Military history of South America

Pizarro made several early attempts to invade Peru from his main base in Panama; the first, leaving in 1524, met with setbacks in the battle of Punta Quemada against the natives of Colombia, and was forced to retreat.

Pizarro's lieutenant, Benalcázar, travelled north with 140 foot soldiers and a few horses to conquer modern-day Ecuador, where he defeated the forces of the Inca general Rumiñahui with the aid of Cañari tribesmen.

The Inca leadership did not, however, have the full support of its subject peoples and Manco was eventually forced to retreat, first to the fortress of Ollantaytambo, and then further into the mountainous region of Vilcabamba, where he established the small Neo-Inca State holding onto some power for several more decades.

Illangulién was elected as successor to Caupolicán, and under his leadership the Mapuche learned to work iron, use Spanish weapons, including firearms and cannon, ride horses captured from their conquerors and acquired better strategies and tactics.

In the early 17th century, this defensive stance was criticised, leading to a resumption of offensive Spanish actions, until Francisco López de Zúñiga held the Parliament of Quillin, with the toqui Lincopinchon and established the first formal peace with Mapuche people.

The captaincies faced strong opposition from the local tribes, and following widespread failure and the French threat along the Brazilian coast, King John III decided to revert Brazil to a royal enterprise.

Further south, the Dutch West India Company attempted to take part of Brazil as New Holland, resulting in thirty years of conflict with the Portuguese until finally being sold to Lisbon in 1661.

From 1555 to 1567, French Huguenots made an attempt to establish the colony of France Antarctique in what is now Brazil, making an alliance with the Tamoio and Tupinambá Indians of the region, who were fighting the Portuguese, before being overcome by their more powerful neighbours.

Although the half-hearted Spanish effort to turn their successful defence into an offensive ended in failure, Spain's victory in Cartagena de Indias was crucial in maintaining its access to the Atlantic sea-lanes and therefore its empire.

Finally, from 1806 to 1807 the British made a concerted attempt to seize control of the Río de la Plata region from the Spanish Empire, believing that the local population would rise up and support them.

Bolívar was then authorised to lead a liberating force back into Venezuela in what became known as the Admirable Campaign, quickly defeating the royalist troops at the battle of Alto de los Godos.

An assembly of representatives from most of modern-day Argentina, alongside those of present-day Uruguay, met at the Congress of Tucumán declaring full independence from the Spanish Crown as the United Provinces of South America.

San Martín, who had distinguished himself in recent years, took military command and rejected yet another direct invasion in favour of a new strategy that would use Chile as an indirect means of liberating Upper Peru.

Under the first stage of the conflict, the Patria Vieja campaign, the rebels, led primarily by José Miguel Carrera and his associated family, fought a sequence of battles resulting in defeat at the hands of the Royalist forces, who reoccupied Chile under the Reconquista.

Led by caudillos, they created quasi-states which attracted many followers from political exiles from the main urban centers to the fringe members of Criollo and Mestizo society, and where possible allied themselves with the regional Indian communities.

The remaining royalists surrendered in 1825, and although Simón Bolívar, president of Gran Colombia and Peru at the time, was keen to incorporate Upper Peruvia into the wider federal state, local leaders supported full independence.

[37] Using various mercenary commanders, including Admiral Thomas Cochrane, the Emperor set about driving all of the Portuguese, many of whom were veterans of the Napoleonic Wars, out of Brazil, and establishing the central authority of Rio de Janeiro.

Despite the Monroe Doctrine, the 19th century saw significant European intervention in the military affairs of South America, mostly driven by commercial imperatives, and hampered by the huge logistical challenges involved.

The British and French governments responded by intervening up the Paraná river in 1845 with a joint fleet of steam frigates, partially armoured and armed with rapid-fire guns and Congreve rockets.

In 1862, a Spanish naval expedition, including steam frigates, was sent to South America under Admiral Luis Hernández Pinzón; the visit went badly and diplomatic relations went downhill, with Spain demanding compensation and then the repayment of former debts from the wars of independence.

The conflicts were driven by the uncertain frontiers of the colonial period, attempts to achieve regional dominance, and the importance of trade and the consequent involvement of many European nations in the internal affairs of the continent.

As the century progressed, the growing wealth of South America allowed the creation of larger and more modern armies than in the revolutionary period, with the death toll of the wars increasing as a result.

The first conflict to emerge concerned the long-disputed Banda Oriental, or 'Eastern Strip', approximately present-day Uruguay; it had been re-annexed by Portugal in 1821, giving the country a strategic position over the Río de la Plata and control over the United Provinces' main port.

The high cost of the war was affecting both sides by this time, and the damage to trade was concerning the British, resulting in both parties signing the Treaty of Montevideo acknowledging the independence of most of the disputed territory in the form of the Estado Oriental del Uruguay.

In the years before the war, he had invested heavily in building up a military and a standing army capable of taking on his larger neighbours;[55] he increasingly looked eastwards towards the possibilities of an Atlantic port and access to valuable trade routes.

Following a military coup in Peru, the Convenio de Girón was signed, invoking the status quo based on the old, still disputed, colonial frontiers – almost guaranteeing future conflicts.

Peru fell back on highly effective raiding activity, requiring three naval battles at Chipana, Iquique and Angamos before the larger Chilean force could achieve sea dominance.

The naval blockade imposed against Venezuela by the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy from December 1902 to February 1903, after President Cipriano Castro refused to pay foreign debts and damages suffered by European citizens in recent Venezuelan civil wars.

[60] These extraordinary monetary sums, combined with a collapse in Brazil's rubber boom and declining trade revenues during the First World War, eventually brought the naval arms race to a halt.

In an effort to avoid being trapped in South East Asia, Spee had attempted to sail across the Pacific, to round Cape Horn, and then force his way back home to Germany.