FEDERAL WAR: CHARACTERISTICS, CAUSES, DEVELOPMENT, CONSEQUENCES - HISTORY - 2024

The Federal War in Venezuela, also called the Five Years' War or Long War, was a warlike conflict between liberals and conservatives between 1859 and 1863. The confrontation ended with the victory of the former, which was reflected in the Treaty of Car.

After separating from Gran Colombia in 1830, Venezuela retained part of the economic and social structures of its time as a Spanish colony. Thus, the existence of a powerful agrarian oligarchy made up of Creole elites and leaders of the wars of independence stood out. On the other hand, a new class had emerged: the commercial bourgeoisie of Caracas.

Battle of Maiquetía (1859) - Source: Lagoven Notebooks (1988). Germán Carrera Ladies

The constitution approved in 1830 had a strong centralist and conservative character. As soon as it was enacted, armed uprisings began to take place in various areas of the country seeking the formation of a federal state. The instability continued until 1859, when these uprisings led to a civil war.

The conflict was characterized by guerrilla warfare. In its development there are only three important battles that were decanting the war on the liberal side. After the signing of the peace agreement, Venezuela endowed itself with a federal Constitution, in addition to prohibiting slavery and eliminating noble titles. On the other hand, the economy suffered a great deterioration.

Background

The agrarian oligarchy and other privileged sectors tried to maintain social structures in Venezuela after its separation from Gran Colombia, in 1830.

In general terms, these elites sought that there were no socioeconomic changes in the order established during the colonial era. The idea was that the land continued to be in the hands of large landowners, usually members of the so-called Creole aristocracy or of the new elite that emerged from the independence process.

Within the Venezuelan social structure a new class had appeared: the commercial bourgeoisie. It had taken advantage of the trade opportunities created during the war for independence. This bourgeoisie, mostly located in Caracas, became the base of the Conservative Party.

This last group was the main support of the government of José Antonio Páez, the first after the independence of Gran Colombia. The Constitution that he promulgated in 1830 was based on conservative principles, including administrative and political centralism.

Uprisings in the east

Political centralization soon began to be challenged. The first uprisings, limited to the east of the country, began in 1831. The landowners of the area, contrary to the power acquired by the Caracas bourgeoisie, were its organizers.

On the other hand, in the plains the situation was different. In that area the landowners began to fight groups of bandits made up of peasants who were fighting against their miserable working conditions.

Economic crisis

Without the country having stabilized, the great economic crisis that began in 1842 made the situation even worse.

The crisis caused small and medium landowners to become poorer. Many of them lost their land due to debt. The consequence was a resurgence of the armed uprisings, which together received the name of the Popular Revolution. This also caused the Liberal Party to radicalize its ideas.

This instability caused a change of government. Congress appointed José Tadeo Monagas president, as it was hoped that he could reconcile conservatives and liberals. The Conservative Party tried to control the new leader, but he preferred to bring positions closer to the Liberal Party.

The Conservatives tried to end the Monagas government, but their strategy only provoked an assault on Congress and the Liberals to settle in power.

March revolution

Although his first term had concluded with a rapprochement between liberals and conservatives, the second government of José Tadeo Monagas was characterized by its authoritarianism.

The two main parties united to overthrow Monagas through an armed rebellion led by General Julián Castro. The insurrection, which began in Valencia on March 5, 1858, ended when Castro entered Caracas 13 days later. On March 15, Monagas resigned from office.

In July of that same year, also in Valencia, a National Convention began with the intention of drafting a new Constitution. This body was made up of representatives from all the provinces.

The new Magna Carta was promulgated in December 1858. Its content had a marked social component in order to end instability. Among the measures included were universal male suffrage and the abolition of slavery.

Despite this attempt to favor the most disadvantaged classes, the division of society was already too great. In addition, the Constitution continued to maintain centralism, which provoked opposition from the Federalists.

The rupture of the alliance created to overthrow Monagas was also influenced by the government with a large conservative majority formed by Julio Castro. This, in addition, decreed in July the expulsion of well-known liberal leaders such as Juan Crisóstomo Falcón, Ezequiel Zamora, Wenceslao Casado and Antonio Leocadio Guzmán, among others.

Causes

The outbreak of war was caused by a set of different causes, from the ideological differences between conservatives and federals to the poverty of part of the population, through the privileged situation of some families.

Unequal distribution of land and livestock

The agricultural and livestock wealth was in the hands of a few families: those belonging to the agricultural oligarchy and those of the military leaders who had participated in the War of Independence.

This uneven economic structure carried over into the political realm as well. Thus, the governments were formed mainly by members of the oligarchy, all white Creoles.

