Part 13

During the 18th century the condition of the colony was improved in many ways. The Bourbon kings of Spain were more liberal in their colonial policy. Merchant-ships were allowed to sail direct to Chile, trade with France was sometimes permitted, and a large batch of hardy emigrants was sent out from the Biscay provinces of Spain. Freed from the preoccupation of the Indian wars, the governors gave more attention to the general welfare of the country: a university was started in Santiago in 1747, many towns were built about the same time, agriculture and industries were promoted and a coasting trade grew up. In 1778 Charles III. threw open all the ports of Spain to the colonies and allowed freedom of trade with France. But in general the administration of the colony was burdensome, oppressive and inefficient. The people had no voice in the government. Ruling with the help of the Royal Audience, the governor was absolute master of the country, and regulated the smallest details of life. Such time as the officials could spare from the main object of enriching themselves by extortion and corruption was given up to endless official and religious ceremonies and to petty disputes of etiquette and precedence. All the high posts and offices were filled by men sent from Spain, with the result that bitter jealousy reigned between them and the native-born colonists (_criollos_). The _criollos_ as a rule filled the posts in the municipalities (_cabildos_), disposed of by sale, so that when the revolution broke out the _cabildos_ naturally became the centres of the movement. As in all Spanish colonies, so in Chile, the Church played a large part in the public life. Chile was divided into the two bishoprics of Santiago and Concepción, and the Church managed to accumulate most of the wealth of the country. At the same time the monks and Jesuits did useful work in teaching industrial and agricultural arts, and in giving the people a certain degree of education; but the influence of the Church was used to bolster up the traditional narrow colonial system, and the constant quarrels between the clergy and the secular powers often threw the country into confusion.

At the opening of the 19th century Chile was a colony whose resources had hardly been touched, with a population of about 500,000 persons, of Spanish and mixed Spanish and Indian blood: a people endowed with the vigour of character bred by a mountainous country and a bracing climate and by a hard struggle for existence, but ignorant through lack of education, shut out by a narrow-minded commercial system from knowledge of the outside world, and destitute of the character-training that free institutions afford.

Struggle for independence.

The national independence of Chile dates from the second decade of the 19th century. The revolt of England's North American colonies, and the events of the French Revolution naturally suggested the idea of a struggle for independence to the Spanish colonists, and the deposition of Ferdinand VII. by Napoleon, and the ensuing disorganization of Spain, supplied the desired opportunity. In 1809 risings took place in Venezuela, in Ecuador, in Upper Peru and in the Argentine; the revolutionary fever spread to Chile, and on the 18th of September 1810 the _cabildo_ of Santiago secured the resignation of the governor and vested his powers in an elected _Junta_ (board) of seven members. This event was the beginning of the independence of Chile. But it was some time before independence was fully attained. The mass of the people were ignorant, intercourse between them was slight, and there was a strong section attached to the old régime. The party determined on independence was at first small, and compelled to conceal its aims till the ground had been prepared for open decisive action. Further, there were divisions between the patriots of Santiago and those of Concepción, and bitter jealousies between the leaders, the chief of whom were Juan Martinez de Rozas, José Miguel Carrera and Bernardo O'Higgins. Owing to the apathy of the people and the enmities existing among the leaders, the Spanish forces, sent by the viceroy of Peru to crush the revolutionary movement, succeeded after two years' indecisive fighting in completely defeating the patriots at Rancagua in 1814. For three years the Spaniards maintained their hold on Chile, ruling the country with tyrannical harshness, but in the spring of 1817 a patriot force which had been organized at Mendoza in the Argentine by José de San Martin, an Argentine officer, and by O'Higgins, crossed the Andes and overwhelmed the royalists at the battle of Chacabuco. O'Higgins was named director-general of Chile, while San Martin, realizing that the independence of each colony depended on the Spanish being expelled from the whole of South America, set about preparing an invasion of Peru. The viceroy of Lima made one more effort to uphold the power of Spain in Chile, but the army he despatched under Mariano Osorio, the victor of Rancagua, was decisively defeated at the river Maipo on the 3rd of April 1818. By this battle the independence of Chile, formally proclaimed by O'Higgins in the previous February, was finally secured.

The republic.

The next few years witnessed the expulsion of the royalists from the south of Chile, the equipment of a small fleet, placed under the command of Manuel Blanco Encalada and Lord Cochrane (earl of Dundonald), and the invasion of Peru by San Martin with the help of the fleet, ending in the proclamation of Peruvian independence in 1821; though the Spanish power was not finally broken until Bolivar's victory at Ayacucho in 1824. Relieved from all fear of Spanish attacks from the north, the new republic of Chile entered upon a period of internal confusion and dissension bordering upon anarchy. As soon as the necessity for establishing a stable government arose the lack of training in self-government among the Chileans became painfully obvious. O'Higgins as director-general, rightly perhaps, considered that firm orderly government was more important than the concession of liberal institutions, but his administration roused strong hostility, and in 1823 he was compelled to resign. From that date up to 1830 there were no less than ten governments, while three different constitutions were proclaimed. The nation was divided into small mutually hostile parties; there were ecclesiastical troubles owing to the hostility of the Church to the new republic; there were Indian risings in the south and royalist revolts in the island of Chiloé; the expenditure exceeded the revenue, and the employment of the old Spanish financial expedients naturally increased the general discontent. Up to 1830 the Liberal party, which favoured a free democratic régime, held the upper hand, but in that year the Conservatives, backed by a military rising led by General Joaquin Prieto, placed themselves in power after a sanguinary battle at Lircay. Prieto was elected president in 1831, and a new constitution was drafted and promulgated in 1833, which, with some modifications, remains the constitution of Chile at the present time. This constitution invested the executive with almost dictatorial powers, and the Conservatives entered upon a long term of office.

