History of Bolivia

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The history of Bolivia , like that of other regions of South America, can be divided into several sections: the pre-Columbian period or early history (up to the 16th century), the colonial period (around 1516 to 1810), the wars of independence and the early post-colonial period of the nation (1810 to 1880) as well as the history of modern Bolivia .

Early history

During the last ice age , the glaciation of the high mountain regions did not allow human settlement. In the pre-agrarian phase (approx. 6000 to 3000 BC) a Neolithic culture, the Viscachani culture, can be proven in an excavation area of ​​perhaps 9 to 12 hectares near Sica Sica near La Paz , at an altitude of 3,831 m .

The emergence of agrarian societies is mostly associated with the development of settlements and villages. In the case of the Wankarani complex (2500 BC - 500 AD) on the central Altiplano, especially around La Joya , it could be shown that a pastoral culture based on llamas and alpacas can better explain this development. The villages were under mounds, which contained villages from 15 to 500 houses in size. The houses, which varied in diameter between three and five meters, were round and made of stone or adobe bricks.

Between 2500 and 1500 BC The inhabitants developed techniques of textile production and ceramics. Around 1500 BC BC copper can be detected for the first time.

Between 1200 BC In AD 200, the Wankarani culture existed on Lake Poopó , which was apparently nomadic and based on lamas. In addition, there existed from around 1500 BC until 200 AD the culture of Chiripa on the Taraco Peninsula on Lake Titicaca. It also features ceramics and religious architecture. Small, concave arrowheads are typical of their weapons. In addition, there are the Urus or Chipayas, who practiced no or only a small amount of agriculture, but were heavily dependent on fishing.

Clay pot of the Tiwanaku culture
Gate of the temple of Kalasasaya
Sculpture in Tiwanaku

One of the most important archaeological sites is Tiwanaku on the eastern shore of Lake Titicaca , where an advanced civilization existed between 400 and 1200 AD . It possibly goes back to the 2nd century BC. BC back. The bearers of this culture built temples and pyramids, like those of Akapana-Kalasasaya. On the basis of textiles and ceramics with the characteristics typical of the Tiwanaku culture, a significant expansion can be demonstrated after 700. The main site covered an area of ​​420 hectares and an estimated population of 40,000 people; there were also other places with around 10,000 inhabitants. These places may have been strictly administered and assigned religious functions in a four-tier hierarchy, but these assumptions are controversial. Long-distance trade in bulky goods was probably only possible on Lake Titicaca, but chilli, corn and coca were in high demand in the residence. Mussels from the coast of Ecuador ( spiny oysters ), obsidian from the Colca Valley to Arequipa , lapis lazuli and copper from northern Chile were probably brought in via a system of middlemen, snuff boxes and fabrics were traded to Chile, perhaps even to northern Argentina.

Around the same time, the cultures of the Moxos developed in the eastern lowlands and the Mollos in the area of ​​today's La Paz. All three cultures based on soil construction disappeared in the 13th century, probably due to long droughts .

In the Tiwanaku area, seven domains of the Aymara followed with a core area around Lake Titicaca. The Aymara lived in villages and towns on mountains, developed an irrigation system, and were able to preserve food for a long time. They were organized in clans that allocated land and work. They dominated neighboring ethnic groups, such as the Uru, who lived mainly from fishing. The cities of the dead are characteristic here.

The Quechua expanded their empire from Cuzco , and in the mid-15th century they also subjugated the Aymara, such as the kingdom around the capital Hatun-Colla. Tiwanaku was long abandoned by this time.

The Bolivian highlands became one of the four provinces of the Inca Empire as Kollasuyo . The Inca deputy was subordinate to a kind of governor, who in turn had authority over local governors. These could access the local nobility. The regional structures persisted, and there is no discernible break in cultural terms either. The deepest turning point took place in the organization of public tasks. The Inca already developed the so-called Mita in order to be able to organize large-scale projects and mining. The various domains each had to provide a certain number of workers.

