On March 7 a bloody civil war started. Despite the fact that 80% of soldiers and 90% of officers were against him, Morínigo had the backing of Colorado party militias and Argentinian President Juan Peron; he managed to win a conflict that caused many thousand deaths and up to 300,000 people to flee as refugees. The future dictator Alfredo Stroessner was one of the few officers who remained loyal to Morínigo during the civil war. For the next 15 years, the Colorados were the only legal party in Paraguay.