1851 Chilean revolution: Difference between revisions
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The '''Revolution of 1851''' was an attempt to overthrow the conservative government by Chilean liberals.<ref name=Memrev>{{Cite web |
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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]].<ref name=Memrev>{{Cite web| url = http://www.memoriachilena.cl/602/w3-article-92514.html| title = Revolución de 1851| trans_title = Revolution of 1851| website = [[Memoria Chilena]]| publisher = [[Biblioteca Nacional de Chile]]| accessdate = May 30, 2014| language = Spanish| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20140605052021/http://www.memoriachilena.cl/602/w3-article-92514.html| archivedate = June 5, 2014| deadurl = no}}</ref> After various battles and sieges, by late December 1851 government forces had subdued the revolutionaries. |
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| url = http://www.memoriachilena.cl/602/w3-article-92514.html |
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| title = Revolución de 1851 |
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==Background== |
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| trans_title = Revolution of 1851 |
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After the [[Battle of Lircay]] ended the [[Chilean Civil War of 1829–30]], Chile formed a conservative political system under the [[Chilean Constitution of 1833|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.{{sfn|Gazmuri|1999|pages=103–104}} |
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| website = [[Memoria Chilena]] |
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| publisher = [[Biblioteca Nacional de Chile]] |
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==1851 Election and Uprisings== |
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| accessdate = May 30, 2014 |
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[[File:Jose Maria de la cruz.jpg|160px|thumb|right|[[José María de la Cruz]], opposition presidential candidate and leader of the revolution]] |
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| language = Spanish |
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| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20140605052021/http://www.memoriachilena.cl/602/w3-article-92514.html |
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===20 April uprising=== |
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| archivedate = June 5, 2014 |
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In early 1851, the opposition advanced candidate [[José María de la Cruz]] in the [[Chilean presidential election, 1851|presidential election]] to oppose then-president [[Manuel Bulnes]]'s preferred successor, [[Manuel Montt]].{{sfn|Gazmuri|1999|pages=103-104}} 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, Chile|Santiago]] by Colonel [[Pedro Urriola Balbontín]]. |
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}}</ref> Successful anti-government uprisings in September 1851 in various cities except the capital [[Santiago, Chile|Santiago]] left the country divided and a civil war developed. After battles and sieges by late December 1851 government forces had subdued the revolutionaries. |
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At dawn on 20 April, Urriola and his companions seized the main streets of Santiago and stormed the army barracks to arm more men, but few of the soldiers they had hoped for joined in the uprising. Two loyalist battalions organized to face the rebels and prepared a counteroffensive from the Alameda and Santa Lucia Hill. The fighting lasted about five hours, after which Urriola was killed along with more than 200 others.{{sfn|Gazmuri|1999|pages=103-104}} |
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When the government announced that Montt had won the election by a wide margin, Cruz accused the regime of electoral fraud and declared the election void. He also alleged that government agents were conspiring to assassinate him, but the men accused were acquitted by the Chilean courts.<ref name=Lastarria/> After that Cruz withdrew to [[Concepción, Chile|Concepción]] from Santiago.<ref name=Lastarria>{{cite web| url = http://www.historia.uchile.cl/CDA/fh_article/0,1389,SCID%253D19599%2526ISID%253D405%2526PRT%253D19596%2526JNID%253D12,00.html| title = Diario Político, 1849-1852: Año 1851| trans_title = Political Diary, 1849-1851: 1851| last = Victorino Lastarria | first = José | authorlink = José Victorino Lastarria| accessdate = June 3, 2014| publisher = [[University of Chile]]| website = Fuentes Documentales y Bibligráficas para el Estudio de la Historia de Chile| year = 1851| language = Spanish| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20140607004147/http://www.historia.uchile.cl/CDA/fh_article/0,1389,SCID%253D19599%2526ISID%253D405%2526PRT%253D19596%2526JNID%253D12,00.html| archivedate = June 7, 2014| deadurl = no}}</ref> Small protests began in Concepción, [[Coquimbo]] and [[Maule, Chile|Maule]], which would gradually escalate into open rebellion. In the meantime, the government began arresting political opponents. |
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| ⚫ | Days before Manuel Montt assumed power on 18 September 1851, dissident uprisings seized power in [[Concepción, Chile|Concepción]] and [[La Serena, Chile|La Serena]].{{sfn|Edwards|1932|pages=70-71}} According to historian [[Alberto Edwards]] the uprising was not only rooted in liberalism but also in [[provincialism]]. |