In 1470, several Aymara kingdoms rebelled, but were subject to the Inca forces. To secure their rule, they colonized parts of the Aymara area, especially in the southern and central valleys. Therefore, Aymara and Quechua are the predominant languages to this day . The eastern, nomadic tribes were not subjugated by the Inca, there they secured their territory through fortresses.

Spanish colonial times

Early modern age

See also: Spanish Conquest of Peru

In the conquest of Tawantinsuyu , the conquistadors were initially supported by the Aymara. After the beginning of the rebellion of the Inca ruler Manco Cápac II against the victorious Spaniards, they joined him up to the Kolla . After their defeat, Francisco Pizarro occupied what is now Bolivia for Spain in 1538 . Bolivia became part of the Viceroyalty of Peru . In 1776, what was then still called Alto Perú , was detached from the Viceroyalty of Perú and incorporated into the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata .

independence

Struggle for independence and conflicts with neighboring countries

Simón Bolívar statue in Berlin

In 1809 there were first uprisings against the Spanish colonial power, which were unsuccessful in the years 1810 to 1816 despite the three expeditions to liberate Upper Peru of the La Plata Junta in Argentina. The expedition from San Martín to Peru also yielded only short-term success. Only with the intervention of Greater Colombia, which culminated in the Battle of Ayacucho at the end of 1824, were the Spaniards isolated in Upper Peru. After fighting in their own ranks, Ayacucho's surrender was recognized and paved the way for the independence from the colonial motherland Spain, which Antonio José de Sucre had initiated on August 6, 1825. Simón Bolívar , who was the namesake of the Republic of Bolivia, turned down the presidency and left Sucre in office, but wrote the country's first constitution. Sucre, who had liberated Ecuador with the Battle of the Pichincha , tried to implement an ambitious, liberal reform program. Internal unrest and a Peruvian invasion ended his presidency in 1828. The German Otto Philipp Braun was - especially in the final phase of the government - an important pillar of Sucre. Then José Miguel de Velasco became president. Andrés Santa Cruz y Calahumana , who had been involved in the liberation of Peru and Ecuador, emerged victorious from the revolution of 1829 . During his presidency, the constitution created by Bolívar was repealed. On August 15, 1836, Santa Cruz invaded Lima and united Perú and Bolivia in the Confederación Perú-Boliviana . It came to the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation War with Chile from 1836 to 1839. Braun defeated an Argentine invasion army in the Argentine-Bolivian border area. Despite this partial success, the Confederation broke up on January 20, 1839 after the victory of a Chilean expeditionary army in Peru. After the fall of Santa Cruz, the country was ruled by frequently changing and mostly short-lived military dictatorships (caudillos bárbaros) . Anomie , mismanagement, clientele system and corruption determined politics. President Velasco was followed by José Ballivián in 1841 , Velasco again in 1847, Manuel Isidoro Belzu in 1848 , Jorge Córdova , 1857 José María Linares , 1861 José Maria de Achá , 1864 José Mariano Melgarejo , 1871 Agustín Morales , 1872 Adolfo Ballivián , 1874 Tomás Frías Ametller , 1876 Hilarión Daza and after his overthrow in December 1879 from January 19, 1880 Narciso Campero in office.

Territories lost to neighboring states between 1867 and 1938 (today's territory is white)

On March 1, 1879, a border conflict with Chile led to the Saltpeter War . In this war (1879-1884) Bolivia and Peru fought together against Chile and lost. In the Valparaíso Agreement to settle the Saltpeter War, Bolivia lost its coastal province of Antofagasta to Chile in 1884 (final contractual regulation on October 20, 1904) and became a landlocked country with no connection to the sea, which became a national trauma. In return, Chile undertook to build a railway line from Arica to La Paz to give Bolivia access to the Pacific . In the same year Gregorio Pacheco became president, who was replaced by Aniceto Arce in 1888 . This was followed by Mariano Baptista in 1892 and Severo Fernandez Alonso in 1896 . Another revolution led to presidential elections in 1899, which José Manuel Pando won.

