List of wars involving Chile

This is a list of wars that involve Chile from its birth to the present. The Republic of Chile is currently a democratic, representative and unitary state that is located in the extreme southwest of South America. In its history, the Chilean nation has been involved in several wars, meaning an armed struggle between two or more sides, which may be conventional or unconventional.

History of Chile
Early history
Colonial times
Nation-building
Republican period
Parliamentary period
Presidential period
Pinochet regime
Contemporary
Related topics

Summary and method

In this list are all the military confrontations of Chile, of greater or lesser intensity, conventional or non-conventional. Also if the participation of Chile is greater, smaller or simply nominal.[Note 1] These are: the emancipatory struggle, international wars, civil wars and armed rebellions.

The list of military confrontations below is divided into two tables; the first with the military events of Chile in the 19th century and the second with the military events of Chile in the 20th century. So far, in the 21st century, Chile has not had any military events.

The tables are arranged as follows:

  • First the name of the confrontation, accompanied by its duration.
  • The belligerents (combatant 1 and combatant 2).
  • The result of the confrontation, followed by its most relevant consequences.

In the section of the tables where the result of the confrontation is shown, a color is adopted that can mean:

  •   Chilean victory: in case of being an international war or that has an international scope due to the quality of the belligerents.
  •   Chilean defeat: in the case of a war of the same nature as in the case of a Chilean victory, but with an adverse result.
  •   Indecisive or inconclusive: in the case of a war of the same nature as in the case of a Chilean victory, but with an unclear or controversial result.
  •   Internal confrontation: in the case of a Chilean internal war, whatever the winning faction.
  •   Ongoing confrontation: in the case of an ongoing war, be it internal war or international war.

List of military confrontations

19th century
Confrontation Combatant 1 Combatant 2 Results
Spanish American wars of independence
(1810–1833)		 Independentists:[Note 2]

Native Americans pro-independent

 Royalist:

Spanish Monarchy

Native Americans pro-realistic

Portuguese Empire

 Independentist victory
  • End of all Spanish domains in Americas, with the exception of Cuba and Puerto Rico.
  • Formation of the new Hispanic American states.
  • The Banda Oriental, although it defeated the royalists, ended up being conquered by the Portuguese Empire in 1820.
  • Subsequently, Spain recognizes each of the new Hispanic American states through the signing of international treaties.[Note 3]
Brigandage of the Pincheira brothers
(1827–1832)		 Chile
United Provinces of the Río de la Plata
Pampas and Mapuche allies		 Montoneras of Pincheira
Pampas and Mapuche pro-Pincheira		 Chile & allies victory
  • End of the montoneras of Pincheira and relocation in Chile of the families that lived in the Pincheira camps.
  • The Chilean government pardoned José Antonio, the last leader of the Pincheira.
  • Rural banditry persists for several years but to a lesser extent.
  • Argentine campaign on the Desert (1833–34).
  • Surveillance and military confrontation between Chile and the Mapuche tribes on the Biobío River line (1835–1859).
Civil War of 1829–1830
(1829–1830)		 Pelucones Pipiolos Pelucones victory
Surveillance and military confrontation between Chile and the Mapuche tribes in «La Frontera»
(1835–1859)		  Chile Mapuche tribes Inconclusive
  • Chilean elites call for the incorporation the Araucanía to the Republic of Chile to end the Mapuche malones and prevent the Chilean dissidents from taking refuge in that territory.
War of the Confederation
(1836–1839)		 Chile

Argentine Confederation

 Peru–Bolivian Confederation

Orbegosista government

 Chile & Peruvian dissidents victory
  • Dissolution of the Peru–Bolivian Confederation.
  • The Orbegosista government is defeated during the course of the war.
  • Restoration of the republics of Peru (unification of the North and South States of Peru) and Bolivia.
  • Exile of Andrés de Santa Cruz.
  • Chile obtains international prestige and the commercial hegemony of Valparaíso in the Pacific.[2]
  • Military tension between Peru and Bolivia.
  • Argentina, after the dissolution of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation, negotiated with Bolivia the recovery of the territory it had lost during the war.[3]
Uprising of the military canton of Quillota
(1837)		 Chilean Government Rebels of Quillota Government victory
  • The rebels execute the Minister Diego Portales.
  • Defeat of the rebels and execution of their leader, Colonel José Antonio Vidaurre.
Iquicha War[Note 4]
(1839)		  Peru
 Chile		 Iquichanos Peru & Chile victory
  • Signature of the Treaty of Yanallay in which the Iquichanos submit to the Republic of Peru.
  • Isolation of the caudillo Antonio Huachaca.
Chilean Revolution of 1851
(1851)		 Chilean Government Liberal rebels
Mapuche allies
 Government victory
  • Survival of the conservative government.
  • Repression and exile of intellectuals and liberal politicians.
Chilean Revolution of 1859
(1859)		 Chilean Government Liberal rebels
Mapuche allies		 Government victory
Occupation of Araucanía
(1861–1883)		  Chile
Mapuche allies		 Mapuche tribes Chilean victory
  • Incorporation of Araucanía into Chile.
  • The Mapuche tribes are concentrated in land reductions.
  • Entry of Chileans and European immigrants into the territory.
  • Infrastructure build-up in the territory.
  • Violence and lawlessness in the areas for decades are generated.
Chincha Islands War
(1864–1866)		  Chile
 Peru

