If you have read our other blogs, you must believe that you know how this story goes and you’d be…kind of right, because the triggers and the processes are similar. However, there is one big difference in Peru’s independence movement, which is that it was fought from outside the country.
There was a big presence of Spaniards and loyal royalists in Lima, the capital of Peru. This made it impossible for any opposition to have any success and the closest uprising took place in Cuzco (another city). This is where some criollos tried to separate the territory and create a separate state, but the capital’s forces were able to easily crush this movement.
Peru became one of the last territories for the Spanish empire in America and they fought to protect it. However, the independence of neighboring countries made things increasingly difficult for them, especially after they lost Chile. The economic hardship of the wars and the loss of strategic territories allowed the generals in Chile and Argentina to drive the Spanish out of Peru.
The general José de San Martín led the “liberating army” to Peru and sought to destabilize the royalists from within, incentivizing the small separatist movements. Soon after, the aristocrats in the capital were forced to accept the proposal to create a state led by someone in the royal family. This all must seem strange, right? Why would they want a royal to rule still? Well, this was all mere formality and not the endgame.
Even though we celebrate independence on July 28th (dating back to 1821), the real independence came after and it was led by our known “libertador”, Simón Bolívar. San Martín had strategized with him the best way to remove the Spaniards and they managed to do it by defeating them in battle later.
Peru became part of what was known as “The greater Colombia” and a few years later, it became a state of its own.
Have fun learning!
