Author: Ronald Bruce St. John
Publisher: IBRU
ISBN: 1897643144
Category : Atacama Desert (Chile)
Languages : en
Pages : 38

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Author: Ronald Bruce St. John
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Atacama Desert (Chile)
Languages : en
Pages : 54

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Author: Edwin Borchard
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Chile
Languages : en
Pages : 44

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Author: Bruce W. Farcau
Publisher: Praeger
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 230

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The Atacama Desert, a coastal area where the borders of Chile, Peru, and Bolivia meet, was a region of little interest in the late nineteenth century until European research on the use of nitrates in fertilizers and explosives rendered the droppings of millions of sea birds a valuable commodity. In a move that echoed the California Gold Rush, the three neighboring countries soon battled for control of the region. In 1879, a comparatively modern and powerful Chile seized Bolivia's coastal province, and a secret alliance between Peru and Bolivia soon led to a full-scale war, one which saw the employment of much new military technology. Using such new weapons as the breech-loading rifle, rapid-fire cannon, ironclad warships, torpedoes, and electronic mines, Chile quickly crushed the allied armies, but a guerrilla war would drag on for years. While the three armies fought over some of the most inhospitable terrain imaginable, from burning, waterless deserts to snow-clogged mountain passes at 15,000 feet, their governments bumbled and wrangled. In the end, the lure of easy wealth undermined the economies of all three nations and served no good purpose when the market for nitrates soon evaporated, leaving all three much poorer for the experience.

Author: William Jefferson Dennis
Publisher: [Hamden, Conn.] : Archon Books
ISBN:
Category : Arbitration (International law)
Languages : en
Pages : 376

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Author: Chile. Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Chile
Languages : en
Pages : 76

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Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Chile
Languages : en
Pages : 28

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Author: José Carrasco
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Bolivia
Languages : en
Pages : 156

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Author: Gonzalo Bulnes
Publisher: Santiago de Chile : Imprenta Universitaria
ISBN:
Category : Chile
Languages : en
Pages : 174

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Author: Alan Curtis
Publisher: Helion and Company
ISBN: 1804516023
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 238

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With the break up of the Spanish empire in South America, the continent split into nine independent states with often ill-defined boundaries. One of these was that between Bolivia and Chile, which were separated by the Atacama Desert, tone of the driest regions in the world. When it was realized that the area contained nitrates that the world needed for explosives and fertilizer the scene was set for the inevitable clash. When war broke out in February 1879, both sides found themselves unprepared for war. Rapid armament followed as the Peruvians were dragged into the conflict in support of their Bolivian allies. Initially there was a tiresome naval war of blockade and guerre de course. Two naval actions decided the naval campaign in favor of the Chileans who then proceeded to use their naval power to attack the Allies’ isolated armies and capture Lima two years after war had broken out. Fighting then developed into a cruel and ruthless guerrilla war in the Andes, sometimes even pitting Peruvian against Peruvian, before the Peruvians finally concede defeat. The war was notable in the West for fights involving ironclads, particularly the Battle of Angamos, which saw the only time ironclads were pitted against each other between the Battle of Lissa and the Battle of the Yalu River. The war helped formulate Captain Mahan’s thoughts in “The Influence of Sea Power upon History”. The land war was more or less ignored abroad, although it included some of the biggest battles ever fought on the continent, using all the latest technology, including breech loading rifles and cannons and machine guns. The armies on both sides initially lacked experience and training as well as modern equipment. The Bolivian Army started the war with 806 officers and only 1369 other ranks! In the end the Chileans won because of their more stable government, better financial situation and their control of the sea, due to their two superior ironclads. From the Atacama to the Andes tells the brutal struggle between two sides to control the wealth of the Atacama and for retention of Bolivia’s coast. The result was that Chile gained the mineral resources of the “New North” and Bolivia became the second landlocked country on the continent, paving the way for the even more catastrophic Chaco War 50 years later.