Chilean civil war of 1891
The Chilean civil war of 1891, also known as the Revolution of 1891, was an armed conflict that occurred in Chile between supporters of the National Congress and those of the president of the Republic Jose Manuel Balmaceda.
After a series of disputes between the Executive and Legislative Branches, the discussion on the fiscal budget of 1891 was one of the main causes of the conflict. However, the event that triggered the war was the closure of Congress by President Balmaceda. While the forces of the Chilean Army divided, supporting both sides, the Navy joined the congressmen. From Iquique the revolutionaries began a series of campaigns in order to overthrow Balmaceda, who established a fierce oppression over his opponents.
After the battles of Concón and Placilla, forces loyal to the president were defeated. Balmaceda handed over power to General Manuel Baquedano on August 28, as the revolutionary forces entered Santiago, and took refuge in the Argentine legation, where he committed suicide on September 19, 1891, one day after his constitutional term as president expired..
The victory of the congressional forces marked an important milestone in the history of Chile. Chilean society faced a great division after the war, which left between 5,000 and 10,000 dead. The reforms to the Constitution of 1833 ended with the so-called Liberal Republic and the Parliamentary Regime began, which prevailed in Chile until 1925.
Causes
The main causes of this war were:
- Presidentialism-parliamentarism Conflict: The president ruled by interpreting the constitution as a presidentialist, thus winning the opposition of the political parties and the National Congress, which had developed a parlamentarist reading of the fundamental letter. This meant multiple obstacles to Balmaceda in order to fulfill its purposes.
- Electoral intervention: Balmaceda intended to designate, as his predecessors had done, the Congress and his successor in the presidency through electoral intervention; this, going against the call of political parties to respect electoral freedom.
- Oligarchic hegemony in danger: Balmaceda appointed young people not belonging to the traditional oligarchy as ministers. This group reacted by anticipating the possibility of diminishing its political and social power.[chuckles]required]
- Armed Forces Division: The division of the Armed Forces was fundamental for the development of the war, since without this event the Balmaceda side could not have opposed resistance. The Army supported the President, and the Navy to the congressional case.
- Growing levels of political rivalry: Respect for the government authorities and opponents, who had marked the past coexistence, was overtaken by a virulent press that included in their attacks the families and private lives of public men.
- Conflict with the Church: By the liberal status of Balmaceda, and his old support for the transfer of ecclesiastical power to the State, clerics, politicians and particularly the conservative youth maintained a virulent opposition to the President.
Eruption of the conflict
Both Congress and the president refused to cede, so when January 1, 1891 arrived, Balmaceda established by decree the extension of the previous year's budgets. This led to the institutional crisis. The National Congress declared the President outlawed, to which Balmaceda responded by establishing the dictatorship, assuming all the public power necessary for the administration and government of the State and the maintenance of internal order.
Relying on most of the Navy and an important part of the Army, Congress entrusted command to the captain of the ship Jorge Montt Álvarez on January 6, 1891 to defend "the Constitution and the laws". So that the movement of the Navy was not considered a simple pronouncement, the sailors demanded the presence of the Presidents of both Chambers, which Ramón Barros Luco, President of the Chamber of Deputies, and Waldo Silva, Vice President of the Senate, did immediately.. On January 7, the squadron revolted with the armored vehicles Cochrane and Blanco Encalada, the cruiser Esmeralda, the corvette O&# 39;Higgins and the gunboat Magallanes. The monitor Huáscar was on the side of the congressmen.
Since the majority of the Army remained in obedience to the President, the squadron headed north to take over the rich nitrate zone, which would be the fund box for the revolution and from where it would recruit soldiers to form an army. The owners of the nitrate mines did not look favorably on Balmaceda's trade policy or the dictatorial regime imposed by him, after learning of the uprising.
| Bando leal al Congreso | Bando leal al Presidente |
|---|---|
| Estanislao del Canto Arteaga Arturo Fernández Vial Adolf Holley Jorge Montt Álvarez Gregorio Urrutia | Santiago Amengual Balbontín José Luis Araneda Carrasco Orozimbo Barbosa Puga José Antonio Bustamante José María del Canto Arteaga Diego Dublé Almeyda Juan José Latorre Benavente Oscar Viel and Toro José Velásquez Bórquez Juan Williams Rebolledo |
The first confrontation was the battle of Zapiga, on January 21, 1891, which triggered the Northern Campaign.
The congressmen captured Pisagua, with an army that still did not exceed 1,200 volunteers, soldiers and sailors, and which was commanded by Colonel Estanislao del Canto. The meeting with the Balmacedista troops, made up of 900 soldiers under the command of Eulogio Robles Pinochet, took place in Huara, located between Pisagua and Iquique on February 17. After four hours of combat, the congressional troops were defeated.
