Chile was not informed about the pact until it learned of it, at first cursorily by a leak in the Argentine Congress in September 1873, when the Argentine Senate discussed the invitation to join the Peru-Bolivia alliance.The Peruvian historian Basadre states that one of Peru's reasons for signing the treaty was to impede a Chilean-Bolivian alliance against Peru that would have given to Bolivia the region of Arica (almost all Bolivian commerce went through Peruvian ports of Arica before the war) and transferred Antofagasta to Chile.Historians disagree on how to interpret the treaty.
The options were Tarapacá, Moquegua or directly Lima. While Cáceres was informed about the dispositions and moves of his foes, Chileans often did not know the whereabouts of the guerrillas. Without any communication or withdrawal lines, the area was essentially cut off from the rest of Peru.On 30 April 1879, after 13 days of marching, 4,500 Bolivian soldiers, commanded by Daza, arrived in Tacna, a town 100 km (60 mi) north of Arica. There were also interethnic tensions under blacks and coolies. "After the Chilean occupation of Arica, Tarapacá, and Antofagasta, the governments of Peru and Bolivia turned as their last hope to the United States to block the Chilean annexation of the occupied territories.Regarding a British intervention in the war, the British In March 1881, the Chilean government began to seize the On 4 January 1883, in a session of the Chilean Congress, the deputy Another issue was the damage from acts of war on properties owned by citizens of neutral countries. Sater cites the British minister in Lima, Spencer St. John: "the rival parties may try to make political capital out of jealousy for the national honor, and His Excellency [Peruvian President Prado] may be forced to give way to the popular sentiment. "HA TRAÍDO HASTA NOSOTROS DESDE TERRITORIO ENEMIGO, EL ALUD DE LA GUERRA: CONFISCACIÓN DE MAQUINARIAS Y APROPIACIÓN DE BIENES CULTURALES DURANTE LA OCUPACIÓN DE LIMA, 1881–1883". J. Basadre cites Thomas F. O'Brien, "The Antofagasta Company: A Case Study of Peripheral Capitalism", Duke University Press, Hispanic American Historical Review, 1980, pp. They were all aware that the only way they could hope to receive payment on their loans and earn the profits from the nitrate business was to see the war ended and trade resumed on a normal footing without legal disputes over ownership of the resources of the region hanging over their heads. Much of the west coast of South America is very dry. April 1879.Historians agree that the belligerents were not prepared for the war financially or militarily.According to William Sater, Chile and Peru enlisted temporarily 2% of the male population but Bolivia only 1%.The Allied forces, at first glance, had some advantages over the Chilean forces. The Peruvian Government and the Nitrate Trade, 1873–1879.
The Second World War pitted two alliances against each other, the Axis powers and the Allied powers; the U.S having served 16 million men, Germany serving 13 million, the Soviet Union serving 35 million and Japan serving 6 million. In February 1878, Bolivia imposed a new tax on a Chilean mining company ("Compañía de Salitres y Ferrocarril de Antofagasta", CSFA) despite Bolivia's express guarantee in the Even though the 1873 treaty and the imposition of the 10 centavos tax proved to be the The dry climate of the Peruvian and Bolivian coasts had permitted the accumulation and preservation of vast amounts of high-quality guano deposits and sodium nitrate.
Ill-defined borders and oppressive measures allegedly taken… The Peruvian forces numbered approximately 25,000 to 32,000 men and were titled the Army of Lima.The main Peruvian defense line ran from the seaside resort of Chorrillos through Morro Solar, Santa Teresa, San Juan, the Pamplona (hills) until Monterrico Chico, a line of defence approximately 15 km long. On 6 February, the Bolivian government nullified the CSFA's exploitation license and confiscated the property. Baquedano, the Chilean commander, decided that only one brigade in the Pisco region, Lynch's brigade, would march the 55 miles (89 km) north to the coastal town of Piérola, who had expected a landing north of Lima, ordered the construction of two parallel lines of Peruvian defences, one at Chorrillos and one at Miraflores.
There was a strong drift in its public opinion in favor of Peru and Bolivia.