Previous Chapter Review: The Second British Empire – The Resurgence of Pacific Hegemony (1849-1879)
Introduction: In the nearly one century of Britain's domination of the Pacific Ocean and even the global oceans, all countries in the world have more or less joined the race to catch up with Britain, and even launched direct or indirect challenges to Britain's maritime supremacy. At the end of the 19th century, in the eastern Pacific Ocean, where British control was limited, Chile in South America, and the United States in North America rose successively. Among them, Chile not only launched the South American Pacific War to seize the sea supremacy in the Southeast Pacific, but also dragged the newly rising United States into the Dark Ages, and gradually developed into the largest coastal country in the Southeast Pacific and one of the emerging powers in the world, known as the "Chilean Empire" in history.
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- Establishment of the Chilean Empire's hegemony in the South Pacific and even in the Pacific (1879)
- The pinnacle of the Pacific hegemony of the Chilean Empire (1888)
- The Collapse of the Pacific Hegemony of the Chilean Empire (1891)
Establishment of the Chilean Empire's hegemony in the South Pacific and even in the Pacific (1879)
In 1808, a major uprising broke out in Madrid, the capital of Spain, against the French garrison. Soon after, the French Emperor Napoleon I deposed the Spanish kings Carlos IV and Ferdinand VII and appointed his brother Joseph Bonaparte as the new king of Spain, known as "José I".
May 2, 1808 Uprising of Madrid
In 1810, news reached the Spanish American colonies across the ocean, and the Latin American War of Independence (1810-1833) broke out that swept the United States. Among them, in the Chilean region south of the Viceroyalty of Peru, the Chilean people set up the First to Fifth Military Governments, the First Executive Government, and the Sixth Military Government with Santiago as the center. In 1814, Chile's Sixth Military Government was defeated by the Spanish colonial government at the Battle of Langcagua.
Santiago, the capital of Chile
In 1817, the leader of the Chilean guerrilla army, O'Higgins, with the help of San Martín, the leader of the United Province of La Plata (present-day Argentina, etc.), defeated the Spanish colonial government at the Battle of Chacabco, re-established the second Chilean government and served as the supreme consul. The following year, O'Higgins officially proclaimed the Republic of Chile.
February 12, 1817 Battle of Chakabuko
For a long time, independent Chile was locked in a cycle of government, military government, and presidential administration, and even the first Chilean civil war that swept the country between 1829 and 1830. It was not until Prieto became president in 1831 that Chilean politics gradually stabilized and began to develop steadily. In 1843, Chilean President Mambernez sent Admiral Juan Williams to conquer the south and establish the Magellan-Chilean Antarctic Zone, thus expanding Chile's territory to the southernmost tip of the Southeast Pacific.
Strait of Magellan and Tierra del Fuego
While Chile is growing steadily, European powers such as Russia, France, and the United Kingdom, as well as the United States in North America, are fighting each other in the Pacific. Among them, Britain established a certain degree of Pacific hegemony by virtue of its Southwest Pacific colonies (Australia and New Zealand, etc.), Northwest Pacific semi-colonies (Qing Dynasty and Japan, etc.), Northeast Pacific Colonies (Canada), and Central Pacific semi-colonies (Hawaii, etc.). However, only the Southwest Pacific Colonies had strong British control due to their large size and direct territories, while the rest of the regions either had shorter coastlines (Canada) or were semi-colonies and were counterbalanced by other powers, not to mention the untouched Southeast Pacific.
The east coast of Australia and New Zealand
In 1879, Chilean President Pinto fought a four-year South American Pacific War (1879-1883) with Peru and Bolivia over control of resources such as saltpeter and guano. At the beginning of the war, Chilean Naval Commander Williams preemptively destroyed the Peruvian Navy at the Battle of Angamos, thereby blockading all the coastlines of Peru and Bolivia. The rapid rise of the Chilean Navy has filled the sea power vacuum in the southeastern Pacific, and the trend in the future has made Britain's already fragile control of the eastern Pacific even worse. The outbreak of the Battle of Angamos and the rise of the Chilean Empire marked to some extent the indirect disintegration and replacement of the hegemony of the Second British Empire in the South Pacific and even in the entire Pacific.
