The Revolution of 1851 (or Civil War of 1851) was an attempt by Chilean liberals to overthrow the conservative government of president
Manuel Montt
Manuel Francisco Antonio Julián Montt Torres (; September 4, 1809 – September 21, 1880) was a Chilean statesman and scholar. He was twice elected President of Chile between 1851 and 1861.
Biography
Montt was born in Petorca, Valparaíso R ...
and repeal the
Chilean Constitution of 1833
The Constitution of 1833 was the constitution used in Chile from 1833 to 1925 when it was replaced by the Constitution of 1925. One of the most long-lived constitutions of Latin America, it was used to endorse both an authoritarian, presidential ...
.
After various battles and sieges, by late December 1851 government forces had subdued the revolutionaries.
Background
After the
Battle of Lircay
The Battle of Lircay was the last battle of the Chilean Civil War of 1829–1830 and ended with the Pipiolos (Liberals) being decisively defeated. Pipiolo leader Ramon Freire was exiled to Peru and the Pipiolos defeated to end the war, beginnin ...
ended the
Chilean Civil War of 1829–30
Chilean may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Chile, a country in South America
* Chilean people
* Chilean Spanish
* Chilean culture
* Chilean cuisine
* Chilean Americans
See also
*List of Chileans
This is a list of Chileans who ar ...
,
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
formed a
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
political system under the
1833 Constitution, drafted by
Mariano Egaña, which established a
one-party
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government ...
presidential polity. In the succeeding decades, various liberal social and political movements emerged, led by intellectuals like
Santiago Arcos,
Francisco Bilbao
Francisco Bilbao Barquín (; 19 January 1823 – 9 February 1865) was a Chilean writer, philosopher and liberal politician.
Early life
Francisco Bilbao Barquin was born in Santiago on 9 January 1823 to Rafael Bilbao Beyne and Argentina Mercedes ...
,
José Victorino Lastarria
José Victorino Lastarria (; 23 March 1817 – 14 June 1888) was a Chilean writer, legislative deputy, senator, diplomat, and finance minister.
Early life
José Victorino Lastarria was the son of Francisco Lastarria y Cortés and Carmen Santander ...
and
Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna. These and others formed
institutions such as the
Literary Society of 1842
The Literary Society of 1842 ( es, Sociedad Literaria de 1842) was a group of prominent Chileans from the social, political, and literary fields. Its goals were promoting originality among the nation's writers, strengthening the social quality of l ...
and the
Society of Equality, which sought to rally the population to achieve an increase in
civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...
. During the 1840s many small newspapers began to appear in Chile such as, ''Guerra a la Tiranía'', which used language that facilitated violence among liberal social groups throughout Chile. Other newspapers such as ''El Semanario'' and ''
El Mercurio
''El Mercurio'' (known online as ''El Mercurio On-Line'', ''EMOL'') is a Chilean newspaper with editions in Valparaíso and Santiago. Its Santiago edition is considered the country's newspaper of record and it is considered the oldest daily in ...
,'' two popular newspapers at the time, began to denounce these new slanderous newspapers such as ''Guerra a la Tiranía'' in order to stop their dangerous journalism from further dividing political parties. The European
Revolutions of 1848
The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...
also inspired and encouraged opposition political movements, who increasingly saw armed action as the most realistic means of forcing
political change
Social change is the alteration of the social order of a society which may include changes in social institutions, social behaviours or social relations.
Definition
Social change may not refer to the notion of social progress or sociocult ...
.·
1851 Election and Uprisings
20 April uprising
In early 1851, the opposition advanced candidate
José María de la Cruz
General José María de la Cruz Prieto ( Concepción, March 25, 1799 – November 23, 1875) was a Chilean soldier.
The son of Luis de la Cruz and of Josefa Prieto Sotomayor, and was a cousin of future presidents José Joaquín Prieto and Manuel ...
in the
presidential election
A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President.
Elections by country
Albania
The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public.
Chile
The pre ...
to oppose then-president
Manuel Bulnes's preferred successor,
Manuel Montt
Manuel Francisco Antonio Julián Montt Torres (; September 4, 1809 – September 21, 1880) was a Chilean statesman and scholar. He was twice elected President of Chile between 1851 and 1861.
Biography
Montt was born in Petorca, Valparaíso R ...
. Concerned that the election might not end in their favor, Cruz and other opposition groups decided to attempt a
military coup
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
, to be carried out in
Santiago
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...
by Colonel
Pedro Urriola Balbontín.
At dawn on 20 April, Urriola and his companions seized the main streets of
Santiago
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...
and stormed the
army barracks to arm more men, but few of the soldiers they had hoped for joined in the uprising. Two
loyalist battalions
A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...
organized to face the
rebels and prepared a counteroffensive from the
Alameda
An alameda is a Avenue (landscape), street or path lined with trees () and may refer to:
Places Canada
*Alameda, Saskatchewan, town in Saskatchewan
**Grant Devine Dam, formerly ''Alameda Dam'', a dam and reservoir in southern Saskatchewan
Chile
...
and
Santa Lucia Hill. The fighting lasted about five hours, after which Urriola was killed along with more than 200 others.
