Venezuelan War of Independence - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The First Republic

Criollos resented the mercantilist

Mercantilism

Mercantilism is the economic doctrine in which government control of foreign trade is of paramount importance for ensuring the prosperity and security of the state. In particular, it demands a positive balance of trade. Mercantilism dominated Western European economic policy and discourse from...

policies of Spain. Trade was only allowed in Pacific ports which was a terrible burden for Argentina, Paraguay and the Caribbean colonies. This is significant as Cuba and Puerto Rico were forced to allow free trade in 1763 by Britain and remained loyal, while the remaining three were the first to declare independence. Venezuela was nearer Spain than most colonies so it was the first to hear of Joseph Bonaparte's

Joseph Bonaparte

Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte was the elder brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, who made him King of Naples and Sicily , and later King of Spain...

takeover of Spain and it found the trade restrictions the most irksome.
Loyalist criollos were fearful of a Haitian style revolution and slavery's abolition. Later events would show that only the whites in the Andean region were enthusiastic about independence.
The French invasion of Spain in 1808 led to the collapse of the Spanish Monarchy. Most subjects of Spain did not accept the government of Joseph Bonaparte

Joseph Bonaparte

Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte was the elder brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, who made him King of Naples and Sicily , and later King of Spain...

, placed on the Spanish throne by his brother, Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte of France

Napoleon I

Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...

. At the same time, the process of creating a stable government in Spain, which would be widely recognized throughout the empire, took two years. (See Junta (Peninsular War)
Junta (Peninsular War)
In the Napoleonic era, junta was the name chosen by several local administrations formed in Spain during the Peninsular War as a patriotic alternative to the official administration toppled by the French invaders...

.) This created a power vacuum

Power vacuum

A power vacuum is, in its broadest sense, an expression for a condition that exists when someone has lost control of something and no one has replaced them. It is usually used to refer to a political situation that can occur when a government has no identifiable central authority...

in the Spanish possessions in America, which created further political uncertainty. On 19 April 1810 the municipal council

Cabildo (council)

For a discussion of the contemporary Spanish and Latin American cabildo, see Ayuntamiento.A cabildo or ayuntamiento was a former Spanish, colonial administrative council that governed a municipality. Cabildos were sometimes appointed, sometimes elected, but were considered to be representative of...

of Caracas headed a successful movement to depose the Spanish Governor and Captain General, Vicente Emparán

Vicente Emparán

Vicente Emparán was a Spanish Basque Captain General.Emparán was born in Azpeitia, Guipúzcoa, Basque Country, in 1747. He was governor of Cumaná Province in the Captaincy General of Venezuela between 1792 and 1804, where he had gained a favorable reputation among Venezuelans.By 1808, Emparán had...

. A junta was established in Caracas, and soon other Venezuelan provinces followed suit. The Caracas Junta called for a congress of Venezuelan provinces to establish a government for the region. Initially both the Junta and Congress upheld the "rights of Ferdinand VII," meaning that they recognized themselves to still be part of the Spanish Monarchy, but had established a separate government due to the French invasion of Peninsula. As the Congress deliberated, a faction proposing outright independence quickly won favor. Persons such as Francisco de Miranda

Francisco de Miranda

Sebastián Francisco de Miranda Ravelo y Rodríguez de Espinoza , commonly known as Francisco de Miranda , was a Venezuelan revolutionary...

, a long-term Venezuelan expatriate

Expatriate

An expatriate is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing...

, and Simón Bolívar

Simón Bolívar

Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Yeiter, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader...

, a young, Criollo

Criollo people

The Criollo class ranked below that of the Iberian Peninsulares, the high-born permanent residence colonists born in Spain. But Criollos were higher status/rank than all other castes—people of mixed descent, Amerindians, and enslaved Africans...

aristocrat—both influenced by Age of Enlightenment

Age of Enlightenment

The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...

ideas and the example of the French Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

—led the movement. The Congress declared Venezuela's independence

Venezuelan Declaration of Independence

The Venezuelan Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by a congress of Venezuelan provinces on July 5, 1811 through which Venezuelans made the decision to break away from the Spanish Crown in order to establish a new nation based on the premises of equality of individuals, abolition of...

on 5 July 1811, establishing the Republic of Venezuela.