For its part, the commercial bourgeoisie of Caracas, base of the Conservative Party, also began to participate in this distribution of power.

However, in many respects both groups, oligarchs and merchant bourgeois, were at odds. The centralization decreed by the Constitution of 1830, under Conservative government, favored the latter, while the landowners of the eastern provinces considered that they were relegated.

To this must be added the appearance of new social groups that wanted to participate in national politics.

Poverty

The intention to end slavery had already appeared during the struggle for independence. However, it was not until March 24, 1854, when the law abolishing this practice was enacted.

The president of Venezuela was at that time José Monagas, who had to face opposition from many landowners in order to pass the law. Only the support of the Liberals allowed slavery to be abolished, as the Conservatives were in favor of maintaining it.

Despite good intentions, the liberation of the slaves caused a serious problem of poverty. The freedmen had neither work nor land, so many had to return to the estates of their employers or wander looking for occupations in terrible conditions.

Not only the former slaves lived in misery. The peasants or even the owners of small lands also lived in precarious conditions.

Ideas of equality

At that time, as it happened in other Latin American territories, ideas that defended social equality were beginning to spread. In Venezuela, this caused the people to turn against the conservatives and the large landowners.

These ideas were defended by the Liberal Party, which, in addition, was in favor of creating a federal state that would end centralism.

Liberals found their best platform to spread those ideas in the newspaper El Venezolano. This was directed by Antonio Leocadio Guzmán, one of the founders of the Liberal Party.

Economic crisis of 1858

The major economic crisis that broke out shortly before the war affected all sectors of the population. The crisis was largely caused by external factors, such as the American Civil War, but the lack of productive development in the country caused the internal effect to be considerable.

The products on which the Venezuelan economy depended, such as coffee or cocoa, fell in price due to external crises. This caused both large landowners and the commercial bourgeoisie to lose their main sources of income, creating a climate that favored the outbreak of war.

Development

From their forced exile on the islands of Curaçao and Saint Thomas, the liberal leaders organized the attack on the government, prepared their troops and elaborated their programs. Among the latter, the Federation Program stood out, drawn up by the Patriotic Board of Venezuela directed by Félix María Alfonzo.

Seizure of the Coro weapons barracks

Although some historians place the beginning of the war in May or July 1858, when the first insurrections against Julián Castro took place, most indicate that the attack on the Coro weapons barracks was the event that marked its beginning.

The assault on the Coro barracks took place on February 20, 1859. Under the command of Commander Tirso de Salaverría, some 40 men seized the barracks and the 900 rifles that were stored there. Right there, Salaverría launched the Cry of the Federation, starting the Federal War.

Ezequiel Zamora and other exiled federalist leaders (except Juan Crisóstomo falcón) landed in Coro in March to join the rebellion.

Scope of the war

The civil war only developed in one part of the country. The most important confrontations took place in the high and low plains, while the central zone and the east only registered episodes of guerrilla warfare.

Other regions, such as Guayana, Zulia or the Andes, remained outside the conflict.

Battle of Santa Inés

Ezequiel Zamora, commander-in-chief of the so-called Federal Army, joined forces with the troops of Juan Crisóstomo Falcón to head towards Barinas. The conservative army, for its part, was ordered to pursue and defeat them.

The Federalists concentrated their forces in Santa Inés, a town 36 kilometers from Barinas. There they proceeded to organize to wait for the conservative army, commanded by General Pedro Estanislao Ramos.

The confrontation began on December 10, 1859. The government soldiers opened fire on the Federalists and they, following a plan previously outlined, responded weakly and withdrew in their trenches.

The conservative army fell into the trap planned by Zamora and pursued the retreating liberal troops. However, the federalist troops were being reinforced in each trench system they reached. In addition, government officials thought that the number of their enemies was much smaller.

At dusk, the government soldiers reached the last trench, at which point Zamora gave the order to attack. The bulk of his forces had remained hidden in that place and the withdrawal had only been a strategy. The result was a total victory for the Federalists.

After suffering heavy losses, government officials had no choice but to order a withdrawal.

Barinas site

Zamora and Falcón, encouraged by the previous victory, prepared to besiege Barinas. The siege lasted for several days, until the lack of supplies forced the government troops to leave the city.

The Federalists pursued their enemies and caught up with them a few kilometers from Barina. The ensuing battle, known as the El Carozo match, ended when the Liberals ran out of ammunition.

Faced with this circumstance, and waiting to receive more reinforcements, Zamora ordered the land that separated his troops from the government to be burned. That allowed him to wait for support to arrive and to restart the persecution of the government army.

The meeting took place on the banks of the Curbatí river. Government officials could only flee because of their inferiority.

