- The 5 main consequences of the Chaco War
- 1- New political parties of socialist ideology
- 2- Movement of the rights of the Indians
- 3- Formation of miners' unions
- 4- Restructuring the army
- 5- Discovery of large natural gas reserves
- References
The main consequences of the Chaco War include the emergence of socialist political parties, the formation of mining unions and the restructuring of the army.
The Chaco War was a warlike conflict produced between the republics of Bolivia and Paraguay between 1932 and 1935. The cause of the conflict was the control of the Boreal Chaco, the northernmost area of the Gran Chaco. For Bolivia it was a strategic area, since it allowed it to go out to the Atlantic Ocean through the Paraguay River. In addition, another cause was the alleged existence of oil.
After several years of conflict in which both countries suffered many losses, it was decided to sign a truce and finally peace, in 1938 in Buenos Aires.
Although the region did not appear to be of great economic importance, large deposits of natural gas were later found. Therefore, Bolivia, which was the one that gained control of the Chaco, achieved great long-term benefits.
The Chaco War ended the lives of more than 65,000 people on the Bolivian side of the conflict alone; Considering that it is a country that had less than 3 million inhabitants, the economic and social consequences were devastating.
For both parties to the conflict, the impact of this war was seen in a large number of areas. Following the war, the leaders of both countries considered the need to change course in their policies to achieve a better future for their citizens.
The 5 main consequences of the Chaco War
1- New political parties of socialist ideology
In Bolivia, soldiers had seen the effects of their rulers' policies and had suffered a great deal of loss.
For this reason and because of the defeat of their armies in the conflict, they were attracted to ideas of a more socialist nature.
The soldiers realized that their country was not as rich and powerful as they had been led to believe until then, and they decided to found new political parties to change the course of their country.
The most important were the POR, based on Trotsky's ideology; the PIR, of Marxist orientation; and the MNR, of a nationalist nature.
2- Movement of the rights of the Indians
After the Chaco War, the indigenous Indians of Bolivia founded an agrarian association in Cliza.
The main reason was that, despite feeling part of the country after the enormous losses suffered, they were treated as second-class citizens and relegated to manual labor roles, with practically no rights.
Frightened by the agrarian movement of Cliza, the landowners decided to evict the natives from their plantations and thus prevented any kind of advance in this regard.
However, this movement planted the seed and achieved legal and labor reforms in later decades.
3- Formation of miners' unions
One of the main ideas of the socialist movements that had spread through the population was the need to nationalize the mines. As a first step to achieve this, several workers' unions were formed.
The most important were the Ministry of Labor and the Confederación Sindical de Trabajadores de Bolivia.
4- Restructuring the army
After the disaster of the Chaco War in Bolivia, the high command of the military decided that nothing similar could happen again and deposed President Salamanca.
After the signing of the peace treaty, one of the main concerns of the country was to get a strong army again.
For this they had the help of several foreign countries, such as Italy, Spain, Czechoslovakia and the United States.
5- Discovery of large natural gas reserves
Despite the fact that the oil that was believed to exist in the Chaco area was never found, Bolivia did find large deposits of natural gas in the territory it conserved.
These deposits are today the second most important in all of Latin America, after those in Venezuela.
References
- "Chaco War" in: Wikipedia. Retrieved on: December 15, 2017 from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org
- "The Legacy of the Chaco War" in: Country Data. Retrieved on: December 15, 2017 from Country Data: country-data.com
- "Bolivian History 101: Chaco War and its consequences" in: Bolivian Thoughts. Retrieved on: December 15, 2017 from Bolivian Thoughts: bolivianthoughts.com
- "Chaco War" in: Britannica. Retrieved on: December 15, 2017 from Britannica: britannica.com
- "Bolivia - The Chaco War" in: Country Studies. Retrieved on: December 15, 2017 from Country Studies: countrystudies.us