Even before the Congress began its sessions in November 1810, a civil war

Civil war

A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....

started between those who supported the juntas, and eventually independence, and royalists who wanted to maintain the union with Spain. Two provinces, Maracaibo Province and Guayana Province

Guayana Province

Guayana Province was a province of the Spanish Empire and later of Venezuela. It was incorporated into the Captaincy General of Venezuela in 1776 and covered a territory roughly equal to today's Guayana Region and Guyana....

, and one district, Coro

Coro region

The Coro region is the hilly and semi-mountainous area in northwest Venezuela, north of the Mérida Andes and east of the Maracaibo Basin, extending north to the Caribbean coast. It consists mostly of east-west running ridges, with the exception of the Sierra de Siruma which run north-south...

, never recognized the Caracas Junta and remained loyal to the governments in Spain. Military expeditions to bring Coro and Guayana under the control of the Republic failed. In 1811 an uprising in Valencia against the Republic was successfully suppressed. By 1812 the situation increasingly became aggravated for the young Republic. It was short of funds, Spanish Regency set up a blockade

Blockade

A blockade is an effort to cut off food, supplies, war material or communications from a particular area by force, either in part or totally. A blockade should not be confused with an embargo or sanctions, which are legal barriers to trade, and is distinct from a siege in that a blockade is usually...

(although it was easily bypassed by British and American merchant ships), and on 26 March 1812, a devastating earthquake

1812 Caracas earthquake

The 1812 Caracas earthquake took place in Venezuela on March 26, 1812 at 4:37 p.m. It measured 7.7 on the Richter magnitude scale. It caused extensive damage in Caracas, La Guaira, Barquisimeto, San Felipe, and Mérida...

hit republican areas. In these desperate moments, Miranda was given dictatorial powers, nevertheless he was unable to stem the royalist advance headed by Captain Domingo de Monteverde

Juan Domingo de Monteverde

Juan Domingo de Monteverde y Rivas , commonly known as Domingo de Monteverde, was a Spanish soldier, governor and Captain General of Venezuela from June 1812 to 8 August 1813. Monteverde was the leader of Spanish forces in the Venezuelan War of Independence from 1812 to 1813...

. By midyear, after the Battle of San Mateo

Battle of San Mateo

The Battle of La Victoria occurred on 20 and 29 June 1812, in La Victoria, Venezuela. Both Spanish assaults on the city by captain Domingo de Monteverde against the forces of Francisco de Miranda were repulsed by the Venezuelan forces entrenched in the city and Monterverde fell back to San Mateo...

, the Republic collapsed. Miranda capitulated to Monteverde and signed an armistice

Armistice

An armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace...

on 25 July 1812.

The Second Republic

Bolívar and other republicans continued the resistance from other parts of the Spanish South America and the Caribbean, or organized guerrilla movements

Guerrilla warfare

Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...

in the interior of the country. In 1813 Bolívar joined the army of United Provinces of New Granada

United Provinces of New Granada

The United Provinces of New Granada was a country in South America from 1811 to 1816, a period known in Colombian history as the Patria Boba. It was formed from areas of the New Kingdom of Granada. The government was a federation with a parliamentary system, consisting of a weak executive and...

. After winning a series of battles, Bolívar received the approval of the New Granadan Congress to lead a liberating force into Venezuela in what became known as the Admirable Campaign

Admirable Campaign

The Admirable Campaign was a military action led by Simón Bolívar in which the provinces of Mérida, Barinas, Trujillo and Caracas were conquered by the independentists...

