The Bolivian War of Independence (Spanish: Guerra de Independencia de Bolivia, 1809–1825) began with the establishment of government juntas in Sucre and La Paz after the Chuquisaca Revolution and La Paz revolution. These Juntas, part of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, were defeated shortly after by Peruvian royalist forces. Following the May Revolution of 1810, which ousted the viceroy in Buenos Aires and established its own junta, the territory was incorporated into the Viceroyalty of Peru. Buenos Aires then sent three large military expeditions to Upper Peru, headed by Juan José Castelli, Manuel Belgrano and José Rondeau, but the royalists ultimately prevailed over each one. However, the conflict grew into a guerrilla war, the War of the Republiquetas, preventing the royalists from strengthening their presence. After Simón Bolívar and Antonio José de Sucre defeated the royalists in the Independence of Peru, Sucre led a campaign that was to defeat the royalists in Charcas for good when the last royalist general, Pedro Antonio Olañeta, suffered death and defeat at the hands of his own defected forces at the Battle of Tumusla. Bolivian independence was proclaimed on 6 August 1825.
The Colonial Governing Power and the Causes of the War
Charcas (modern day Bolivia) is also sometimes referred to as the Upper Peru. This region fell under the authority of Spanish colonial rule in the sixteenth century. It was originally placed directly under the rule of the Viceroyalty of Peru, however this location proved to be too distant for effective control so Phillip II established the Audiencia of Charcas, which was an autonomous governing body under the purview of the viceroy of Peru. This governing was composed of oidores or judges and a governor with the title of president of the Audiencia. The Audiencia was given authority to make final decisions when a viceroy was unavailable or absent.
The Audiencia was centered in Chuquisaca, which started out as an indigenous community and later became known by its post-independence name, Sucre. This was the center of administration as well as cultural activities for Charcas. The Archbishop of Charcas lived there and one of the prominent universities in Bolivia, was founded there. The Audiencia was a great honor for the Charcas. Oidores mostly came directly from Spain and tended to be very proud, often making everyone bow to them. They were also incredibly ignorant about the peoples' needs and problems. As Spanish settlements expanded to the south, the jurisdiction of the Audiencia of Charcas grew to include not only present day Bolivia, but also Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and even parts of Peru. In 1776, the Audiencia of Charcas was placed under the authority of the viceroy of Buenos Aires in the newly created Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata and most trade was redirected to Buenos Aires. This change was against Peruvian desires because they had wanted to keep Charcas for its enormous wealth in the mines of Potosí. For the next few decades, the question of the political and economic ties with Charcas was constantly fought over by Peru and Río de la Plata. On 25 May 1809, the citizens of Sucre participated in the first outbreak that was part of the initiation of the war of independence in Bolivia.
In 1784 the Spanish rulers created the intendancy system. Four main intendancies were constructed in La Paz, Cochabamba, Potosí, and Chuquisaca. This system gave authority to a few, skillful and educated men who were directly responsible to the King of Spain. This system was implemented to increase revenue as well as to stop specific problems that had resulted from other authorities misusing their power. The system consequently limited the power of the Audiencia.
The Bolivian people were divided into three main categories: Criollos, Mestizos, and the indigenous population. In authority over all of these people were the Peninsulares, who were influential people who had come from Spain to assume a leadership position in the church or government, in one of the Spanish colonies. All the rest of the Bolivian people had a social status beneath this elite class. The Criollos were people of pure Spanish descent who had been born in Latin America. The Criollos were envious of the power the Peninsulares held, and this attitude formed part of the basis for the War of Independence. Beneath the Criollos on the social hierarchy were the Mestizos, who were a mix of Spanish and Indigenous descent. The main reason these two people mixed was because of the lack of Spanish women in the region. Finally, at the bottom of the hierarchy was the biggest social class, the indigenous people, who primarily spoke Aymara and Quechua. These people often did not know what was going on politically in the country. However they offered a large force of fighting men for both the patriots and the royalists in the war. Nevertheless, in the War of Independence they proved to be very unpredictable and would, at times, turn on the army at any provocation. These people would generally fight for whoever controlled that area, whether loyalists, patriots, or royalists. The majority of the time it was the Republiquetas who controlled the rural areas where the Natives lived. Although they would fight for whomever, these people favored the patriots because they were part native, whereas the other armies were of pure Spanish descent. The real intention of the Indigenous people was to reestablish the Incan empire and so they wanted a form of government different from all three of the other groups. These groups all contended for the Natives' assistance in order to win the war; however not one army ever thought of liberating these people.
Independence was not a new idea in the minds of the people of the Charcas. This concept had begun to take root long before and already signs of discontent with the current form of government were beginning to show. The individuals in every class of the Bolivian population had become dissatisfied - the Criollos, the Mestizos, as well as the Indigenous people. They were all feeling the effects of increased Spanish taxes and trade restrictions. Indigenous rebellions started in 1730 in Cochabamba and others followed in the decades to come. Although most of the people were unhappy, the different social classes were not unified in their solution to the dilemma. The indigenous people wanted to do away with all the Spanish people and set up an Andean Utopia, whereas the Criollos simply desired more freedom from Spain. Because the Criollos bore racial prejudice against the Native population, those two groups of people did not unite against Spain.
