The Conservative Party's origins go back to the fall of Bernardo O'Higgins' government on January 28, 1823.

After the abdication of O'Higgins, the new government of liberal Ramón Freire called for new parliamentary elections.

Freire resigned in 1826, but his successor, the politically neutral admiral Manuel Blanco Encalada, was unable to govern because of a hostile Congress.

Freire resigned almost immediately and was replaced by vice president Francisco Antonio Pinto, a liberal.

This civil war saw the rise of a new group, the estanqueros, moderates who wanted an end to the political instability.

The next year, presidential elections were held and won by José Joaquín Prieto, an ex-o'higginista sympathetic to the pelucones who had led the conservative forces in Lircay.

Also under Portales' advice, Prieto declared war on the Peru-Bolivian Confederation, which had backed a failed anti-government revolt.

In the parliamentary elections that year, however, the conservatives lost control of Congress, finishing in third-place after the Nationals and Liberals.

The Conservative and Liberal Parties then created the Liberal-Conservative Fusion, which brought Federico Errázuriz Zañartu to the presidency in 1871.

In one instance, liberal president Domingo Santa María even admitted fraud was occurring, stating that "I have been accused of electoral intervention.

I belong to the old school and participate in electoral intervention because I want an efficient, disciplined Parliament.

The Congressional forces, helped mainly by the Navy, set up an alternative government led by Jorge Montt in Iquique.

After a series of Congressional victories, they reached Santiago and deposed Balmaceda, who fled to the Argentine embassy and committed suicide.

The Conservative Party won all of Congress in 1894, but their candidate, Pedro Montt, lost in the 1901 presidential election.

Nevertheless, the excessive power of the legislative body made government ineffective in the eyes of many, leading to the crisis of the 1920s.

The Coalition candidate in the contentious 1915 presidential election, Juan Luis Sanfuentes, won with just a little more than 50% of the vote.

In the 1920 presidential election, the Conservative Party teamed up with a group of dissident liberals to form the National Union alliance.

Finally, in 1930, Ibáñez called the political party leaders for a meeting in the Chillán thermal baths, a popular tourist destination.

To avoid a victory by his opponents, Ibáñez asked each party to nominate potential Congressmen.

Supported only by the Liberals and Conservatives, Montero was deposed by a military coup led by socialist Commodore Marmaduque Grove.

Amid the political turmoil, Dávila resigned and was replaced by Bartolomé Blanche, who restored democracy.

In the 1938 presidential election, the right-wing candidate, Gustavo Ross, supported by the Liberal and Conservative Parties, was defeated by Pedro Aguirre Cerda.

The Conservatives nominated Eduardo Cruz-Coke, who finished in second place after radical Gabriel González Videla.

He triumphed with 32%, defeating socialist Salvador Allende and Christian Democrat Eduardo Frei Montalva.

In response to this huge loss, the conservatives and liberals united to form the National Party in 1966, under which they staged a political comeback in the next election.