Peruvian Civil War of 1894–1895
Peruvian Civil War of 1894–1895 | |||||||
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Part of the National Reconstruction | |||||||
Painting of De Piérola arriving in Lima by Juan Lepiani | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Government of Peru | National Coalition | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Andrés A. Cáceres | Nicolás de Piérola | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Peruvian Army: 4,000 (in Lima)[2] |
National Army: 5,000 (in Lima)[2] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
4,000 deaths in total[3] |
The Peruvian Civil War of 1894–1895 was an internal conflict in
The immediate cause of the conflict was the questioned
The revolutionaries or insurgents were known as pierolists, after their leader, or as coalitionists, since the parties opposing Cáceres that promoted the uprising had united in a self-named National Coalition. Their ranks were made up of
Background
After the Peruvian defeat in the
The "National Coalition"
At that time, the opposition to the Cacerist government was represented by two political groups:
- The Civic Union (which was an alliance between the supporters of Mariano Valcárcel, a dissident of Cacerism, and the Civilista Party, the already traditional party that was founded in 1871)
- The Democratic Party, founded in 1882 by Nicolás de Piérola, a popular civil leader who had been arrested in 1890 by the government of Morales Bermúdez, but who managed to escape to Chile.
On March 30, 1894, on the eve of Morales Bermúdez's death, a coalition pact was signed between civilistas and democrats "in defense of electoral freedom and freedom of suffrage." Thus the National Coalition was formed, which brought together the most bitter adversaries in Peruvian political history. Subsequently, groups of revolutionary guerrillas or Montoneros began to spontaneously emerge in all the provinces of Peru, thus beginning the civil rebellion against the second government of General Cáceres. Among the most prominent Montoneros were the brothers Oswaldo, Augusto, Edmundo and Teodoro Seminario, in Piura; the landowner Augusto Durand, in Huánuco; Colonel Felipe Santiago Oré, among others.[4]
Conflict
The movement still did not have a leader or a direction, but then Guillermo Billinghurst was entrusted to go to Chile in search of Nicolás de Piérola, who had been exiled since 1891. Piérola agreed to lead the revolution and embarked in Iquique, on October 19, 1894, aboard a boat with only two oars and a lateen sail. It is said that Billinghurst was only able to obtain such a fragile means of transportation and that upon seeing her, Piérola asked him: "Would you embark on this boat?" Billinghurts replied: “Not me; "But I have not proposed to be the regenerator of Peru." Piérola took on the challenge and successfully completed the long coastal journey of three hundred nautical miles from Iquique to Puerto Caballas, near Pisco, where he landed on October 24. Those who saw him could not believe that he had traveled such a distance aboard a fragile boat.
From Puerto Caballas, Piérola went to Chincha, where on November 4, 1894 he launched a "Manifesto to the Nation", assuming the position of "National Delegate". He maintained that the uprising was essential to reestablish the rule of order and law, so brutally violated, and to return to Peru its unknown sovereignty and its outraged dignity.[5]
From Chincha, Piérola went to
The attack on Lima
Battle of Lima | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Government of Peru | National Coalition | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Andrés A. Cáceres | Nicolás de Piérola |
Since January 1895, Lima had lived in constant uncertainty as Piérola's attack was feared from one moment to the next. Cáceres had 4,000 well-armed men, and the coalitionists only had 3,000. On the afternoon of March 16, 1895, Piérola ordered the attack on the capital. His army was divided into three bodies to simultaneously attack Lima from the north, centre and south.
In the early hours of Sunday, March 17, the attack began and Piérola, on horseback and at the head of his army, entered through the
The armistice
At dawn on March 19, more than 1,000 bodies lay unburied in the streets and no less than 2,000 wounded in hospitals. The strong summer heat began to decompose the corpses, which threatened to unleash an epidemic. The diplomatic corps then met and under the presidency of the Apostolic Nuncio, Monsignor José Macchi , a 24-hour truce was achieved between the combatants to bury the dead and care for the wounded. Technically speaking, Piérola's Montonero forces had not achieved victory, since Cáceres' army remained practically intact; However, the public atmosphere was in favour of the revolutionaries and that is how the Cacerists understood it.
Once the armistice was extended, an agreement was signed between Luis Felipe Villarán (representative of Cáceres) and Enrique Bustamante y Salazar (representative of de Piérola), under the mediation of the Diplomatic Corps, agreeing to the establishment of a Government Board chaired by civilist Manuel Candamo, and with two representatives from Cáceres and two from Piérola. The mission of this Junta would be to call elections, while the two armies withdrew from the capital. General Cáceres resigned from the government. The revolution had triumphed.[9]
Early on the same day, Cáceres had sought
Aftermath
On April 8, 1895, Pedro Alejandrino del Solar recognised the Government Board and renounced the right that some attributed to him to assume the presidency, in his capacity as first vice president of the government of Morales Bermúdez. On April 14, the Government Junta called presidential elections. The National Coalition, maintaining the alliance, launched the candidacy of Piérola, who without a challenger was elected with an overwhelming majority. Until then, the elections were held through the indirect system of the Electoral Colleges: of the 4,310 voters, 4,150 voted for Piérola.
Nicolás de Piérola was anointed as
References
- ^ Dixon 2015, p. 181.
- ^ a b Dixon 2015, p. 181–182.
- ^ Singer, Joel David (1972). "Nineteenth Century Death Tolls". The Wages of War. 1816-1965. New York City: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
- ^ Guerra 1984, p. 46.
- ^ Chirinos Soto 1985, p. 391.
- ^ Basadre 1998, p. 2222.
- ^ Guerra 1984, p. 47.
- ^ Basadre 1998, p. 2222-2223.
- ^ Basadre 1998, p. 2224-2225.
- ^ López Martínez, Héctor (2018-12-04). "El dramático asilo de Cáceres, por Héctor López Martínez". El Comercio.
Bibliography
- Basadre Grohmann, Jorge (1998). Historia de la República del Perú. 1822 - 1933, 8th Edition. Volume 9. Santiago de Chile: La República, Universidad "Ricardo Palma".
- Chirinos Soto, Enrique (1985). Historia de la República (1821-1930). Volume 1. Lima: AFA Editores Importadores S.A..
- Dixon, Jeffrey S. & Meredith Reid Sarkees (2015). A Guide to Intra-state Wars: An Examination of Civil, Regional, and Intercommunal Wars, 1816-2014. CQ Press. ISBN 9781506317984.
- Guerra, Margarita (1984). Historia General del Perú. La República Aristocrática. Tomo XI. 1st Edition. Lima: Edited by Carlos Milla Batres. Legal Deposit: B. 22436-84 (XI).
- Orrego, Juan Luis (2000). La República Oligárquica (1850-1950). In Historia del Perú. Lima: Lexus Editores. ISBN 9972-625-35-4