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History of Peru

This is the history of Peru. See also history of South America and the history of present-day nations and states.

Contents

Ancient history

For pre-1530 history see Incan Empire.

Colonial Peru

When the Spanish landed in 1531, Peru's territory was the nucleus of the highly developed Inca civilization. Centered at Cuzco, the Inca Empire extended over a vast region from northern Ecuador to central Chile. In search of Inca wealth, the Spanish explorer Francisco Pizarro, who arrived in the territory after the Incas had fought a debilitating civil war, conquered the weakened people. The Spanish captured the Incan capital at Cuzco by 1533 and had consolidated their control by 1541, when Pizarro was assassinated.

Establishing a stable colonial government was delayed for some time by native revolts and bands of the Conquistadores fighting among themselves. The initiation of an encomienda system meant that the Conquistadors extracted tribute for personal service, part of which was forwarded to Seville in return for converting the natives to Christianity. Title to the land itself remained with the king of Spain. As governor of Peru, Pizarro used the encomienda system to grant virtually unlimited authority over groups of native Peruvians to his soldier companions, forming the colonial land-tenure structure. The occupants of the land were now expected to raise Old World cattle and poultry and crops for their landlords. Resistance was punished with the severity that has given rise to the "Black Legend". The census taken by the last Quipucamayoc indicated that there were 12 million inhabitants of Incan Peru: 45 years later, under viceroy Toledo, the census figures amounted to only 1,100,000 Indians. The attrition was not an organized genocide, but the results were similar.

Inca cities were given Spanish Christian names and rebuilt as Spanish towns centered around a plaza with a church or cathedral facing an official residence. A few Incan cities like Cusco retained native masonry for the foundations of their walls. Other Inca sites, like Huanuco Viejo , were abandoned for cities at lower altitudes more hospitable to the Spanish.

Once the Viceroyalty of Peru was established, Gold and silver from the Andes enriched the conquerors, and Peru became the principal source of Spanish wealth and power in South America.

Pizarro founded Lima in 1535. The viceroyalty established at Lima in 1542 initially had jurisdiction over all of Spanish South America except Portuguese Brazil, which was part of the king's personal dominions 1580 - 1640. Through Lima passed the flow of colonial wealth, trekked across the isthmus of Panama and shipped to Seville. The rest of Peru was dependent upon Lima, in a pattern that persists today.On the local level, the Spanish encomenderos depended on local chieftains (curacas) to control even the most remote settlements, in a rigorous hierarchy.

By the 18th century. Lima had become the most distinguished and aristocratic colonial capital, seat of the university and the chief Spanish stronghold in America.

When Pizarro was assassinated by the faction of Diego Almagro in 1541, the stability of the regime was unseated by civil war. In response, the first viceroy, Blasco Núñez Vela was sent out from Spain in 1544. He was killed by Francisco's brother, Gonzalo Pizarro. But the viceroyalty under Pedro de la Gasca eventually prevailed, Gonzalo was captured and executed.

The Inca were not entirely suppressed. In the 18th century, there were fourteen large uprisings, the most outstanding of which were the uprising led by Juan Santos Atahualpa in 1742, and in 1780 the Sierra uprising, led by Tupac Amaru.

Revolutionary Peru

Peru's independence movement was an uprising of Spanish landowners and their forces, led by José de San Martín of Argentina and Simón Bolívar of Venezuela. San Martin proclaimed Peruvian independence from Spain on July 28, 1821. Emancipation— which in Peruvian history means emancipation of the landholding class from ineffective Spanish control— was finally completed in December 1824, when General Antonio Jose de Sucre defeated the Spanish troops at Ayacucho, ending Spanish rule in South America. Spain made futile attempts to regain its former colonies, but in 1879 it finally recognized Peru's independence.

Territorial disputes

After independence, Peru and its neighbors engaged in intermittent territorial disputes. Chile's victory over Peru and Bolivia in the War of the Pacific (1879-1883) resulted in a territorial settlement. Following a clash between Peru and Ecuador in 1941, the Rio Protocol sought to establish the boundary between the two countries. Continuing boundary disagreement led to brief armed conflicts in early 1981 and early 1995, but in 1998 the governments of Peru and Ecuador signed a historic peace treaty and demarcated the border. In late 1999, the governments of Peru and Chile likewise finally implemented the last outstanding article of their 1929 border agreement.

Peru since 1945

In the mid 20th century, Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre was a major force in Peruvian politics, but the military prevented him from taking the Presidency.

