It’s the year 1866 A new era begins for the young independent nations of Latin America. The alliance formed by Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Ecuador had just won an important victory during the Battle of Callao by defeating Spain and preventing any reclamation attempt on their lands as its fleet was forced to abandon the South American Pacific. Nevertheless, in 1866, Latin America did not live up to the challenge of peaceful coexistence. With their common enemy defeated, it didn’t take long for internal political struggles to reappear, which reignited old border conflicts between nations that once fought as allies The border between Chile and Bolivia may be one of the most controversial at the time Chile claimed that its northern border extended to the 23rd parallel of south latitude, whereas for Bolivia the border was set at the 26th parallel This controversy took a new turn as the area under dispute contained rich mineral deposits especially saltpeter, which was an excellent fertilizer and is also used in the manufacture of gunpowder Whoever controlled the saltpeter deposits, secured a strategic natural resource for the economic development of their country. After many negotiations, on August 10, 1866, both countries reached an agreement and signed their first Boundary Treaty, setting the border at the 24th parallel, while establishing a zone of shared economic exploitation between the 23rd and 25th parallels and agreeing to share equally the profits from saltpeter exploitation. Once the borders were established and the possibility of an armed conflict vanished, saltpeter exploitation experienced a new boom, which paradoxically would lay the foundations of yet another dispute. Despite the fact that the richest deposits and the necessary infrastructure for the exploitation of saltpeter were located in Bolivian sovereign territories, the exploitation of the mineral attracted mainly Chilean investors and immigrants for whom saltpeter was a means to survive in times of a harsh global economic crisis. The Antofagasta Nitrate and Railway Company, of mainly Chilean investments, obtained the titles for the cost-free and almost exclusive exploitation of saltpeter in the area. The weakened Bolivian authorities in Antofagasta cast a suspicious eye on the whole enterprise. In fact, it didn’t take long for the Bolivian government to try to regulate, especially in terms of taxation, Chilean capital companies responsible for the exploitation of saltpeter. In a final attempt to solve these newly arising issues, both countries agreed to negotiate a second treaty to put an end to this controversy. However, upon signing this second treaty, a decisive event took place. Faced with escalating tensions, Bolivia sought military support from Peru, its main trading partner. On February 6, 1873, both countries signed a Secret Treaty of Defensive Alliance, which allowed Bolivia to secure an ally in the event of a possible armed conflict with Chile. Fortunately, on that occasion, the diplomatic route prevailed and on August 6, 1874, the second Chilean-Bolivian border treaty was signed. Both countries agreed, among other things, that Bolivia could not impose new taxes on Chile, its industries and capital, for a period of 25 years, while ratifying the border between both countries, which remained at the 24th parallel. but even though it was believed that this second treaty would put a lid on the matter, the agreements did not stand the test of time. In 1876, General Hilarión Daza took center stage and, by force of arms, became president of Bolivia. Daza's iron fist style rule was not a good omen. And in a bitter turn of event, an earthquake and a severe drought punished many parts of the country. In order to raise the necessary resources to face this crisis, on February 14, 1878, Bolivia passed a law to raise a tax of ten cents per quintal of saltpeter exported, therefore openly ignoring its agreement with Chile when signing the second treaty four years earlier. The Nitrate Company refused to pay the tax and gained support from Chilean President Aníbal Pinto and his government, which, of course, triggered a new diplomatic conflict. In retaliation, early February 1879, Hilarión Daza’s government rescinded the contract with the Antofagasta Nitrate and Railway Company and ordered the seizure and auction of its assets to collect any unpaid taxes since the ten-cent tax came into effect. As a result, Chilean President Aníbal Pinto occupied Antofagasta. Chilean troops arrived in the port of Antofagasta on February 14, 1879 and did not meet any resistance whatsoever. Their goal was to prevent the Antofagasta Nitrate and Railway Company to be put to auction and to claim back the territory which Chile renounced under the two boundary treaties, contending that Bolivia had breached the agreement to which both countries were parties. When news of Chile’s occupation of Antofagasta reached Lima, President Mariano Ignacio Prado offered to mediate between both parties in order to avoid a war for which neither Peru nor its secret ally were prepared. Prado sent diplomatic delegations to both countries to hold peace talks; Peru proposed that Chile and Bolivia should settle their differences by bringing in a third-party arbitrator. And while they reached an agreement, Bolivia would suspend its ten-cent tax on saltpeter exports. However, when the Peruvian delegation made its proposal, Chilean authorities confirmed their suspicion of a secret treaty between Peru and Bolivia. When demanding an explanation, they finally rejected any possibility of Peru acting as a mediator in the negotiations. The situation quickly escalated when Bolivia declared war on Chile on March 1, 1879. Chile demanded that Peru maintained its neutrality, but Prado’s government requested time to refer the issue to Congress. Chile saw Peru’s response as an attempt to gain time. Chile finally declared war on Bolivia and Peru on April 5. As any