War of the Confederation

War of the Confederation
The Battle of Yungay during the War of the Confederation.
Date 1836–1839 Location Present-day Bolivia and Peru Result United Restorative Army victory. Dissolution of the confederation. Argentina takes control over the disputed region of Jujuy, however, fails to conquer Tarija.
Belligerents
Peru-Bolivian Confederation	Chile Peruvian dissidents Argentina
Commanders and leaders
Andrés de Santa Cruz Juan José Panizo	José Joaquín Prieto Manuel Bulnes Robert Simpson Juan Manuel de Rosas Ramon Castilla Agustín Gamarra
Strength
9,500	Chile: 2,800 North-Peruvians: 1,500 Argentina: 1,000
Casualties and losses
3,000	5,000

United Restorative Army victory.

The War of the Confederation (Spanish: Guerra de la Confederación) (1836–1839) was a conflict between the Peru-Bolivian Confederation on one side and Chile, Peruvian dissidents and Argentina, on the other. The war was fought mostly in the actual territory of Peru and ended with a Confederate defeat and the dissolution of the Confederacy.

The creation in 1836 of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation by Marshal Andrés de Santa Cruz caused great alarm in the neighbouring countries. The potential power of this confederation aroused the opposition of Argentina and, above all, Chile, due not only to its great territorial expanse but also to the perceived threat that such a rich state signified for the area. Diego Portales, arguably the most important Chilean statesman of the 19th century, who at the time was the power behind president José Joaquín Prieto Vial, was very concerned that the new Confederacy would break the regional balance of power and even be a threat to Chilean independence, and so became immediately its enemy.

But that was just one of the reasons behind the war. On a deeper level, both countries were in a heated competition for the control of the commercial routes on the Pacific; and for the Chileans especially, whose relations with independent Peru had already been strained by economic problems centering on the rivalry between their ports of Callao and Valparaíso. For the North-Peruvian landowners also, the Confederacy was viewed as a most serious threat to their economic interests.

The direct conflict between the two countries started with a simple tariff disagreement. In January 1835, General Felipe Salaverry, then president of Peru, signed a Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation with Chile. When President Salaverry was replaced by General Luis Orbegoso in Peru, the treaty was declared null and void on February 14, 1836. In the meantime, the Confederacy was already taking form. In order to force Chile to renegotiate, Peru raised its tariff on Chilean wheat from 12 cents to 3 pesos - an increase of 2400%. Chile responded by raising the tariffs on Peruvian sugar by the same amount. The hostilities started to grow until the Mexican minister (ambassador) to Chile offered to mediate in the conflict. Open conflict was averted for the time being.

...
Wikipedia