The aim of the Conservative policy was to secure above all a strong administration; power was concentrated in the hands of a small circle; public liberties were restricted and all opposition crushed by force. Inaugurated under General Prieto's administration (1831-1841) by his able minister Diego Portales, this policy was continued by his successors General Manuel Bulnes (1841-1851) and Manuel Montt (1851-1861), each of whom like Prieto was elected to a double term of office. In spite of the discontent of the Liberals, the Conservative ascendancy secured a long period of firm stable government, which was essential to put an end to the confusion in public life and to give time for the people to awake to a fuller realization of the duties and responsibilities of national independence. The internal peace of the country was only disturbed three times, by Liberal risings in 1835, in 1851 and in 1859, all of which were crushed, but not without severe fighting. In 1836 Chile also became involved in a war with a confederation of Peru and Bolivia, which ended in the victory of Chile and the dissolution of the confederation.

While refusing to allow the people any share in, or control over, the government, the Conservative leaders devoted themselves to improving the condition of the people and of the country, and under their firm rule Chile advanced rapidly in prosperity. The government established a department for education, a training college for teachers, and numerous schools and libraries; literary magazines were started and a school of art and an academy of music founded. By the consolidation of the foreign debt, by the regular payment of interest, by the establishment of several banks, and by the negotiation of commercial treaties, the financial position of the country was improved. Internal development was promoted by the working of the silver mines of Copiapo and the coal mines of Lota, by the building of railways and erection of telegraphs, and by the colonization of the rich Valdivia province with German settlers.

The Straits of Magellan were occupied; under an American engineer, William Wheelwright, a line of steamers was started on the coast, and, by a wise measure allowing merchandise to be landed free of duty for re-exportation, Valparaiso became a busy port and trading centre; while the demand for food-stuffs in California and Australia, following upon the rush for gold, gave a strong impetus to agriculture. A code of law was drawn up and promulgated, and the ecclesiastical system was organized under an archbishop appointed by the pope. To Montt, as minister under Bulnes and afterwards as president, must be given the main credit for the far-seeing policy which laid the foundations of the prosperity of Chile; and though the administration was in many ways harsh and narrow, firm government, rather than liberty that would have tended to anarchy, was essential for the success of the young republic.

After 1861, however, a Liberal reaction set in, aided by divisions in the Conservative party arising mainly over church questions. Montt's successors, José Joaquin Perez (1861-1871), Federico Errázuriz (1871-1876) and Anibal Pinto (1876-1881), abandoned the repressive policy of their predecessors, invited the co-operation of the Liberals, and allowed discontent to vent itself freely in popular agitation. Some democratic changes were made in the constitution, notably a law forbidding the re-election of a president, and the gradual and peaceful transition to a Liberal policy was a proof of the progress which the nation had made in political training. Outside the movement for constitutional reform, the most important internal question was the successful Liberal attack on the privileged position and narrow views of the Church, which led to the birth of a strong ultra-montane party among the clergy. The government continued to be animated by a progressive spirit: schools, railways, telegraphs were rapidly extended; a steamship mail service to Europe was subsidized, and the stability of the government enabled it to raise new foreign loans in order to extinguish the old high interest-bearing loans and to meet the expenses of public works. In 1877 a financial crisis occurred, met by the emission of paper money, but the depression was only temporary, and the country soon rallied from the effects.

During this period there was desultory fighting with the Indians; there was a long boundary dispute with the Argentine, settled in 1880; and in 1865 Chilean sympathy with Peru in a quarrel with Spain led to a foolish war with Spain. The blockade of their ports and the bombardment of Valparaiso by a Spanish squadron impressed the Chileans with the necessity of possessing an adequate fleet to defend their long coast-line; and it was under President Errázuriz that the ships were obtained and the officers trained that did such good service in the great war with Peru. With a population of over two millions, a rapidly increasing revenue, ruled by a government that was firm and progressive and that enjoyed the confidence of all classes, Chile was well equipped for the struggle with Peru that began in 1879.

Close of the war with Peru.

