Peru-Bolivian Confederation

The Peru-Bolivian Confederation was a confederation made up of three states: the North-Peruvian State, the South-Peruvian State, —states that arose from the division of the Peruvian Republic, due to of the Civil War of 1834 and the war between Salaverry and Santa Cruz—, and the Bolivian State. The geographical limits varied over time, with the territorial consolidation of Tarija and the occupation of territories of Salta and Jujuy, it also had indigenous territories, which were de facto autonomous such as Iquicha, all under the supreme command of Marshal Andrés de Santa Cruz, who assumed the office of Supreme Protector in 1836, while President of Bolivia (1829-1839).

I never had any doubts, I wanted a single nation from Tumbes to Tarija, I wanted the incarnate and vicereinate to be in the Republic what they always were, the South American arbitrator, the Pacific arbitrator, the referee between the Argentine Confederation and Brazil, as great and powerful as both. It's not very hard to understand, it's just looking at the map and knowing it, it's also knowing that no artificial border can divide a people in a funny way.

Andrés de Santa Cruz, 1839

Although its institutional creation arose on May 1, 1837 with the Pact of Tacna, its de facto establishment dates from October 28, 1836 —with the end of the War between Salaverry and Santa Cruz—until 1839—with its dissolution proclaimed by General Agustín Gamarra, Peruvian restaurateur president who, together with Peruvians and Bolivians opposed to the Santa Cruz project and the governments of Chile and the Argentine Confederation, declared war against the Peruvian Confederation -Bolivian. The United Restoration Army of Peru, made up of the Chilean Army and the Restoration Army of Peru under the command of Chilean General Manuel Bulnes and Marshal Agustín Gamarra, defeated the Peru-Bolivian Confederate Army, made up of the Bolivian Army and the of Peru, in the battle of Yungay on January 20, 1839.

History

Background

At the beginning of the 19th century, Simón Bolívar postulated the idea of creating a great nation, coinciding with Andrés de Santa Cruz, who thought of uniting Peru and Bolivia in a single country, the latter known colloquially as Upper Peru. The idea of uniting both countries was the general feeling of several influential political leaders in Peru (Francisco Xavier de Luna Pizarro, José María Pando, Manuel Lorenzo de Vidaurre, Agustín Gamarra, etc.), trying to reintegrate the two Perus (« High” and “Low”), there being only discrepancies in the form of the “union”: confederation or merger.

Around 1835, political intrigues sparked uprisings and divisions in Peru, causing chaos to reign. To curb the revolutionary attempts of Marshal Agustín Gamarra in the south, President Luis José de Orbegoso went to Cuzco. In his absence, Sergeant Pedro Becerra mutinied in Callao at dawn on January 1, 1835, taking over the Castillo del Real Felipe. The insurrection was quelled after a few days by Major General Felipe Santiago Salaverry, proclaiming himself supreme head of the Republic. Thus, on February 23, 1835 in Peru, when Luis José de Orbegoso was constitutional president, Felipe Santiago Salaverry took control of the country by force, although it is true that Orbegoso was left in control of the south of the country.

Months of uncertainty and anxiety followed, culminating in the pact between Luis José de Orbegoso and the Bolivian president, General Andrés de Santa Cruz, to unite the two republics in a confederation. Seeking to consolidate his government, the coup leader Salaverry marched south to fight Santa Cruz, who at the head of a large army, at Orbegoso's request, had crossed the Peruvian-Bolivian border.

Great battles were fought: Gramadal, Puente de Arequipa, Uchumayo, with favorable results for Salaverry, but on February 7, 1836, in the decisive battle of Socabaya, in the vicinity of Arequipa, Santa Cruz triumphed. Salaverry, defeated, was court-martialed and sentenced to death for insubordination to the constitutional president. Thus, after the battle of Socabaya, the Peru-Bolivian Confederation was established, of which Santa Cruz was protector with wide powers, urging the reorganization of the country, through the creation of a confederation formed by the Republic of Bolivia, and by two new states emerged from the Republic of Peru, the North-Peruvian State and the South-Peruvian State.

