| dc.description.abstract | This manuscript examines the political, economic, and social changes which occurred in Chile in the two decades after 1810. The period known as the Patria Vieja was punctuated by familial rivalry within the ruling class, and regional disunity which enabled the viceroy of Peru to restore Spanish control over the rebellious colony. The hardships and privations suffered during the Spanish reconquista taught the ruling elite an important lesson--independence could be achieved only through suppression of their differences and unification behind a strong leader. With few exceptions they held to this prescription and unenthusiastically supported Bernardo O'Higgins as supreme director. O'Higgins desired to implement the economic and democratic reforms inspired by the struggle for independence, but he realized the need for an authoritarian government to preserve stability in the country while he fashioned the new order. Opposition soon arose, however, from three principal sources. Leaders in Concepcion felt that their region had been subordinated to the interests of the capital and they demanded more local autonomy. Some within the aristocracy felt that the revolution had victimized rather than benefitted them, and they sought to regain command in order to control the changes demanded after 1810. The acknowledged leader of these pelucones was Mariano Egana. Another aristocratic group upheld liberal, democratic ideas and believed that the revolution should accomplish socio-economic reforms in addition to independence and the transfer of power from peninsular administrators to a select few in the elite group. They differed from O'Higgins in desiring the immediate implementation of their liberal-democratic tenets. Their spokesman was the aristocrat Jose Miguel Infante, whose instrument for change was federalism. Pressure from these three sources forced O'Higgins to abdicate. An examination of legislative records, newspapers, and personal letters led to the conclusion that there were two basic approaches to the republic's problems and the goals of the revolution. By 1828 a coalition of ultra-liberals, the pipiolo radicals, and a few federalists demanded an immediate change toward a more liberal, democratic society. An alliance of moderate liberals, the pelucones, supporters of O'Higgins, and a new group called the estanqueros, believed that immediate adoption of revolutionary goals would aggravate the existing chaos. Led by Diego Portales, Jose Antonio Rodriguez Aldea, and others, they succeeded in restoring political stability and economic growth to Chile, defeating the liberals in battle and re-establishing a strong authoritarian government. | |
