Importance of the Thousand Days War

Without a doubt, the arrival of what is understood as modernity in Latin America signified a profound breakdown and serious conflicts that would have to do with the reorganization of States, with the consolidation of the political parties, the end of anarchy and the reaffirmation that in order to belong to the world economic system it was essential to order the reality of each country.

What type of conflict and who faced?

The war officially known as the War of the Thousand Days took place in the current territory of Colombia, between the years 1899 and 1902, totaling more than 1,100 days of conflict. As occurred in most of the new Latin American countries at that time, this confrontation had as its main objective or cause the attempts of opposing political parties to seize power.

In this conflict, the wishes and interests of the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party, very opposite political expressions on how to carry out the future of the country, were confronted. While Manuel Antonio Sanclemente was the leader of the first, Gabriel Vargas Santos acted as the leader of the second.

The confrontations and the development of the conflict

The time in which we find ourselves has been a time of great economic, political and social turmoil for the entire continent. The new nations began to integrate into the world economic system and one of the main requirements to achieve this was to order and clean up the situation. policy, chaos and anarchy. In the case of Colombia, the two belligerent parties showed different views on how to order the political and social situation.

When the conflict began in 1899, power was in the hands of the conservatives and the conservatives began to rebel against them. liberals in different regions of the territory, especially in the town of Santander, in that of Cauca and in what today It's Panama. These rebellions were aimed at ending the government conservative of the day, his economic and social policies.

A tough fight and irreversible consequences

Just as its name suggests, this war lasted for several years and with it took a large number of fighting men who died in the conflict. As time progressed, so did the movements that from different parts of the country sought to end the Conservative government. In some cases it was peasants allied to liberal sectors who acted.

The main consequence of this war was the fall of the economic and commercial circuits due both to the disappearance of a large part of the labour as well as the destruction of fields and raw materials. The economic expenses that this war represented for the State they took a long time to be recovered. At the same time, the debts with the central countries remained and therefore the Colombian people found themselves plunged into poverty. Finally, the conservative party managed to establish its hegemony and dissolve its political enemies.

Images: Fotolia. Michaklootwijk – Matyas Rehak