chances of a peaceful resolution had been sabotaged, President Prado confirmed its alliance with Bolivia and declared war on Chile as per the defensive treaty of 1873. This marked the beginning of the Pacific War. Since the beggining of hostilities, it was evident for both sides that the battle was going to be fought first at sea, as maritime control was key to guarantee the success of operations on the mainland. This includes the protection of communication channels, the movement and disembarkation of troops, and supply routes along the extensive coasts of the South Pacific. Since the outbreak of the conflict, Chile was certainly on of the best-prepared country in Latin America in terms of naval power, while Bolivia's navy was virtually non-existent. But in order to better understand the disparity between both forces, let’s have a closer look at the naval power of both states. Armored ships formed the core of the naval squadrons of the late 1800s. As a result of the escalation in border tensions with its neighbors, Chile had recently acquired the twin-armored frigates, "Cochrane" and "Blanco Encalada". In contrast, the power of the Peruvian navy was based on the armored frigate "Independencia" and the monitor "Huáscar", but both vessels were more than a decade older than Chile’s ships, with fewer and smaller caliber guns. Then came the Corvettes, wooden ships of large tonnage. Yet again, Chile was clearly superior. In comparison to Chile’s 4 corvettes, Peru’s navy only had one, the Union, whose only material advantage was that of being the fastest ship throughout the conflict. For the sake of being thorough, this category also includes the river monitors "Manco Cápac" and "Atahualpa", which were armored ships purchased from the United States, but designed for river operations only, as they were incapable of safely navigating the waters of the Pacific. Not only were they very slow, they were also difficult to maintain. This meant that throughout the war they served only as floating batteries. Third came the gunboats, wooden ships of lesser tonnage. Chile had acquired two, while Peru only one, the "Pilcomayo", which, by the way, was the most modern vessel in its squadron. Last, but not least, were the transports. If the armored ships were at the heart of a country’s naval power, the transports were its arteries, as they allowed both sides to supply their troops and ships. Chile had a total of seven transports, whereas Peru only four. The main differences between both naval forces would mark the strategy adopted by each country in order to maximize its strengths and exploit the enemy's weaknesses. On the one hand, Chile’s squadron, commanded by Rear Admiral Juan Williams Rebolledo, sought to impose its numerical superiority and capacity to eliminate any Peruvian squadron in a single and decisive battle. On the other hand, Peru’s squadron, smaller in size and capacity, would avoid fighting Chile’s ships at all costs, except in favorable circumstances, concentrating its efforts on hitting Chile’s supply lines through attack-and-retreat tactics. To this end, the squadron was organized into two divisions, under the command of Captain Miguel Grau and Captain Aurelio García y García. The naval campaign of the Pacific War started on April 5th, the day Chile declared war on both Peru and Bolivia. That day, most of Chile’s squadron initiated the blockade of the Peruvian port of Iquique and later bombarded the ports of Huanillos, Pabellón de Pica, Pisagua and Mollendo. These maneuvers allowed Rear Admiral Juan Williams Rebolledo to choke Peru’s economy in an attempt to force its squadron to set sail and engage in open sea, outside the fortifications of the port of Callao. A month after the blockade of Iquique, it was evident that this strategy did not bring about the expected result. Except for an inconclusive skirmish at Punta Chipana, Peru’s squadron didn’t leave its base to engage in combat. Impatient to neutralize its enemy, Juan Williams Rebolledo then decided to change tactics and head in total secrecy to Callao in order to take Peru’s squadron by surprise and destroy it before it could react. Before setting sail, he left Captain Arturo Prat in charge of the blockade of Iquique, who took command of the corvette "Esmeralda" accompanied by the schooner "Covadonga" and the transport "Lamar". Meanwhile, in Lima, Mariano Ignacio Prado, who had been appointed Supreme Director of War, convened the War Council. During the meeting, the Peruvian commanders were keen on delaying the departure of Peru’s ships, as they required extensive maintenance work and training of the crews. But the council finally authorized the departure of the squadron to Arica in order to avoid a possible blockade. As fate would have it, the day Chile’s squadron set sail for Callao, Peru’s first naval division set sail as well, with President Prado on board, escorting a convoy of 4,000 troops to defend the port of Arica. Both naval forces crossed paths without knowing it, as Peru’s ships sailed close to the coast, while Chile’s ships sailed offshore to avoid being seen. Upon arrival at Arica, Peru’s Commander-in-Chief was informed from Iquique that Chile’s squadron had sailed north, leaving the blockade under the supervision of two ships only. Peru’s War Council decided to make the bold gamble to break the blockade of the port of Iquique. Captain Miguel Grau would lead the attack. In Williams Rebolledo's haste to impose his will, he gave Miguel Grau the opportunity to become the hunter, not the hunted. What would follow would mark the course of the entire naval campaign of the War. Thank you very much for watching the first episode of our documentary on the Pacific War. We hope you enjoyed this new video series. If so, please don't forget to support us by hitting the like button and subscribing to our channel. You can contact us and leave us your questions or suggestions for future topics in the comments section. See you soon!
