Introduction to History of Chile
In the 16th century the northern half of Chile was part of the Inca Empire. Fierce Araucanian Indians inhabited the south. In 1535 Diego de Almagro, one of the conquerors of Peru, led the first Spanish expedition into Chile. Five years later Pedro de Valdivia set out from Peru to conquer the region. He founded Santiago in 1541 and continued south until halted by the Araucanians.
Colonization of Chile was slow, primarily because the Spaniards found no precious metals. Settlement was concentrated in the fertile Central Valley, where the land was divided into a number of large estates and agriculture flourished. In the south fierce Indian resistance was maintained throughout the colonial period. The region, of little economic importance in the Spanish empire, was largely neglected.
Important dates in ChileLate 1400's Indian groups in northern Chile were conquered by the Inca Indians of Peru.1520 Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese navigator, became the first European to sight Chile.1541 Pedro de Valdivia, a Spaniard, founded Santiago.1818 Chile won independence from Spain.1833 A new Chilean Constitution established a strong central government and made Roman Catholicism the state religion.1925 Another new Chilean Constitution provided for direct election of the president by the people and separated church and state.1939 The Chilean government created an economic development corporation.1970 Salvador Allende Gossens was elected president of Chile. He became the first democratically elected Marxist to head a nation in the Western Hemisphere.1973 Military leaders overthrew the Allende government.1980 A new Chilean Constitution provided for a gradual return to democratic government in the 1990's.1989 Elections for president and a legislature led to a return to a democratic civilian government.2006 Chileans elected Michelle Bachelet president. She was the first woman to be elected president of Chile.Independence
The colonists began a revolt against Spain in 1810. In 1817 forces led by Bernardo O'Higgins, a Chilean of Irish descent, and Argentina's José de San Martín were victorious over Spanish troops at Chacabuco in the first major battle of the revolution. Independence was ensured the following year at the battle of Maipú.
O'Higgins became dictator and attempted financial and social reforms. The wealthy landowners opposed his policies and forced him into exile in 1823. A seven-year struggle for control of the government followed.
The conflict was won in 1830 by the conservative faction, composed of large landowners, the Roman Catholic Church, and armed forces officers. Political stability under the conservatives aided economic development. Trade flourished and mines were opened; Chile soon became the chief world producer of copper. In the War of the Pacific (1879–83), fought for valuable nitrate fields in the Atacama Desert, Chile was victorious over Peru and Bolivia. Nitrate exports contributed greatly to the country's prosperity and helped finance the building of railroads, highways, and schools.
Beginning about 1860, dissatisfaction with conservative domination mounted rapidly. Although the opposition succeeded in reducing some of the powers of the president and of the Church, discontent with the government eventually erupted into civil war. A victory for the revolutionary forces in 1891 gave political power to the legislature. The new government soon proved to be unstable as numerous political parties struggled for control.
World War I brought a boom in the nitrate and copper industries, but at the end of the war the nitrate industry collapsed and unemployment rose sharply. Growing demands for social and political reforms brought the nation to the brink of civil war by the time of the 1920 presidential election. Arturo Alessandri Palma was elected. A new constitution (1925) returned power to the executive; it also abolished the official status of the Roman Catholic Church. However, general dissatisfaction with Alessandri's administration led to a successful revolt in 1925 headed by Colonel Carlos Ibáñez. He held control of the nation until 1931, when he was forced into exile.
The government then fell into chaos until Alessandri was reelected in 1932. Serving until 1938, he reestablished order and started the nation toward economic recovery.
A government planning agency was set up in 1939 to aid manufacturing, mining, agriculture, and fisheries. In the same year, a devastating earthquake caused about 30,000 deaths. Industrial production and mining increased during World War II. Inflation, a serious problem in the postwar period, led to rioting and strikes. Unrest increased in the early 1950's as farm workers migrated to the cities seeking jobs in factories.
An economic development program was initiated in 1959; however, a series of earthquakes and tidal waves in 1960 seriously strained the country's finances. Under Eduardo Frei Montalva, who became president in 1964, some economic and social reforms, such as land distribution, were initiated.
More radical measures, however, were demanded by some Chileans. In 1970 Dr. Salvador Allende Gossens was elected president. He was the first Marxist to be elected in a non-Communist nation. The new government nationalized the copper industry, banking, and other sectors of the economy and initiated programs to redistribute wealth. Allende's policies gradually alienated many Chileans, especially the powerful middle class. There were demonstrations and strikes protesting expanded socialism, rampant inflation, and shortages of food and consumer goods.
In 1973 the government was overthrown in a coup, during which Allende died. A junta, led by General Augusto Pinochet, restored order but banned political parties and disbanded the legislature. A new constitution, allowing a gradual return to democracy, came into effect in 1981; elections were not held until 1989. Patricio Aylwin, a Christian Democrat, was chosen President, but Pinochet remained head of the military. The 1993 presidential election was won by another Christian Democrat, Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, the son of a former president. Pinochet resigned from the military in 1998. Later that year, he was arrested in Britain on a warrant issued by a Spanish magistrate charging Pinochet with crimes against humanity. Released from Britain in 2000, Pinochet returned to Chile. In Chile he was then charged with murder and kidnapping, but he was later declared too ill to stand trial.