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The revolution in La Serena was led by [[Pedro Pablo Muñoz]], the brothers Antonio and Ignacio Alfonso, and other notable residents of the city, who organized a revolutionary militia of 600 men from La Serena, Ovalle and Illapel. Calling themselves the "Restorers of the North," they were commanded by [[José Miguel Carrera Fontecilla]]. A revolutionary government was formed in the city, declaring the abolition of the Constitution of 1833. After a defeat by government forces in the [[Battle of Petorca]], the city was besieged. |
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| ⚫ | The uprising in Concepción, by contrast, had little to do with liberalism, as [[José María de la Cruz]] and other Concepción strongmen were [[pelucones]] (conservatives). Instead, historian Fernando Silva (1974) claims that the election of Montt meant the loss of the political hegemony Concepción had enjoyed in the 1829–1851 period under the presidents [[José Joaquín Prieto]] and [[Manuel Bulnes]], both of whom were from that city. Because of this the Concepción elite would have supported the overthrow of the Montt regime.{{sfn|Silva|1974|page=549}} Cruz armed a group of four thousand men, including liberal supporters, rebel troops, mountaineers, and soldiers of the [[Mapuche]] chieftain [[Mañil]]. According to historian [[José Bengoa]], the Mapuches saw the central government in Santiago as their main enemy, explaining their participation on the side of José María de la Cruz in the Concepción-based revolt.{{sfn|Bengoa|2000|pages=163-165}} |
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===Later uprisings=== |
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As the [[Chilean presidential election, 1851|president election of 1851]] approached the opponents of president [[Manuel Bulnes]] and his candidate [[Manuel Montt]] came to believe that they could not be defeated in the election.{{sfn|Gazmuri|1999|pages=103-104}} The first rebellion erupted on April 20 of 1851. Revolutionaries emulated European revolutions by constructing barricades for the first time in Chilean history in the streets of Santiago. The uprising was largely urban and military in nature. Despite that the army regiment "Valdivia" joined the rebellion the uprising was quelled.{{sfn|Gazmuri|1999|pages=103-104}} Albeit rooted in domestic power struggles among the elite the April uprising was inspired in the [[Revolutions of 1848|European Revolutions of 1848]].{{sfn|Gazmuri|1999|pages=103-104}} |
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On 21 November a Chilean naval officer named [[José Miguel Cambiazo]] led a [[Mutiny of Cambiazo|mutiny]] in [[Punta Arenas]], which was eventually put down by the Chilean navy.<ref>{{Citation|last = Nagel Behnke| first = Harold| title = Capitán de fragata Benjamín Muñoz Gamero (1817–1851)| journal = [[Revista de Marina]]| volume = 6| issue = | year = 1994| pages = 1–8| url = http://revistamarina.cl/revistas/1994/6/nagel.pdf| language = Spanish}}</ref> |
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Following defeat in the elections [[José María de la Cruz]] made allegations about an assassination plot against him but the men accused were not found guilty by the Chilean justice.<ref name=Lastarria/> After that Cruz returned to [[Concepción, Chile|Concepción]] from Santiago.<ref name=Lastarria>{{cite web |
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| url = http://www.historia.uchile.cl/CDA/fh_article/0,1389,SCID%253D19599%2526ISID%253D405%2526PRT%253D19596%2526JNID%253D12,00.html |
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| title = Diario Político, 1849-1852: Año 1851 |
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| trans_title = Political Diary, 1849-1851: 1851 |
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| last = Victorino Lastarria | first = José | authorlink = José Victorino Lastarria |
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| accessdate = June 3, 2014 |
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| publisher = [[University of Chile]] |
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| website = Fuentes Documentales y Bibligráficas para el Estudio de la Historia de Chile |
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| year = 1851 |
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| language = Spanish |
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| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20140607004147/http://www.historia.uchile.cl/CDA/fh_article/0,1389,SCID%253D19599%2526ISID%253D405%2526PRT%253D19596%2526JNID%253D12,00.html | archivedate = June 7, 2014 |
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| deadurl = no |
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}}</ref> |
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===End of the revolution=== |