On November 18, 1903, Bolivia lost the area of Acre in a border dispute with Brazil . A year later Ismael Montes was elected president, Heliodoro Villazon in 1909 , Montes again in 1913 and José Gutiérrez Guerra in 1917 . A military coup in 1920 brought Bautista Saavedra Mallea to power, who was defeated by José Cabino Villanueva in an election in 1925 . He had to resign a year later, so that Hernando Siles became the new president. In 1930 Carlos Blanco Galindo was elected President, but he also resigned a year later in favor of Daniel Salamanca .

From 1932 to 1935, Bolivia and its neighbor Paraguay were involved in a war over the Gran Chaco area . Bolivia lost this war and had to cede large areas to Paraguay. This led to internal political tensions: in 1934 Salamanca resigned in favor of José Luis Tejada Sorzano , who was murdered in 1936. Thereupon the military seized power under Colonel José David Toro and from 1937 under Colonel Germán Busch Becerra . As a result of Chacokrieges Bolivia also lost the greater part of the claimed from him on July 21, 1938 Chaco Boreal . Through this and the previous border wars with its neighbors, Bolivia lost about a third of its national territory.

After President Busch's death, Carlos Quintanilla Quiroga followed in 1939. This cleared the way for elections, which Enrique Peñaranda del Castillo won in 1940 . Under the presidency of Major Gualberto Villaroel (* 1908, † 1946), who had seized power in 1943, the tin barons were forced to pay higher taxes to the treasury. At the same time efforts were made to reform the land.

Time of domestic political crises

On July 21, 1946, Villaroel was overthrown and murdered in a revolt led by opposition forces. The latifundists , big industrialists, tin barons and representatives of capital regained power. In the same year, Néstor Guillén was followed by Tomás Monje Gutiérrez in the presidency. The 1947 elections were won by José Enrique Hertzog , who resigned in 1949. His successor was Mamerto Urriolagoitia . On May 6, 1951, Víctor Paz Estenssoro (* 1907, † 2001), candidate of the Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario (MNR), won the presidential election. However, the military under General Hugo Ballivián canceled the election result and took power.

On April 9, 1952, a revolt led by sections of the army, students and unions helped Paz Estenssoro, who was prevented from taking office , to power after the interim government of Hernán Siles Zuazo . The anti-oligarchical and anti-imperialist-oriented MNR became the strongest political force in the country and introduced extensive measures (mobilization and integration of the masses of workers and peasants into society). On October 30, 1952, the nationalization of the tin mines led to a lack of capital and sales difficulties when prices fell on the world market. After the successful revolution of the Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario (MNR) in 1952, education and upbringing were expanded in 1953 and universal suffrage was introduced, which included the right to vote for women . On August 2, 1953, the latifundia and serfdom were abolished in a land reform. Over 4 million hectares of agricultural land were given to smallholders. The indigenous peoples who had been marginalized by then received civil rights. The union was promoted, the armed forces were disbanded, and arms were distributed to peasant and workers' militias. The consequences of this revolution were capital flight and currency collapse. The USA exerted massive pressure and called for the revolution to be withdrawn.

From 1956 to 1960, under the presidency of Hernán Siles Zuazo (1914–1996), the goals of national revolutionary politics were gradually eroded. Paz Estenssoro was president again between 1960 and 1964, but under pressure from the oligarchy felt compelled to massively restrict the strong favoritism and power position of the trade unions, which led to a break between MNR and trade unions and the suppression of the latter. On November 3, 1964, Paz Estenssoro was prevented from taking office after his third re-election. General René Barrientos Ortuño (1919–1969) took power. He was followed in 1966 by General Alfredo Ovando Candía , in the same year again by Barrientos, and after his death in 1969 by Luis Adolfo Siles Salinas .

