page_title: History of Bolivia (1809–1920)
section_title: Political instability and economic decline, 1839–1879
hierarchical_section_title: History of Bolivia (1809–1920) / Political instability and economic decline, 1839–1879
caption_attribution_description: This is a portrait of the Bolivian President José Ballivián who died 1852.
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: For the next 40 years Bolivia was characterized by a chaotic political situation and a declining economy. The country relied on taxes paid by the Indians as its main source of income. Although some of the government's leaders during this period tried to reform the country, most fit the description of caudillos bárbaros (barbaric caudillos), a term used by Bolivian writer Alcides Arguedas for inept and corrupt rulers.
  Santa Cruz was succeeded in June 1839 by General José Miguel de Velasco Franco (1828, 1829, 1839–41 and 1848), who tried to control the political intrigues and maneuvering between the supporters and opponents of Santa Cruz. After failing to repel yet another invasion by Gamarra, Velasco was overthrown. Gamarra was killed in November 1841 near La Paz in the Battle of Ingavi, after the victory, Bolivia invaded Perú, several fronts of struggle were opened in the Peruvian south.
  The eviction of the Bolivian troops in the south of Peru would be achieved by the greater availability of material and human resources of Peru, the Bolivian Army did not have enough troops to maintain the occupation. In the district of Locumba - Tacna, a column between Peruvian soldiers and peasants defeated a Bolivian regiment in the so-called Battle of Los Altos de Chipe (Locumba). In the district of Sama and in Arica, the Peruvian colonel José María Lavayén organizes a troop that manages to defeat the Bolivian forces of Colonel Rodríguez Magariños which dislodges the port of Arica. The battle of Tarapacá of 1842, Peruvian militias formed by the commander Juan Buendía, defeated on January 7, 1842, the detachment led by Colonel bolivian José María García, who died in the confrontation. Thus, the Bolivian troops leave Tacna, Arica and Tarapacá in February of 1842, retreating towards Moquegua and Puno. The combats of Motoni and  Orurillo expelled and subsequently initiated the withdrawal of Bolivian forces occupying Peruvian territory, threatening again Bolivia to suffer an invasion.
  At the end of the war, the Treaty of Puno was signed on June 7, 1842. However, the climate of tension between Lima and La Paz would continue until 1847, when the signing of a Peace and Trade Treaty became effective.
  José Ballivián (1841–1847) is remembered for restoring relative calm to the nation between 1842 and 1847. Reversing Santa Cruz's protectionist policies, Ballivián encouraged free trade. He also promoted the colonization of the Beni savanna. Nonetheless, the main income continued to come from the taxes paid by rural Indians. These included not only a head tax but also a tax on coca leaves, which were consumed almost exclusively by the Indian population. Although nearly 90 percent of all Bolivians lived in rural areas according to the 1846 census, agriculture generated little revenue. Most haciendas stagnated, and only the collection of chinchona bark (for the production of quinine) and coca leaves increased in the valleys.
  After the overthrow of Ballivián in 1847, Manuel Isidoro Belzu (1848–55) emerged as the most powerful figure in Bolivia. Unlike his predecessors, Belzu sought the support of the masses. In order to gain the backing of the Indians, he started a campaign against the aristocratic landowners, seized their land, and incited the Indians to destroy the homes of the landowners. He also hoped to get the support of the artisans who had been hurt by the free-trade policies of Ballivián by restricting the role of foreign merchants in Bolivia and limiting imports.
  Belzu's effort succeeded in one sense because he fended off forty-two coup attempts during his rule. "Tata" Belzu, as he was called by the Indians (like the head of the ayllu in pre-Columbian times), has been seen as the precursor of Andean populism. Attempting to stir the masses in demagogic speeches, Belzu completely alienated the Bolivian establishment with his reign of terror. As efforts to overthrow him increased, he resigned in 1855 and left for Europe.
  José María Linares (1857–1861), a member of the elite that had opposed Belzu, overthrew Belzu's son-in-law, General Jorge Cór
caption: José Ballivián restored relative calm to Bolivia between 1842 and 1847.
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