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The government dispatched forces under the former president Bulnes to pacify the rebellious areas. This army managed to contain the revolutionary forces occupying the cities of [[Chillán]] and [[San Carlos, Chile|San Carlos]], winning victories at [[Combat of Monte de Urra|Monte de Urra]] on 19 November. Revolutionary forces responded by moving north and attempting to occupy [[Talca]], until Bulnes engaged and decisively defeated them at the [[Battle of Loncomilla]] on 8 December. After the rebel defeat at Loncomilla, the revolution lost its expansive lost its expansive momentum and was confined to the city of La Serena and the [[Coquimbo Region]]. |
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| ⚫ | Days before Manuel Montt assumed power on September |
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Another army detachment commanded by [[Juan Vidaurre-Leal Morla]] and [[Victorino Garrido]] arrived in [[Papudo]] and headed to La Serena, joining forces with a militia assembled by mining companies loyal to the government and commanded by [[Jose Ignacio Prieto]]. La Serena's liberal defenders, led by [[José Miguel Carrera Fontecilla]], dug in to resist a siege. On 26 December a new revolutionary force arose in [[Copiapo]], led by [[Bernardino Barahona]] (or Varaona, according to the spelling of the time). Many of La Serena's defenders quietly fled to city to join the rebels around Copiapo, and in late December La Serena was occupied by government forces over little resistance. Finally on 8 January 1852 the revolutionary forces in Copiapo were defeated and scattered by the army of Chile at [[Linderos de Ramadilla]], ending the revolt of the provinces. |
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==Consequences of the Revolution== |
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After the failure of the Revolution, the government of Montt began a program of political persecution against the instigators of the uprisings, led by his minister [[Antonio Varas]], which included arrests and deportations. Dozens of notable government opponents were driven into exile, including Arcos, Bilbao, Lastarria and Vicuña Mackenna. Thousands more had died in the fighting. |
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A major rift developed within Chile's political opposition, dividing them into a group headed by Francisco Bilbao, who called for renewed armed revolution, and one headed by Aubrey, seeking a return to democracy by an institutional route. |
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[[Mapuche]] chief [[Mañil]] fought with [[José María de la Cruz]]'s army against the troops of [[Manuel Bulnes]] at the [[Battle of Loncomilla]].{{sfn|Bengoa|2000|pages=163-165}} After defeat at Loncomilla Mañil returned south.{{sfn|Bengoa|2000|pages=163-165}} According to historian [[José Bengoa]] Mapuches saw the government in Santiago as their main enemy, explaining thus the participation of Mapuches on the side of José María de la Cruz Concepción-based revolt.{{sfn|Bengoa|2000|pages=163-165}} |
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==References== |
==References== |
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[[Category:Military coups in Chile]] |
[[Category:Military coups in Chile]] |
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[[Category:Rebellions in Chile]] |
[[Category:Rebellions in Chile]] |
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Revision as of 17:38, 12 October 2015
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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.[1] After various battles and sieges, by late December 1851 government forces had subdued the revolutionaries.
Background
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.[2]
1851 Election and Uprisings
20 April uprising
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.[2] 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.
At dawn on 20 April, Urriola and his companions seized the main streets of Santiago and stormed the army barracks to arm more men, but few of the soldiers they had hoped for joined in the uprising. Two loyalist battalions organized to face the rebels and prepared a counteroffensive from the Alameda and Santa Lucia Hill. The fighting lasted about five hours, after which Urriola was killed along with more than 200 others.[2]
25–26 June presidential elections
When the government announced that Montt had won the election by a wide margin, Cruz accused the regime of electoral fraud and declared the election void. He also alleged that government agents were conspiring to assassinate him, but the men accused were acquitted by the Chilean courts.[3] After that Cruz withdrew to Concepción from Santiago.[3] Small protests began in Concepción, Coquimbo and Maule, which would gradually escalate into open rebellion. In the meantime, the government began arresting political opponents.
September uprisings
Days before Manuel Montt assumed power on 18 September 1851, dissident uprisings seized power in Concepción and La Serena.[4] According to historian Alberto Edwards the uprising was not only rooted in liberalism but also in provincialism.
The revolution in La Serena was led by Pedro Pablo Muñoz, the brothers Antonio and Ignacio Alfonso, and other notable residents of the city, who organized a revolutionary militia of 600 men from La Serena, Ovalle and Illapel. Calling themselves the "Restorers of the North," they were commanded by José Miguel Carrera Fontecilla. A revolutionary government was formed in the city, declaring the abolition of the Constitution of 1833. After a defeat by government forces in the Battle of Petorca, the city was besieged.