Nominal participation:
 Ecuador
 Bolivia

 Spain Indecisive, both sides claimed victory
  • Spanish withdrawal from the Chincha Islands.
  • Decline of the Chilean merchant fleet.
  • Increase in the naval power of Chile.
  • The state of war is maintained between the belligerent parties until the signing of an indefinite armistice in 1871.
  • Subsequently, Spain and the South American allies signed peace treaties separately: Peru (1879), Bolivia (1879), Chile (1883) and Ecuador (1885).
War of the Pacific
(1879–1883)		 Chile Peru
Bolivia		 Chilean victory
Civil War of 1891
(1891)		 Chilean Government Congressist Junta Congressist victory

20th century
Confrontation Combatant 1 Combatant 2 Results
Chile Chico War[8]
(1918)		 Businessman Carlos von Flack
Some contingents of the Army Carabineros Corps[Note 6]		 Chilean settlers of Chile Chico Chilean settlers victory
  • Chilean government annulled the lease with Carlos Von Flack of the lands located on the south bank of the Buenos Aires Lake and recognized the right of Chilean settlers over them.
  • Chilean government analyzes with greater rigor the contracts with exploitation companies.
  • The position of the settlers was strengthened in front of the big exploiting companies during the colonization process of Aysén.
  • The events attracted the interest of many Chileans to settle in these lands.
Chilean naval mutiny of 1931
(1931)		 Chilean Government Chilean Navy rebels Government victory
  • Capitulation of the navy and delivery of the ships to the government authorities.
  • Court-martialed to the mutineers.
World War II

(1939–1945; Chile officially since 1945)

Relevant milestones regarding Chile:

  • Covert operations against Nazi agents by the PDI through Department 50 (1939–1945).[11]
  • Cooperation with the United States before and after the official entry of Chile into the war.[12]
  • Sinking of the Toltén steam (13 March 1942).[13]
  • Chile broke diplomatic relations with all the Axis powers, declares war on Germany and Italy (20 January 1943).
  • Nominal support of Allied forces in the Battle of the Caribbean
  • Surveillance and confinement of Japanese citizens living in the country.
  • Chile declared war on Japan (13 April 1945).
 Allies

Nominal participation:
 Chile
Other countries

 Axis powers
 Allies victory
  • Great consequences worldwide (details).

With respect to Chile:

  • Department 50 managed to interrupt the activities of German or pro-Nazi agents in Chile and help in other parts of Latin America.[11]
  • Chilean authorities thwart Nazi plots to bomb Northern Chilean copper mines.[14]
  • Chile becomes a founding member of the United Nations when it was established in 1945.[15]
  • Chile, as part of the allies, participated in the signing of the Treaty of San Francisco in 1951, which regularized the situation with Japan.
  • Panama Canal remains open.
Armed resistance in Chile
(1973–1990)
Part of the Cold War		 Chilean government Armed groups of extreme left:
 Government victory
  • The armed groups of the extreme left fail to overthrow the military government.
  • With the national plebiscite of 1988, on 11 March 1990, the end of the military government and the beginning of the transition to democracy took place.
  • The levels of violence carried out by armed groups of the extreme left diminished considerably with the return of democracy, since this fact led to the demobilization of most of them.
  • Several isolated attacks continued, executed by dissident groups.

