Page 196 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol V

warfare—post-columbian latin america 1973

peninsula. Latin American colonies zuela. José de San Martín (1778–
experienced many uprisings during 1850) led another in Argentina
the eighteenth century and later. and joined forces with Bolívar in
We can see many rebellions as Peru. The Mexican independence
responses to increased taxation In a scene played out many struggle erupted in 1810. Each
and abuses by officials. Also times in modern Latin America, conflict featured a large royalist
important was cultural defense by soldiers in El Salvador arrest faction that offered fierce resist-
rebellious indigenous villagers. students accused of revolting ance. Although neither side had
Uprisings by African slaves oc- against the government. enough troops to establish massed
curred in areas where slave plan- formations of infantry,Napoleonic-
tations were common. The larger era developments in battlefield tac-
rebellions often had multiple causes. Rebellions among tics influenced the conduct of these conflicts. Both sides
Andean people often contained currents of Inca mil- had access to supplies of firearms and munitions,negating
lenarianism, manifesting a desire to create an indigenous an important advantage enjoyed by royalists against ear-
empire led by a descendant of the pre-1571 hereditary lier rebels.The conflicts were complex and protracted, but
rulers known as Incas.. by 1824 all of Latin America except Cuba and Puerto Rico
The most extensive of these rebellions took place in the had achieved political independence.
Andes from 1781 to 1784. Some 15,000 regular and Independence replaced two large colonial empires
militia troops took the field against the Tupac Amaru II with a number of separate states. Each state faced many
rebels, and an estimated 100,000 persons were killed problems, prominent among them disputes between lib-
during the rebellion. In the end royalist troops restored erals and conservatives that usually manifested them-
Spanish colonial authority. Such restoration was always selves as conflicts over centralization of political power.
the case before the independence conflicts. Militia troops Conflicts erupted within states over breakaway provinces
may not have been better trained than their rebel oppo- and between states over borders and resources, some of
nents. Rebels at times gained an initial advantage through which continue to the present.
surprise attacks with overwhelming numbers, but they The Portuguese king departed Rio de Janeiro in
always suffered from a shortage of effective battlefield 1821 and left behind his son Pedro as prince regent.
weapons. Although never the only factor, superior arma- Pedro declared independence in 1822 and imple-
ments enabled Spanish troops to defeat rebels in the end. mented a centralist constitution. During the next
The prestige of the Iberian powers and the monarchs twenty-five years five major armed rebellions occurred
themselves provided a sort of final authority that held in different parts of Brazil, each one seeking to de-
colonial rule together. Events in Europe altered the polit- centralize power. The Brazilian army defeated each in
ical situation in the Latin American colonies.The British its turn. In 1835, the Brazilian government also sup-
Navy foiled the French emperor Napoleon by evacuating pressed a major slave uprising in Bahia.
the Portuguese royal family to Brazil. France invaded Argentina failed to hold together the boundaries of the
Spain in 1808 and arrested the king and his son. Joseph viceroyalty (the territory or jurisdiction of a ruler) of the
Bonaparte, son of Napoleon, then sat on the Spanish Río de la Plata. The Bolívar faction in Peru created
throne. Crises followed as local factions struggled to fill Bolivia out of Upper Peru. Lying beyond effective reach
the legitimacy void. of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Paraguay achieved inde-
Three large independence conflicts emerged and lasted pendence. Uruguay sought more local autonomy than
several years. One was led by Simón Bolívar (1783– Buenos Aires leaders wished to give, and the Spanish-
1830) and centered in present-day Colombia and Vene- Portuguese rivalry over that region reemerged as one