The Mapuche people had a history of resistance to Spanish conquest with the area known as Araucanía remaining de facto independent through the colonial era.

However economic and geopolitical reasons together with increasingly negative attitudes towards the Mapuche made Chilean authorities decide to seek an incorporation of Araucanía, by force if necessary.

The Mapuche chiefdoms responded in different ways, some aligned with the central government, a substantial number followed the lead of the Arribanos in violently opposing the advance of Chilean settlers and soldiers into the region, while some others opted for neutrality.

For the first ten years (1861−1871), the Mapuches were unable to prevent Chile from advancing its positions but at time were able to defeat in detail small detachments while avoiding large battles.

In November 1881, the Mapuches made a last-ditch effort to regain control of their territory, launching coordinated strikes against Chilean settlements across the region.

[6] The next major expansion of agricultural activity occurred from 1848 onwards as a result of wheat demand during the colonization of Australia and the California Gold Rush.

[6] In the 1850s, with the German colonization of Valdivia, Osorno and Llanquihue and the onset of sheep farming in the Chilean territory at the Strait of Magellan, Araucanía remained the sole place for agriculture to expand.

[11] These events became first known in Valdivia and later in Santiago where they fuelled a strong anti-Mapuche sentiment and reaffirmed prejudiced views that the Mapuches were brutal barbarians.

[16] Chilean president Ramón Freire adopted the project initially but was later convinced to focus instead on the expulsion of the Spanish from Chiloé Archipelago, leaving the Araucanía issue pending.

[17] Varas expressed the view that the eventual mission was to be to civilize the indigenous inhabitants by increasing their material standard of living and "raise their spirit to the moral and religious truths".

[24][25][26] In 1862 Saavedra advanced with a group of 800 soldiers into the remnants of the town of Angol while other troops reinforced the defenses of Los Ángeles, Negrete, Nacimiento and Mulchén.

[28] The Chincha Islands War between Spain and an alliance between Chile and Peru made the government call Saavedra into the army again in 1866 in order to defend the coast of Araucanía against possible Spanish attacks.

[26] The Pehuenche chief Pichiñán is reported to have spoken against the Moluches, who wanted war, claiming that they engaged in robbery and received for that just punishments by Chileans.

[34] The Abajino chiefs Catrileo and Pinolevi who had close ties with the Chilean government refused to join the Abajino-Arribano alliance and were in 1868 killed in a malón directed at them.

[34] In response to the initial failure commandant José Manuel Pinto launched a scorched earth strategy in Mapuche lands in the summer of 1869.

[42] Upon hearing that his presence in Araucanía had been revealed Orélie-Antoine de Tounens fled to Argentina, having however promised Quilapán to obtain arms.

[42] Accordingly, there may have been substance to these fears as information given to Abdón Cifuentes in 1870 an intervention in favour of the Kingdom of Araucanía and Patagonia against Chile was discussed in Napoleon III's Conseil d'État.

[48] In the summer of 1871 Quilapán amassed an army that included reinforcement of Mapuches coming from Argentina and launched a campaign against the fortified Malleco Line and the settlers around it.

[48] This attack was repulsed by the Chilean Army whose cavalry had recently replaced their Minié rifles with Spencer carbines, giving them a distinct advantage against the Mapuches.

[52][53] Mapuches noticed the shrinking of Chilean garrisons as Chile sent troops northwards to fight Peru and Bolivia during the War of the Pacific (1879–1883).

[52] A case of horse theft in 1880 caused chief Domingo Melín to be escorted by Chilean troops to Angol in order to stand trial.

[55] Having decisively defeated Peru in the battles of Chorrillos and Miraflores in January 1881 Chilean authorities turned their attention to Araucanía seeking to defend the previous advances that had been so difficult to establish.

[59] With the Chilean advance to Cautín River a small mountain range called Cadena de Ñielol remained a focus of Mapuche resistance from where warriors conducted pillaging raids or attacks against vulnerable targets.

[9][74] Six months later, on June 1, president Domingo Santa María declared:[75]The country has with satisfaction seen the problem of the reduction of the whole Araucanía solved.

This event, so important to our social and political life, and so significant for the future of the republic, has ended, happily and with costly and painful sacrifices.

Chilean minister Luis Aldunate considered that Germans integrated poorly and that the country should avoid "exclusive and dominant races to monopolize the colonization".

The Chilean Army benefited greatly from the advances of the industrial revolution, as it incorporated machine guns, new types of cannons, rifles and revolvers.

[94] The expansion of railroads in the 1870s also helped Chilean logistics and communications making it possible for authorities in Santiago to quickly send reinforcements to Araucanía.

In this confrontation mounted Mapuche warriors armed with spears and bolas faced Chilean troopers who had recently been re-equipped with repeating Spencer carbines, replacing their single shot Minié rifle.

[31] In contrast, 17th century Mapuches who successfully repelled repeated Spanish invasions had a "supra-local level of military solidarity" despite lacking state organization.