Chile History

History

It is unclear when humans first habituated the region we now know as Chile as archaeological evidence can be contradictory, but it was at least 14000 years ago. The Inca rule only touched the very north of the modern country with the rest of the region divided between other tribal groups forexample the Atacameño, the Picuncho and the nomadic Mapuche.The Spanish did not arrive in Chile until 1541 when they founded the city of Santiago on 12th February. The Indian populations tried various counter attacks against the colonists but the Spanish strongholds only grew stronger while the new empire expanded and many other successful towns and cities were founded. The Spanish ransacked the indigenous settlements stealing their gold and silver, passing on their foreign diseases and enslaving and abusing the inhabitants. Latifundios, small farming ranches, were set up by wealthy land owners, using the free labour of the indigenous people, and these farms were followed by an increase in mining, using similarly abysmal methods. However, this exploitation was not as widespread as in the other Latin American countries. In Chile, where the tribes were not united by Inca rule, the Spanish found in hard to suppress the individual cultures of the different groups and the south of Chile was not safe for settlers of European origin until well into the 19th century. It was a series of ill-planned Spanish-imposed trading regulations that finally pushed the new residents of Chile into a drive for independence,led by the American-born Europeans several revolutionary wars followed. Independence was achieved in 1818 and Chile quickly achieved political and economic stability compared to it's neighbours. During the 19th century Chile expanded southwards and took territory from Bolivia but civil war broke out in 1890 after unpopular moves by the president, Balmaceda. After the war the political situation was never particularly stable and the 1900s was characterised by controversial political and land reforms. These culminated in the coup d'état led by Pinochet on 11th September 1973 which began Chile's period of dictatorship rule. The new ruling party allegedly killed a great many people and forced thousands into exile, in an environment often described as state-sponsored terrorism, but in 2002 Pinochet was deemed unfit to face trial. Democracy was re-established in 1987 and current strong trading links with the USA have ensured recent economic growth.