Conformation

Two constituent congresses were established in each of the three founding states of the confederation, in the cities of Huaura (North-Peru), Sicuani (South-Peru) and Tapacarí (Bolivia). Immediately, the representatives of the three states promised to celebrate the union pact of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation as soon as possible.

South-Peruvian State

The Sicuani Assembly was established on March 16, 1836, having summoned deputies from the departments of Arequipa, Ayacucho, Cuzco and Puno, who, on March 17, 1836, solemnly declared the independence of the South-Peruvian State. In that same assembly, the national symbols (flag and national coat of arms) were created. It was decided that the state capital would be Tacna and Andrés de Santa Cruz was appointed as "Protector of the South Peruvian State".

North-Peruvian State

The Huaura Assembly was established on August 3, 1836, summoning deputies from Amazonas, Junín, La Libertad and Lima. On August 6, they approve the constitution of the North-Peruvian State, which is promulgated on August 11 by the then President of the Peruvian Republic, Luis José de Orbegoso, naming Andrés de Santa Cruz as "Supreme Protector of the North Peruvian State". Having granted political power to Santa Cruz, both in the South and in the North of Peru, a commission of the Assembly of Huaura was constituted in Lima to take an oath from him. Santa Cruz, who had waited in Tarma while the Assembly debated, triumphantly entered Lima in 1836, assuming command as Supreme Protector of the South and North Peruvian States.

Bolivian State

In the case of Bolivia, a special session of the Tapacarí Congress had previously been held on June 21, 1836, which authorized Santa Cruz to complete the confederation project to which Bolivia had already adhered with the Law of July 22, 1835. He also requested authorization to use the title of supreme protector of the South and North Peruvian States, which had been granted by the Assembly of Sicuani and that of Huaura. Congress agreed to his request and authorized him to name the members of a Congress of Peruvian and Bolivian plenipotentiaries, whose headquarters would be chosen by Santa Cruz himself, where the administrative bases of the Confederation would be established. Likewise, Mariano Enrique Calvo was appointed as vice president of Santa Cruz in Bolivia, who would later assume the interim administration of Bolivia as head of the Executive Branch, in the absence of Santa Cruz.

Establishment of the Confederation

Provided, therefore, with all the legal elements granted by the assemblies of the three states (North-Peru, South-Peru and Bolivia), Santa Cruz decreed the establishment of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation, by decree issued in Lima on the 28th of October 1836.

In 1836, at the beginning of the creation of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation, Bernardo O'Higgins was in Lima. On December 20, 1836, he sent a letter to San Martín expressing a favorable impression of Santa Cruz. O'Higgins defended the right to integrate Upper Peru and Lower Peru as a single nation, adhering to the integrationism of Santa Cruz. In the same way, he was against the warmongering policy of Diego Portales.

On April 18, 1837, the Tacna Congress was inaugurated, with the presence of nine delegates. They signed without discussion the document called "Fundamental Law of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation", known since then as the "Pact of Tacna" and by which the Confederation of the three States was ratified, as well as established its political bases on 1 May 1837.

It is thus that on May 9, 1837 the Confederation was officially promulgated by the representatives of the three regions in the Congress of Tacna. That same day, Santa Cruz took power as Supreme Protector of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation, leaving Orbegoso as president of the North-Peruvian State.

Political instability and wars

Like Orbegoso, Santa Cruz also had many opponents and enemies born in the frequent caudillo confrontations of the early years of Peru's republican history. Among those enemies were powerful characters such as Agustín Gamarra and Ramón Castilla, who at the time were exiled and coincided in Chile.

First Expedition of the Restoring Army

The Peruvians opposed to Santa Cruz, with the intervention of Minister Portales of Chile, dragged that nation into a war against the confederation for defending their economic interests in the port of Valparaíso.