The uprising in Concepción, by contrast, had little to do with liberalism, as José María de la Cruz and other Concepción strongmen were pelucones (conservatives). Instead, historian Fernando Silva (1974) claims that the election of Montt meant the loss of the political hegemony Concepción had enjoyed in the 1829–1851 period under the presidents José Joaquín Prieto and Manuel Bulnes, both of whom were from that city. Because of this the Concepción elite would have supported the overthrow of the Montt regime.[5] Cruz armed a group of four thousand men, including liberal supporters, rebel troops, mountaineers, and soldiers of the Mapuche chieftain Mañil. According to historian José Bengoa, the Mapuches saw the central government in Santiago as their main enemy, explaining their participation on the side of José María de la Cruz in the Concepción-based revolt.[6]
Later uprisings
On 28 October another uprising began in Valparaíso, led by artisans of the Society of Brotherhood (the surviving local chapter of Society of Equality). The Valparaíso mutiny was led by Rafael Bilbao and José Antonio Riquelme.[7]
On 21 November a Chilean naval officer named José Miguel Cambiazo led a mutiny in Punta Arenas, which was eventually put down by the Chilean navy.[8]
End of the revolution
The government dispatched forces under the former president Bulnes to pacify the rebellious areas. This army managed to contain the revolutionary forces occupying the cities of Chillán and San Carlos, winning victories at Monte de Urra on 19 November. Revolutionary forces responded by moving north and attempting to occupy Talca, until Bulnes engaged and decisively defeated them at the Battle of Loncomilla on 8 December. After the rebel defeat at Loncomilla, the revolution lost its expansive lost its expansive momentum and was confined to the city of La Serena and the Coquimbo Region.
Another army detachment commanded by Juan Vidaurre-Leal Morla and Victorino Garrido arrived in Papudo and headed to La Serena, joining forces with a militia assembled by mining companies loyal to the government and commanded by Jose Ignacio Prieto. La Serena's liberal defenders, led by José Miguel Carrera Fontecilla, dug in to resist a siege. On 26 December a new revolutionary force arose in Copiapo, led by Bernardino Barahona (or Varaona, according to the spelling of the time). Many of La Serena's defenders quietly fled to city to join the rebels around Copiapo, and in late December La Serena was occupied by government forces over little resistance. Finally on 8 January 1852 the revolutionary forces in Copiapo were defeated and scattered by the army of Chile at Linderos de Ramadilla, ending the revolt of the provinces.
Consequences of the Revolution
After the failure of the Revolution, the government of Montt began a program of political persecution against the instigators of the uprisings, led by his minister Antonio Varas, which included arrests and deportations. Dozens of notable government opponents were driven into exile, including Arcos, Bilbao, Lastarria and Vicuña Mackenna. Thousands more had died in the fighting.
A major rift developed within Chile's political opposition, dividing them into a group headed by Francisco Bilbao, who called for renewed armed revolution, and one headed by Aubrey, seeking a return to democracy by an institutional route.
References
- ^ "Revolución de 1851". Memoria Chilena (in Spanish). Biblioteca Nacional de Chile. Archived from the original on June 5, 2014. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c Gazmuri 1999, pp. 103–104.
- ^ a b Victorino Lastarria, José (1851). "Diario Político, 1849-1852: Año 1851". Fuentes Documentales y Bibligráficas para el Estudio de la Historia de Chile (in Spanish). University of Chile. Archived from the original on June 7, 2014. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - ^ Edwards 1932, pp. 70–71.
- ^ Silva 1974, p. 549.
- ^ Bengoa 2000, pp. 163–165.
- ^ Gazmuri 1999, pp. 105–106.
- ^ Nagel Behnke, Harold (1994), "Capitán de fragata Benjamín Muñoz Gamero (1817–1851)" (PDF), Revista de Marina (in Spanish), 6: 1–8
Bibliography
- Bengoa, José (2000) [1985]. Historia del pueblo mapuche: Siglo XIX y XX [Mapuche History: Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries]. Biblioteca del bicentenario (in Spanish) (6th ed.). Santiago de Chile: LOM Ediciones. ISBN 978-956-282-232-9.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Edwards, Alberto (1932). El Gobierno de don Manuel Montt, 1851-1861 (PDF) (in Spanish). Santiago de Chile: Editorial Nascimiento. LCCN 33030202. OL 6296372M. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help); Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - Gazmuri, Cristián (1999). El "48" Chileno: Igualitarios, Reformistas, Radicales, Masones y Bomberos (PDF) (in Spanish). Santiago de Chile: Editorial Universitaria. ISBN 9789561108080. OCLC 82644737. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help); Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - Silva V., Fernando (1974). "La Organización Nacional" [National Organization]. In Villalobos R., Sergio; Silva G., Osvaldo; Silva V., Fernando; Patricio, Estelle M. (eds.). Historia de Chile [History of Chile] (in Spanish) (14th ed.). Santiago de Chile: Editorial Universitaria. ISBN 978-956-11-1163-9. LCCN 75527429. OCLC 1259676.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help); Unknown parameter|displayeditors=ignored (|display-editors=suggested) (help)
Further reading
- Encina, Francisco Antonio (1949). Historia de Chile (in Spanish). Vol. 13. Santiago de Chile: Editorial Nascimento. OCLC 844922445.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - Frías Valenzuela, Francisco (1949). La República (in Spanish). Vol. 3. Santiago de Chile: Editorial Nascimento. LCCN 47025342. OCLC 5465215.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help)