The four-year "Guano War" between the three South American countries is ultimately a battle for resources among the three countries.

At the end of the 19th century, a four-year Three Kingdoms War broke out in South America. The war broke out because Chile, Peru and Bolivia were competing for guano and saltpeter. Therefore, this South American and Pacific War is also called the "Saltpetre War" or the "Guano War." The war ended with Chile's victory, and Peru and Bolivia had to cede territory to Chile as compensation.

This war rewrote the political outcome of South America. As the victor, Chile obtained a large amount of resources and land, and its economy developed rapidly. As the losers, Peru and Bolivia suffered a heavy blow, and their national development was severely hindered for a long time. In the final analysis, the Guano War was started by the three countries to compete for resources, and the reason why "Guano" became the focus of the war was because it was also a special resource.

1. There are conflicts between the three countries with unclear boundaries

Although Europe in the early 19th century had experienced the first industrial revolution, agriculture, which was the basis of survival, had always been Europe and the Mainstream industries in the Americas. The guano found in the Atacama Desert in South America is rich in nitrogen and phosphorus needed for food growth, so it can be used directly as a natural fertilizer. This makes guano resources an internationally popular fertilizer. . The local saltpeter resources are also quite rich and have high military value. The saltpeter resources produced in this area account for more than half of the world's total production.

The first country to benefit from guano was Peru. Peru is a country located on the west coast of South America. It is located close to the Pacific Ocean and is rich in fisheries. The natural fishing ground attracts a large number of seabirds to live here all year round. Therefore, over hundreds of years, a large amount of guano accumulates along the coast and on the islands.

Peru exploits natural resources such as guano in large quantities and exports them to other countries. This has enabled Peru to reap considerable profits from guano alone for decades.

However, resources are limited and will eventually be depleted due to the uncontrolled exploitation by the Peruvian government. Coupled with the Peruvian government's wanton expansion of the military and borrowing from the international financial market, the Peruvian economy has rapidly declined.

At this time, rich guano and saltpeter resources were discovered in the Atacama Desert on the Pacific coast. The Atacama Desert is located at the junction of Peru, Chile and Bolivia. This place was originally a Spanish colony. , after the independence of the three countries, because the barren land here had no clear national boundaries, this caused the Atacama Desert to suddenly become the core of the competition among the three countries.

Therefore, the most direct cause of the Guano War is the competition between the three countries for resources. There is no dispute about the guano resources that are originally in Peru and have been mined by Peru. However, for land resources that do not have clear ownership, the three countries cannot resolve disputes through peace talks and discussions. Instead, they urgently hope to monopolize the resources through force.

2. Chile won because the domestic military and civilians were united, while Peru and Bolivia lost and civil strife continued

In February 1877, Bolivia tried to restore the Antofagasta port that was hit by a storm. The increase in taxes became the trigger for the "Guano War".

Since the port of Antofagasta, one of the saltpeter-rich mining areas, is owned by Bolivia, but the main local wealth is controlled by a joint venture between Chile and the United Kingdom, increasing taxes means that the interests of both Chile and Chile will Chile severely protested Bolivia's decision.

Since then, conflicts have continued. In 1779, Bolivia forcibly took back the Chilean Saltpeter Company and confiscated the company's property. Then Chile launched a war in an attempt to occupy the entire Atacama region. Two months later, Peru, which had secretly allied with Bolivia as early as 1873, entered the war, and the Guano War broke out.

The outcome of the Guano War was Chile's victory. On October 20, 1883, Peru and Chile signed the Treaty of Ancon.

In April 1884, Bolivia and Chile signed the Armistice Agreement, and both Peru and Bolivia paid the price of losing the war by ceding territory.

In terms of military strength comparison, Peru and Bolivia had far more soldiers participating in the war than Chile, and there was not much difference in strength between the two sides in terms of armaments. But for Nein, Chile's victory is certain, because during the war, the cohesion of the entire country was much higher than that of the alliance between the two countries.

This shows that the war beliefs of soldiers on both sides are different. When Peru and Bolivia lost the war, the domestic people ousted their respective presidents, and the reactionaries took the opportunity to take office.

Therefore, Chile is ahead of the two coalition forces in terms of domestic political situation, national cohesion and political system. If the war is ended in the short term, the coalition forces of the two countries may still win, but in the long run, the defeat of the two countries is already doomed.