The critical situation of the congressmen changed with the capture of Iquique (Iquique Customs Combat) by the captain of the ship Merino Jarpa, who at the command of 40 sailors managed to repel the attack of Colonel José María Soto.
Owners of Iquique and with the sympathy of the pampa workers, the Constitutionalist Army, as the forces representing Congress called themselves, increased their numbers and defeated Robles in the combat of Pozo Almonte, being mercilessly killed even when he was wounded.
The provinces of Tarapacá, Antofagasta and Atacama were in control of the revolution.
The Junta de Iquique and the Balmacedista dictatorship
The Board of Iquique
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From the beginning, the congressmen had a secret junta in Santiago that directed the revolution from the ground. With the conquest of the north, on April 12, 1891, they organized the Governing Board of Iquique, made up of Captain Jorge Montt Álvarez, who would preside over it, Waldo Silva, Vice President of the Senate, and Ramón Barros Luco, President of the Chamber of Deputies as members, which would act as the governing body, replacing the President of the Republic, with Enrique Valdés as secretary and advised by four ministers: Interior and Public Works, which was reserved for Manuel A. Matta; Foreign Relations and Justice, Worship and Public Instruction, by Isidoro Errázuriz; Treasury, by Joaquín Walker Martínez; War and Navy, by Colonel Adolfo Holley.
Together with the decree creating the Board, Balmaceda's deposition act was publicly disclosed for the first time, a document ignored by the majority of congressmen.
His agents abroad, the financiers and bankers Augusto Matte and Agustín Edwards Ross, managed to buy the latest model weapons in the United States, superior to those of Balmaceda's army, and put obstacles to the delivery of the cruise ships "President Pinto" and "President Errázuriz" and the battleship "Captain Prat" that since before the revolution were built in France.
The Balmacedista government
While the government of the junta was consolidating in the north, a fierce dictatorship was installed in the rest of the country under the leadership of Minister Domingo Godoy, willing to crush the rebellion without paying attention to the media: universities and some high schools were closed, as well as the clubs and political centers; the jails were filled with enemies of the regime; newspapers were closed, courts were replaced by military tribunals; opponents' farms were arbitrarily seized; In addition to forced recruitment in fields and cities, intended to increase the government army.
Balmaceda decided to legitimize his government, dissolving Congress and calling parliamentary elections, postulating Claudio Vicuña as his successor.
The outrages of all kinds committed by Godoy caused the majority of the newly elected Congress to request the resignation of the Minister of La Moneda. For this reason, another ministry was organized under the command of Julio Bañados Espinoza, who proposed reforms similar to those contained in the Constitution of 1833, including the establishment of a presidential regime.
Naval forces compared
The congressional forces included the armored frigate Cochrane and the Blanco Encalada, the corvette O'Higgins, the Cruiser Esmeralda, the Monitor Huáscar and the Cañonera Magallanes. President José Manuel Balmaceda Fernández only had the torpedo boats that were in their slipways, protected inside the shed at Caleta de Las Torpederas. Other ships such as the cruisers Presidente Errázuriz, Presidente Pinto and the battleship Capitán Prat were under construction in Europe. The Corvette Abtao was returning from its trip to the Mediterranean and the Torpedo Boat Almirante Condell was sailing through the Atlantic.
Sinking of the x#34;Blanco Encalada N#34;
Most of the squadron was in the hands of the congressmen; A series of ships were being built in France, of which Balmaceda received the torpedo boats Almirante Lynch and Almirante Condell. They attacked by surprise at dawn on April 23 on the port of Caldera, launching their torpedoes on the Blanco Encalada, sinking it. On board the ship was Ramón Barros Luco, a member of the Junta de Iquique, who he managed to save alive, and Enrique Valdés Vergara, Secretary General of the Squad, who died along with 11 other officers and 171 crew members, both civilians and soldiers. This was the so-called Caldera Naval Combat. Although the sinking meant a significant loss of arms, ammunition, and supplies for the troops on land, it failed to break the maritime superiority of the Junta de Iquique.
On May 15, 1891, Ismael Valdés Vergara, Enrique's brother, was appointed General Secretary of the Squad by the Junta de Iquique.
In later times, Barros Luco would deny the anecdote that stated that he would have saved himself by holding on to the tail of a cow, which was part of the live cattle that was customary to take on board, because he did not know how to swim.
The Blanco Encalada was the first armored vessel in the world to be sunk by a self-propelled torpedo fired from another ship.
