Venezuelan War of Independence
Venezuelan War of Independence | |||||||||
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Part of Spanish American wars of independence | |||||||||
La Batalla de Carabobo, Martín Tovar y Tovar | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Patriots 1810: Caracas Junta 1811–1816: Venezuela Colombia 1816–1819: Venezuela Haiti[1] 1819–1823: Gran Colombia |
Spain
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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History of Venezuela |
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Chronology |
Topics |
American Confederation of Venezuela
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Venezuela portal |
The Venezuelan War of Independence (Spanish: Guerra de Independencia de Venezuela, 1810–1823) was one of the Spanish American wars of independence of the early nineteenth century, when independence movements in South America fought a civil war for secession and against unity of the Spanish Empire, emboldened by Spain's troubles in the Napoleonic Wars.
The establishment of the
On 17 December 1819, the Congress of Angostura declared Gran Colombia an independent country. After two more years of war, the country achieved independence from Spain in 1821 under the leadership of Simón Bolívar. Venezuela, along with the present-day[update] countries of Colombia, Panama, and Ecuador, formed part of the Republic of Gran Colombia until 1830, when Venezuela separated and became a sovereign state.
First Republic (1810–1812)
The French invasion of Spain in 1808 led to the fall of the
Even before the Congress began its sessions in November 1810, a
Second Republic (1813–1814)
Bolívar and other republicans continued the resistance from other parts of the Spanish South America and the Caribbean, or organized guerrilla movements in the interior of the country. In 1813 Bolívar joined the army of United Provinces of New Granada. After winning a series of battles, Bolívar received the approval of the New Granadan Congress to lead a liberating force into Venezuela in what became known as the Admirable Campaign. At the same time, Santiago Mariño invaded from the northeast in an independently organized campaign. Both forces quickly defeated the royalist troops in various battles, such as Alto de los Godos. Bolívar entered Caracas on 6 August 1813, proclaiming the restoration of the Venezuelan Republic and his supreme leadership of it, something which was not fully recognized by Mariño based in Cumaná, although the two leaders did cooperate militarily.
In the viceroyalties of
But neither the successful invasions nor Bolívar's decree were provoking a massive enrollment of pardos in the cause of Independence. Rather it was the other way around. In the
Resistance to the Republic this time came from the people of the vast southern plains, the Llaneros, who organized under the command of Spanish immigrant, José Tomás Boves. The war was transformed. The Llaneros had a dislike for the urban and elite Criollos who led the independence movement. Negroes were supplied with maps and lists of rebel plantations by royalists. The Llanero army routed the patriots in the center of the country. Finally Boves marched towards Caracas, forcing the Republicans to flee to the east of the country, ending the second republic.[citation needed]
The traditional image of the Venezuelan llanos swarming with caudillos like Boves exaggerates the situation. Boves was the only significant pro-Spain caudillo and he was acting in concert with Francisco Tomás Morales, who was a regular officer of Spain. In the Battle of Urica, Boves was killed and Morales took command and carried out mopping up operations against the remaining patriot resistance, which included the capture and execution of Ribas. As was still common in the early 19th century, Morales had his head boiled in oil (to preserve it) and sent to Caracas. (See the Execution of Miguel Hidalgo in Mexico.) Boves died shortly thereafter in battle, but the country had been returned to royalist control. Morillo arrived in Venezuela and began operations with Morales.
Spanish reconquest of New Granada (1815–1816)
In Spain, anti-French forces had liberated the country, and the restored Ferdinand VII sent a large expeditionary force to Venezuela and New Granada under Pablo Morillo, who had distinguished himself during Spain's War of Independence.
Royalist forces under Morillo and Morales
Boves's locally raised Llanero army was replaced in 1815 by a formal expedition sent from Spain under the leadership of Pablo Morillo. It was the largest expedition the Spanish had ever sent to the Americas. Venezuela's proximity to Cuba, Puerto Rico and Spain made it the first target of the royalist counterattack. The Llaneros were either demobilized or incorporated into the expeditionary units. The republican patriots found themselves once more dispersed, and again the war took a local character. Different patriot guerrilla bands formed, but could not agree on a united leadership, much less a united strategy. One group of patriots launched an expedition to eastern Venezuela that ended in failure. Bolívar thereafter sought to join forces with Manuel Piar, another patriot leader but differences between them prevented a united republican front. Bolívar then went to the Llanos where he joined forces with José Antonio Páez, but a failed attack on central Venezuela forced Bolivar to retreat back to Apure. Morillo counterattacked successfully but was defeated at the Battle of Las Queseras del Medio. A long-term stalemate ensued in which the royalists controlled the highly populated, urban north and the republicans the vast, under-populated plains of the south.
