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Nitrates, Chilean Entrepreneurs and the Origins of the War of the Pacific

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2009

Luis Ortega
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Extract

The Chilean victory in the war against Perú and Bolivia between 1879 and 1884 demonstrated that the country's institutions had reached a high level of consolidation and maturity. The normal renewal of the legislative bodies and the presidential election of 1881, along with the uninterrupted functioning of these institutions throughout the conflict was proof of this, as was the continuation, without respite, of the customary practice of political confrontation between government and opposition. From every point of view, the national mobilization in Chile occasioned by the war made apparent social cohesion and a deep-rooted sense of nationality.

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Articles
Information
Journal of Latin American Studies , Volume 16 , Issue 2 , November 1984 , pp. 337 - 380
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1984

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References

1 See Arnold, J. Bauer, Chilean Rural Society from the Spanish Conquest to 1930 (Cambridge, 1975),Google Scholar especially chapters II to V for the evolution of agriculture. On copper and silver mining, see Pierre, Vayssiére, Un slécle de capitalisme miniére au Cbili, 1830–1930 (Paris, 1980),Google Scholar chapters I to VI; the beginning and development of coal mining is analysed in Luis, Ortega, ‘The First Four Decades of the Chilean Coal Mining Industry, 1840–1879’, in Journal of Latin American Studies (JLAS), 14, 1 (1982), pp. 1–32.Google Scholar The first stages of industrializatión are examined by the same author in ‘Acerca de los orígenes de la industrialización chilena, 1860–1879’, in Nueva Historia, 1, 2 (1981), pp. 3–54.Google Scholar On the development of the railway network in the Central Zone see Robert, Oppenheimer, ‘Chilean Transportation Development: the Railroad and Socioeconomic Change in the Central Valley, 1844–1885’ (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles, 1976),Google Scholar and John, H. Whaley Jr, ‘Transportation in Chile's Bío-Bío Region, 1850–1915’ (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Indiana University, 1974).Google Scholar

2 Julio, Heise, Historia de Chile, el período parlamenlario (Santiago, 1974), passim, provides a good overview of cultural, institutional and political changes.Google Scholar

3 A sound discussion is Thomas, F. O'Brien, The Nitrate Industry and Chile's Crucial Transition, 1870–1891 (New York, 1982), especially pp. 45–8.Google Scholar See also William, F. Sater, ‘Chile and the World Depression of the 1870s’, in JLAS, 11, 1 (1979), pp. 67–99,Google Scholar and Luis, Ortega, ‘Change and Crisis in Chile's Economy and Society, 1865–1879’ (unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of London, 1979), especially chapter VI.Google Scholar

4 Saul, S. B., The Myth of the Great Depression, 1873–1896 (London, 1975), pp. 11–16, 21–7 and 28–30.Google Scholar

5 See the works cited in note 3.

6 Ibid..

7 Archivo Nacional (AN) Santiago, Fondo Nuevo (FN), ‘Varios’, vol. 413, pieza, 14a; Blest Gana to Pinto, Paris 25 January, 1878.

8 Ibid..

9 O'Brien, op. cit., p. 46; Vayssiére, op. cit., chapter v, and Ortega, ‘Change…’, op. cit., chapter IV.

10 Bauer, op. cit., chapters IV and V.

11 On lawlessness and crime see Sater, op. cit., and Ortega, ‘Change…’, op. cit., especially chapter VI. On the foundations of the political order see Simon, Collier, ‘Conservatismo chileno, 1830–1860. Temas e imágenes’, in Nueva Historia, 2, 7 (1983), pp. 143–63.Google Scholar

12 Cristián, Zegers, ‘Historia política del gobierno de Aníbal Pinto’, in Historia, no. 6 (1967), pp. 7–126.Google Scholar

13 Frank, W. Fetter, Monetary, Inflation in Chile (Princeton, 1931), still provides one of the best accounts of the events which led to the ‘inconvertibility of bank notes’.Google Scholar

