The Uruguayan Civil War, also known in Spanish as the Guerra Grande ("Great War"), was a series of armed conflicts that took place between the Colorado Party and the National Party in Uruguay from 1839 to 1851. The two parties received backing from foreign sources including both neighbouring countries such as the Empire of Brazil and the Argentine Confederation as well as imperial powers, primarily the British Empire and the Kingdom of France, but also a legion of Italian volunteers including Giuseppe Garibaldi. The nine-year Great Siege of Montevideo captured the imagination of European writers (such as Alexandre Dumas, who wrote The New Troy).