1. The Guano War changed the international structure of South America

This four-year war had a great impact on South America. The war resulted in 14,000 deaths. More than a thousand people died. As the victor of the war, Chile completely controlled the Takapaca Province, which was rich in saltpeter, and almost monopolized the world's saltpeter resources. In the following decades, Chile relied on saltpeter exports to achieve rapid economic development.

Chile also obtained a large amount of land from the armistice treaties signed with the two countries, and its territorial area was directly expanded by one-third. With the development of the following decades, Chile became a South American power alongside Brazil and Argentina.

As the defeated parties, Peru and Bolivia have never recovered. After Peru signed the Treaty of Ancon, the country fell into civil war. It was not until June 1886 that the civil strife ended and unification was completed. Economically, the war was a devastating blow to Peru. Saltpeter resources were plundered, guano resources were mortgaged to banks during the war, and industry was severely damaged.

Part of the Atacama Desert that originally belonged to Bolivia was occupied by Chile. Since then, Bolivia has become a landlocked country with no outlet to the sea, which has seriously restricted Bolivia’s economic development. For more than a hundred years since then, Bolivia has been in constant friction with Chile on international occasions over the issue of access to the sea. Bolivia even sued Chile to the International Court of Justice over this issue.

The Guano War greatly changed the situation on the west coast of South America, and the fate of the three countries changed from then on. The impact of the war is even more long-term, and the gap between the three countries' international status has widened.

When Bolivia sued Chile to the International Court of Justice in 2013, Chile refused to let the International Court of Justice handle the issue. This is because Chile's enhanced international status allows it to handle international disputes with a tough stance to a certain extent.

2. The Guano War is actually a continuation of the influence of colonization

At the same time, this war is also a series of follow-ups after South America was colonized. After Columbus discovered America, America fell into chaos. European countries such as Spain, Britain, and Portugal almost divided the Americas, and South America except Brazil was occupied by Spain. In order to facilitate its rule, Spain simply divided regions into several viceroyalties and viceroyalties. There were no clear boundaries between regions.

After the independence of each country, most of the countries in South America have established borders. However, the jurisdiction of the Atacama Desert was not clearly defined during the Spanish colonial period. After the South American independence movement, countries initially did not care about the barren Atacama Desert, so no specific national boundaries were defined. When the guano and saltpeter resources were discovered, the Atacama Desert became a battleground among the three countries.

Whether it is from a resource perspective, or from a political, territorial, or strategic perspective, Atacama is an important region. Those who get it can not only exploit the rich guano and saltpeter resources, but also build ports along the coast for export, and can also curb the development of surrounding countries.

These naked interests are difficult to resolve through negotiation, and war has almost become the only way to resolve disputes.

Secondly, because during the colonial era, the British colonies were in North America, and South America was the colony of Spain and Portugal. Therefore, although Britain coveted the resources of South America, it could not compete with Portugal and Spain, which had also become powerful countries after the first industrial revolution. After South America became independent, Britain immediately infiltrated its tentacles and made a lot of money by relying on the joint company established with Chile.

One of the reasons for the war between the three countries was that Britain was behind it. The British provided weapons and equipment to Chile. As a result, Chile did not resolve the dispute through negotiation for a long time after the victory. Instead, Chile occupied the territories of the two countries, supported puppet governments, and exploited the resources and property of the two countries. Therefore, the Guano War is also a series of consequences after colonization to a certain extent.

Although Chile won the Guano War, it achieved rapid economic development. However, with the invention and promotion of the Haber nitrogen production method in the early 20th century, guano was no longer the best choice as a fertilizer. Since then, Chile's guano exports have plummeted. Although saltpeter resources are still abundant, Chile has to rethink its new long-term development path.

From Nigeria in Africa to Venezuela in South America, to the Netherlands and Norway in Europe, all three countries have experienced rapid economic growth in the short term due to the sudden discovery of oil resources in their territories, but all have been short-lived. The Netherlands and Norway were better off, but Nigeria and Venezuela fell directly into serious economic difficulties and have failed to develop to this day.

Early Peru also made a fortune from guano, but the government spent most of its resources on expanding the bureaucracy and military system instead of investing and developing the domestic economy. A good opportunity for development was lost.

Therefore, no matter how good the resources are, if they cannot be used rationally, they will be tantamount to the "resource curse". In the long term, it may have negative effects and plunge the country into a deeper crisis.

1. "History of Peru"

2. "Treaty of Ancon"

3. "History of Chile"