Although today the South American countries
Uruguay and Brazil have strong trade relations and no tensions between them (other than fierce soccer rivalries), things were a bit more complicated in the past. Uruguay, the second largest country in South America, has a population of just over 3.5 million and an area of 176,000 square kilometers.
At the same time, Brazil is a giant - the fifth largest country in the world by area (8.5 million square kilometers), second only to Russia, Canada, China and the United States. Brazil has a population of more than 216 million people. So it's no surprise that Brazil once ruled Uruguay as its own territory and helped fan the flames of civil war back in the 1800s.
Uruguay has struggled for years for its national identity, being a bone of contention between several powerful countries.
The nation officially became independent from Spain in 1811, but was annexed by Brazil until 1825. Then, after a three-year federation with Argentina, Uruguay did gain independence in 1828.
The years after independence were filled with war and struggle. Around the time of the American Civil War in the 1860s, the small country was being torn apart by the Guerra Grande (Great War). The two parties involved were the Blanco, or "white" party (backed by the Argentine army), and the "red" party of Colorado (backed by France and England and then Brazil). The loss of short-lived independence in internal strife seemed inevitable.
There is a myth that during the battle between the Uruguayan and Brazilian ship that was part of the Guerra Grande, the Uruguayans ran out of ammunition. All they had on board the ship were the pistols they were holding and food rations. Thinking quickly, the captain and his crew found stale cheese heads that were strong enough to kill someone on impact, or more importantly, destroy the ship. The crew then loaded the cheeses into cannons as cannonballs.
The first two cheese shells unfortunately missed their target, but the third hit the enemy's mast, destroying it and killing two sailors with shrapnel. This was the end of the battle, leaving the Uruguayans victorious with an interesting story for their fellow sailors back home. It also served as inspiration for the release of Mythbusters.
So, in a historic rivalry between two countries, one of which outnumbered its competitor by more than 40 times, the outsider with cheese was the winner.