Definition of War of the Pacific

Between the years 1879 and 1883 the War of the Pacific took place, also known as the Saltpeter War, the Guano War or the War of the 10 cents. Two sides faced each other: Peru and Bolivia as allied nations against Chile.

However, Great Britain became the great victor of the conflict, since after the final Chilean victory the British companies took control of the extraction of minerals in Tarapacá.

Background and armed conflict

Peru, Bolivia and Chile exploited the Commerce of saltpeter, a very appreciated substance as it serves as a fertilizer and is used in the manufacturing of gunpowder. The government The Chilean proposed to the Bolivian to exploit the saltpeter in exchange for receiving a tax and Bolivia accepted the proposal. However, Bolivia feared that Chile would remain with absolute control of the nitrate and therefore reason made a secret and defensive alliance with Peru in 1873.

The objective of the alliance between Peru and Bolivia was to impose new borders between Chile and Bolivia, since both nations disagreed on the limits of their territory.

Finally, in 1878 the Bolivian government increased the nitrate taxes by ten cents per quintal, but Chile refused to pay them.

Before the border disagreement and for the control of the saltpeter, in February 1879 Chile sent troops to occupy the Bolivian territory of Antofagasta (the Chilean army had the financial and logistical support of the British).

Bolivia reacted with a double strategy: the declaration of war against Chile and a military alliance with Peru

The Chilean response was immediate and declared war on both Bolivia and Peru, thus initiating the War of the Pacific.

The war began with the naval campaigns and later continued with the terrestrial ones. After bloody battles, Chile seized the Antofagasta coastline and Bolivia lost its access to the sea.

During the war, Chile regained control of the saltpeter and this circumstance meant that the economic conditions of the country allowed the armed confrontation to continue. The Chilean troops gradually imposed themselves on both Bolivian and Peruvian territory (the Chilean army came to occupy the city of Lima for two years).

The consequences of the conflict are still present

Chilean military rule ended with the Treaty of Ancón in 1883. The direct consequences of the War of the Pacific were the following:

1) Peru lost the territory of Tarapacá and Arica and in turn the Chilean troops left the city of Lima,

2) Bolivia lost a maritime province that included the ports of Antofagasta and Cobija and society as a whole was plunged into a collective trauma,

3) Chile expanded its territories up to 180,000 square kilometers,

4) the control of the mineral deposits acquired by Chile ended up in the hands of British companies (for some historians Great Britain was the true winner of the War of the Pacific) and

5) a period of instability began in Peru politics which eventually led to a civil war.

Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, the Chilean and Bolivian governments continue to express their disagreements regarding the consequences of the War of the Pacific.

Photos: Fotolia - B201735 / Archivist

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