Foreign Interests in the War of the Pacific

Abstract

T HE PACIFIC WAR of 1879-1883 has been studied by a number of writers on the basis of State Department papers and of South American materials. In this article some of its aspects are discussed in the light of the British Foreign Office records.' Exceedingly tortuous in detail, the causes of the war were exceedingly simple in essence. Bolivia had nitrate deposits in her coastal province in the Atacama desert; Peru, her ally since 1873, had guano and nitrates in the Tarapaca province bordering it on the north. Chile, to the south, with few deposits of her own, had invested in the development work in Bolivia and to some extent in Tarapaca. All three countries were hard up, and run by oligarchies which disliked paying taxes and looked to revenue from these fertilizers as a substitute. Peru set up a state monopoly, taking over private enterprises in exchange for certificates. Bolivia put an export tax on the Chilean coinpany at Antofogasta. Chile denounced this as a breach of agreement, and in February, 1879, seized the port. Bolivia declared war on Chile, and Peru supported her ally. Equally simple in outline is the story of the hostilities. In the desert battles of November, 1879, Peru lost Tarapaca, and the Bolivian army was eliminated. In December President Prado fled from