Upper Peru is a name for the land that was governed by the Real Audiencia of Charcas. The name originated in Buenos Aires towards the end of the 18th century after the Audiencia of Charcas was transferred from the Viceroyalty of Peru to the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata in 1776. It comprised the governorships of Potosí, La Paz, Cochabamba, Chiquitos, Moxos and Charcas.
Antonio José de Sucre y Alcalá, known as the "Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho", was a Venezuelan general and politician who served as the president of Bolivia from 1825 to 1828. A close friend and associate of Simón Bolívar, he was one of the primary leaders of South America's struggle for independence from the Spanish Empire.
The Bolivian War of Independence began with the establishment of government juntas in Sucre and La Paz, after the Chuquisaca Revolution and La Paz revolution. These Juntas were defeated shortly after, and the cities fell again under Spanish control. The May Revolution of 1810 ousted the viceroy in Buenos Aires, which established its own junta. Buenos Aires sent three large military expeditions to Upper Peru, headed by Juan José Castelli, Manuel Belgrano and José Rondeau, but the royalists ultimately prevailed over each one. However, the conflict grew into a guerrilla war, the War of the Republiquetas, preventing the royalists from strengthening their presence. After Simón Bolívar and Antonio José de Sucre defeated the royalists in northern South America, Sucre led a campaign that was to defeat the royalists in Charcas for good when the last royalist general, Pedro Antonio Olañeta, suffered death and defeat at the hands of his own defected forces at the Battle of Tumusla. Bolivian independence was proclaimed on 6 August 1825.
The Battle of Ayacucho was a decisive military encounter during the Peruvian War of Independence. This battle secured the independence of Peru and ensured independence for the rest of South America. In Peru it is considered the end of the Spanish American wars of independence in this country, although the campaign of Antonio José de Sucre continued through 1825 in Upper Peru and the siege of the fortresses Chiloé and Callao eventually ended in 1826.
José María Pérez de Urdininea was a Bolivian military officer and statesman who served as the third president of Bolivia in 1828. He was the first Bolivian president to be born in Bolivia itself. He fought with the patriots against the Argentines in Peru. Despite being President for only three months, Pérez held a number of important positions in the Bolivian government including Minister of War between 1841 and 1847.
Pedro Blanco Soto was a Bolivian soldier and politician and president of the Republic of Upper Peru, an unrecognized entity that emerged in the limits of the department of La Paz and, which claimed the territory of the Republic of Bolivia. He held the position for a short time before being killed by his opponents in a convent called La Recoletta in Sucre on New Year's Day 1829. A small plaque now marks the spot in the Museo de la Recoletta. He was well known for his pro-Peruvian stance and this is generally the reason attributed to his assassination. He was also a distinguished officer during the Peruvian War of Independence.
The First Upper Peru campaign was a military campaign of the Argentine War of Independence, which took place in 1810. It was headed by Juan José Castelli, and attempted to expand the influence of the Buenos Aires May Revolution in Upper Peru. There were initial victories, such as in the Battle of Suipacha and the revolt of Cochabamba, but it was finally defeated during the Battle of Huaqui that returned Upper Peru to Royalist influence. Manuel Belgrano and José Rondeau would attempt other similarly ill-fated campaigns; the Royalists in the Upper Peru would be finally defeated by Sucre, whose military campaign came from the North supporting Simón Bolívar.
The Army of the North, contemporaneously called Army of Peru, was one of the armies deployed by the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata in the Spanish American wars of independence. Its objective was freeing the Argentine Northwest and the Upper Peru from the royalist troops of the Spanish Empire. It was headed by Hipólito Vieytes (1810), Juan José Castelli (1810–1811), Juan Martín de Pueyrredón (1811–1812), Manuel Belgrano (1812–1814), José de San Martín (1814), José Rondeau (1814–1816), Manuel Belgrano (1816–1819) and Francisco Fernández de la Cruz (1819–1820).
The Battle of Pequereque was a clash which took place on 19 June 1813, during the second Upper Peru campaign of the Argentine War of Independence, between scouting forces of the United Provinces Army of the North and the royalist Army of Peru. The republican cavalry of the Army of the North, led by Colonel Cornelio Zelaya, prevailed over the royalists, under the command of Colonel Pedro Olañeta.
Pedro Antonio de Olañeta y Marquiegui was a Royalist commander in the army of the Spanish Empire who fought against the South American insurgency led by Simón Bolívar. His support for Spanish absolutism and rebellion against the moderate Royalists created conflicts within the Royalist army that aided the rebels. After the defeat of the main Royalist armies, he continued the resistance, becoming one of the last Royalist commanders to hold out. Olañeta was the last Viceroy of the Río de la Plata.
Bolivia's independence was definitively proclaimed on 6 August 1825 at a congress held in Chuquisaca.
The invasion of the Iberian Peninsula from 1807 to 1808 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 Río de la Plata and royalist troops from Viceroyalty of Peru.
The 1828 Peruvian–Bolivian War was an invasion of Bolivia by Peru headed by Agustín Gamarra in the form of a foreign intervention in an internal conflict in the Republic of Bolivia, being the first important war in the new country, just three years after becoming independent, and endangering its autonomy as a result of the occupation. Its objective was to force the departure of the troops of the Republic of Colombia from Bolivia, the resignation of Antonio José de Sucre, and the prevention of the opening of a southern front in the event of a war with Colombia. The intervention escalated tensions further, culminating in the Gran Colombia–Peru War.
Events in the year 1825 in Bolivia. This year is celebrated in Bolivia as the official beginning of the nation, with the Declaration of Independence issued on 6 August.
The Bolivian–Peruvian territorial dispute was a territorial dispute between Bolivia and Peru that lasted from the former's independence in 1825 to the signing of the Polo–Bustamante Treaty in 1909.
Hilario Remigio Rivas Reynolds was a Bolivian military officer and Commander of the Bolivian Army during the presidency of José María Pérez de Urdininea. He was a loyal supporter of Andrés de Santa Cruz and would be one of the only military officers not to desert him before the Battle of Yungay.
The Battle of Tumusla was the last battle between regular forces during the Bolivian War of Independence and one of the last encounters of the Spanish American wars of independence. This battle was fought on 1 April 1825, near the village of Tumusla (Potosí), in the current territory of Bolivia. It was a defeat for the Royalist forces under command of Pedro Antonio Olañeta, who was killed.
The Fourth Upper Peru campaign was an unsuccessful invasion in 1817 by the rebel United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, during the Argentine War of Independence, of Upper Peru, which was still under control of Spanish troops.
Campaigns of the South is the name given to a series of military campaigns that Greater Colombia launched between 1820 and 1826 in South America with the purpose of expanding over the territories of the current republics of Colombia and Ecuador, as well as consolidating the independence of the republics of Peru and Bolivia. This was an extension of the multifaceted civil war launched against the Royalist Army in the Americas, which sustained the integrity of the Spanish Empire in such territories. Beyond the surrender of the regular armies, the royalist guerrillas in each country fought for several more years.
The Second Intermedios Campaign was a phase of the Independence of Peru that occurred between May and October 1823. Returning to the plan of the First Intermedios campaign, the Peruvian Army, under the command of General Andrés de Santa Cruz, landed in the so-called "intermediate ports" of southern Peru and entered into Upper Peru, a region dominated by royalist forces under the command of viceroy José de la Serna. After the indecisive battle of Zepita and a campaign described as "no better than the first," the patriots were overwhelmed by the massive royalist attack and retreated to the coast, with the survivors barely managing to embark.
General Antonio José de Sucre 