[4] The earliest records of Croatian settlers in Uruguay date back to the 18th century, referring to sailors who abandoned Venetian and Spanish ships and settled in the Río de la Plata region.

The oldest known testimony on this matter is the will of Šimun Matulić from 1790, in which he states that he was born on the island of Brač, during the Republic of Venice, and bequeaths his property in Montevideo to several individuals with Croatian surnames to care for his holdings.

[6] Most settled in Montevideo, although small communities were established in places like Conchillas and Carmelo in the Colonia Department, where they engaged in maritime transportation.

[8][9] However, for much of the 20th century, the Sociedad Yugoslava Bratstvo del Uruguay (English: Yugoslav Brotherhood Society of Uruguay) was composed mainly of ethnic Croats, along with Montenegrins, Serbs, Bosnians, and Slovenes, but ceased operations in the 1990s due to the Yugoslav Wars.

[11] Additionally, following the Tito–Stalin split in the years after World War II, members of the Hogar Croata de Montevideo sided with Josip Broz Tito, the Leader of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1980, while those of the Sociedad Yugoslava Bratstvo del Uruguay supported Joseph Stalin.