Many revolutionary ideas spread from the university in Chuquisaca. In the early 1780s different students in the university distributed pamphlets in Charcas. These were written against Spanish authority and in them public officials were even called thieves. The ideas of independence really stemmed from Aquinas, a church father, who wrote about politics. He taught that if a ruler is cruel and tyrannical the people have a right to rebel and fight against their own government. The ruler should be under the Pope, thus the people can rebel against the King but not against God. There was not one main leader of the Revolutionaries or Radicals. Nevertheless, three main men were influential in this circle: Jaime Zudañez, Manuel Zudañez, and Bernardo Monteagudo. Jaime Zudañez was part of the Audiencia in the department of the defense of the poor. He would try to influence the decisions the Audiencia made and no one suspected his treasonous behavior. Manuel Zudeñez, his brother, was in the government as well and held an important position in the university in Chuquisaca. Finally Bernardo Monteagudo was a writer from a poor family but had an impact on the people through his whispering campaigns. All three of these men were in favor of doing away with the president, Ramón García León de Pizarro.
The juntas of 1809
During the Peninsular War which took place in Spain, Charcas (today Bolivia) closely followed the reports that arrived describing the rapidly evolving political situation in Spain, which led the Peninsula to near anarchy. The sense of uncertainty was heightened by the fact that news of 17 March Mutiny of Aranjuez and 6 May 1808 abdication of Ferdinand VII in favor of Joseph Bonaparte arrived within a month of each other, on 21 August and 17 September, respectively. In the confusion that followed, various juntas in Spain and Portuguese Princess Carlota, sister of Ferdinand VII, in Brazil claimed authority over the Americas.
On 11 November, the representative of the Junta of Seville, José Manuel de Goyeneche, arrived in Chuquisaca, after stopping in Buenos Aires, with instructions to secure Charcas' recognition of authority of the Seville Junta. He also brought with him a letter from Princess Carlota requesting the recognition of her right to rule in her brother's absence. The President-Intendant Ramón García León de Pizarro, backed by the Archbishop of Chuquisaca Benito María de Moxó y Francolí, was inclined to recognize the Seville Junta, but the mostly Peninsular Audiencia of Charcas, in its function as a privy council for the President (the real acuerdo), felt it would be hasty to recognize either one. A fist fight almost broke between the senior oidor and Goyeneche over the issue, but the oidores' opinion prevailed. The Radicals or Revolutionaries supported the Audiencia's decision because it put the power more into the hands of the people in Latin America as well as because it was a "temporary" split with Spain during this time of tribulation in the land of Spain. Over the next few weeks García León and Moxó became convinced that recognizing Carlota might be the best way to preserve the unity of the empire, but this was unpopular with the majority of Charcasvians and the Audiencia. The President and the Archbishop grew very unpopular with the oidores because the archbishop informed the people of all the news that arrived from Spain. The Audiencia wanted to conceal the information in order to not acknowledge their own weaknesses. During this time the Catholic Church in Charcas split from the "Audiencia" because of the tension between Moxó and the Oidores.
On 26 May 1809, the Audiencia oidores received rumors that García León de Pizarro planned to arrest them in order to recognize Carlota. The Audiencia decided that the situation had become so anarchic both in Charcas and in the Peninsula, that Charcas needed to take the government into its own hands. It removed García León de Pizarro from office and transformed itself into a junta, which ruled in Fernando's name, just as cities and provinces had done in Spain a year earlier. A second junta was established in La Paz on 16 July by Criollos who took over the local barracks and deposed both the intendant and bishop of La Paz. The La Paz junta clearly broke with any authority in Spain and with the authorities in Buenos Aires. José de la Serna, the Spanish Viceroy in Lima dispatched five thousand soldiers led by none other than Goyeneche, who had become the president of Audiencia in Cuzco. The rebels were defeated and the leaders of the movement were hanged or sentenced to imprisonment for life. The Audiencia had to beg for mercy as well as make an agreement with the Royalists so that the city of Chuquisaca would not be left in ruin by the army. This rebellion was stopped, however the yearning for freedom was far from extinguished. After Buenos Aires successfully established a junta in May 1810, Charcas came under the control of the Viceroyalty of Peru and managed to fight off several attempts to take over it militarily.
The Peninsulares had very divided opinions regarding which form of government was that best and what claims from Spain were actually true, thus they unconsciously left room for other groups to take the initiative for the future of Charcas. The Criollos were excited about this break between the President and the Audiencia because they took it as an excellent opportunity to gain the power they had always craved but never obtained because of the Spanish government. These upper class Criollos were divided into three main sections. The first one was very influenced by the Peninsulares and so did not desire anything to change. The second sector longed for an independent government. The final group was made up of the Radicals who wanted an independent government, not to solely accomplish that end, but to bring about deeper social reforms. The middle class Criollos as well as the Mestizos did not actively participate in expressing their opinions because they lacked leadership but were very attentive to all that was happening during the war.