Zamora's troops then entered Barinas. In that city they planned the next step: to take Caracas. To do this, they first went to San Carlos.

Battle of San Carlos

The siege of San Carlos began in January 1860. During it, the federals suffered great losses, including that of Ezequiel Zamora himself.

The substitute in command was Juan Crisóstomo Falcón, who gave the order to advance towards Valencia. However, his troops were very weakened after the siege of San Carlos. In addition, the conservatives began to be reinforced with new soldiers. Faced with this, Falcón preferred to avoid further combat and set course for Apure.

Battle of Coplé

The last major confrontation of the war was the Battle of Coplé, in February 1860. The final result was a government victory, but it did not serve to tip the conflict. The rebels had no trouble retreating before they could suffer extensive damage.

Falcón then preferred to divide his army to start a guerrilla war in various areas of the country. The federalist leader, for his part, began a journey through several countries to try to get support.

The following months of conflict did not imply any change in the relationship of forces. The federalists kept up their guerrilla attacks and the government ones responded to them.

Peace negotiations

Although the conflict seemed stalled, Falcón's efforts to find reinforcements and support were paying off. This allowed the federal army to strengthen itself and begin peace negotiations from a very favorable position.

The first attempt to reach an agreement, in December 1861, ended in failure. However, the wear and tear suffered by the government side and the progress that the federalists were making led to restart the talks. The result was the Car Treaty, an agreement signed in April 1863.

Car Treaty

The agreement that ended the war was signed at the Coche farm, located in the vicinity of Caracas.

The original document was signed on April 23, 1863 and consisted of nine articles. However, the negotiators of both sides disagreed on some aspects, which forced the development of a second version of the treaty. The final one only had seven articles and was signed on May 22.

One of the keys that led to the development of this second version was the article that appeared in the April 23 document that forced the federal government to recognize the President of the Republic.

The final agreement included the convocation of a National Assembly made up of 80 people. Each side had to elect 40 representatives. Furthermore, Paéz was forced to resign.

Characteristics of the war

- Many populations from the interior of the country joined this struggle, but the states that openly joined the war were: Barinas, Portuguesa, Cojedes, Apure, Miranda and Guárico.

- "Land and free men" was the slogan that predominated in the federal speech. Under this motto the struggle that demanded social reforms, the distribution of land, the division of power in Caracas and the strengthening of local authorities in each of the provinces was wrapped up.

- The federal war was characterized by the guerrillas that arose in the interior of the country, so it only had two important battles: that of Santa Inés and that of Coplé.

- During the Venezuelan federal war, different types of weapons were used, given the disparity in the profile of the combatants. However, one of the most used weapons in the conflict was the percussion rifle.

Consequences

The Federal War is considered the bloodiest conflict in the history of Venezuela as an independent country. Although the figures vary depending on the source, an estimated 200,000 people died.

Federal Constitution of 1864

Although, as noted, the battlefield did not leave a clear winner, the growing strength of the Federal Army allowed its leaders to establish most of the peace conditions.

In 1864 a new constitution was promulgated, which established the federation in the country. This was divided into states, governed by their respective presidents. The country was renamed the United States of Venezuela.

Most of the early state presidents were former regional warlords. The liberal victory did not transform the country's economic system much, since those caudillos also monopolized most of the land.

Social changes

The result of the conflict meant the end of the conservative oligarchy. His strong man, Páez, did not return to power.

On the other hand, the new liberal government eliminated the titles of nobility, which dated back to the colonial period.

Likewise, the Liberals promulgated the so-called Decree of Guarantees that, among other aspects, abolished the death penalty.

Economic consequences

The years of war caused serious economic damage. Many villages were razed along with the cultivated fields. Livestock was affected by the large number of animals killed by the fires caused and by the flight of their keepers.

Venezuela had to resort to international loans, which considerably increased the external debt. With part of its resources destroyed and unable to export, the crisis was inevitable.

References

1. Escolares.net. The Federal War, Venezuela. Obtained from escolar.net
2. Venezuela Yours. The Federal War. Obtained from venezuelatuya.com
3. Polar Companies Foundation. Federal War. Obtained from bibliofep.fundacionempresaspolar.org
4. Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture. Federal War (Venezuela, 1859-1863). Retrieved from encyclopedia.com
5. John D. Martz; Jennifer L. McCoy; Heather D. Heckel; Edwin Lieuwen. Venezuela. Retrieved from britannica.com
6. Uzcátegui Pacheco, Ramón. Federal War and Public Instruction in the Memories of the Secretaries of the Venezuelan Government between 1859 - 1863. Recovered from researchgate.net
7. Ecured. Ezequiel Zamora. Obtained from ecured.cu