The Inca Empire, the Viceroyalty of Peru, independence, the Leguía dictatorship... There are many historical events that have shaped Peruvian culture and identity.
Peru is a Latin American nation that has witnessed many historical events, both national and international, that have deeply marked it and contributed to what it is today.
Among the many events that this country has experienced, below we present a compilation of the main historical events in Peru, explained.
Peru is a Latin American nation full of culture, art and, of course, history. There are many events that the Peruvian lands have witnessed, ranging from the rise of the Inca Empire to its fall at the arrival of the Spanish, passing through the first breaths of libertarian and emancipatory air in times of American independence and, later, the political instability and territorial conflicts in the country. These are 12 of the most important historical events in Peru.
On November 15, 1532, the Spanish conquistadors led by Francisco Pizarro enter Cajamarca, present-day Peru. There, Pizarro arranges an interview with the Inca leader Atahualpa for the following day, with apparent diplomatic purposes, but it is all a trap. The Spanish will prepare an ambush and, when the Inca arrives with his escort, they will rush at them without warning. They will manage to capture the great Inca, putting an end to the independence of his vast empire.
Atahualpa will try to get out of this situation by offering to fill the room in which he is imprisoned with gold, silver and precious stones as a ransom for his freedom. At first, Pizarro accepts the offer, but Atahualpa will remain imprisoned for a few more months until, finally, he is accused of idolatry, fratricide and treason. For this reason he was condemned to death at the stake, but his sentence was commuted to that of garroting for having embraced the Catholic faith, and he was finally executed on July 26, 1533.
Later, Pizarro and his men managed to take the Inca city of Cuzco, sacred capital of the Inca Empire, which at that time was inhabited by about 100,000 people. This conquest ended up completely weakening the few Inca resistances that were still standing, completely disintegrating the Inca regime and contributing to the rebellion of the tribes that for centuries had been oppressed by this pre-Hispanic culture.
Having already effective control over the ancient lands of the Incas, on January 6, 1535 three of Francisco Pizarro's trackers explored the Rimac valley, returning to Pizarro's settlement to tell him about the numerous wonders they had found there.
Pizarro, amazed by everything his men claimed to have seen, decided to found the new capital on the 18th of that same month, which he would name the City of Kings in honor of the Three Kings of the East, on the date on which the region was explored. Over time, this same city would receive a new name: Lima, the current capital of Peru.
On February 5, 1819, a treaty of alliance was signed in Buenos Aires between the government of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata and the Chilean government, with the aim of ending Spanish domination in Peru and thus beginning its emancipation process. General José de San Martín considers it urgent, since he believes that the independence of the United Provinces will not be totally secure until Peru stops being an important bastion of royalist forces.
This alliance was signed by the Chileans Bernardo O’Higgins and Joaquín Echeverría, and with this gesture the whole process of Peruvian independence was initiated. Just one year later, on October 21, 1820, by means of a decree issued by General San Martín, the flag and coat of arms of Peru were created. The objective of this was psychological, since by having a symbol with which to identify themselves, the Peruvian forces would be more motivated and united when fighting against the Spanish Empire.
On December 29, 1820, the city of Trujillo became a hot spot for Peruvian emancipation. After the mayor of the city, José Bernardo de Tagle, received a letter from San Martín a few days ago, dated November 20, 1820, inviting him to the independence cause, the act of independence of the city was signed.
The Spanish flag is lowered, and the national flag of Peru is raised for the first time, making Trujillo the first city to complete independence from Spain.
It is July 9, 1821 and the troops of the liberator José de San Martín enter Lima. Days later, on the 15th of that same month, San Martín will call an open town hall meeting and the Act of Independence of Peru will be signed. A little later, on July 28, in a public ceremony he will solemnly proclaim the independence of Peru from Spanish domination and from any foreign domination. General San Martín, along with the red and white flag that accompanied the revolutionaries during the campaign, proclaims the following words:
“Peru from this moment is free and independent by the general will of the people and by the justice of its cause that God defends. Long live the Fatherland! Long live freedom! Long live independence!”
