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| 6. Peru |
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| Peru after independence was riven by conflict between rival military caudillos. Exploitation of export commodities stiffened competition among military strongmen. On the coast, mestizo peasants and wage laborers participated in the market economy; in the highlands, Indian communities and mestizo peasants, many speaking Quechua and Aymara, were often subject to coercion by large landowners and state authorities. | 1 |
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| 1825–29 |
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| Bolívar ruled with the apparent support of Peruvian Congress. He abolished Indian communal properties, facilitating their despoilment by landlords. Indian tribute continued to be collected. Liberals resisted Bolívar's plans for confederation with Gran Colombia and forced him to withdraw. They backed Gen. José de la Mar. | 2 |
| Marshal Andrés Santa Cruz and Gen. Agustín Gamarra (1785–1841) sought to unify Peru and Bolivia, but Santa Cruz wanted a federation, whereas Gamarra supported a centralized state. In 1828, Gamarra invaded Bolivia and defeated Bolívar's troops. | 3 |
| In the 1830s, silver mining began to recover. In the Andean south, Arequipa merchants encouraged wool production. | 4 |
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| 1831–35 |
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| Liberals sought to overthrow Gamarra, backing Gen. Luis José de Orbegoso. The 1834 constitution favored centralism, subjected the military to civilian control, and enfranchised the propertied. | 5 |
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| 1835–39 |
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| Santa Cruz allied with Orbegoso to establish a confederation. Peruvian exiles allied themselves with Chile against the Confederation, which was defeated by Chilean troops at Yungay. | 6 |
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| 1839–41 |
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| During Gamarra's second term, the strongly centralist Constitution of Huancayo was approved (1839). Gen. Ramón Castilla (1797–1867), acting as minister of the treasury, arranged the first contract (1841) with British capitalists to exploit guano, a fertilizer made from bird dung that accumulated on islands near the coast. Gamarra tried to invade Bolivia but was defeated and killed at Ingavi. | 7 |
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| 1845–79 |
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| The age of guano exports. Guano became the main source of state revenue. The government leased exploitation rights to a merchant house, receiving in exchange a fixed share of the total sales. Guano revenues served to pay the foreign debt and military and bureaucratic expenses. Ramón Castilla emerged as the leading caudillo and assumed power (1846–51 and 1854–62). He abolished Indian tribute and African slavery, with compensation for the owners (1854). Castilla inaugurated the repayment of the internal debt. Under his successor, Gen. José Rufino Echenique (1851–54), the huge amount of fraudulent claims unleashed protests that led to Echenique's fall. | 8 |
| Firms used conscripts to work in the unhealthy guano islands. Castilla authorized importation of Chinese coolies, who labored virtually as slaves. | 9 |
| Guano benefits concentrated on the coast, while the highlands remained impoverished. Urban artisans protested against free trade policies. Indian peasants suffered from seizure of their lands by hacendados. In 1864, Spain seized the guano island of Chincha, and war between Spain and Peru ensued (1866). Under the administration of José Balta (1868–72), peace with Spain was celebrated in 1869, and Peru obtained diplomatic recognition. Nicolás de Piérola (1839–1913), Balta's treasury minister, signed the controversial Dreyfus contract, by which this French capitalist obtained exclusive rights to exploitation of guano islands in exchange for servicing the foreign debt. | 10 |
| Opposition to the military and to Piérola's policies coalesced in the Civilista Party, whose leader, Manuel Pardo, was elected in 1872. To increase state funds, Pardo nationalized the nitrate industry (1875). The census of 1876 registered a population of 2,651,840, of which 57 percent were Indians. | 11 |
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| 1879–83 |
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| THE WAR OF THE PACIFIC. Due to its treaty of mutual defense with Bolivia (1873), Peru refused to stay neutral in the war between Chile and Bolivia, moving Chile to declare war on Peru (See 1879–83). Piérola deposed the president, Gen. Mariano I. Prado (1872–76). In 1881, Chileans plundered Lima, where they remained until 1882. As the occupying forces advanced along the coast, Chinese workers rose in revolt. In the highlands a united front of Indian peasants and landowners, enraged at Chilean abuses, organized guerrilla resistance. | 12 |
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| 1883, Oct. 20 |
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| The government of Miguel Iglesias signed the Treaty of Ancón, ceding the nitrate territories to Chile. It also specified that Tacna and Arica were to be under Chilean control for ten years, after which a plebiscite was to be held. | 13 |
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| 1884–95 |
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| Rebirth of military caudillismo. Partisans of Andrés Avelino Cáceres (1823–1923), who led highland resistance against Chileans, deposed Iglesias and elected Cáceres president (1885–90). They formed the Constitutionalist Party, while Piérola's followers founded the Democratic Party. The government ceded all railroads and guano exports to the foreign-controlled Peruvian Corporation. Renewal of Indian tribute, along with a salt tax, caused widespread upheaval in the highlands. Pedro Pablo Atusparia led an uprising in Huaráz (1885). Cáceres's successor, Col. Remigio Morales Bermúdez, continued military rule. Piérola and the civilistas unleashed a civil war. | 14 |
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| 1895–99 |
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| Piérola defeated the regular army with his guerrillas and assumed the presidency. He modernized administration and suppressed the Indian tribute. Mining properties were bought up by foreign firms. Workers in Lima agitated for the eight-hour day. | 15 |
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| 1899–1904 |
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| Piérola sought an agreement with the Civilista Party and designated as his successor civilista Eduardo López de la Romaña. | 16 |
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| 1904–12 |
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| Rule of Civilista Party. José Pardo (1904–8) expanded educational facilities and railroads. North American capitalists started to invest in Cerro de Pasco to extract copper. In the Amazon area, capitalists exploited wild rubber by virtually enslaving the native population; inhuman conditions in the Putumayo provoked international scandal (1912). In 1904, workers in Lima launched a general strike, which the government repressed. Augusto B. Leguía (1863–1932) became president (1908–12). Relations with Chile were severed due to disagreements over Tacna and Arica. (See Peru) | 17 |
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