geographical position

The Atacama Desert, located at the junction of Bolivia, Chile and Peru, was never clearly defined during the Spanish colonial rule.

After the independence of the three countries, Bolivia occupied Antofagasta in the middle of Atacama desert, Peru occupied Tarapaca in the north of the desert, and Chile gained the south of the desert.

All three countries claim sovereignty over desert areas.

The dispute between the three countries has become more acute because of the discovery of rich bird droppings and nitrate deposits in the north-central Atacama desert.

The former, as a high-quality organic fertilizer, is Bolivia's most important export commodity and foreign exchange source, while the latter is an important raw material for manufacturing gunpowder in European and American arsenals, which has high strategic value.

cause

1866, Chile and Bolivia signed a border treaty, which stipulated that the 24th south latitude line was the border between the two countries, and the tariffs on all mineral products and export products between the 23rd south latitude line and the 25th south latitude line were shared equally by the two countries.

In the same year, the joint venture saltpeter company of Chile and Britain signed a contract with Bolivia to obtain the mining right of Antofagasta.

1874, Bolivia signed a new Covenant with Chile, stipulating that the Chilean government would give up all rights in the area north of 24 degrees south latitude, and Bolivia agreed not to raise the current tax rate of Chilean companies for 25 years.

1878, the Bolivian government decided to unilaterally increase the tax of Chilean-British mining companies in order to raise military expenditure. However, the mining company refused to pay according to the treaty 1874.

The Bolivian government decided to confiscate all its assets and auction them publicly. In retaliation, on February 1879, Chile, with the support of Britain, sent troops to occupy Antofagasta, Bolivia's largest port.

Peru and Bolivia have close ties, and the two sides secretly concluded a military alliance treaty in 1873.

After the crisis broke out, the governments of Peru and Bolivia issued military mobilization orders to the country and actively purchased arms from Europe.

Chile officially declared war on Peru and Bolivia on April 5, 1979.

This war is called "South America Pacific War" by the outside world, and it is also called "guano war" or "nitrate war" because the cause of the war comes from the competition among the three countries for guano and nitrate resources.