Uruguay was one of the first countries to recognize the newly established Greek state after the war of independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1821. In 1872, Greece and Uruguay established honorary consulates in each other's countries, respectively. In 1916, the "La Colectividad Helénica de Montevideo" was established in Montevideo as a cultural center for the Greek community in Uruguay. In the 1920s, the first major wave of Greek immigrants arrived in the country. Diplomatic relations between Greece and Uruguay were officially established in 1928. In the 1950s and 1960s, after the Greek Civil War, Uruguay received a second wave of Greek immigrants to the country.