Why did Bolivia, which had the upper hand militarily, lose miserably to Chile in the Saltpeter War?

Because the workers who worked in the desert miners were oppressed and helped the Chilean army win the war.

Poultry manure is an important material for agricultural development and a high-quality organic material. Saltpeter is one of the important raw materials for weapons. In general, these three countries needed these two substances, and the unclear division of desert areas directly led to the outbreak of war. Chile and Bolivia signed a border treaty in 1866, but the treaty did not fundamentally resolve the conflict of interests between the two countries. The treaty stipulates that 24° south latitude is the border between the two countries, and the two countries enjoy the benefits of product trade between 23° and 25° south. This year the British-Chilean mining company signed a contract with Bolivia to acquire mining rights in the Antofagasta region. Initially, the countries were at peace with each other, but in a later agreement, it was stated that the Chilean government had to give up its rights north of the 24° parallel.

How can the National Government agree to this bottom line? Very close relations with Bolivia and Peru. They once signed a military alliance treaty, and in this exchange of interests, war broke out among these three countries. This is the famous Guano War in history, also known as the Saltpeter War. In this war, the two camps had completely different advantages. Both Bolivia and Peru are provided by Europe, so Chile does not have an advantage in terms of strength. The end result was unexpected. The Bolivian-Peruvian Alliance, which had strong backing and military strength, was defeated by Chile. What is the reason for this? The reason why the two countries failed to form an alliance in this war was that in the subsequent cooperation, the two countries once again had a civil war out of their own interests, and Chile naturally did not dare to relax in life. The oppression of the workers who had previously worked in the desert miners helped the Chilean army win the war, and although the Taiping Army is said to have later withdrawn from the bird shit war, the outcome was basically determined.

While more victories in world history have not come without struggle, they are, after all, a minority. In modern society, it is indeed very common for two countries with very different strengths to end up with unexpected outcomes, such as China and Japan in World War II. Compared with Japan, the gap between our country's decline in strength and Japan's advanced military weapons and equipment was too short, but in the end they won the war. Although the South American Pacific War saw great differences in power between nations, that was all. Every decision in war is very important.