25–26 June presidential elections
When the government announced that Montt had won the election by a wide margin, Cruz accused the regime of
electoral fraud and declared the election void. He also alleged that government agents were conspiring to assassinate him, but the men accused were acquitted by the
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
an courts.
[ After that Cruz withdrew to Concepción from Santiago.] Small protests began in Concepción, Coquimbo
Coquimbo is a port city, commune and capital of the Elqui Province, located on the Pan-American Highway, in the Coquimbo Region of Chile. Coquimbo is situated in a valley south of La Serena, with which it forms Greater La Serena with more than ...
and Maule, which would gradually escalate into open rebellion. In the meantime, the government began arresting political opponents.
September uprisings
Days before Manuel Montt assumed power on 18 September 1851, dissident uprisings seized power in Concepción and La Serena. According to historian Alberto Edwards
Luis Alberto Edwards Vives (25 November 1874 in Valparaíso – 3 April 1932 in Santiago) was a Chilean historian, nationalist politician and lawyer. He was a member of the influential Edwards family. His most famous work (highly influenced by O ...
the uprising was not only rooted in liberalism but also in provincialism
Parochialism is the state of mind, whereby one focuses on small sections of an issue rather than considering its wider context. More generally, it consists of being narrow in scope. In that respect, it is a synonym of " provincialism". It may, p ...
.
The revolution
In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
in La Serena was led by Pedro Pablo Muñoz, the brothers Antonio and Ignacio Alfonso, and other notable residents of the city, who organized a revolutionary militia of 600 men from La Serena, Ovalle and Illapel. Calling themselves the "Restorers of the North," they were commanded by José Miguel Carrera Fontecilla. A revolutionary government was formed in the city, declaring the abolition of the Constitution of 1833. After a defeat by government forces in the Battle of Petorca, the city was besieged.
The uprising in Concepción, by contrast, had little to do with liberalism
Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...
, as José María de la Cruz
General José María de la Cruz Prieto ( Concepción, March 25, 1799 – November 23, 1875) was a Chilean soldier.
The son of Luis de la Cruz and of Josefa Prieto Sotomayor, and was a cousin of future presidents José Joaquín Prieto and Manuel ...
and other Concepción strongmen were pelucones
180px, Mariano Egaña, was a notable Pelucón; politically he felt affinity to constitutional monarchy as a form of government.
Pelucones (spanish language, Spanish for bigwigs) was the name used to refer to Chilean aristocracy, aristocratic c ...
(conservatives). Instead, historian Fernando Silva (1974) claims that the election of Montt meant the loss of the political hegemony Concepción had enjoyed in the 1829–1851 period under the presidents José Joaquín Prieto
José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ).
In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacu ...
and Manuel Bulnes, both of whom were from that city. Because of this the Concepción elite would have supported the overthrow of the Montt regime. Cruz armed a group of four thousand men, including liberal supporters, rebel troops, mountaineers, and warriors of the Mapuche
The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who s ...
chieftain Mañil
Mañil or Magnil was a Mapuche lonko who fought in the 1851 Chilean Revolution and led an uprising in 1859. He was the main chief of the Arribanos and the father of Quilapán who led Mapuche forces in the Occupation of Araucanía.
Mañil had a ...
. According to historian José Bengoa
José Bengoa Cabello (19 January 1945) is a Chilean historian and anthropologist. He is known in Chile for his study of Mapuche history and society. After the 1973 Chilean coup d'état, José Bengoa was dismissed from his work at the University of ...
, the Mapuches saw the central government in Santiago as their main enemy, explaining their participation on the side of Cruz in the Concepción-based revolt. Cruz had previously been in charge of the Army of the South and had helped to prevent a possible Mapuche-Chilean war arising from the wreck of ''Joven Daniel'' in 1849.
Later uprisings
On 28 October another uprising began in Valparaíso
Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...
, led by artisans of the Society of Brotherhood (the surviving local chapter of Society of Equality). The Valparaíso mutiny was led by Rafael Bilbao and José Antonio Riquelme.
On 21 November a Chilean naval officer named José Miguel Cambiazo led a mutiny in Punta Arenas
Punta Arenas (; historically Sandy Point in English) is the capital city of Chile's southernmost region, Magallanes and Antarctica Chilena. The city was officially renamed as Magallanes in 1927, but in 1938 it was changed back to "Punta Are ...
, which was eventually put down by the Chilean navy.
End of the revolution
Consequences of the Revolution
After the failure of the Revolution, the government of Montt began a program of political persecution against the instigators of the uprisings, led by his minister Antonio Varas, which included arrests and deportations. Dozens of notable government opponents were driven into exile, including Arcos, Bilbao, Lastarria and Vicuña Mackenna. Thousands more had died in the fighting.
A major rift developed within Chile's political opposition, dividing them into a group headed by Francisco Bilbao, who called for renewed armed revolution, and one headed by Aubrey, seeking a return to democracy by an institutional route.
References
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{{Authority control
Chilean Revolution
Revolution
In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
Conflicts in 1851
Revolutions in Chile
Military coups in Chile
Rebellions in Chile
1850s coups d'état and coup attempts