The military has been prominent in Peruvian history. Coups have repeatedly interrupted civilian constitutional government. The most recent period of military rule (1968-80) began when General Juan Velasco Alvarado overthrew elected President Fernando Belaunde Terry of the Popular Action Party (AP). As part of what has been called the "first phase" of the military government's nationalist program, Velasco undertook an extensive agrarian reform program and nationalized the fish meal industry, some petroleum companies, and several banks and mining firms.

General Francisco Morales Bermudez Cerruti replaced Velasco in 1975, citing Velasco's economic mismanagement and deteriorating health. Morales Bermudez moved the revolution into a more conservative "second phase," tempering the authoritarian abuses of the first phase and beginning the task of restoring the country's economy. Morales Bermudez presided over the return to civilian government in accordance with a new constitution drawn up in 1979. In the May 1980 elections, President Fernando Belaunde Terry was returned to office by a strong plurality.

Nagging economic problems left over from the military government persisted, worsened by an occurrence of the "El Niño" weather phenomenon in 1982-83, which caused widespread flooding in some parts of the country, severe droughts in others, and decimated the schools of ocean fish that are one of the country's major resources. After a promising beginning, Belaunde's popularity eroded under the stress of inflation, economic hardship, and terrorism.

During the 1980s, cultivation of illicit coca was established in large areas on the eastern Andean slope. Rural guerilla movements, like the Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso, SL) and the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) increased during this time and derived significant financial support from alliances with the narcotraffickers. In 1985, the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA) won the presidential election, bringing Alan García to office. The transfer of the presidency from Belaunde to Garcia on July 28, 1985, was Peru's first exchange of power from one democratically elected leader to another in 40 years.

Economic mismanagement by the Garcia administration led to hyperinflation from 1988 to 1990. Concerned about the economy, the increasing terrorist threat from Sendero Luminoso, and allegations of official corruption, voters chose a relatively unknown mathematician-turned-politician, Alberto Fujimori, as president in 1990. Fujimori implemented drastic orthodox measures that caused inflation to drop from 7,650% in 1990 to 139% in 1991. Faced with opposition to his reform efforts, Fujimori dissolved Congress in the "auto-coup" of April 5, 1992. He then revised the constitution; called new congressional elections; and implemented substantial economic reform, including privatization of numerous state-owned companies, creation of an investment-friendly climate, and sound management of the economy.

Fujimori's constitutionally questionable decision to seek a third term and subsequent tainted victory in June 2000 brought political and economic turmoil. A bribery scandal that broke just weeks after he took office in July forced Fujimori to call new elections in which he would not run. Fujimori fled the country and resigned from office in November 2000. A caretaker government presided over by Valentin Paniagua Corazao took on the responsibility of conducting new presidential and congressional elections. The elections were held in April 2001; observers considered them to be free and fair. The new elected government, led by President Alejandro Toledo, took office July 28, 2001.

The Toledo government has restored a high degree of democracy to Peru following the authoritarianism and corruption of the Fujimori years. Suspects tried by military courts during the war against terrorism (1980-2000) are now set to receive new trials in civilian courts. Trials of those accused of corruption and collusion in the corrupt dealings of the Fujimori years are underway. On August 28, 2003, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CVR), which had been charged with studying the roots of the violence of the 1980-2000 period, presented its formal report to the President. The Government of Peru is now weighing its response to the CVR’s recommendations that human rights violators be tried and that the government take measures to, in some fashion, indemnify parts of the population that suffered during those years, chiefly rural Peruvians of ethnically Indian descent. President Toledo has made a number of cabinet changes, partly in response to scandals but also to create a more effective government. His recently appointed Prime Minister, Beatriz Merino, is not from Toledo's party, nor are a majority of other ministers. Toledo's governing coalition has a plurality in Congress and must negotiate on an ad hoc basis with other parties to form majorities on legislative proposals. Toledo's popularity in the polls has suffered throughout the past year, due in part to scandals and in part to dissatisfaction amongst workers with their share of benefits from Peru's macroeconomic success. After strikes by teachers and agricultural producers led to nationwide road blockages in May 2003, Toledo declared a state of emergency that suspended some civil liberties and gave the military power to enforce order in 12 departments. The state of emergency has since been reduced to only the few areas where the Shining Path terrorist group was operating. Potential candidates and their parties are already beginning to maneuver with an eye on the 2006 elections.

See also

External link


Last updated: 10-24-2004 05:10:45