14 AN. FN., ‘Varios’, vol. 413, pieza 14a; Blest Gana to Pinto, Paris, 3 March 1878. A discussion on the aims of the proposed tax reforms is William, F. Sater, ‘Economic Nationalism and Tax Reform in Late Nineteenth Century Chile’, in The Americas, no. 33 (1976), pp. 311–35;Google Scholar an alternative interpretation is Luis, Ortega, ‘Chilean Economic Policy Prior to the War of the Pacific’, in Abel, C. and Lewis, C. M. (eds.), Latin America. Economic Imperialism and the State: The Political Economy of an External Connection during the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (London, forthcoming).Google Scholar

15 AN. FN., ‘Varios’, vol.413, pieza 14a, Blest Gana to Pinto Paris, 19 November 1878. The London money market had undergone a crisis since 1875, cf. Leland, H. Jenks, The Migration of British Capital to 1875 (London, 1927), pp. 291–2.Google Scholar

16 Abdón, Cifuentes, Memorias (2 vols. Santiago, 1932), II, 153–4, on street rioting in Santiago. On the virtual breakdown of law and order in the countryside and the increase in urban criminality see note II.Google Scholar

17 Quoted in Francisco, Encina, Historia de Chile desde la prehistoria hasta 1891 (20 vols. Santiago, 1940–1952), XVI, 41; Pinto's remarks are dated 20 November 1877.Google Scholar

18 Ortega. ‘Change…’, op. cit., pp. 246, 419 and 427.

19 These were the activities of Alfred Paraf; an account of his endeavours in the press of Santiago and Valparaíso, July–December 1877. Cf. William, F. Sater, ‘Chile and the World Depression…’, loc. cit., pp. 88–9.Google Scholar

20 Sesión Conjunta de las Cámaras Legislativas, 15 12 1878.Google Scholar

21 Guillermo, Subercaseaux, Monetary and Banking Policy in Chile (Oxford, 1922), p. 93.Google Scholar

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23 Ranquil, (pseud.), Capítulos de la historia de Chile (Santiago, 1973), pp. 85–6.Google Scholar

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25 Bulnes, op. cit., 1, 106–20. On the social impact of the war in Perú see Heraclio, Bonilla, Un siglo a la deriva (Lima, 1980),Google Scholar especially the section: ‘El problema nacional y colonial del Perú en el contexto de la Guerra del Pacifico’. On Bolivia see Roberto, Querejazu, Guano, salitre y sangre (La Paz, 1979).Google Scholar

26 Bulnes op. cit., 1, 106. Ignacio, Santa María, ‘Guerra del Pacífico’, chapter III, in Revista Chilena de Historia y Geografía (RCbHG), 31, 35 (1919), p. 70. The terms of the 1866 and 1874 treaties were seen in Chile as involving the cession to Bolivia of the territory to the north of parallel 24. Neither were they acceptable to many Bolivians; in fact, in September 1874 the British Minister to Chile expressed his doubts as to whether the new treaty would be ratified by Bolivia's National Assembly as its terms were seen as too favourable to Chile. Archives of the Foreign Office (FO), Public Record Office London, Rumbold to Derby, Diplomatic No. 64, Santiago 15 September 1874, FO 16/181. His assessment was proved right, as the treaty was not ratified.Google Scholar

27 Archives of Antony Gibbs & Sons (AGA), Guildhall Library, London; William Gibbs (WG) Valparaíso to Antony Gibbs & Sons (AGS) London, 6 March 1878, MS 11470/2.

28 Ibid.

29 Ibid.

30 Ibid..

31 Ibid..

32 AGA, WG to AGS, Annual Account, 15 08 1878, MS 11470/2.Google Scholar

33 Ibid., WG to AGS, 26 June 1878, MS 11470/2.

34 Bulnes, op. cit., II, 107.

35 Memoria del Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores (MINREX) (1879), Anexos, pp. 45–6.Google Scholar

36 El Heraldo, 16 10 1896.Google Scholar

37 AN. Fondo Varios (FV), vol. 838, picza 871, pp. 139–40. Claro was President Pinto's cousin; he had considerable financial interests in Bolivia.Google Scholar

38 Ibid., p. 140.

39 Fierro was listed as a shareholder in the ANRC's ‘Memoria’ for the second half of 1878, but not in that for the first half of 1879.