The Chilean government considered that the creation of the Confederation meant a clear threat and a sign of the expansionist intentions of Santa Cruz. Soon after, Chile declared war on the Confederation and formed, together with Peruvian troops against Santa Cruz, the Restoring Army whose objective was to destroy the confederation. This army invaded the territory of the South Peruvian State, however it was rejected by the local population. The Confederate army maneuvered until it occupied favorable positions on the Paucarpata hill, which Santa Cruz described as the balcony of Arequipa. He immediately ordered the troops to mobilize for a possible combat in view of the position of the restorers, but when no combat took place, Santa Cruz ordered the troops to pass the ranch and surveillance parties were established at various points, then Santa Cruz sent a note Manuel Blanco Encalada proposing the start of peace talks, which he accepted requesting guarantees for his troops and for Chile, thus they celebrated the Paucarpata Treaty on November 17, 1837.

War against the Argentine Confederation

On May 19, 1837, the person in charge of managing foreign relations for the Argentine Confederation and governor of the Province of Buenos Aires, Juan Manuel de Rosas, declared war on the Peru-Bolivian Confederation, both for the Question de Tarija and the support of Andrés de Santa Cruz for the Argentine Unitary Party.

Operations began in August 1837 when Peruvian-Bolivian confederate troops invaded most of Jujuy Province, the Puna de Jujuy, and northern Salta Province. Continuing with a series of combats and skirmishes between both forces, all of them without conclusive results. In May and June 1838, the Confederate army defeated Rosas's troops in a series of minor encounters, the most important being the Combat of Montenegro or Combat of the Cuesta de Coyambuyo, which in practice caused the Argentine withdrawal from the contest that thereafter he maintained a defensive stance.

In 1838, Santa Cruz annexed to Bolivia part of the Argentine territory of Salta and Jujuy, which includes the towns of Santa Catalina, Yavi, Santa Victoria, Cangrejillos, Pueso, Abra Pampa, Cochinoca, Pastos Chicos, and others. He placed it under the dependency of the Department of Tarija

Second restoration expedition and secession of North-Peru

In 1837 the Restoring United Army under the command of Manuel Bulnes Prieto, left Chile seeking to remove Santa Cruz, achieve the independence of Peru by restoring the republic to the previous state of the confederation.

During the second restoration expedition, the president of the North-Peruvian State Luis José de Orbegoso declared the independence of the North-Peruvian State, causing the first important secession against the Peru-Bolivian Confederation, Santa Cruz managed to maintain the rebel state as a self-governing republic by turning it against the restaurateur allies, sparking the imminent invasion of the confederate north.

It is so, that on August 21, 1838, the Battle of Portada de Guías took place, which allowed the occupation of Lima by the restoring army, commanded by Bulnes.

This first military success of the restorers was followed in January 1839 by the Naval Battle of Casma, when French corsairs commanded by Captain Blanchet and who were fighting for the Confederation were defeated by the Chilean Navy, led by the Captain Robert Simpson. Subsequently, the army of Santa Cruz was completely defeated by the Restoration Army in the Battle of Yungay, on January 20, 1839. In this fight, the troops of the Confederation hoped to resist the enemy offensive sheltered in the Pan de Azúcar hill, finally without success and at a high cost in human lives. The congress meeting in Huancayo, on August 15, 1839, appointed General Agustín Gamarra provisional president of Peru. Chilean General Manuel Bulnes was appointed Grand Marshal of Ancash by Peruvian President Agustín Gamarra.

Death of President Gamarra in the Battle of Ingavi (1845)

The defeat meant the disintegration of the Confederation and the exile of Santa Cruz in Guayaquil, Ecuador. However, Gamarra continued with his unification project and this is how the War between Peru and Bolivia happened. The defeat of Gamarra's army in the battle of Ingavi in 1841 caused the Bolivian troops of General José Ballivián to occupy Peruvian territory as far as Tarapacá. However, since the Bolivians did not have enough troops to be able to maintain a prolonged occupation and after suffering several defeats, both contenders agreed to sign a peace in 1842, after mediation by the Peruvian Minister Plenipotentiary José Antonio de Lavalle.

On August 25, 1839, Agustín Gamarra took over the Government of Peru, declared the end of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation and the extinction of the North and South Peruvian states by returning to their unity in the Peruvian Republic.

