The occupation of Antofagasta sparked the first actual military conflict in the War of the Pacific. Bolivia was in control of Antofagasta, and wanted to impose a tax hike on the citizens of the city (Sater, 1997). When it faced resistance, Bolivia confiscated property from a Chilean mining company in Antofagasta and decided to auction the property to raise revenue (Sater, 1997). In response, Chile sent a warship to Antofagasta and took control of the city of Antofagasta on the day Bolivia planned to sell off the property (Sater, 2007).
While occupying the city of Antofagasta, a Chilean military officer intercepted a letter from the Bolivian President Hilarion Daza to a Bolivan officer. The letter eluded to a secret treaty between Peru and Bolivia signed in 1873 and that Bolivia would demand to Peru to declare war on Chile if war between Chile and Bolivia became inevitable (Letter from President Daza). On March 14, 1789, Bolivia declared war on Chile due to their occupation of Antofagasta and called on Peru to declare war on Chile also; Peru did not immediately respond (Farcau, 42). On April 5, 1789 Chile responded by declaring war on Bolivia in return, and, through private diplomatic channels, requiring the Peru remain neutral in the war (Farcau, 43). The stage for war had been set.
After initial difficulties, Chile’s superior naval forces allowed the nation to take control of the war. Peru’s navy was able to break the Chilean blockade of Iquique even though the Peruvian ships were outgunned, following the blockade of Iquique, Peruvian ships evaded the Chilean Navy for months (Farcau, 78). When the Chilean navy finally engaged with and sank the Peruvian ship, Chile swiftly gained the upper hand in the war with victories at the Battles of Angamos and Arica and successful blocades of Arica and Callao (Farcau, 83). Superior military power and thus control of the sea lanes allowed Chile to take control of the war, supply their troops, and cut off most supply lines to Bolivia and Peru.
In October 1880, after 17 months of fighting Peru, Chile, and Bolivia met on the USS Lackawanna hosted by an American diplomat to reach a peace settlement (Farcau, 153). Chile, fresh off of its recent military victories attempted to set the narrative of the conference and demanded that in order to obtain peace among the nations, Chile must be given all lands south of the Camarones, as well as a public abrogation of the secret treaty signed between Bolivia and Peru in 1873 (Farcau, 153). Bolivia and Peru soundly rejected Chile’s demands and made a counter-offer that Chile must withdraw any troops in Bolivia and Peru before any peace negotiations will occur, while Chile also rejected (Farcau, 154). The conference was rather short and was an abject failure. The one success of the Lackawanna Conference, however, was that both Bolivia and Peru were able to get some idea of what Chile’s true end goal of the war was, whereas before Bolivia and Peru were almost completely unaware (Farcau, 155).
Although hostilities between the two countries ended with a truce in 1884, the war was not brought officially to an end until 1905 with the signing of the Treaty of Peace between Chile and Bolivia (Treaty of Peace and Friendship Between Chile and Bolivia).
Works Cited
Daza, Hilarion. “Decree of President Daza.” May 16, 1879. Mocavo. Retrieved from http://www.mocavo.com/Message-From-the-President-of-the-United-States-Transmitting-Papers-Relating-to-the-War-in-South-America-and-Attempts-to-Bring-About-a-Peace-Submitted-to-the-Senate-January-26-and-27-1882-and-to-the-House-of-Representatives-January-26-and-February-17-1882-in-Reply-to-Resolutions-of-Those-Bodies-Calling-for-Correspondence-Touching-the-Efforts-of-This-Government-to-Bring-About-Peace-Between-Chili-and-Peru-and-Bolivia-and-Touching-Claims-Against-or-Contracts-Respecting-Either-of-the-Belligerent-Governments/325658/269
Farcau, Bruce W. “The Ten Cents War: Chile, Peru, and Bolivia in the War of the Pacific, 1789-1884. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.
Letter from President Daza. February 18, 1879. Archives.org. Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/chileperucauseso00bulnuoft
Sater, William. “Andean Tragedy: Fighting the War of the Pacific: 1879-1884.” 2007. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press.
“Treaty of peace and friendship between Chile and Bolvia, and convention for the construction and operation of a railroad from Africa to La Paz.” March 28, 1905. University of Wisconsin Libraries. Retrieved from http://images.library.wisc.edu/FRUS/EFacs/1905/reference/frus.frus1905.i0011.pdf
