War of the Pacific


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    The War of the Pacific pitted the Republic of Chile against the alliance of Peru and Bolivia over rich nitrate deposits. [1] The deposits were on Peruvian and Bolivian territory and the Bolivian deposits were mined mostly by a Chilean company. Hilarión Daza President of Bolivia tried to raise the taxes they paid in violation of a Treaty, and when they wouldn't pay he nationalized the company. Then Chile invaded Bolivia; and Peru who had a mutual defense treaty with Bolivia got dragged into the fight.

    The 4 year war proved disastrous for the Peru-Bolivian Alliance. Successful campaigns in sea as well as landings in port cities in Southern Peru forced both the Peruvian and Bolivian Presidents at the time out of office and replaced with military leaders. This however did little to stop Chile's continued attacks. An invasion and takeover of Bolivia's coastline as well as the rest of the far southern provinces of Peru effectively dropped Bolivia from the war.

    This was followed by an offensive, with Chilean troops landing in the heart of Peru and moving northward, defeating the Peruvian Army and capturing the capital city, Lima, which Chile occupied to the end of the war. The war continued for 2 more years, but the Chileans were never able to completely defeat the Peruvian resistance forces in the mountains. Eventually a government was formed by Peruvians who were tired of the war, and negotiated an end to the war.

    The Treaty of Ancón ended the war between Peru and Chile in 1883. In the treaty, Chile won the province of Tarapaca from Peru. Chile also occupied various other provinces in Southern Peru until the 1920's. In 1884 Chile and Bolivia signed a treaty formalizing the Chilean possession of the province of Antofagasta, turning Bolivia into a land-locked country.

    Ironically, despite winning the war and being economically sound Chile, over political disputes, would eventually devolve itself into Civil War just under 10 years after the war's end. Even more ironically, the invention of the Haber process thirty years later would render the nitrate deposits that served as the casus belli completely worthless--why mine nitrate when you can literally make it out of thin air (and water or natural gas, but whatever)?


    Tropes Set during the war

    • The Captain: Arturo Prat and Miguel Grau. Chilean and Peruvian national heroes respectively. Pratt led 21 men in an attempt to board the enemy's battleship, with most of them dying and impressing the Peruvians for the attempt. Grau would later send a letter to Pratt's widow praising her husband's bravery and returning his personal effects. Grau would then go on to single handedly hold off the entire Chilean navy with just one ship, The Huáscar, for almost six months.
    • Child Soldiers: Most of the Army, of both sides, including the ones who died in La Batalla de la Concepción were teenagers at the time.
    • Cool Boat: The Huáscar. So much you can still visit the ship today, but in Chile who captured it during the war.
    • La Résistance: The Peruvian resistance movement helped their army to keep the guerrilla war for about two more years.
    • Never Live It Down: Bolivia, in regard to the loss of its seacost. To the point that the Bolivian Navy still exists as an actual military force (operating on rivers and in inland Lake Titicaca). Bolivians 'commemorate' the loss of access to the sea as a national holiday, Dia del Mar, and Bolivia routinely seeks international mediation to resolve the problem.[2]
    • Officer and a Gentleman: Peruvian Admiral Miguel Grau. It says something that the ones who gave him the name El Caballero de los Mares (The Gentleman/Knight of the Seas) were the Chileans themselves.
    • Offscreen Teleportation: Peruvian Colonel Andrés Cáceres was nicknamed "The Wizard of Los Andes" for his ability to appear and dissapear at will in the mountain range (he knew them like the palm of his hand).
    • One Sided War: Chile not only managed to hold it's own against two nations, but occupied one country and forced the other to back down.
      • In the other hand La Batalla de la Concepción (The Battle of La Concepción) and the same Batalla Naval de Iquique (Naval Battle of Iquique) were One Sided Battle for the Peruvian/Bolivian Side. Those are remembered by the Chileans because they helped to rally the spirits for win the war.
    • Super Serum: The legend says, before going to fight any battle, the Chilean Soldiers get drunk with La Chupilca del Diablo (The Devil's Booze), a mix of strong Aguardiente and gunpowder. It supposedly made the soldiers go absolutely berserker and able to ignore pain or fatigue.
    • Worthy Opponent: Miguel Grau for the Chileans.

    Depictions in fiction

    1. ↑ "Nitrate deposits" being a polite term for Guano, i.e. bird dung. Guano is rich in nitrate, which is needed to make modern fertilizer and explosives. So yes, it was totally worthwhile to fight a major war over bird poop. And you thought it was just the annoying stuff that got stuck to the windshield of your car...
    2. ↑ Bolivia since 1992 has been utilizing a port near the city of Ilo, Peru, but this is subject to a 99-year non-renewable lease from the Peruvian government. Bolivia also has access to the Atlantic through Argentina via the Parana River and maintains port facilities in the Argentinian city of Rosario, but attempts to regain an actual coastline connected to the rest of the country remain frustrated by Chile.
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