Conspiracy and restoration of the Republic of Bolivia

After the defeat in Yungay, Andrés de Santa Cruz withdrew to Lima to reorganize his forces and prepare the defense in Callao, since Santa Cruz had lost the battle but not the war, since he still had military forces and a lot of support in South Peru. After that, the Protector withdrew to Arequipa where he found that popular sentiments were determined to give battle to the Chilean army, just as he was preparing to go to Puno where he was going to assume command of the Army of the Center, a messenger told him that the Bolivian Army under the command of José Ballivian who was stationed in Puno and La Paz had revolted against him.

On February 9, 1839, in Tupiza, José de Velasco revolted against the government of the Protector, curiously it was not before a response to the battle of Yungay, since he revolted days before receiving the news of the defeat in Yungay, Velasco justified the coup against the Protector by claiming that the Bolivian population repudiated the Confederation. General José Ballivian, who supported the Velasco coup with Bolivian forces stationed in Puno and Vilque, had reportedly been conspiring with the Chilean government for over a year to overthrow Santa Cruz and destroy the Confederation, immediately in several cities in Bolivia began to proclaim Velasco as president of Bolivia and Ballivian as his Vice President. Velasco formally took office as president on February 22, 1839.

On October 26, 1839, Velasco officially declared the dissolution of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation, and the independence of Bolivia.

Aftermath of dissolution

Iquicha War

In March 1839, a group of peasants who defended the permanence of the Confederation, led by Antonio Huachaca and Tadeo Choque, raised arms against the restoring army, and put Huanta under siege, to no avail. Finally tired of the conflict, after several clashes, the Yanallay Treaty was signed on November 15, between the prefect of Ayacucho, Colonel Manuel Lopera, and Tadeo Choque (or Chocce). The Iquichanos decide to recognize and submit to the Peruvian State. Huachaca refused to participate in that agreement and withdrew to the jungles of Apurímac, where he died in 1848. Over time, the name "iquichano" became a symbol of collective pride for the inhabitants of the region. In fact, in 1838, the authorities used the expression "republiqueta de Iquicha" to refer to the territories under the domain of Huachaca.

Peruvian-Bolivian War

It should be noted that Gamarra was not oblivious to Santa Cruz's idea of creating a great Andean nation, but in his plan this idea could not be realized through a Confederation in which Bolivia was clearly the one that had the predominant role. On the contrary, Gamarra, from Cusco by birth, thought that the Bolivian territory belonged to Peru, based on the idea that before the creation of the Republic of Bolivia, Upper Peru and Lower Peru had been a single nation since the times of the Tahuantinsuyo and so they should continue. Marshal Gamarra strongly supported the merger and not the confederation. That is why, from that moment on, the War between Peru and Bolivia began, through which the marshal thought of annexing the entire territory of that republic. However, Gamarra died in the battle of Ingavi when he invaded Bolivia.

Government

Protector of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation

Andrés de Santa Cruz, Protector of the Peruvian-Boliviana Confederation.

The Supreme Protector of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation was the title adopted by Marshal Andrés de Santa Cruz when he formally assumed the government of the Confederation in 1836, as stipulated in the Pact of Tacna, signed on May 1, 1837.

• His period of government was set in 10 years, being able to be re-elected, as long as he was not dismissed in the interim by the Senate.
• It depended on general customs and general post administration, as well as all diplomatic, military and naval appointments.
• He was General of the United Army and the Navy of the Confederation.
• He exercised the executive power of the state in which he was in accordance with his own laws.
• He appointed and removed State ministers and other public employees, and could create new ministries.
• He elected the presidents of the confederate states, the senators of the General Congress and the ministers of the three supreme courts from among those proposed in Terna by their respective Senates.
• He presented the apostolic chair to the archbishops and bishops of the three republics.
• It could dissolve the General Congress, when it manifestly took over the chambers a spirit of disorder that threatened the inner peace of the confederation.
• In the event of absence, illness or death, he was to be replaced by the Council of Ministers, chaired by the person himself or herself designated by the oldest of the ministers.