The war of 1879-82 between Chile and Peru is the subject of a separate article (see CHILE-PERUVIAN WAR). By the beginning of 1881 the war had reached a stage when the final struggle was close at hand. On the 13th of January of that year the Chilean forces under command of General Baquedano attacked the entrenched positions of the Peruvians at daybreak in the vicinity of Chorillos, a village some few miles from Lima, and forming the outer line of defence for the capital. After a stubborn fight the day ended in victory for the attacking forces; but the losses on both sides were great, and on the following day negotiations for peace were attempted by the representatives of the foreign powers in Lima, the object being to avoid, if possible, any further bloodshed. This attempt to end the conflict proved, however, abortive, and on the 15th of January at 2 P.M. hostilities recommenced in the neighbourhood of Miraflores. After severe fighting for some four hours the Chileans again proved victorious, and drove the Peruvians from the second line of defence back upon the city of Lima. Lima was now at the mercy of the Chileans, and on the 17th of January a division of 4000 men of all arms, under the command of General Cornelio Saavedra, was sent forward to occupy the Peruvian capital and restore order within the town limits. A portion of the Chilean forces was shortly afterwards withdrawn from Peru, and the army of occupation remaining in the conquered country was in charge of Admiral Patricio Lynch, an officer who had been specially promoted for distinguished services during the war. President Anibal Pinto of Chile now set about to find means to conclude a treaty of peace with Peru, but his efforts in this direction were frustrated by the armed resistance offered in the country districts to the Chilean authorities by the remainder of the Peruvian forces under command of General Cáceres. So matters continued--the Chileans administering on the seaboard and in the principal towns, the Peruvians maintaining a guerilla warfare in the mountainous districts of the interior. In September 1881 the term of office of president Pinto expired, and he was succeeded in the post of chief executive of Chile by President Domingo Santa Maria. Ex-President Pinto died three years later in Valparaiso, leaving a memory respected and admired by all political parties in his country. The name of Pinto will always occupy a prominent place in the annals of Chilean history, not only because the war with Peru took place during his term of office, but also on account of the fact that it was largely due to the intelligent direction of all details by the president during the struggle that the Chilean arms proved so absolutely successful by land and sea.

President Santa Maria.

Señor Domingo Santa Maria, who now acceded to the presidency of Chile, was a Liberal in politics, and had previously held various important posts under the government. Under the rule of President Montt he had been an active member of the opposition and involved in various revolutionary conspiracies; for his participation in these plots he was at one time exiled from the country, but returned and received official employment under President Perez. The principal task confronting President Santa Maria on assuming the presidency was to negotiate a treaty of peace with Peru and provide for the evacuation of the Chilean army of occupation. The presence of the Peruvian general Cáceres and his forces in the interior of Peru prevented for some two years the formation of any Peruvian national administration in Lima with which the Chilean authorities could deal. In August of 1883 the Peruvians were defeated by the forces commanded by Admiral Lynch, and a government was then organized under the leadership of General Iglesias. A provisional treaty of peace was then drawn up and signed by General Iglesias and the Chilean representative, and this was finally ratified by the Chilean and Peruvian congresses respectively in April 1884. By the terms of this treaty Peru ceded to Chile unconditionally the province of Tarapacá, and the provinces of Tacna and Arica were placed under Chilean authority for the term of ten years, the inhabitants having then to decide by a general vote whether they remained a part of Chile or elected to belong once more to Peru. In the event of the decision being favourable to Peru a sum of 10,000,000 dollars was to be paid by Peru to Chile. On the ratification of this treaty the Chilean forces were immediately withdrawn from Lima and other points of occupation in Peruvian territory. The government of Bolivia also attempted to negotiate a treaty of peace with Chile in 1884, and for this purpose sent representatives to Santiago. No satisfactory terms, however, could be arranged, and the negotiations ended in only an armistice being agreed to, by which Chile remained in occupation of the Bolivian seaboard pending a definite settlement at some future period.

The administration of President Santa Maria met with violent opposition from the Conservatives, who included the Clerical party in their ranks, and also from a certain section of the Liberals. The dislike of the Conservatives to President Santa Maria was occasioned by his introduction of the law of civil marriage, the civil registration of births and deaths, and the freeing of the cemeteries. Hitherto no marriage was legal unless celebrated according to the rites of the Roman Catholic religion, and all registers of births and deaths were kept by the parish priests. Civil employees were now appointed under the new laws to attend to this work. Formerly the cemeteries were entirely under the control of the Church, and, with the exception of a few places specially created for the purpose, were reserved solely for the burial of Roman Catholics. Under the new regime these cemeteries were made common to the dead of all religions. Under President Perez, in 1865, a clause in the law of constitution had been introduced permitting the exercise of all creeds of religion, and this was now put into practice, all restrictions being removed. On several occasions, notably in 1882 and 1885, President Santa Maria used his influence in the elections of senators and deputies to congress for the purpose of creating a substantial majority in his favour. He was induced to take this course in consequence of the violent opposition raised in the chambers by the liberal policy he pursued in connexion with Church matters. This intervention caused great irritation amongst the Conservatives and dissentient Liberals, and the political situation on more than one occasion became so strained as to bring the country to the verge of armed revolution. No outbreak, however, took place, and in 1886 the five years of office for which President Santa Maria had been elected came to an end, and another Liberal, Señor José Manuel Balmaceda, then succeeded to power.

Balmaceda elected president.

Revolution of 1891.