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History
When the first Spanish settlers arrived in the sixteenth
century three main tribes controlled Chile. Quechua
tribes occupied the northern region and Araucanian
tribes occupied the central and northern part of
the southern region. The Incas occupied northern
and parts of central Chile. The first Spanish
settlements were, Santiago in 1541 and Concepcion
in 1550 mainly because of the pleasant climate
and fertile soil. Repeated assaults from the
Araucanians lasted into the second half of
the nineteenth century.
By the mid-seventeenth century,
the population of the Spanish settlements
and their surroundings numbered approximately 100,000
Under Spanish colonial rule, northern and central
Chile were part of the Viceroyalty of Peru.
The south remained under the control of the
Araucanians almost until the nineteenth century.
Independence was first declared in 1810.
A period of internal instability and strife followed,
which resulted in the restoration of Spanish rule in 1814.
Combined Argentinean and Chilean forces under Jose de San
Martin and Bernardo O'Higgins, who crossed the Andes from
Argentina, managed to defeat and drive out the Spanish
army and restore Chile's independence (1818). O'Higgins
became Chile's first president.
Chile defeated Bolivia and Peru in a war (1879-1883)
for the control of the Atacama Desert and its rich
mineral deposits. In the course of this war, Chilean
troops occupied Lima. Chile won the disputed territory.
Bolivia lost its outlet to the open sea and Peru the Tarapaca district.
After a short period of military rule (1924-1925), followed by the
reinstatement of the democratically elected president Arturo Alessandri,
a new, more progressive, constitution came in force (1925).
A presidential candidate of the left-wing parties, Salvador Allende, won the elections in 1970.
Allende was deposed and died in a military coup in September 1973,
which was followed by 16 years of military dictatorship by General
Augusto Pinochet. Democratic elections were held in 1989. Democracy was restored in 1990.
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Learn Spanish in Santiago.
