Barrios' War of Reunification

Barrios' War of Reunification
Death of Justo Rufino Barrios
Date 28 February – 14 April 1885 (1 month, 2 weeks and 3 days) Active combat: 31 March – 2 April 1885 (3 days) Location Guatemala and El Salvador Result Anti-Barrios victory Failure to reunify Central America Death of Justo Rufino Barrios
Belligerents
El Salvador   Mexico   Costa Rica   Nicaragua	Guatemala   Honduras
Commanders and leaders
Rafael Zaldívar Adán Mora Porfirio Díaz Próspero Fernández † Bernardo Soto Alfaro Adán Cárdenas	Justo Rufino Barrios   † Felipe Cruz Manuel Barillas José Reina Luis Bográn
Strength
20,000[ citation needed ]	14,500 [1]
Casualties and losses
50–200 dead 150 injured	1,500+ dead

Barrios' War of Reunification, also known as Barrios' great attempt (Spanish : intentona de Barrios), ^[2] was a war initiated by Guatemalan President Justo Rufino Barrios in 1885 with the goal of reunifying Central America. Of the five Central American countries, only Honduras supported Barrios' reunification effort; Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Nicaragua opposed it, as did Mexico.

Barrios commanded 14,500 soldiers in an invasion of El Salvador on 31 March 1885, however, he was killed during the Battle of Chalchuapa on 2 April, and Guatemalan forces subsequently withdrew from El Salvador shortly afterwards. Honduras and Guatemala signed peace treaties on 11 and 14 April, respectively, ending the short-lived war.

Background

Previous efforts to reunify Central America

Central America declared its independence from the Spanish Empire on 15 September 1821, ^[3] and after briefly being annexed by the First Mexican Empire from 1822 to 1823, ^[4] the Federal Republic of Central America was established on 1 July 1823. ^[5] The federal republic eventually dissolved in 1839 following two civil wars and the overthrow of President Francisco Morazán, resulting in the independence of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. ^{[6] [7]}

Since the collapse of the federal republic, several attempts were made by the various Central American republics to reunify the region through diplomacy or through war. ^[8] Due to liberal domination of Central American politics during the federal republic's existence, conservatives tended to oppose Central American reunification and prefer the independence of all five republics, while liberals were typically proponents of reunifying the region. ^[9] A convention between El Salvador and Honduras in 1842 elected Antonio José Cañas as president of a new federation, but the remaining republic refused to recognize his authority. A treaty between El Salvador and Guatemala in 1845 produced no results due to political instability in El Salvador. ^{[6] [10]}

Reunification plans of Justo Rufino Barrios

During the Liberal Revolution of April 1871  [ es ], two Guatemalan Divisional Generals, Miguel García Granados and Justo Rufino Barrios, overthrew President Vicente Cerna y Cerna. ^{[11] [12]} García Granados replaced Cerna y Cerna as President, but he retired in 1873 and was succeeded by Barrios. ^[12] Barrios was a firm supporter of Central American reunification and he wanted to make himself President of a reunited Central America.^{[ citation needed ]} Guatemalan liberal leaders were inspired by Otto von Bismarck successfully uniting the Germans under Prussia in 1870, viewing Prussia's relationship to the smaller German states as equivalent to Guatemala's relationship with the other Central American countries. ^[13]

In 1876, Barrios suggested that representatives from all five republics should meet to discuss the possibility of reunification. The delegates met in Guatemala City, however, a war between El Salvador and Guatemala that April brought an end to the reunification discussions. ^[14] During the war, Barrios invaded El Salvador and forced President Andrés del Valle and Vice President Santiago González to resign. In the subsequent June 1876 presidential election, Rafael Zaldívar was elected as president of El Salvador. ^[15]

War

Declaration of unification

On 28 February 1885, Barrios unilaterally declared the establishment of the Central America Union and appointed himself as having supreme authority over all five Central American countries. ^[16] The National Assembly of Guatemala held a session on 5 March and the legislature approved Barrios' declaration. ^[12] Barrios believed all the other Central American nations would be enthusiastic to join Guatemala to recreate a Central American union, but instead, only Honduras accepted his declaration on 7 March. ^[12] The other three nations, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, all denounced the declaration and wished to remain independent. ^[12]

