A Short History of Bolivia
The country which we now know as Bolivia was first inhabited more than 2000 years ago by an indigenous group called the Aymara. An agricultural village by the name of Tiwanaka, which dates from 1500BC and was situated at the southern end of Lake Titicaca, became its capital and continued to flourish, incorporating cultures and architecture from other Andean areas in both Peru and Chile. At the height of its powers, it is believed that more than 25,000 people lived in the area but recent satellite imaging of fossilized, irregularly elevated and flooded fields, that were used for planting(suka kollus) now suggest that the population could have been somewhere between 285,000 and 1.5 million. The city’s disappearance about 1200AD is believed to have been caused by drought.
From the mid 15th century, for approximately one hundred years, Quechua Incas ruled the area, until the arrival of the Spanish (the Conquistadores) in 1524/5. At this time the region became known as “Upper Peru” and was governed by the Viceroy of Lima. In 1544 an Indian, Diego Huallpa, discovered silver at Cero Rico and Potosi, which was soon to become the largest city in the Western hemisphere, and was founded as a mining town. The native population was used as a labour force by the Spaniards and the silver was shipped to Spain, where it became an important source of revenue for the Spanish Empire.
The Spanish stranglehold on the area was weakened not only by the Napoleonic wars in Europe but by a succession of revolts and rebellions that took place locally. Sixteen years of struggle ensued before the republic of Bolivia, named in honour of the Venezuelan Simon Bolivar, was established on 6 August 1825.
Independence did not however bring stability and over the next hundred years a series of wars with its neighbouring countries saw Bolivia lose great tracts of its country. In the 1830’s Bolivia joined forces with Peru and defeated invasions by both Chile and her ally Argentina. Then during the War of the Pacific (1879-83) again against Chile, Bolivia lost its rich saltpetre fields and access to the sea. In 1903, after confrontation with Brazil it was forced to hand over the rubber rich area of Acre to Brazil. Finally, Bolivia lost a large portion of its Gran Chaco region in a dispute with Paraguay between 1932 and 1935.
Gold mining had replaced the silver mining and then tin replaced the gold, but the standards of living for the native people, who formed the majority of Bolivia’s population, remained deplorable, with bad conditions in the mines, feudal type rule of agricultural land, and no access to education or political representation. Finally in 1952 the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement led a successful uprising in 1952 and the new President, Victor Paz Estenssoro introduced sweeping reforms, including nationalisation of the tin mines, rural education and universal suffrage.
There have since then, been many coups and counter-coups but since the 2005 election of President Evo Morales, who prior to his official inauguration in La Paz, was also inaugurated by an Ayamara ritual in the archaeological ruins of Tiwanaka, there has been a return to stability and economic prosperity. He remains in power.
Incoming search terms:
- short history of bolivia
- bolivia short history
- a short history of bolivia
- history of tin mining in bolivia
- small history of bolivia