Governor of Montevideo

The office of Governor of Montevideo was created shortly after the Treaty of Madrid in 1750 by Ferdinand VI of Spain, with the objective of establishing more effective control of the Banda Oriental (left bank) area of the Río de la Plata, present day Uruguay.

The constant threat of the Portuguese Empire expanding from Colonial Brazil westward into the region was virtually impossible to deter, due to the lack of permanent Spanish settlement along the frontier.

This, coupled with the possibility of attacks by the indigenous peoples defending their homelands and perhaps motivated by the Portuguese, convinced the Spanish Crown to establish this new jurisdiction in the recently founded city of Montevideo.

The office of Governor was subsequently reestablished: On June 23, 1814, Argentine and Uruguayan troops under the command of Carlos María de Alvear entered Montevideo, ending Spanish colonial control of the city.

The Supreme Directorate of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, the revolutionary government of the Río de la Plata, maintained the office of governor of Montevideo, designating its successors: On February 25, 1815, Argentine troops abandoned Montevideo to the forces of José Gervasio Artigas, who designated two delegate governors during his rule of Uruguay.