. At the same time, Santiago Mariño

Santiago Mariño

Santiago Mariño , was a nineteenth-century Venezuelan revolutionary leader and hero in the Venezuelan War of Independence...

invaded from the northeast in an independently organized campaign. Both forces quickly defeated the royalist troops in various battles, such as Alto de los Godos

Battle of Alto de los Godos

The Battle of Alto de los Godos was a battle that took place on 25 May 1813 in Maturín, Venezuela and that resulted in a patriot victory against the forces of Spanish general Domingo de Monteverde...

. Bolívar entered Caracas

Caracas

Caracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...

on August 6, 1813, proclaiming the restoration of the Venezuelan Republic and his supreme leadership of it, something which was not fully recognized by Mariño based in Cumaná

Cumaná

Cumaná is the capital of Venezuela's Sucre State. It is located 402 km east of Caracas. It was the first settlement founded by Europeans in the mainland America, in 1501 by Franciscan friars, but due to successful attacks by the indigenous people, it had to be refounded several times...

, although the two leaders did cooperate militarily.

Resistance to the Republic this time came from the people of the vast southern plains, the Llanero
Llanero
A llanero is a Venezuelan or Colombian herder. The name is taken from the Llanos grasslands occupying western Venezuela and eastern Colombia. The Llanero were originally part Spanish and Indian and have a strong culture including a distinctive form of music.During the wars of independence,...

s, who organized under the command of Spanish immigrant, José Tomás Boves

José Tomás Boves

José Tomás Boves , royalist caudillo of the llanos during the Venezuelan War of Independence, particularly remembered for his use of brutality and atrocities against those who supported Venezuelan independence...

. The war was transformed. The Llaneros had a dislike for the urban and elite Criollos who led the independence movement. Boves's Llanero army routinely killed white Venezuelans. Negroes were supplied with maps and lists of rebel plantations by royalists. The Llanero army routed the patriots in the center of the country. Finally Boves marched towards Caracas, forcing the Republicans to flee to the east of the country, ending the second republic. Boves died shortly thereafter in battle, but the country had been returned to royalist control.

Royalist restoration

Boves's locally-raised Llanero army was replaced in 1815 by a formal expedition sent from Spain under the leadership of Pablo Morillo

Pablo Morillo

Pablo Morillo y Morillo, Count of Cartagena and Marquess of La Puerta, aka El Pacificador was a Spanish general....

. It was the largest expedition the Spanish had ever sent to the Americas. Venezuela's proximity to Cuba, Puerto Rico and Spain made it the first target of the royalist counterattack. The Llaneros were either demobilized or incorporated into the expeditionary units. The republican patriots found themselves once more dispersed, and again the war took a local character. Different patriot guerrilla bands formed, but could not agree on a united leadership, much less a united strategy. One group of patriots launched an expedition to eastern Venezuela that ended in failure. Bolívar thereafter sought to join forces with Manuel Piar

Manuel Piar

Manuel Carlos Piar was General-in-Chief of the army fighting Spain during the Venezuelan War of Independence.-Heritage and early life:...

, another patriot leader but differences between them prevented a united republican front. Bolívar then went to the Llanos where he joined forces with José Antonio Páez

José Antonio Páez

José Antonio Páez Herrera was General in Chief of the army fighting Spain during the Venezuelan Wars of Independence, in addition to becoming the President of Venezuela once it was independent of the Gran Colombia...

, but a failed attack on central Venezuela forced Bolivar to retreat back to Apure

Apure

Apure State is one of the 23 states into which Venezuela is divided. Its territory formed part of the provinces of Mérida, Maracaibo, and Barinas, in accordance with successive territorial ordinations pronounced by the colonial authorities. In 1824 the Department of Apure was created, under...