On August 2 of that same year, San Martín will take up the position of “protector of Peru”, immediately setting about organizing the creation of a provisional government. In his quest to make Peru a truly independent nation, Simon Bolivar arrived at the port of Callao, Peru, on September 10, 1823, where he dedicated himself to training and organizing the new army while continuing with his political activities and preparing for the complete independence of the entire American continent.
On December 9, 1824, the Battle of Ayacucho took place, a place that means “the corner of the dead” in Quechua. The battle that put a definitive end to Spanish domination of Peru and the continent took place there, a battle in which 5,000 American soldiers managed to defeat almost twice as many royalist soldiers of Viceroy José de la Serna. At the end of that same month, the Viceroyalty of Peru was annulled and, de facto, the nation was finally free.
On January 4, 1834, after the presidential election of Luis José de Orbegoso, Pedro Bermúdez proclaimed himself Supreme Chief. With this proclamation, the young Peruvian nation entered into civil war, with Orbegoso's troops and those of the general and military man José Rufino Echenique facing each other.
The conflict would end with the so-called Embrace of Maquinhuayo, when Echenique's rebel troops went over to President Orbegoso's troops. Bermúdez, who no longer had de facto power nor was he supreme chief of anything, would be expatriated to Costa Rica with a pension of 2,000 pesos granted to him by the Orbegoso government itself.
In the context of the war between Spain and Peru and Chile, the Battle of Callao took place on May 2, 1866. Although the Peruvian army was clearly at a disadvantage, thanks to the help of Bolivian, Chilean and Mexican troops, the people of South America emerged victorious from the Spanish attacks.
This victory is quite meritorious, since the Spanish battery was made up of about 7 main frigates, plus an army of small ships that together totaled more than 245 artillery pieces. In contrast, the Peruvian army had only a few ships, poorly equipped for battle, but thanks to Peruvian cunning and the help of other Latin American nations, they managed to decommission many Spanish frigates.
On April 5, Chile declared war on Peru's alliance with Bolivia, its casus belli being the interest in the saltpeter lands of the Atacama Desert, which is why this war of the Pacific is also called the Guano and Saltpeter War. During the Pacific War, five campaigns took place: the Maritime Campaign (1879), the Tarapacá Campaign (1879), the Tacna and Arica Campaign (1880), the Lima Campaign (1880) and the Sierra Campaign (1881-1884).
On January 15, near Lima, the Battle of Miraflores took place, where Chile defeated and besieged the capital of Peru, ending the war with Peru. Two years later, the war would end definitively, with the signing of the Treaty of Ancón, by which Bolivia would end up losing its only access to the sea.
On July 24, 1911, the American professor and adventurer Hiram Bingham, a true Indiana Jones of the time, discovered the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu. The ruins of this imposing city located 2,490 meters above sea level were completely covered by vegetation, but today Machu Picchu is part of the select list of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.
On April 4, 1919, Augusto Bernardino Leguía carried out a coup d'état and began the Leguía Oncenio. He himself ran for president in 1919, in which Leguía and his opponent Ántero Aspíllaga Barrera participated. Leguía was affected by numerous accusations that ended up nullifying thousands of votes in his favor, in addition to the fact that the Peruvian parliament opposed his election.
Faced with this situation, he decided to carry out a coup d'état, which ended with the deportation of President José Pardo y Barreda to the United States, in addition to the dissolution of Congress and the proclamation of Leguía as provisional president. But Leguía would not be in power forever, since he would be overthrown on August 22, 1930 thanks to several internal pronouncements and, in addition, because the global economic crisis of 1929 had notoriously affected the stability of Peru.
Peace did not come after the overthrow, quite the opposite. Peru began a period of revolts that led to Luis Sánchez assuming the provisional presidency of the nation. However, many wanted to take power and, as a result, there were several popular revolutions that forced Sánchez to resign from office, causing even more instability in the country. It would not be until the elections of October 11, 1931 where there would be a certain stability again, with Luis Sánchez emerging victorious.
On January 27, 1995, an armed confrontation between Peru and Ecuador took place, which was motivated by the dispute over 340 square kilometers of border. This war took place mainly in the vicinity of the Cenepa River with six military settlements near the Cóndor mountain range. The fighting lasted just over a month, ending on March 2, leaving behind numerous wounded and dead on both sides. Finally, on October 26, 1998, a peace treaty was signed, putting an end to their historic territorial dispute.