Mexican involvement

Barrios began mobilizing the Guatemalan Army on 10 March and began moving his soldiers to the Salvadoran border on 23 March. He threatened military force and thought that the threat of military action would make El Salvador submit, however, Salvadoran President Rafael Zaldívar began preparing his own army to defend against Barrios' invasion force.^{[ citation needed ]}

El Salvador called for assistance from Mexico to distract the Guatemalans while they prepared their army. President Porfirio Díaz mobilized an army of 15,000 soldiers along the Guatemalan border, and in response, Barrios had 1,500 soldiers stationed on the border under the command of Manuel Barillas to defend from a Mexican invasion. The Guatemalans attempted to negotiate with the Mexicans through the United States' ambassador to Guatemala, Antonio Batres Jáuregui. The negotiations succeeded and Díaz demobilized his soldiers, stating that the measures were for self-defense purposes.^{[ citation needed ]}

Invasion of El Salvador

Main article: Battle of Chalchuapa

On 31 March, Barrios marched his soldiers into Salvadoran territory and the first target to capture was the town of Chalchuapa. The Salvadorans defended the town with a garrison of 5,000 soldiers under the command of Adán Mora. The Guatemalans waged a battle from 1 to 2 April but the defensive forces stood their ground. Barrios was killed during the battle with reports claiming he was either shot in the heart by a Salvadoran soldier and fell off his horse or that he was shot in the back by a Guatemalan soldier who accidentally shot him. ^[17]

After Barrios was killed, one of his military officers, Felipe Cruz, took command of the army. He attempted to keep waging battle, but due to falling morale, he had his forces retreat.^{[ citation needed ]}

Peace

Zaldívar attempted to seek peace but Cruz initially refused. Honduras and Nicaragua agreed to peace on 11 April while Guatemala, El Salvador, and Costa Rica came to peace on 14 April.^{[ citation needed ]}

Aftermath

After Barrios' death, Alejandro M. Sinibaldi became acting president of Guatemala, who was then succeeded by Barillas shortly afterwards. ^[11] Zaldívar was overthrown on 22 June by Francisco Menéndez. ^[18] Costa Rican President Próspero Fernández Oreamuno died in office during the war and was succeeded by Bernardo Soto Alfaro. ^[19]

Support for reunification in Guatemala subsided following Barrios' death. ^[20]

Later efforts for reunification

On 15 November 1886, Barillas sent a message to the leaders of Costa Rica, Honduras, and Nicaragua to send delegates to Guatemala City in order to discuss maintaining peace in Central America. On 16 February 1887, the delegates drafted a treaty of peace and amity and continued negotiations in 1888 and 1889 to form a federation through diplomatic means. These negotiations concluded with the republics agreeing to inaugurate a federal government on 15 September 1890, however, the overthrow of Salvadoran President Francisco Menéndez by General Carlos Ezeta in June 1890 and the subsequent war between El Salvador and Guatemala prevented such a federal government from forming. ^[21]

The Greater Republic of Central America was formed by El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua in 1895, ^[22] but the republic collapsed in November 1898 after Salvadoran President Rafael Antonio Gutiérrez was overthrown by General Tomás Regalado. ^[23] In September 1921, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras drafted a constitution for a new Central American republic ^[24] but it dissolved by 1922.^{[ citation needed ]}

