Bombing of Valparaíso
The bombing of Valparaíso on March 31, 1866 was an act of war during the Spanish-South American War and was internationally classified as an atrocity of war. Ultimately, it led to the fact that during the Brussels Conference of 1874 it was decided that only fortified cities could be bombed.
background
A longstanding conflict between Spain and Chile escalated to war in September 1865. Spain's war goal was initially to destroy the Chilean fleet. However, this goal could not be achieved, rather the Spanish Navy was twice subject to the Chilean. Towards the end of March 1866, the Spanish fleet approached the Chilean coastal city of Valparaíso and threatened to take the unfortified city under fire. Before the opening of the Panama Canal , Valparaíso was the first major port that ships reached after bypassing Cape Horn . Therefore, in the 19th century, the city's port was the dominant one on the southern Pacific and, along with San Francisco, one of the two most important ports on the west coast of America. For this reason, British and American warships were in the port of Valparaíso, which threatened the Spanish fleet with a naval battle if they should attack the unfortified and defensible city. The Spanish admiral Casto Méndez Núñez , however, only offered a warning period of four days. This was to give the numerous traders in the city who were citizens of neutral states the opportunity to get themselves and their goods to safety. However, this was not done for several reasons: On the one hand, the residents trusted that there would be no bombardment because of the British and American ships lying in the port. On the other hand, the British ambassador Thomson, who was in the city, had expressed the view to the population of Valparaíso that an unfortified and unprotected city was safe from attack. However, on March 31, 1866, the city was bombarded by the Spanish fleet for six hours. Because of the warnings, only five people were killed.
Reactions
Similar to the bombing of Greytown twelve years earlier , there were fierce international protests. The bombardment of unprotected civilians has been described in the press as barbaric. The British House of Commons described the act as a crime against humanity. Numerous governments protested sharply against this practice. The bombing of Valparaíso ultimately led to Article 15 of the Brussels Declaration of 1874 stating that only fortified cities could be bombed and that this had to be done after warning.
supporting documents
literature
- Jan Martin Lemnitzer: War atrocities at sea in the 19th century . In: Sönke Neitzel, Daniel Hohrath (ed.): War atrocities. The dissolution of violence in armed conflicts from the Middle Ages to the 20th century . Schöningh, Paderborn et al. 2008, ISBN 978-3-506-76375-4 , ( War in History 40).