Everything about Occupation Of The Araucan A totally explained
The
Occupation of the Araucania (
1861–
1883) was a series of
military campaigns,
agreements and penetrations by the
Chilean army and
settlers which led to the incorporation of
Araucanía into Chilean national territory. "The
Pacification of the Araucanía" was the expression used by the
Chilean authorities for this process.
History
Background
The
indigenous inhabitants of
Araucanía, the
Mapuche, had resisted for more than three hundred years
Spanish attempts at conquest known as the
Arauco Wars. They had also previously defeated the
Incas. Whilst their frontier with the
Inca empire had been along the
Maule River, the Spaniards had succeeded in establishing it at the
Bío-Bío River. When the Arauco Wars faded in the
18th and
19th centuries, commercial relations began to grow and
cultural and ethnic mixing increased in the frontier territories.
Ambrose O'Higgins and other
Chilean authorities made agreements with several Mapuche
chiefs to end the hostilities on both sides.
In the 19th century the new Chilean Republic started a period of
economic prosperity and successful
wars against
Spain,
Peru and
Bolivia. Its politicians became attracted to taking action against the Mapuche as well, drawing comparisons with the Spanish failure in that field and the campaigns by
Argentina against the
Patagonian tribes. The Chilean
population was growing fast, immigrants had already settled south of Araucania in the surroundings of
Valdivia,
Osorno and
Llanquihue, and more
land was required for settlement. Thus
Manuel Montt as
President of Chile designated in
1852 a
province of Arauco, intended to administer all territories south of the Bío-Bío and north of the
Toltén Rivers.
The plan
In
1860, under the then Chilean president
José Joaquín Pérez Mascayano, the largely imaginary proclamation of "the
Kingdom of Araucania and Patagonia" by
a French lawyer became the pretext for the formal incorporation of Araucania. Under a plan made by General
Cornelio Saavedra Rodríguez, the authorities pursued a mix of military and cultural penetration, including agreements with the local chiefs, the foundation of settlements and the construction of
roads and other
public infrastructure such as
schools and
hospitals.
Occupation
In 1862 General Saavedra advanced quickly to the
Malleco River and there founded the town of
Angol, together with the forts of
Mulchén and
Lebu. From
Valdivia in the south, troops also advanced into the Toltén River area. This first phase of the occupation was carried out with little resistance, but soon afterwards the tribes near the Malleco River rose. Despite the nascent
insurgency,
Purén was founded in the densest Mapuche population centre in
1869, securing
communications between Angol and
the coast.
From
1871 to
1879,
Basilio Urrutia was left in charge of the occupation, which had by then been consolidated up to the Malleco River. On the north side of that river the army had established a line defended by 2,500 soldiers and a
telegraph between
Angol and
Collipulli.
In
1879 many of the troops in the south of Chile were moved to the north to
fight Peru and
Bolivia. In
1880, several Mapuche tribes took advantage of this to launch a series of largely unsuccessful attacks on Chilean forts.
After victory in the War of the Pacific, the government of
Domingo Santa María launched a final campaign to incorporate the
heartland of the Mapuche into Chile. A colonel,
Gregorio Urrutia, was chosen for this. The old Spanish town of
Villarrica was refounded and forts set up at
Carahue,
Lautaro,
Pillánlelbu,
Temuco,
Nueva Imperial and
Pucón. The tribes living close to these forts lost their territory, and about ten thousand Mapuche were killed in skirmishes with the army. Many of the survivors escaped to
the mountains where they joined with the
Pehuenche and other tribes which were in flight from Argentine territory to the east. Some indigenous remnants were placed into reservations and their land given to Chilean and foreign settlers.
Aftermath
Araucania wasn't fully pacified after the close of the military campaigns, and it remained insecure despite the efforts of the central government. Even now, some Mapuche groups continue to pillage
haciendas in what they consider to be their
ancestral lands. With the construction of the
Malleco viaduct in the
1890s, the region became more accessible and
European settlement in southern Chile became more intense. The last areas to be occupied were the heights of the Bío-Bío River and the coast near
Budi Lake. By
1929 the Chilean government had given nearly 5,000 km² of land in more than three thousand
plots to settlers in Araucanía . In 1934 477 workers and
Mapuches were killed during the
Ranquil Massacre in the upper
Bio-Bio River .
The
Army of Argentina also led their own campaign of pacification in
Patagonia, "the
Conquest of the Desert", which led to the migration of Patagonian Mapuche to Chile. In Argentina, the remaining indigenous peoples perished. In Chile, the remaining Indian groups were forcibly
assimilated into Chilean society.
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