Rulers of the Confederacy

Government	Ruler		Origin	Designation	Opening	Culmination
Protector of the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation
Chief of the United Army		Andrés de Santa Cruz y Calahumana	La Paz	Military intervention in Peru (Designed by Luis José Orbegoso, as Chief of the United Army)	7 Feb. 1836 in Socabaya	28 Oct. 1836 Establishment of the Confederation
	Legal changes in command: 17 sea. 1836: The Sicuani Assembly promulgates the Constitution of the Sud-Peruvian State, in which Santa Cruz is appointed as the Protector of Sud Peru. 6 Aug. 1836: The Huaura Assembly gives the Constitution of the Nor-Peruano State, in which Santa Cruz is appointed as the Protector of Nor Peru. 11 Aug. 1836: The President of the Peruvian Republic (Orbegoso), promulgates the Constitution of the Nor-Peruano State. 20 Jun. 1836: The Tapacarí Congress empowers Santa Cruz to assume the post of President of Bolivia, and Protector of Sud Peru and Nor Peru, while he is president of Bolivia simultaneously.
Protector of the States Sud and Nor Peruanos, President of Bolivia (Chief of the United Army and Foreign Affairs of the Three States)		Andrés de Santa Cruz y Calahumana	La Paz	Establishment of the Confederation	28 Oct. 1836 in Lima	9 may. 1836 Juramentation as Supreme Protector
	Legal changes in command: 28 Oct. 1836: Santa Cruz decrees the Establishment of the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation, It also calls for a congress of plenipotentiaries of the three republics, which met in Tacna, in order to discuss the basis of the political structure of the Confederation. 1 may. 1837: The Tacna Congress approves Basic Law of the Peruvian Confederation-Bolivianaand Name Santa Cruz, like the Supreme Protector of the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation.
Supreme Protector of the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation		Andrés de Santa Cruz y Calahumana	La Paz	Tacna Congress (Protector of the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation)	9 may. 1836 in Tacna	24 Jan 1837 Absence
	Legal changes in command: 9 may. 1837: Santa Cruz, promulgates the Basic Law of the Peruvian Confederation-Boliviana, swearing as Supreme Protector of the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation, remaining Orbegoso as president of the Nor-Peruano State.
Protector of the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation		Juan Pio de Tristan y Moscoso	Arequipa	Designated by Santa Cruz (President of the Council of Ministers of the Confederation)	24 Jan 1837 in Tacna	10 Apr. 1837 Transmit the command
Supreme Protector of the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation		Andrés de Santa Cruz y Calahumana	La Paz	Receives the command of the President of the Council of Ministers (Protector of the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation)	10 Apr. 1837 in Tacna	20 Feb. 1839 resignation
Chief		José Antonio Navala Huachaca	Ayacucho	Self-proclaimed (General of the Confederate Army)	sea. 1839 in Iquicha	Nov. 1839 resignation
Chief		Tadeo Choque	Ayacucho	Chargé d ' affaires (Confederate Army Commander)	Nov. 1839 in Iquicha	Nov. 1839 resignation
	15 Nov. 1839 signed the Yanallay treaty with the Peruvian Republic.

Political structure

Confederate State

The confederal state was made up according to the division of powers:

• The head of government was in charge of the Protector.
• The general executive power resided in the Protector, in addition head of State, Government and General of the armed forces, and in the Council of Ministers.
• The general legislature resided in a representative bicameral congress.
• The general judiciary, for its part, resided in a court superior to the Supreme Courts of the constituent republics.

The powers of the Confederal State were expressed in the Fundamental Law. All other state powers resided in the Member States within their jurisdiction.

Member States

The confederation was made up of three states: the North-Peruvian State, the South-Peruvian State and the Bolivian State.

North-Peruvian State

The North-Peruvian State included the former Peruvian departments of La Libertad, Amazonas, Lima and Junín and its capital was established in the city of Lima.

In 1836, the department of Huaylas was created, separated from that of Junín; the autonomous province Litoral de Callao was also created.

