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Chile
Index
Chile's indigenous Mapuche people established
themselves as
tenacious warriors in the fifteenth century. An attempted
invasion
by the forces of Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui (1438-71) in 1460
was held
off by the Mapuche in the Valley of Coquimbo. The Incas
withdrew,
defeated, six years later. A second effort at invasion,
this time
by Huayna Cápac, son of and successor to Yupanqui, enjoyed
greater
success in 1491, penetrating as far as the Central Valley
(Valle
Central) of Chile before it, too, was turned back by the
Mapuche.
The first Spanish attempt at conquest, led by Diego de
Almagro
in 1535-37, was undertaken by a force of 500 to 700
Spaniards and
as many as 15,000 native Americans. Although this
expedition
penetrated as far as the Río Maule, Almagro's forces,
finding no
sign of hoped-for riches and constantly harassed by the
Mapuche,
retreated across the Atacama Desert and returned to Peru
without
establishing any permanent settlements. In 1540 Pedro de
Valdivia
launched a much smaller but longer expedition, leading
some 150
Spaniards and 1,000 native Americans. Valdivia's
expedition
succeeded in establishing the first permanent European
settlements
in Chile. However, Araucanian (particularly Mapuche)
resistance
kept Valdivia from penetrating to any significant degree
beyond the
Río Bío-Bío. In a Christmas Day battle in 1553, an
Araucanian army
of warriors on foot, led by Lautaro, a legendary chief,
met and
defeated a force of Spanish cavalry commanded by Valdivia.
Lautaro
had studied the Spaniards and their tactics when he was a
slave for
Valdivia during a period of captivity. After that initial
success,
the indigenous warriors adapted rapidly to European-style
warfare
and soon, using captured horses and weapons, fielded their
own
cavalry against the invader.
The Araucanians were contained only with difficulty
throughout
the next three centuries. The Río Bío-Bío remained the
effective
southern frontier throughout the colonial period. The
Araucanians
made frequent incursions northward, one of which
threatened to
destroy the Spanish settlement in Santiago in 1554. In an
attempt
to defeat these native Americans, Alonso de Rivera created
a
Chilean army of sorts in 1603. By the beginning of the
eighteenth
century, the Araucanian wars had already cost the lives of
more
than 40,000 Spaniards and untold thousands of native
Americans.
Throughout this period, the coastal region was also
subjected to
sporadic attacks by English, French, and Dutch buccaneers.
The Hispano-Amerindian society that evolved in Spanishcontrolled Chile thus developed in an environment that was
under a
constant shadow of real or potential external threat.
These
circumstances produced a people for whom military defense
and
prowess were important attributes. During the latter years
of the
colonial period, Chile depended for its defense
principally on a
militia, which numbered 16,000 by the beginning of the
nineteenth
century. The Spanish colonial administration was
overturned with
relative ease in 1810, and a small volunteer militia,
consisting of
one battalion of infantry, two squadrons of cavalry, and
four
companies of artillery, was established.
Data as of March 1994
Early History
Chile's indigenous Mapuche people established
themselves as
tenacious warriors in the fifteenth century. An attempted
invasion
by the forces of Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui (1438-71) in 1460
was held
off by the Mapuche in the Valley of Coquimbo. The Incas
withdrew,
defeated, six years later. A second effort at invasion,
this time
by Huayna Cápac, son of and successor to Yupanqui, enjoyed
greater
success in 1491, penetrating as far as the Central Valley
(Valle
Central) of Chile before it, too, was turned back by the
Mapuche.
The first Spanish attempt at conquest, led by Diego de
Almagro
in 1535-37, was undertaken by a force of 500 to 700
Spaniards and
as many as 15,000 native Americans. Although this
expedition
penetrated as far as the Río Maule, Almagro's forces,
finding no
sign of hoped-for riches and constantly harassed by the
Mapuche,
retreated across the Atacama Desert and returned to Peru
without
establishing any permanent settlements. In 1540 Pedro de
Valdivia
launched a much smaller but longer expedition, leading
some 150
Spaniards and 1,000 native Americans. Valdivia's
expedition
succeeded in establishing the first permanent European
settlements
in Chile. However, Araucanian (particularly Mapuche)
resistance
kept Valdivia from penetrating to any significant degree
beyond the
Río Bío-Bío. In a Christmas Day battle in 1553, an
Araucanian army
of warriors on foot, led by Lautaro, a legendary chief,
met and
defeated a force of Spanish cavalry commanded by Valdivia.
Lautaro
had studied the Spaniards and their tactics when he was a
slave for
Valdivia during a period of captivity. After that initial
success,
the indigenous warriors adapted rapidly to European-style
warfare
and soon, using captured horses and weapons, fielded their
own
cavalry against the invader.
The Araucanians were contained only with difficulty
throughout
the next three centuries. The Río Bío-Bío remained the
effective
southern frontier throughout the colonial period. The
Araucanians
made frequent incursions northward, one of which
threatened to
destroy the Spanish settlement in Santiago in 1554. In an
attempt
to defeat these native Americans, Alonso de Rivera created
a
Chilean army of sorts in 1603. By the beginning of the
eighteenth
century, the Araucanian wars had already cost the lives of
more
than 40,000 Spaniards and untold thousands of native
Americans.
Throughout this period, the coastal region was also
subjected to
sporadic attacks by English, French, and Dutch buccaneers.
The Hispano-Amerindian society that evolved in Spanishcontrolled Chile thus developed in an environment that was
under a
constant shadow of real or potential external threat.
These
circumstances produced a people for whom military defense
and
prowess were important attributes. During the latter years
of the
colonial period, Chile depended for its defense
principally on a
militia, which numbered 16,000 by the beginning of the
nineteenth
century. The Spanish colonial administration was
overturned with
relative ease in 1810, and a small volunteer militia,
consisting of
one battalion of infantry, two squadrons of cavalry, and
four
companies of artillery, was established.
Data as of March 1994
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