By capturing Nanawa the Bolivian army hoped to isolate Isla Poí, the Paraguayan headquarters and main water supply point to the northeast, and ultimately reach the city of Concepción, on the Paraguay River.

Nanawa (Enxet for "carob tree forest") had been founded as a small outpost in 1928 by Ivan Belaieff, a white Russian officer who joined the Paraguayan army in the 1920s.

On January 20, 1933, Nanawa was the subject of a massive Bolivian assault, which stalled after several days of heavy fighting and was eventually beaten back by the Paraguayan garrison.

The Bolivian army engaged the defenders with artillery and mortar fire, air strikes, three Vickers light tanks, two Carden-Lloyd tankettes and four flamethrowers.

[11] The second battle of Nanawa was a major turning point in the war, since the Paraguayan army regained the strategic initiative that had belonged to the Bolivians since early 1933.