Notes
  1. It will be "simply nominal" in case of international wars involving Chile, there being a declaration of war but without having an active participation in the confrontation.
  2. In this section of "combatant 1" appear the independent governments that managed to consolidate at the end of the war, with the only exception of the Banda Oriental, which would have another destination. Later, some of these governments disintegrated, as happened with Gran Colombia (Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador) or the First Mexican Empire (Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Costa Rica). Uruguay (ex Banda Oriental) and Panama would be formed because of other conflicts.
  3. On 25 April 1844, Spain officially recognized the independence of Chile through a Treaty of Peace and Friendship.[1]
  4. After the dissolution of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation, the iquichano leader Antonio Huachaca provoked an armed uprising against the Chilean-Peruvian victors. Chilean troops fought against these rebels until peace was achieved.[4]
  5. During the course of the Pacific War, the United States intervened diplomatically in favor of Peru and Bolivia, trying to avoid the territorial cession in favor of Chile. This generated an atmosphere of tension or rivalry between both countries, especially because Chile emerged as a regional power after the war. The greatest example of this struggle between Chile and the United States was the Panama crisis of 1885.[6] The Chilean civil war of 1891 would end up diminishing Chile's position against the United States.
  6. In 1903, the Army Carabineros Corps was created, in charge of exercising internal security functions.[9] This unit belonged to the cavalry branch of the Chilean Army.[10] On 27 April 1927, the Army Carabineros Corps merged with the Fiscal Police, thus forming the current institution known as Carabiniers of Chile.[10]

References
  1. Barros Van Buren, Mario (1970). Historia diplomática de Chile (1541-1938) (in Spanish). Santiago, Chile: Editorial Andrés Bello. p. 174.
  2. Collier, Simon; Sater, William (1996). A History of Chile, 1808-1994. Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. p. 68. ISBN 0-521-56827-7.
  3. Musicó Aschiero, Ana María (2013). "Guerra de la Confederación Argentina con la Confederación Perú - Boliviana 1835 -1839" (in Spanish). Buenos Aires, Argentina: Revista Digital Universitaria del Colegio Militar de la Nación: 5–6. Retrieved 23 June 2019. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. Galdo Gutiérrez, Virgilio (1992). Ayacucho: conflictos y pobreza, historia regional (siglos XVI-XIX) (in Spanish). Ayacucho, Perú: San Cristóbal of Huamanga University. p. 179–180.
  5. Tapia Figueroa, Claudio (2016). "La política chilena en la postguerra del Pacífico: poder, influencia y relaciones con Ecuador" (PDF) (in Spanish). Valparaíso, Chile: Federico Santa María Technical University: 129. Retrieved 23 June 2019. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. Rubilar Luengo, Mauricio (2012). La política exterior de Chile durante la guerra y postguerra del Pacífico (1879-1891): las relaciones con Estados Unidos y Colombia: diplomacia, opinión pública y poder naval (in Spanish). Valladolid, España: University of Valladolid. p. 471–472.
  7. Varela Münchmeyer, Eugenio (1992). "Manejo de crisis. Situación Chile-Estados Unidos en 1891-1892" (PDF) (in Spanish). Viña del Mar, Chile: Revista de Marina: 2–3. Retrieved 23 June 2019. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. Ivanoff Wellmann, Danka (1997). La Guerra de Chile Chico o los Sucesos del Lago Buenos Aires (in Spanish). Valdivia, Chile.
  9. Gazmuri, Cristián (2014). Historia de Chile 1891-1994: Política, Economía, Sociedad, Cultura, Vida Privada, Episodios (in Spanish). Santiago, Chile: RIL Editores. p. 51.
  10. Estado Mayor General del Ejército (1980). Historia del Ejército de Chile: La primera guerra mundial y su influencia en el ejército (1914–1940) (in Spanish). VIII. Santiago, Chile: Impresos Vicuña. p. 257.
  11. Flores, Jonathan (June 23, 2017). "Departamento 50: la unidad de inteligencia de la PDI que combatió a los nazis en Chile". BiobioChile.cl (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  12. Nocera, Raffaele (2005). "Ruptura con el eje y alineamiento con Estados Unidos. Chile durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial" (in Spanish). Santiago, Chile: Pontifical Catholic University of Chile: 442. Retrieved 23 June 2019. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. Pugh Gillmore, Kenneth (2004). "¿Quién hundió al Toltén?" (PDF) (in Spanish). Viña del Mar, Chile: Revista de Marina. Retrieved 23 June 2019. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  14. "Documents Show Chile Foiled Nazi Plot to Attack Panama Canal". Retrieved June 28, 2017.
  15. Barros Van Buren, Mario (1998). Diplomacia chilena en la II Guerra Mundial (in Spanish). Santiago, Chile: Empresa Editora Arquen. p. 105.
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