At the end of the 1960s, guerrilla groups emerged, particularly in the extremely impoverished highlands . The most important group until the 1970s was the Marxist- oriented National Liberation Army ( ELN) . In 1966 the ELN received support from Cuba . A group of Cuban fighters around the revolutionary and guerrilla Che Guevara came to Bolivia to set up a guerrilla together with the ELN. However, the Cubans did not succeed in getting the peasants on their side. The attempt to push through the revolution in Bolivia failed not least because of the lack of support from the Communist Party of Bolivia (PCB). Basically, Che Guevara had probably also misjudged the mentality in the Bolivian Andes , which was completely different from that in Creole - Caribbean Cuba , especially that of the indigenous population, who have lived in extreme feudal dependence for centuries . In mid-1967, the area of ​​retreat for the guerrilla groups around the Cubans became increasingly narrow until they were finally completely wiped out. Che Guevara was captured in October 1967 by the military, which was massively supported by the US secret service CIA , and shot on October 9, 1967 in La Higuera without a trial. His bones were buried at the airfield in Vallegrande , about 30 kilometers away , and were lost for years. It was not rediscovered until 1997 and transferred to Cuba. Guevara's experiences during the Bolivian period are documented in his later published Bolivian Diary .

On September 26, 1969, General Alfredo Ovando Candía (* 1918, † 1982) carried out a coup. Under his government a rapprochement took place with the socialist countries (among other things tin deliveries to the Soviet Union ). After only one year, Ovando was forced to resign on October 6, 1970. However, the right military junta was overthrown just three days later by a left counter-coup under General Juan José Torres (* 1921, † 1976). Torres called a People's Consultative Assembly ( Asamblea Popular ) in which the workers' organizations received a majority. At this time, Fausto Reynaga , founder of the Partido Indio Boliviano (PIB), was active. He wrote over 50 works and raised numerous indigenous people to be political leaders with Andean consciousness.

From 1971 to 1982 the coups and coup attempts - almost 200 since independence - continued with governments that frequently replaced each other and marked the country's political instability. On August 22, 1971, Colonel Hugo Banzer Suárez (* 1926, † 2002) took power in a bloody coup led by the right-wing opposition . In 1978, a military coup replaced Banzer and brought Juan Pereda Asbún to power, who was overthrown by David Padilla Arancibia that same year . This was in turn replaced in 1979 by Wálter Guevara Arze , who in turn was overthrown in the same year, as was his successor, Colonel Alberto Natusch Busch, by Lidia Gueiler Tejada . On July 17, 1980, General Luis García Meza Tejada (“coup of the cocaine barons”) launched a coup d'état and had tanks march into the mining towns of Potosí and Llallagua , which are held by unions and communists . In 1981 he was replaced by Celso Torrelio Villa .

Democratization efforts

The military government under Guido Vildoso Calderón convened a parliament on October 5, 1982, which Hernán Siles Zuazo elected president of a center-left government. Military rule ended on October 10th. During this era of repression , numerous indigenous organizations came into being, which today flow together in the MIP and the MAS . Zuazo was forced by the requirements of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to devalue the national currency by 300 percent and to drastically increase the prices for food and fuel. At the end of May 1984 the government announced the country's insolvency vis-à-vis foreign countries, as the foreign debt had accumulated to 4 billion US dollars (11 billion DM). The main reason for this was the decline in tin exports due to Southeast Asian competition. A prolonged drought in 1982/83 also destroyed 200,000 cattle, around 500,000 llamas and 3 million sheep.

Víctor Paz Estenssoro was re-elected President (1985-1989). Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada (* 1930) was President from 1993 to 1997. This was followed by a new presidency of Hugo Bánzer Suárez from 1997 to 2001. On August 6, 2002 Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada was again president. However, after weeks of unrest, he was overthrown on October 17, 2003. He was followed by Vice President Carlos Mesa .

In 2005 entrepreneurs and chambers of commerce in the wealthy Santa Cruz region called for autonomy. The region has rich gas reserves that were privatized under de Lozada in the 1990s and given to international energy companies. The protests that sparked off led to de Lozada's fall. Carlos Mesa had initially promised to reverse the privatization, but this did not happen. Since the poorer sections of the population (70% live below the poverty line) were now calling for gas reserves to be nationalized , business associations reacted with attempts at autonomy. These business associations were ruled by entrepreneurs of German, Croatian, and Italian descent who sought refuge in these remote areas after World War II . Most recently, paramilitaries financed by the upper class have appeared in the region and have repeatedly prevented demonstrations against the aspirations for autonomy.