The congressional offensive
The congressional army bought state-of-the-art weapons, mainly German and British (with the resources from the taxes on the nitrate mines), and under the direction of German lieutenant colonel Emilio Körner, 10,000 men were grouped, including volunteer soldiers recruited from the saltpeter offices and improvised officers among the young people who arrived secretly from different parts of the country, had in his possession the rich northern regions and the Navy (of English tradition).
Once the organization of forces was finished, the Iquique junta expeditioned to the south, since Balmaceda had gathered 32,000 men, to reject any attempt to disembark, but divided into several forces (Balmaceda refused to group his forces). Estanislao del Canto was appointed Chief of the congressional army. The objective of the congressmen was to overthrow Balmaceda before he received the recently purchased armored vehicles, President Errázuriz and President Pinto, which would have equated the president's naval power with that of the congressmen.
Conspiracies
The military and naval action of the junta had to be seconded by the secret committee of Santiago, which planned to disable the government torpedo boats and the destruction of bridges to avoid the concentration of units throughout the country. The first was attempted by Ricardo Cumming, an industrialist from Valparaíso, but he was betrayed by one of his accomplices, and was later submitted to a War Council that sentenced him to death. His execution took place on July 12, 1891.
Lo Cañas Massacre
More than seventy young people from wealthy families met with about twenty artisans at the Lo Cañas farm, owned by Carlos Walker Martínez, in order to organize and prepare the cutting of the Maipo Bridge. Before achieving their objective, they were discovered, most of them dying in the subsequent attack by the Presidential Army, the rest being apprehended and taken to the capital, where, subjected to a War Council, they were sentenced to death and shot. This event, later known as the Lo Cañas massacre, was widely publicized and provoked a negative reaction, increasing support for Congress.
Battle of Concón
The congressional troops disembarked in Quintero and crossed the Aconcagua on August 20 and 21 in a number of more than 9,000 combatants, and facing the 7,000 men of Balmaceda, who were commanded by generals Orozimbo Barbosa and Alcérreca on the heights of With with. These chiefs did not receive the reinforcements from Santiago and Concepción and were defeated on August 21.
Battle of Placilla
The congressional army left Viña del Mar and Concón, confronting the army commanded by Barbosa and Alcérreca on the Placilla plateau on August 28. The battle was as short as it was decisive, the Balmacedista troops were completely defeated, their generals dying in the confrontation.
Death of Balmaceda: triumph of congressmen
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Upon hearing the news of the defeat at Placilla, Balmaceda handed over command of the executive branch to General Manuel Baquedano on August 29 and took refuge in the Argentine legation that same day.
Baquedano did not know how to prevent the looting and destruction of the properties and homes of the President's supporters. This was partly due to the revenge actions of the victorious sector, but it was also due to the power vacuum left by the Balmacedista authorities, which was taken advantage of by mobs and criminals and even by robberies carried out by the defeated army, as it was left without responsible leaders.
On August 30, the forces of Congress entered Santiago.
The final chapter took place on September 19 at the Argentine embassy, with the suicide of José Manuel Balmaceda on the date corresponding to the day after the end of his presidential term.
It is estimated that approximately 5,000 to 10,000 people died in the civil war out of a population of 2.5 million.
After the victory over Balmaceda's forces, the Governing Board of Iquique assumed control on August 31, 1891, which was transferred to Santiago. This gave rise to a new Board on September 3 that called for elections of Senators, Deputies, municipal and electors of President, in accordance with the electoral law of 1890. In addition, it reinstated in their positions the officials of the Judiciary dismissed by the "dictatorship" de Balmaceda, discharged members of the Armed Forces who had served the fallen regime and reorganized its civilian employees.
Admiral Jorge Montt assumed the presidency on December 26, after the October elections.
Later Events
The defeat of the President meant the beginning of a period in the history of Chile known as the Parliamentary Republic, which lasted between 1891 and 1924, and in which the Presidents of the Republic were strongly controlled by Congress, which had to approve his Cabinet of Ministers.
Amnesty laws were approved in December 1891 (in favor of junior personnel of the armed forces), February 1893 (for superior officers), August 1893 (for the victims of the Lo Cañas Massacre), August 1893 (both sides), December 1895 (pensions for public administration personnel who were expelled from their post).
Supporters of Balmaceda founded the Liberal Democratic Party, known as the Balmacedista party. His goal was to fulfill Balmaceda's economic program and reform the constitution to return to pre-1891 presidentialism. However, in a short time, he fell for the tactics of Chilean parliamentarism.
Due to tensions between the new government and the United States government, which had supported Balmaceda, the Baltimore case arose.
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