40 Claro, to Pinto, , loc. cit., p. 141.Google Scholar

41 Ibid., pp. 141–2.

42 AGA, WG to AGS, 5 November 1878, MS 11470/2.

43 Antonio, Varas to Rafael, Vial, 21 January 1879, in RCbHG, 25, 29 (1913), p. 435. Varas' earnings as an ANRC shareholder amounted to £255 for the first half of 1879; cf. José Besa to Antonio Varas, AN. FV., vol. 838, pieza 78, 22 October 1879.Google Scholar

44 Bulnes, op. cit., 1, 109.

45 Pakenham to Salisbury, Confidential No. 4, Santiago 15 January 1879, FO 16/202.

46 AGA, WG to AGS, 14 January 1879, MS 11470/3.

47 Oscar, Bermúdez, Historia del salitre desde ru descubrimiento hasta la Guerra del Pacífico (Santiago, 1963), p. 335;Google Scholar Bulnes, op. cit., I, 118.

48 As note 46. The reference is to Agustín Edwards, businessman, deputy and the ANRC major shareholder.

49 Ibid.. There is no record on the amounts spent. Concha y Toro was a major shareholder in the ‘Huanchaca’ and ‘Exportación y Minería’ companies, both operating in Bolivia although registered in Valparaíso. John, Mayo in his ‘La Compafñía de Salitres de Antofagasta y la Guerra del Pacífico’, in Historia, no. 14 (1979), pp. 72–102,Google Scholar and ‘A Company War? The Antofagasta Nitrate Company and the outbreak of the War of the Pacific’, in Boletín de Estudios Latinoamericanos y del Caribe, no. 18 (1980), pp. 3–12, based on similar evidence, discusses the involvement of Chilean businessmen in the dispute. His conclusions are different from this article's.Google Scholar

50 As note 46, and AGA, Lima to WG, 14 01 1879, MS 11121.Google Scholar

51 As note 46.

52 loc. cit., 12, and 10–20 Feb. 1879.

53 loc. cit., 24 Jan. 1879; this paperapos;s campaign lasted until the beginning of April.

54 loc. cit., 5 Feb. 1879.

55 El Mercurio, 01 to 03 1879.Google Scholar Of special interest are the issues of 18 January and those from 14 February onwards. Hayne's claim is in AGA, WG to AGS, 27 01 1879, MS 11470/3.Google Scholar

56 Minrex (1879),Google Scholar ‘Nota del Cónsul Jeneral de Chile en Antofagasta al Ministro de Relaciones Esteriores, 6 Febrero 1879’, Anexos, p.49. Ibid., ‘Nota del Ministro Chileno en La Paz al Ministro de Relaciones Esteriores de Chile, No. 86, 12 Febrero 1879’, Anexos, , pp. 55–6.Google Scholar

57 AGA, WG to AGS, 10 02 1879, MS 11470/3.Google Scholar

58 Pakenham, to Salisbury, , Confidential No. 6, Santiago 10 02 1879, FO 16/202.Google Scholar

59 AGA, WG to AGS, 12 02 1879, MS 11470/3.Google Scholar

60 La Patria, 10 02 1879.Google Scholar

61 As note 59.

62 See note 55 and AGA, WG to AGS, 14 02 1879, MS 11470/3.Google Scholar

63 Reproduced in La Patria, 12 02 1879.Google Scholar

64 AGA, WG to Lima, 12 02 1879, MS 11470/3, provides an account of Puelma&s activities.Google Scholar

65 The speeches and resolutions were reported by El Deber, El Mercurio and La Patria, 13 02 1879.Google Scholar

66 Ibid..

67 La Patria, 13 02 1879, article under the heading ‘¡A la guerra!’Google Scholar

68 Ibid., 10 February 1879.

69 Collier, op. cit., passim.

70 As note 64.

71 Bulnes, op. cit., I, 120–1.

72 AN. FN., ‘Varios’, vol. 416, pieza I, Santa María to Pinto, 16 02 1879.Google Scholar Santa María had already made his views on the problem known to the Council of State; at a meeting on 16 January, amongst other things, he said: ‘We must not hesitate now. For a long time now we have shown undue consideration towards Bolivia… Our deference towards that country has given grounds for others to think of us as weak or timid; and to tell the truth, as a result we have lost a good deal of our influence in the Pacific, influence which we must exert, since it tends to regularize and bestows some seriousness on the public affairs of other Republics’. Santa Maria's entire speech is in, Santa María, op. cit., pp. 98–100.

