Revolution of 1851

1851 Chilean Revolution
Date April 20–December 31, 1851 Location Chile Result Chilean government victory
Belligerents
Chilean Government Chilean Army Chilean Navy	Liberal rebels Mapuche allies
Commanders and leaders
Manuel Montt Antonio Varas Manuel Bulnes José María del Canto Marín de Poveda Benjamín Muñoz Gamero	José María de la Cruz Pedro Urriola Balbontín José Miguel Carrera Fontecilla Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna Victorino Garrido Francisco Bilbao Mañil José Miguel Cambiazo

Chilean Government

The Revolution of 1851 (or Civil War of 1851) was an attempt by Chilean liberals to overthrow the conservative government of president Manuel Montt and repeal the Chilean Constitution of 1833. After various battles and sieges, by late December 1851 government forces had subdued the revolutionaries.

After the Battle of Lircay ended the Chilean Civil War of 1829–30, Chile formed a conservative political system under the 1833 Constitution, drafted by Mariano Egaña, which established a one-party presidential polity. In the succeeding decades, various liberal social and political movements emerged, led by intellectuals like Santiago Arcos, Francisco Bilbao, José Victorino Lastarria and Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna. These and others formed institutions such as the Literary Society of 1842 and the Society of Equality, which sought to rally the population to achieve an increase in civil rights. The European Revolutions of 1848 also inspired and encouraged opposition political movements, who increasingly saw armed action as the most realistic means of forcing political change.·

In early 1851, the opposition advanced candidate José María de la Cruz in the presidential election to oppose then-president Manuel Bulnes's preferred successor, Manuel Montt. Concerned that the election might not end in their favor, Cruz and other opposition groups decided to attempt a military coup, to be carried out in Santiago by Colonel Pedro Urriola Balbontín.

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