. Morillo counterattacked successfully but was defeated at the Battle of Las Queseras del Medio

Battle of Las Queseras del Medio

The Battle of Las Queseras del Medio was an important battle of the Venezuelan War of Independence. It took place on April 2, 1819. The forces of José Antonio Páez consisted of 153 lancers, who were llaneros. They were pitted against more than 1,000 Spanish cavalry...

. A long-term stalemate ensued in which the royalists controlled the highly-populated, urban north and the republicans the vast, under-populated plains of the south.

Consolidation of independence

In 1819, to break this impasse Bolívar invaded New Granada, which had been reconquered by Morillo's expeditionary force three years later. Bolívar decisively defeated the royalists at Boyacá

Battle of Boyacá

The Battle of Boyacá in Colombia, then known as New Granada, was the battle in which Colombia acquired its definitive independence from Spanish Monarchy, although fighting with royalist forces would continue for years....

. With the liberation of New Granada, the republicans had a significant base from which to attack Morillo's forces. A republican Congress at Angostura

Congress of Angostura

The Congress of Angostura was summoned by Simón Bolívar and took place in Angostura during the wars of Independence of Colombia and Venezuela. It met from February 15, 1819, to July 31, 1821, when the Congress of Cúcuta began its sessions.It consisted of twenty-six delegates, representing...

(today Ciudad Bolívar

Ciudad Bolívar

Ciudad Bolívar is the capital of Venezuela's southeastern Bolivar State. It was founded with the name Angostura in 1764, renamed in 1846, and, as of 2010, had an estimated population of 350,691....

), which already had a small New Granada delegation, declared the union of New Granada and Venezuela in a Republic of Colombia

Gran Colombia

Gran Colombia is a name used today for the state that encompassed much of northern South America and part of southern Central America from 1819 to 1831. This short-lived republic included the territories of present-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Panama, northern Peru and northwest Brazil. The...

(the Gran Colombia of contemporary accounts) to present a united front against the Spanish Monarchy.

In 1821 the Colombian army won a decisive victory at the Battle of Carabobo

Battle of Carabobo

The Battle of Carabobo, 24 June 1821, was fought between independence fighters, led by Simón Bolívar, and the Royalist forces, led by Spanish Field Marshal Miguel de la Torre. Bolívar's decisive victory at Carabobo led to the independence of Venezuela....

, after which the only cities in the hands of the royalist forces were Cumaná

Cumaná

, which fell shortly thereafter, and Puerto Cabello

Puerto Cabello

Puerto Cabello is a city on the north coast of Venezuela. It is located in Carabobo State about 75 km west of Caracas. As of 2001, the city has a population of around 154,000 people. The city is the home to the largest port in the country and is thus a vital cog in the country's vast oil...

, which managed to resist a siege

Siege

A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...

before finally capitulating in October 1823.

Aftermath

The Spanish sent a fleet in 1823 to reconquer the country but were defeated at the Battle of Lake Maracaibo

Battle of Lake Maracaibo

The Battle of Lake Maracaibo also known as the "Naval Battle of the Lake" was fought on 24 July 1823 in Venezuela's Lake Maracaibo between Admiral José Prudencio Padilla and royalist Captain Ángel Laborde....

. The fight for independence, which killed half of Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

's white population, was finally over in Venezuela. In the following years Venezuelan forces, as part of the army of Gran Colombia, continued campaigning under the leadership of Bolívar to liberate the southern parts of New Granada and Ecuador

Ecuador

Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

. Once this was accomplished, Gran Colombia continued its fight against the Spanish in Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

and Bolivia

Bolivia

Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

, completing the efforts of Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

an and Argentine

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

patriots, such as José de San Martín

José de San Martín

José Francisco de San Martín, known simply as Don José de San Martín , was an Argentine general and the prime leader of the southern part of South America's successful struggle for independence from Spain.Born in Yapeyú, Corrientes , he left his mother country at the...

, to liberate southern South America.

The First Republic

The Second Republic

Royalist restoration

Consolidation of independence

Aftermath

See also

Further Reading