73 El Independiente, 19 02 1879; Los Tiempos, same date.Google Scholar

74 Reproduced in Pascual, Ahumada Moreno, Guerra del Pacifíco (8 vols., Valparalso, 1884–1892), I, 57.Google Scholar

75 See above, pp. 18–19, and notes 37 and 49.

76 Aníbal Pinto to Joaquín Godoy, Santiago 21 February 1879, quoted in Bulnes, op. cit., 1 124.

77 Bulnes, op. cit., I, 130–4.

78 AGA, WG to AGS, 27 02 1879, MS 11470/3.Google Scholar

79 Ibid..

80 Ibid., 3 march 1879, MS 11470/3.

81 Ibid., 10 march 1879, MS 11470/3.

82 Ibid., contains interesting remarks about the possibilities of the Peruvian mediation. According to Bulnes, op. cit., I, from the very beginning the Peruvian initiative was faced by an ‘insurmountable obstacle’. Whether the Chilean leadership knew about the Treaty/s existence or not has been a matter of controversy among historians. If they knew, it means that the government was following a policy which would lead to war with Peru. La Pairia made reference to the 1873 Treaty in its 7 March issue. Santa María was given assurances about its existence by Rafael Vial, who wrote to him, saying: ‘The Treaty exists’. Commenting on the Peruvian motives, he added: ‘… but they don't give a damn about its existence. If they are against us it is because of the competition they face from our nitrate; the Treaty is the pretext, nitrate is the motive’. Vial to Santa María, Lima, 5 March 1879; quoted in Santa María, op. cit., chapter IV, in RCBHG, XXXII, 36 (1920), p. 63.

83 See Vial's remarks in previous note.

84 El Mercurio, 15 04 1879.Google Scholar The reference to the Pinto-Varas ‘special relation’, is in Armando, Donoso, Recuerdos de cincuenta años (Santiago, 1947), p. 212.Google Scholar

85 El Mercurio, 3 07 1878.Google Scholar

86 ‘Acta de la Sesión de Gabinete del 19 de abril de 1879’, in RCbHG, XVIII, 27 (1906), 7–8.Google Scholar

87 Ibid..

88 AGA, WG to AGS, 5 05 1879, MS 11470/3.Google Scholar

89 Bulnes, op. cit., 1, 134.

90 El Ferrocarril, 10 04 1879.Google Scholar Provincial papers, reflecting ‘popular’ opinions, carried a similar message. I am indebted to Sofía Correa for this information. See also William, F. Sater, ‘Chile During the First Months of the War of the Pacific’, in JLAS, 5, 1 (1973), 133–58, on early disenchantment.Google Scholar

91 Harold, Blakemore, British Nitrates and Chilean Politics, 1886–1896. Balmaceda and North (London, 1974), p. 14.Google Scholar

92 See ‘Esposición de los motivos que justifican la reivindicación por parte de Chile del territorio comprendido entre los paralelos 23 y 24 de latitud sur. Circular a los Honorables Ministros diplomáticos en Chile. Ministerio de Relaciones Esteriores de Chile’ in Ahumada, op. cit., I, 64–74. On the political situation in Antofagasta prior to the Chilean landing, see Oscar, Bermúdez, ‘Historia de la Municipalidad de Antofagasta, 1872–1885’, in RCbHG, no. 126 (1958), pp. 235–86.Google Scholar

93 ‘Esposición…’, op. cit.

