page_title: History of Bolivia (1809–1920)
section_title: The Liberal Party and the rise of tin, 1899–1920
hierarchical_section_title: History of Bolivia (1809–1920) / The Liberal Party and the rise of tin, 1899–1920
caption_attribution_description: English: President of Bolivia, Ismael Montes (1861-1933)
context_page_description: The invasion of the Iberian Peninsula in 1807-08 by Napoleon Bonaparte's forces proved to be critical for the independence struggle in South America, during which the local elites of Upper Peru remained mostly loyal to Spain, supporting Junta Central, a government which ruled in the name of the overthrown king Ferdinand VII of Spain. A number of radical criollos in 1808-10 began a local power struggle. Pedro Domingo Murillo proclaimed an independent state in Upper Peru in the name of king Ferdinand VII. During the following seven years Upper Peru became the battleground between the armed forces of independent United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata and royalist troops from Viceroyalty of Peru.
  After 1820 the criollos who had formed the Conservative Party supported General Pedro Antonio de Olañeta. During the 1820–1823 liberal revolution in Spain, Olañeta, convinced that revolution threatens the traditional royal authority, refused to join the royalist forces or the rebel armies under the command of Simón Bolívar and Antonio José de Sucre y Alcalá.
context_section_description: In 1899 the Liberal Party overthrew the Conservative president Severo Fernández in the "Federal Revolution". Although the Liberals resented the long rule of the Conservatives, the main reasons for the revolt were regionalism and federalism. The Liberal Party drew most of its support from the tin-mining entrepreneurs in and around La Paz, whereas Conservative governments had ruled with an eye on the interests of the silver mine owners and great landowners in Potosí and Sucre. The immediate cause of the conflict was the Liberal demand to move the capital from Sucre to the more developed La Paz.
  Since independence, Bolivia has lost over half of its territory to neighboring countries. Through diplomatic channels in 1909, it lost the basin of the Madre de Dios River and the territory of the Purus in the Amazon, yielding 250,000 km² to Peru
  The Federal Revolution differed from previous revolts in Bolivia in that Indian peasants actively participated in the fighting. Indian discontent had increased because of the massive assault on their communal landholdings. The campesinos supported the Liberal leader, José Manuel Pando (1899–1904), when he promised to improve their situation. His follower, President Ismael Montes (1904–1909 and 1913–1917) dominated the Liberal era.
  Pando, however, reneged on his promises and allowed the assault on Indian land to continue. The government suppressed a series of campesino uprisings and executed the leaders. One of these revolts, led by Pablo Zárate (Willka), was one of the largest Indian rebellions in the history of the republic. It frightened whites and mestizos, who once again successfully isolated the Indians from national life.
  Like their Conservative predecessors, the Liberals controlled the presidential elections but left the elections for the Congress relatively free.
  They also continued to professionalize the Bolivian military, with the aid of a German military mission. German officers led the School of War and Military College from 1901. German and French artillery was purchased between 1901 and 1907. French military officers were invited between 1907 and 1910 and then once again followed by Germans. In 1907 compulsory military service was introduced. Former head of Germany's mission, Colonel Hans Kundt became the head of the General staff and later Minister of War. Kundt became involved with the Republican Party and provided it with army's loyalty during the 1920 coup after which he purged many Liberal officers. He was later recalled to Bolivia in 1932 to lead army during the Chaco War.
  Liberal administrations gave priority to the settlement of border disputes. Bolivia's inability to protect and integrate the frontier with Brazil had led to the encroachment of Brazilian rubber gatherers. In 1900 they began an active secessionist movement in the eastern province of Acre and after three years of small-scale fighting were annexed by Brazil. In the Treaty of Petropolis in 1903, Bolivia relinquished its claims to 191,000 square kilometers of Acre territory in return for two areas on the Madeira and the Paraguay rivers totaling 5,200 square kilometers, the equivalent of US$10 million, and the use of a railroad to be constructed around the rapids of the Madeira in Brazilian territory.
  In 1904 Bolivia finally concluded a peace treaty with Chile under which it officially ceded Bolivia's former territory on the Pacific coast in return for indemnification of US$8.5 million, less the value of the Bolivian section of a new railroad that Chile would construct from La Paz to the Pacific Coast at Arica. The payment was used to expand the transportation system in Bolivia. By 1920 most major Bolivian cities were connected by rail.
  Liberal governments also changed the seat of government and the nature of church-state relations. The presidency and the Congress were moved to La Paz, which became the de facto capital, but the Supreme Court remained in Sucre. Liberal presidents canceled the special privileges officially granted to the Roman Catholic Church, in 1905 they legalized public worship by other fai
caption: President Ismael Montes dominated the Liberal era.
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