Stalemate (1816–1819)
Bolívar and Brión returned and tried in 1817 to capture Barcelona, where the Spaniards repulsed them. In the meantime, Piar and Mariño had occupied defenceless Angostura (a city at the narrowest and deepest part of the
The year 1818 saw a stalemate between the patriots based in Angostura (and free-wheeling in part of the llanos) and Morillo (entrenched in Caracas, triumphant in eastern Venezuela, and operating in the llanos as far as Apure). This is the time during which (according to
In 1819 Bolívar proclaimed the republic of Great Colombia, which included Venezuela and New Granada. New volunteers arrived in Venezuela, though most, like those that preceded them, were in essence mercenaries probably under the illusion that there were fortunes to be made in Venezuela, which was hardly the case. There is no evidence that the British government was backing them, but since Spain was no longer a British ally, it was not hindering them either. In Europe, generally, Bolívar's name was known as was the Spanish American movement for independence, which had the sympathy of every liberal-minded person, as did the independence of Greece, then also in the process of emancipation. Morillo had his hands full and pardos were starting to look towards patriot leaders. Campaigns in eastern Venezuela began turning the tide for independence and in the llanos Páez defeated Morillo and Morales in Apure. This cleared the way for Bolívar and Santander to invade New Granada, where, in Pantano de Vargas, the Spaniards were defeated in a battle in which the British Legion played a central role and its commander, Rooke, was killed in action. In the battle of Boyacá (1819), Spanish power was crushed in New Granada, except in the south. Páez occupied Barinas and, from New Granada, Bolívar invaded Venezuela.
Consolidation of independence
In 1819, to break this impasse Bolívar invaded New Granada, which had been reconquered by Morillo's expeditionary force three years earlier. Bolívar decisively defeated the royalists at Boyacá. With the liberation of New Granada, the republicans had a significant base from which to attack Morillo's forces. A republican Congress at Angostura (today Ciudad Bolívar), which already had a small New Granada delegation, declared the union of New Granada and Venezuela in a Republic of Colombia (the Gran Colombia of contemporary accounts) to present a united front against the Spanish Monarchy.
In 1821, the Gran Colombian army won a decisive victory at the second Battle of Carabobo, after which the only cities in the hands of the royalist forces were Cumaná, which fell shortly thereafter, and Puerto Cabello, which managed to resist a siege before finally capitulating in October 1823.
Aftermath
The Spanish sent a fleet in 1823 to reconquer the country but were defeated at the Battle of Lake Maracaibo.[2] In the following years Venezuelan forces, as part of the army of Gran Colombia, continued campaigning under the leadership of Bolívar to liberate the southern parts of New Granada and Ecuador. Once this was accomplished, Gran Colombia continued its fight against the Spanish in Peru and Bolivia, completing the efforts of Chilean and Argentine patriots, such as José de San Martín, who liberated southern South America.
Gual and España Conspiracy
San Blas Conspiracy
it consisted of a Liberal movement that involved the installation of
Manuel Gual and Jose Maria España
This conspiracy took place in the city of La Guaira, it was inspired by both the San Blas Conspiracy and the French revolution, and similar to the first one, it was led by very important members of the society, lawyers, engineers, and merchants, regardless of this, people from all races and status in society joined and conspired against the colonists. One of the main objectives this movement followed was the equality of man and equal rights for every one, either black or white, rich or poor. According to Tomas Fernandez and Elena Tamaro,[4] this conspiracy had gained a lot of supporters both inside and outside the country, even the British and French navies supported their ambition of freedom against the Spanish rule.
In July of 1797 the conspiracy was supposed to materialize it's ambitions, but the Spanish Authorities including the Bishop of Caracas and the Governor of the Captaincy General of Venezuela, were quick enough to capture, interrogate and torture every individual suspected to be part of this conspiracy. Both Manuel Gual and Jose Maria España escaped to the Antilles, and even met again in Trinidad shortly after. España came back in 1799, he arrived to Barcelona and came back to la Guaira where he aspired to continue with his ambitions, regardless of the 5000 pesos reward on his head. He stayed in the port until he was captured, tortured and dismembered by the Spanish authorities. His parts where displayed all around the city of Caracas, which set an example of what happened to anybody that challenged their authority. According to the "Instituto Panamericano de Geografía e Historia"[5] Gual never set foot again in Venezuela, and died while being persecuted by the Spanish.
Legacy
These events inspired liberals in the Americas to realize that this goal may be achieved. The Spanish authorities instead of achieving what they wanted with their treatment of revolutionaries, inspired even more hate and liberalism in the overall public. This conspiracy gave the Americas a message, that was transmitted through not only speech but by text and Ideas, Documents like "Derechos del Hombre y del Ciudadano" where widely spread throughout the country and helped achieve the ultimate goal of independence from the colonists.
See also
- Military career of Simón Bolívar
- Simón Bolívar
- Eulalia Ramos
- Spanish American wars of independence
- Latin American wars of independence
- Venezuelan Independence
References
- ISBN 9781439110195, pp. 186
- ^ Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management. Venezuela, 13.
- ^ https://dbe.rah.es/biografias/18053/juan-bautista-picornell-y-gomila
- ^ "Biografia de Manuel Gual". www.biografiasyvidas.com. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
- ^ García Chuecos, H. (1949). Documentos relativos a la revolución de Gual y España, precedidos de un estudio histórico-crítico. Caracas, Venezuela: Instituto Panamericano de Geografía e Historia.
Further reading
- Harvey, Robert. Liberators: Latin America`s Struggle For Independence, 1810-1830. John Murray, London (2000). ISBN 0-7195-5566-3