History of South America - Independence and 19th Century

Independence and 19th Century

The Spanish colonies won their independence in the first quarter of the 19th century, in the Spanish American wars of independence. Simón Bolívar (Greater Colombia, Peru, Bolivia), José de San Martín (United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, Chile, and Peru), and Bernardo O'Higgins (Chile) led their independence struggle. Although Bolivar attempted to keep the Spanish-speaking parts of the continent politically unified, they rapidly became independent of one another.

Unlike the Spanish colonies, the Brazilian independence came as an indirect consequence of the Napolionioc Invasions to Portugal - French invasion under General Junot led to the capture of Lisbon on 8 December 1807. In order not to lose its sovereignty, the Portuguese Court moved the capital from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, which was the Portuguese Empire's capital between 1808 and 1821 and rose the relevance of Brazil within the Portuguese Empire's framework. Following the Portuguese Liberal Revolution of 1820, and after several battles and skirmishes were fought in Pará and in Bahia, the heir apparent Pedro, son of King John VI of Portugal, proclaimed the country's independence in 1822 and became Brazil's first emperor (He later also reigned as Pedro IV of Portugal). This was one of the most peaceful colonial independence ever seen in human history.

A struggle for power emerged among the new nations, and several further wars were soon fought thereafter.

The first few wars were fought for supremacy in the northern and southern parts of the continent. The Gran Colombia – Peru War of the north and the Cisplatine War (between the Empire of Brazil and the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata) ended in stalemates, although the latter resulted in the independence of Uruguay (1828). A few years later, after the break-up of Gran Colombia, the balance of power shifted in favor of the newly-formed Peru-Bolivian Confederation (1836-1839). Nonetheless, this power structure proved temporary and shifted once more as a result of the Northern Peruvian State's victory over the Southern Peruvian State-Bolivia War of the Confederation (1836-1839), and the Argentine Confederation's defeat in the Guerra Grande (1839-1852).

Later conflicts between the South American nations continued to define their borders and power status. In the Pacific coast, Chile and Peru continued to exhibit their increasing domination, defeating Spain in the Chincha Islands War. Finally, after precariously defeating Peru during the War of the Pacific (1879-1883), Chile emerged as the dominant power of the Pacific Coast of South America. In the Atlantic side, Paraguay attempted to gain a more dominant status in the region, but an alliance of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay (in the resulting War of the Triple Alliance, 1864-1870) ended Paraguayan ambitions. Thereupon, the Southern Cone nations of Argentina, Brazil, and Chile entered the 20th century as the major continental powers.

A few countries did not gain independence until the 20th century:

• Panama, from Colombia, in 1903
• Guyana, from the United Kingdom, in 1966.
• Suriname, from the Dutch control, in 1975
• Trinidad and Tobago, from the United Kingdom, in 1962

French Guiana remains an overseas department of France.