October 8, 1879 Battle of Angamos
In 1880, Chile captured the coastal province of Bolivia, and Bolivia, having lost all access to the sea, was forced to retreat inland. The following year, Chile invaded the Peruvian capital, Lima, and installed a puppet government. In 1883, Peru, unable to fight any longer, was forced to sign the Treaty of Ancon with Chile, formally ceding the province of Tarapacá and giving Chile the provinces of Tacna and Arica for 10 years. The following year, Bolivia signed the Valparaiso Armistice Agreement with Chile, effectively recognizing Chile's occupation of the Maritime Province. The victory in the South American Pacific War catapulted Chile into the largest coastal state in the Southeast Pacific and one of the world's emerging powers, known as the "Chilean Empire".
Lima, the capital of Peru
The pinnacle of the Pacific hegemony of the Chilean Empire (1888)
In 1885, the United States moved south to intervene in the Colombian Civil War and occupy its Panama region. At the request of Colombian President Nunez, Chilean President Santa Maria sent his navy north to help Panama, which is known as the "Panama Crisis". The Chilean Navy, which had just won the Pacific War in South America, turned its guns directly at the American forces in Panama, which was forced to retreat completely after weighing the pros and cons. In the nearly half century since the end of the Civil War (1861-1865), the United States failed in the "Dark Ages" of the United States, with the exception of the Alaska Changing of Hands (1867) and the Treaty of Reconciliation and Commerce between Korea and the United States (1882), which ended in failure.
Isthmus of Panama
However, in 1887, the United States adopted the Bayonet Constitution to make the Kingdom of Hawaii in the central North Pacific a vassal state, and attempted to further dye Easter Island in the central Pacific Ocean. In 1888, in the face of another challenge from the United States, Chilean President Balmaceda preemptively signed the Treaty of Annexation of Easter Island with the few representatives of the Rapa Nui on Easter Island, thus officially incorporating Easter Island into Chile's territory. The annexation of Easter Island meant that the Chilean Empire's Pacific hegemony reached its greatest peak in history.
Easter Island
September 9, 1888 Chilean Empire
In 1889, the First Pan American Conference was held in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. Chile, along with the already rising Brazil and Argentina, is increasingly known as the "ABC Three".
Washington, the capital of the United States
The Collapse of the Pacific Hegemony of the Chilean Empire (1891)
In 1891, the Second Chilean Civil War broke out between the pro-presidential army and the pro-Congress navy. After more than half a year of confrontation, Chilean naval commander Jorge Monte finally defeated Chilean President Balmaceda and seized power. Soon after, in retaliation for the Panama crisis, the annexation of Easter Island, and the defeat of pro-US President Balmaceda, the United States sent the cruiser "USS Baltimore" into Valparaiso, Chile, to provoke, which almost led to war, known as the "Baltimore Incident." Chile, which had just experienced a civil war, was forced to apologize for paying reparations to prevent the situation from escalating.
Valparaiso
The Baltimore incident was the first diplomatic victory of the United States over Chile in recent years, and it was a harbinger of its future unbridled expansion in the Pacific. Since then, Chile has focused more on the South American naval arms race with Brazil and Argentina. Since Chile's warships are purchased rather than built domestically, Britain in the Southwest Pacific is objectively the biggest beneficiary. The attrition of the Second Chilean Civil War and the setback of the USS Baltimore marked to some extent the transfer of Chilean Empire's hegemony in the South Pacific to the hands of the British Second Empire, while the hegemony of the entire Pacific Ocean was transferred to the United States, which took the initiative.
Chilean cruiser "Esmeralda".
After the Baltimore incident, Colombia, which had relied on Chile for protection, was forced to turn to the United States, which indirectly contributed to the construction of the future Panama Canal. In 1908, the U.S. Great White Fleet passed through Punta Arenas, Chile, much to the heart of Chile's President Pedro Monte. In 1914, the outbreak of World War I (1914-1918) led to the cessation of warship exports by the European countries, and the three ABC countries, which had lost their supplies and stagnated, were forced to end the long and costless naval arms race in South America.
December 16, 1907 – February 22, 1909 Great White Fleet of the United States
Conclusion: From the Treaty of Mong-Ha, the Treaty of Oregon, the Mexican-American War, the Black Ship Incident, the Second Opium War, the Nanqi War, the change of hands in Alaska, the treaty of trade between the DPRK and the United States, the Bayonet Constitution, the USS Baltimore Incident, and the Spanish-American War, the United States in the first half of the 19th century can be said to have been in the Pacific Ocean step by step, but the United States in the second half of the 19th century was struggling. However, with the achievements of the Second Industrial Revolution and the continuous rise of the navy, the United States eventually defeated one opponent after another, and gradually became the strongest power in the Pacific until the outbreak of World War II in the first half of the 20th century.
Resources:
- ["Bukharin"] "Global Historical Map";
- Baidu Encyclopedia, pictures.