References

Citations

1. El Diario de Hoy 2002.
2. Instituto Matías Romero 2020, p. 14.
3. Munro 1918, p. 24.
4. Munro 1918, p. 28.
5. Perry 1922, p. 31.
6. Perry 1922, p. 32.
7. Munro 1918, pp. 30–31.
8. Perry 1922, p. 30.
9. Clegern 1966, p. 29.
10. Perry 1922, pp. 32–33.
11. Hernández de León, Federico (1930). El libro de las efemérides (in Spanish). Vol. 3. Guatemala: Tipografía Sánchez y de Guise. p. 9.
12. Lavarreda, Carlos A. El Reformador: Justo Rufino Barrios. Guatemala: Guate360º. p. 47.
13. Palmer 1993, pp. 524–525.
14. Perry 1922, p. 33.
15. Ching 1997, p. 182–183.
16. Toussaint 2013, p. 91.
17. Barrientos, Alfonso Enrique (1948). "Ramón Rosa y Guatemala" (PDF). Revista del archivo y biblioteca nacionales (in Spanish). 27 (3). Honduras. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 December 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
18. "Presidentes de El Salvador - General Francisco Menéndez" [Presidents of El Salvador - General Francisco Menéndez]. Presidente Elías Antonio Saca El Salvador (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 17 March 2009. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
19. "Presidentes de la República de Costa Rica" (PDF). Infohistoria.
20. Palmer 1993, p. 529.
21. Perry 1922, p. 34.
22. Perry 1922, p. 35.
23. White 2018, pp. 88 & 289.
24. Perry 1922, p. 39.

Bibliography

Books

• Ching, Erik K. (1997). From Clientelism to Militarism: The State, Politics and Authoritarianism in El Salvador, 1840–1940. Santa Barbara, California: University of California, Santa Barbara. OCLC   39326756. ProQuest   304330235 . Retrieved 29 February 2024.
• La Lucha por el Poder en Centroamérica, 1890–1909 – México y el Gobierno de José Santos Zelaya en Nicaragua [The Fight for Power in Central America, 1890–1909 – Mexico and the Government of José Santos Zelaya in Nicaragua](PDF) (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Mexico City, Mexico: Instituto Matías Romero. 2021. ISBN   9786074462135. OCLC   1362903034 . Retrieved 29 February 2024.
• Munro, Dana Gardiner (1918). Kinley, David (ed.). The Five Republics of Central America; Their Political and Economic Development and Their Relations with the United States. New York City: Oxford University Press. LCCN   18005317. OCLC   1045598807 . Retrieved 29 February 2024.
• White, Alastair (2018). El Salvador 1550–1973: Cuatro Siglos de Evolución Histórica y Geopolítica Salvadoreñas [El Salvador 1550–1973: Four Centuries of Historic Evolution and Salvadoran Geopolitics] (in Spanish). Central American University. ISBN   9781987013306 . Retrieved 29 February 2024.

Journals

• Clegern, Wayne M. (1966). "Change and Development in Central America 1840–1900". Caribbean Studies . 5 (4). University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus: 28–34. ISSN   0008-6533. JSTOR   25611908. OCLC   9972018655.
• Palmer, Steven (1993). "Central American Union or Guatemalan Republic? The National Question in Liberal Guatemala, 1871–1885". The Americas . 49 (4). St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador: Cambridge University Press: 513–530. doi:10.2307/1007411. ISSN   0003-1615. JSTOR   1007411. OCLC   5546172035. S2CID   147417891.
• Perry, Edward (1922). "Central American Union". The Hispanic American Historical Review . 5 (1). Duke University Press: 30–51. doi: 10.2307/2505979 . ISSN   0018-2168. JSTOR   2505979 . OCLC   5548604504.
• Toussaint, Mónica (2013). Bovin, Philippe (ed.). "Justo Rufino Barrios, la Unión Centroamericana y el Conflicto de Límites México–Guatemala" [Justo Rufino Barrios, the Central American Union, and the Mexico–Guatemala Border Conflict]. Las Fronteras del Istmo (in Spanish). Mexico: Investigations and Superior Studies in Anthropology Center: 91–96. doi: 10.4000/books.cemca.641 . ISBN   9789686029574. OCLC   6014637757 . Retrieved 29 February 2024.

Web sources

• "La Historia Santaneca – Batallas Famosas" [Santa Anan History – Famous Battles]. El Diario de Hoy (in Spanish). El Salvador. 2 October 2002. Archived from the original on 13 October 2007. Retrieved 13 September 2020.

Further reading

• Jones, Dorsey D. (1928). "Federation or Separatism in Central America". Social Science. 3 (4). Pi Gamma Mu: 361–366. ISSN   0037-7848. JSTOR   23902307. OCLC   9975114042.

External links

• Diario Oficial (March 1885)