The war of the pacific
Background
The War of the Pacific(Spanish: Guerra del Pacífico ), also called the Saltpeter War, is a war between united forces of Bolivia and Peru versus Chile fought between 1879 and 1883. Countries fought for the territory of Atacama desert, which is rich for the nitrates and guano, the droppings of seabirds, bats, and seals. The guano is an effective fertilizer and gunpowder ingredient due to its high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen.
The immediate cause of the war(trigger)
The territorial dispute between Chile, Bolivia and Peru started long before the beginning of war itself, after discovery, in 1840s, that guano is an important resource for world economic and military expansion; however it reached its peak only after 1878, when Bolivia mooted the 1873 contract, which allowed Antofagasta Nitrate & Railway Company, the biggest miner in the region, to extract salt-peter without taxes. The Bolivian government wanted to implement a new 10 cents per quantal tax, despite the protests of the Chilean government, and even threatened to confiscate the company’s property, if it refuses to pay. Nevertheless the Antofagasta Nitrate & Railway Company rejected to pay and asked the Chilean government to intervene. Chile responded and sent a warship to the area, moreover, the chilean army claimed the port city of Antofagasta, after Bolivia announced the seizure and auction of the company.
The non-immediate causes of the war are a subject for debates, because the war is important in the history of latin america and because it is open for several interpretations. I will focus on three main paradigms of international politics: theory of realism, world society and dependency.
Realism:
Main actors: Chile, Bolivia and Pe...
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...this city to be connected to Chile and this also affected Chilean decision to intervene.
Conclusion and consequences of the war
The consequences of the war were huge for both sides of the conflict. Chile was able to grab rich expansions of guano, important for the economical well-being of the country and eventually got out of the crisis. Sicotte, Vizcarra and Wandscneider estimated that if Chile did not get the control of the expansions, its earnings from nitrates would have fallen by 80% by the end of nineteenth century. On the opposite Bolivia not only lost the expansions, it also lost its access to the sea, and became a landlocked country.
The analysis of the conflict from 3 different angles confirmed once again that all three theories, realism, world society and theory of dependency have the right to exist and can give the reasonable analysis to the conflict.
Mr. Singletary has been remarkably successful, despite the brevity of his book, in describing with important details the Mexican War. The book can be break into two main parts. The first part gives background which explains different reasons that played a decisive role for the break out of the war, and it relates the different campaigns that allowed the invasion of northern Mexico and the city of Mexico. The second half of the book deals with the way politician and generals behave during the war, and the book ends touching the role played by diplomacy in this war.
...conflict. The war had a profound effect on the United States domestic life. The government had massive spending. The more than $150 billion spent throughout this war led to a severe economic crisis (Lawrence, 171.) The war also caused Americans to not trust their governmental leaders for the first time in history. This was due to the Watergate scandal along with the war efforts (Lawrence, 172.) Due to the profound effects economically and socially the war had on Americans, the U.S. should have not proceeded to entering into a battle that was not their own.
Made famous by Theodore Roosevelt’s volunteer Rough Rider’s and the Buffalo Soldiers, the Battle of San Juan Hill (July 1, 1898), also known as The Battle of San Juan Heights, was the bloodiest battle of the Spanish American War. After landing on the beachhead, the US V Corps under the command of Major General William Shafter fought their way west toward the port town of Santiago. After an indecisive clash at Las Guasimas on June 24, Shafter readied his men to take the strategic heights around the city, while Cuban insurgents blocked any Spanish reinforcements arriving on the roads to the north, in what would be one of the most decisive battles of America’s “Splendid Little War.” 1
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Over the course of the history of the United States, specific foreign policies have affected the methods in which the U.S. involves itself around the globe. Specifically, certain policies have affected U.S. involvement in Latin America. It is the intention of this essay to explain the United States foreign policy behind specific doctrines. In order to realize current objectives, this paper will proceed as follows: Part 1 will define the Monroe Doctrine, Sections 2, 3, 4, and 5 will concurrently explicitly explain the Roosevelt Corollary, Good Neighbor Policy, and the Nixon Doctrine, discuss how each policy resulted in U.S. involvement in Latin American countries, describe how it was justified by the U.S. government, respectively, and finally, will bring this paper to a conclusion.
War.” The actions that sparked their new revolution occurred on the eve of Peru’s first
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Actions taken in Cuba and the Philippines could not and did not give equal weight as a motive to commercialism, nationalism, humanitarianism, and racism. Trade and business in the United States motivated the war. The US also wanted to emerge as an imperialistic power and saw a great opportunity to take over other lands. In analyzing all of the facts, it is clear that nationalism, the desire to be a world wide power, and advance commercial interests were the primary factors that led to the declaration of war on Spain.
THESIS : “ The United States didn’t want to get involved in the Spanish-American War, but was dragged into it due to yellow journalism, they wanted to control the seas, and wanted complete control over Cuba.”
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