made in Bayonne but does not give any ...
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Bernardino Bilbao Rioja
Bernardino Bilbao Rioja (20 May 1895 in Arampampa – 13 May 1983 in La Paz) was a Bolivian officer who served during the Chaco War (1932–35). He pioneered the use of air forces in combat (the first to be used in this capacity in South America). Bilbao had already made enemies among his cohorts when he refused to participate in the 1930 Bolivian coup d'état, 1930 coup against President of Bolivia Hernando Siles Reyes. This enmity led him to be vetoed for most major promotions within the military, both during the war and after. One of the reasons for the 1934 Bolivian coup d'état, 1934 military uprising that toppled the Constitutional President Daniel Salamanca Urey was the latter's desire to replace the ineffective current commanders with Generals General Lanza, Lanza and Bilbao Rioja at the head of the army. After the war, Bilbao's popularity converted him into a potential enemy to the aspirations of the likes of Col. David Toro Ruilova and Gen. Enrique Peñaranda. In ...
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Macheteros De Jara
The Macheteros de Jara was an auxiliary cavalry regiment that was organized since August 15, 1932, before the Battle of Boquerón began. The regiment was recruited from former outlaws from Paraguay who fought against Bolivian officers and soldiers. It was an irregular unit whose mission was to prevent the Bolivian army from supplying provisions and ammunition to the defenders of Boquerón. When Boquerón had fallen they dedicated themselves to the assault and plunder of small ranches. All the attacks were led by Commander Don Plácido Jara who targeted isolated Bolivian troops and supplies. The Macheteros de Jara was nicknamed after its founder and the machete, the Paraguayan soldiers favorite weapon for hand-to-hand combat. The mission of this unit was to cause panic in the Bolivian rearguard by hacking soldiers to death with machetes; body parts and heads were allegedly hung on trees to demoralize Bolivian officers and ratings. The macheteros also slaughtered cattle that could p ...
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