Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Independence
For Peru, the struggle for nationhood happened on two fronts. Argentine revolutionary
José de San Martín led independence campaigns in Argentina and Chile, before entering
Peru at the port of Pisco in 1820. With his arrival, royalist forces retreated into the high-
lands, and, on July 28, 1821, independence was declared. But real independence wouldn't
materialize for another three years: with Spanish forces still at large in the interior, San
Martín needed more men to fully vanquish the Spanish.
Enter Simón Bolívar, the venerated Venezuelan revolutionary, who had led independen-
ce fights in Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador. San Martín met with Bolívar privately in
1822 to seek help on the Peruvian campaign. Within a year, Bolívar had defeated the
Spanish. In early 1826 the last detachment of royal soldiers left Peru.
The New Republic & War of the Paciic
Through much of the 19th century there was a revolving door of regime changes as re-
gional
caudillos
(chieftains) scrambled for power. In 1845 the country would find some
measure of stability under the governance of Ramón Castilla, who abolished slavery, paid
off some of Peru's debt and established a public school system. But with his passing, in
1867, the country once again descended into chaos and fiscal mismanagement.
By 1874 Peru was bankrupt and in a weak position to deal with the expanding clash
between Chile and Bolivia over nitrate-rich lands in the Atacama Desert. The war was a
disaster for Peru. The Chileans, who had the support of the British, led a land campaign
deep into the country, ransacking Lima and making off with the priceless contents of the
National Library in the process. By the time it was all over, in 1884, Peru had perman-
ently lost its southernmost region of Tarapacá and wouldn't regain the area around Tacna
until 1929. The Bolivians, in the meantime, lost their entire coast.
