HISTORICAL DICTIONARY A–Z - Spain and Portugal: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present - page 111

ington of much of South America. Like his
North American counterpart, who was also
self-taught in revolutionary struggle, Bolívar
experienced alternating victories and defeats
and was at times reduced to desperate
straights. Also like Washington, he overcame
adversity through self-confidence and
indomitable persistence and inspired his fol-
lowers to carry on the cause of freedom even
after crushing reverses in battle. Bolívar was
inexhaustible in his commitment to the
cause of American independence from
Spain, even during periods of exile in Cura-
çao, J AMAICA , and Haiti, which merely added
to his hemispheric perspective. In 1819 he
united what is now Venezuela, C OLOMBIA ,
P ANAMA , and E CUADOR into the republic of
Greater Colombia, under his own presi-
dency. He, then, moved against the Span-
iards in P ERU , freed that country, and created
in its southern district the republic of B OLIVIA ,
which took his name as its own. By the late
1820s Bolívar was de facto ruler of much of
the continent but challenged by local rivals
in most regions. Even after resigning his
presidency and proclaiming himself dictator
he was unable to mobilize enough power to
sustain his rule or fulfill his dream of a great,
united, and progressive nation. Once again
he went into self-exile but died on the jour-
ney to an uncertain destination.
The reverse of Bolívar's heroic image as a
great leader and the Liberator was an
authoritarian egotism that was incompati-
ble with his original democratic principles.
Ultimately his goals proved unattainable,
for in destroying the Spanish regime he
unleashed the forces of localism and rivalry
that made it impossible for Spanish South
America to become both free and a single
great country. Nevertheless, his dream of a
united Spanish America is still honored by

many under such modern concepts as the
“Bolivarian revolution.”

Bolivia
The area encompassing much of present-
day Bolivia, which lies to the east of P ERU ,
was ruled by the Aymara people until the
early 14th century when it was subjugated
by the Inca Empire. The Spanish conquer-
ors of the Inca gained control of the so-
called Upper Peru region during the 1540s
and '50s. The area was ruled under the
name Charcas as part of the Viceroyalty of
Peru until it was transferred to the Viceroy-
alty of La Plata (see A RGENTINA ) in 1776. An
uprising against Spanish rule began in 1809,
but it was not until 1825 that total indepen-
dence was achieved under the new name of
Bolivia, assumed by the republic in honor
of S IMÓN B OLÍVAR , the great South Ameri-
can Liberator.

Borja (Borgia) Rodrigo de

See

A LEXANDER VI .

Bourbon (Borbón)
Following the extinction of the H ABSBURG
line (Casa de Austria) in 1700, most Span-
iards recognized Philippe, duke of Anjou, as
King P HILIP V of Spain. The accession of this
grandson of Louis XIV of France and great-
nephew of C HARLES II of Spain marked the
beginning of the Spanish House of Borbón,
which has (with interruptions) ruled ever
since. Initially, however, a rival claim was
raised by the Austrian Habsburgs, and a
subsequent W AR OF THE S PANISH S UCCESSION
(1701-14) was fought among the European
powers over the disputed inheritance.