On June 6, 2005, Mesa announced his resignation, but he wanted to remain in office until a new president was elected. The Parliament elected the President of the Supreme Court Eduardo Rodríguez as interim president. He set the election date on December 18, 2005. In the first ballot, Evo Morales , who belongs to the Movimiento al Socialismo party, won an absolute majority of the votes (54%). He is the first indigenous person to hold this office. When he was sworn in on January 22, 2006, preceded by indigenous religious ceremonies, he called for an "end to 500 years of discrimination".

At the UN climate conference in Cancun in 2010 , Bolivia was the only state that rejected the resolutions. The document was adopted anyway.

See also

literature

  • José M. Capriles: The Economic Organization of Early Camelid Pastoralism in the Andean Highlands of Bolivia , British Archaeological Association, 2014.
  • Jeffrey Quilter: The Ancient Central Andes , Routledge, 2014.
  • Herbert S. Klein: A Concise History of Bolivia . 2nd, revised edition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2011, ISBN 978-0-521-18372-7 .
  • Waltraud Q. Morales: A Brief History of Bolivia . Facts On File, New York City 2003, ISBN 0-8160-4692-1 .
  • Sergio Serulnikov: Subverting Colonial Authority. Challenges to Spanish Rule in Eighteenth-Century Southern Andes . University Press, Durham 2003, ISBN 0-8223-3110-1 .
  • Sinclair Thomson: We Alone Will Rule. Native Andean Politics in the Age of Insurgency . University Press, Madison, Wis. 2002, ISBN 0-299-17794-7 .
  • Liu Kohler: Oppressed but not defeated. The Bolivian peasant movement from its beginnings to 1981 . Latin America Information Center, Bonn 1981.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Peter Neal Peregrine, Melvin Ember (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Prehistory: South America. Vol. 7, Kluwer [u. a.], New York [u. a.] 2002, ISBN 0-306-46261-3 , p. 215.
  2. ↑ José Capriles: Mobile Communities and Pastoralist Landscapes During the Formative Period in the Central Altiplano of Bolivia , in: Latin American Antiquity 1 (2014) 3-26.
  3. ↑ Marc Berman: Lukurmata. Household Archeology in Prehispanic Bolivia , Princeton University Press, 2014, p. 50.
  4. ^ Peter Neal Peregrine, Melvin Ember (Eds.): Encyclopedia of Prehistory , Vol. 7 (South America), Human Relations Area Files Inc. 2002, p. 127.
  5. ↑ Harold Osborne: Indians of the Andes: Aymaras and Quechuas , 1st ed. 1952, reprint Routledge 2004, p. 67 ff.
  6. ↑ Peter Neal Peregrine, Melvin Ember (Eds.): Encyclopedia of Prehistory , Vol. 7 (South America), Human Relations Area Files Inc. 2002, pp. 319-326.
  7. ↑ Peter Neal Peregrine, Melvin Ember (Eds.): Encyclopedia of Prehistory , Vol. 7 (South America), Human Relations Area Files Inc. 2002, pp. 34-37.
  8. ^ Herbert S. Klein: A Concise History of Bolivia . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2006, ISBN 978-0-521-80782-1 , p. 30.
  9. ↑ June Hannam, Mitzi Auchterlonie, Katherine Holden: International Encyclopedia of Women's Suffrage. ABC-Clio, Santa Barbara, Denver, Oxford 2000, ISBN 1-57607-064-6 , p. 36.
  10. ↑ Ernesto Che Guevara: Bolivian Diary. Documents of a Revolution. Rowohlt, Reinbek 1986.
  11. ^ Stefan Jost: Bolivia: Political System and Reform Process 1993-1997. Leske + Budrich, Opladen 2003, ISBN 978-3-8100-3798-5 , p. 105. ( online , accessed on July 20, 2010).
  12. ↑ dapd / dpa / EPD / AFP: World Climate Conference: Cancún agrees on a compromise on climate protection. In: welt.de . December 11, 2010, accessed October 7, 2018 .

Web links

Commons : History of Bolivia  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files