Its presidents were:

• Luis José de Orbegoso y Moncada (21 August 1837 - 11 August 1838)
• José de la Riva Agüero (11 August 1838 - 24 January 1839).

The North Peruvian Republic inherited the official symbols of the Peruvian Republic.

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South-Peruvian State

The South-Peruvian State included the former Peruvian departments of Arequipa, Cusco, Ayacucho and Puno. The capital was established in the city of Tacna.

In 1837 the Litoral was created, separated from Arequipa with its capital in Tacna.

Its presidents were:

• Pius de Tristan (20 January 1837 - 10 April 1837).
• Ramón Herrera (17 September 1837- 12 October 1838).
• Pius of Tristan (12 October 1838 - 23 February 1839).

The Assembly of Sicuani decreed the symbols of the new confederate state, consisting of a flag that fused colors of the Bolivian and Peruvian flags and some new weapons or state emblem.

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Bolivian State

The Bolivian Republic joined the confederation as a confederate state, becoming the Bolivian State. In the year of its union, it was divided into the departments of Cochabamba, Chuquisaca, La Paz, Oruro, Potosí, Santa Cruz, Tarija and the Litoral de Atacama autonomous province; with its provisional capital in the city of La Paz.

In 1838, the territories of Salta and Jujuy were annexed and placed under the jurisdiction of Tarija.

Its presidents were:

• Andrés de Santa Cruz (28 October 1836-20 February 1839)
• Mariano Enrique Calvo (20 February 1839-22 February 1839)

Bolivia inherited the same symbols from its pre-confederal period.

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Administrative division of each State

Map with departmental divisions of each state, including maximum territorial claims.

On August 20, 1836, Santa Cruz decreed the creation of the Litoral del Callao Province, with political autonomy in its internal affairs.

On October 10, 1836, the department of Huaylas was created (or to be more exact, it was recreated), separated from that of Junín and that years later would change its name to Ancash.

During the Sicuani Assembly, the project proposed by Deputy Vargas was discussed, for the creation with the provinces of Moquegua, Tacna and Tarapacá of a new department called Department of Santa Cruz, a project that did not prosper

However, and on April 25, 1837, Andrés de Santa Cruz, Supreme Protector of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation signed in the city of Tacna the Decree of Creation of the Department of the Coast, made up of the provinces of Tacna and Tarapacá, then belonging to the Department of Arequipa. By means of the same decree, Tacna was designated as the capital of the department.

During the existence of the confederation there were projects and attempts to separate the Department of La Paz from the Bolivian State and integrate it as a sixth department of the South-Peruvian State.

In 1838, after the War against the Argentine Confederation, Santa Cruz annexed to Bolivia part of the Argentine territory of Salta and Jujuy, which includes the towns of Santa Catalina, Yavi, Santa Victoria, Cangrejillos, Pueso, Abra Pampa, Cochinoca, Pastos Chicos, and others. Which he placed under the dependence of the Department of Tarija

Indigenous Autonomous Regions

Government of the District of Carhuaucran

Iquicha joined the Confederation in 1836, as the Governor of the District of Carhuaucran, recognizing the generalship and authority of Antonio Huachaca, being appointed as justice of the peace and governor of said territory.

The Confederation respected the identity heterogeneity of indigenous peoples, respected their organization into indigenous republics and above all recognized their struggle to defend their ancestral ways of life, in contrast to the homogenizing National-Creole Project that the coastal elites had undertaken since the independence of Peru.

When the Iquichanos formally joined the side of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation, they actively participated in the Confederation's wars between 1836 and 1839.

In 1839 General Huachaca, Supreme Chief of Iquicha, after learning of the defeat of his superiors in the battle of Yungay, continued to defend his republic against the advance of the Restoring United Army of Peru.

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Army

In its time, the army of this nation was one of the best existing in South America and America. It based its structure, training and military tactics on the Napoleonic model, like so many other nations of that time.

Limits

• North with Ecuador, New Grenada and Brazil.
• East with Brazil and Paraguay.
• South with Chile, Argentina and Paraguay.
• West with Ecuador and the Pacific Ocean.