94 Kiernan, V. G., ‘Foreign interests in the War of the Pacific’, in Hispanic American Historical Review, 35, 1 (1955), pp. 14–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

95 AGA, WG to AGS, 28 Mar. 1879, MS 11470/3.

96 Ibid.The Times, 10 and 20 may 1879, discusses the conflict from the point of view of British commercial interests in the region, opting for the Chilean trade regime. Gibbs' involvement in Peru is analysed by William, Mathew, The House of Gibbs and the Peruvian Guano Monopoly (London, 1981), passim.Google Scholar

97 See Cifuentes, op. cit., II, 150–60. Aníbal Pinto's correspondence and ‘Apuntes’ are also very revealing on the subject, as are the editorials in the press of Santiago and Valparalso from 1877 onwards.

98 AGA, WG to AGS, 3 Jan. 1878, MS 11470\3.

99 Ortega, ‘Change…’, op. cit., appendix I, lists the companies and their shareholders at the time of their incorporation. O'Brien, op. cit., chapter I, analyses their evolution.

100 AGA, WG to AGS, 6 Aug. 1876, MS 11470/I. See below note 108.

101 Ortega, ‘Change…’, op. cit., pp. 486–7.

102 Ibid., appendix I, pp. 503–15, shows that a considerable number of congressmen had acquired ‘nitrate’ shares; Edwards controlled 42% of the ANRC shares. In 1872 Puelma held 34%; between 1872 and 1879 the share stock was raised from 2,500 to5,000, cf. ANRC, ‘Memorias’, 1872 and 1879.

103 AGA, WG to AGS, 1 08 1877, MS 11470/2;Google ScholarIbid., 30 November 1887, MS 11470/2; Ibid., 15 July 1878. Archives of Balfour, Williamson &Co. Ltd, University College London Library; Stephen Williamson Letter Book No., Williamson to Williamson Balfour, Valparafso, Liverpool, 20 October 1878.

104 See Ortega, , ‘Chilean Economic Policy…’, forthcoming.Google Scholar

105 Quoted in Bermúdez, Historia, op. cit., p. 391.

106 Colonel José Velásquez, to Jovino, Novoa, Antofagasta, 12 April 1879, in RCbHG, 25, 29 (1913), p. 367; a play on words based on the northern accent. It could be translated as: ‘There are people who are already asking whether the war is being fought for the fatherland or for the nitrates.’Google Scholar

107 Cámara de Diputados, Sesión Ordinaria, 21 09 1880.Google Scholar

108 ‘El Ministro de Relaciones Esteriores de Chile a las Legaciones de Ia República en el estranjero. Circular. Santiago 24 December 1881.’ In MINREX (1882), anexos, pp. 47–9.

109 Thomson to Granville, Diplomatic No. 39, Santiago 17 May 1872, FO 16/172.

110 Same to same, Diplomatic No. 42, Santiago 30 May 1872, FO 16/172.

111 El Mercurio, 2 02 1877.Google Scholar

112 Cámara de Diputados, Sesión Ordinaria, 9 08 1880.Google Scholar

113 O'Brien, op. cit., p.50; see also Robert, N. Burr, By Reason or Force. Chile and the Balancing of Power in South America, 1830–1905 (2nd edition, Berkeley, 1974), pp. 135–66.Google ScholarPubMed

114 The South American Journal 22 03 1879.Google Scholar

115 AN. FN., ‘Varios’, vol. 413, pieza 14a, Blest Gana to Pinto, Paris 16 06 1879 (my italics).Google Scholar

116 El Mercuria, 24 02 1879.Google Scholar

117 Ravest, op. cit., p. 18, argues that ‘what was really defended by our government in February 1879 were values which cannot be expressed numerically or in economic terms: Chile's dignity and honour’. A more balanced view is Harold, Blakemore, ‘The Politics of Nitrate in Chile: Pressure Groups and Policies, 1870–1896. Some Unanswered Questions’, in Revue française d'histoire d'outre-mer, 66, 244–5, (1979), pp. 286–99.Google Scholar Another view on Chilean motives is in Thomas, M. Bader, ‘A Willingness to War: a Portrait of the Republic of Chile during the years preceding the War of the Pacific’ (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles, 1967), passim.Google Scholar

118 Discurso de S. E. el Presidenie de Ia República en Ia apertura del Congreso Constitujente de 1891, (Santiago, 1891), p.7,Google Scholar was the first to expound this view. See Bader, op. cit., pp. 114, et. seq.

119 In Donoso, op. cit., p. 214.