The countries that San Martín liberated are Argentina, Chile and Peru, although it also had a decisive role in the independence of Bolivia because it was part of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, which later became Argentina. José de San Martín is considered one of the liberators of the American continent, along with the Venezuelan Simón Bolívar.
San Martín, born in Yapeyú, Corrientes, in present-day Argentina on February 25, 1778, was a general who, due to his military actions, ended up being the father of the homeland of the southern cone of South America.
San Martín, at the beginning of his military career, traveled to Spain and fought for the royal army. However, over the years he joined the Lautaro Lodge and on his return to the American continent, in 1812 when he was lieutenant colonel, he began to serve the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata.
In the Viceroyalty of Río de la Plata in 1810 and as a result of the military defeat of Fernando VII in Spain, a junta had been formed in Buenos Aires that made the United Provinces of Río de la Plata independent but continued to recognize Fernando VII as king. San Martín joined his troops and began to consolidate the independence of the region.
The proposals of San Martín on the vision of regional emancipation was that there could be no Spanish residue on the continent where the royalist forces could regroup.
For this reason, after completing the process in the south, he moved to Peru, where he forced an independence process that would last for many years and that would culminate Simón Bolívar and Antonio José de Sucre.
After the Guayaquil Interview he made with Bolívar, San Martín decides to withdraw from the struggle for American independence and goes to France, where he died on August 17, 1850 at the age of 72.
The countries that José San Martín liberated
Argentina
The native country of José de San Martín was one of those in which the general participated the most in order to build his independence.
Currently, in Argentina, General José de San Martín is considered the father of the country and receives all the honors inherent to the title of Liberator.
Combat of San Lorenzo
One of the first actions in favor of independence that San Martín did in Argentina was the overthrow of the First Triumvirate of Government in 1812, considering it little decided with the independence cause.
The first battles of the general took place in San Lorenzo, in the current province of Santa Fe, where the independentistas had a decisive victory that prompted them to continue towards the East.
José de San Martín, with the passage of time, would understand that the fight was at the regional level, so he moved to Upper Peru where he did not obtain the desired results.
For that reason he returned to Tucumán. Later he began to devise the Army of the Andes, which would take him to Chile.
Bolivia
Bolivia is one of the most recently independent countries on the American continent. At first, this region was called Alto Perú and belonged to the Viceroyalty of La Plata.
With the constitution of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, the provinces of Upper Peru requested their incorporation into the Viceroyalty of Peru to continue under Spanish rule, despite pre-independence movements that arose.
José de San Martín was one of the heads of the Army of the North, along with Manuel Belgrano. This army reached the cities of Cochabamba and other nearby cities and its objective was to reach Lima through this route; but the attempt succeeded.
Chile
Although Bernardo O'Higgins is considered the father of the Chilean homeland, the independence of this southern country would not have been possible without José de San Martín.
This army carried out one of the most important feats of the American independence feats, which was the Crossing of the Andes, which crossed the Andean mountain range that divides Argentina and Chile.
San Martín managed to unify the Chilean forces and finally the Battle of Chacabuco took place in 1816, which would end up granting sovereignty to the Army of the Andes.
It was proposed that San Martín take the position of dictator of Chile, but he rejected it so that it would not be thought that the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata exerted influence over Chile. O'Higgins was appointed with the approval of San Martín.
Peru
The work of expelling the Spaniards from the continent after the liberation of Chile had not been completed.
Peru had become the great realistic island in America, because Bolívar had made the independence of Venezuela, Nueva Granada and Quito in a state called Colombia.
For this reason, José de San Martín decided to go to Peru. He landed on the beach of Paracas in 1820.
Later he went to Pisco, where he would install his headquarters and design the first Peruvian flag and shield. Symbolically, he proclaimed the independence of Peru in Huarura and quickly obtained the accession of the north of the country.
In 1821 the viceroy left Lima and San Martín triumphantly entered the capital. Three years later the Act of Independence was signed.
San Martín became the Protector of Peru and summoned a constituent congress. However, the realistic threat continued, being outnumbered to end it.
Guayaquil interview
For this reason, on July 26, 1822, San Martín met with Bolívar in the famous Guayaquil Interview, where it is presumed that they discussed the annexation of the province of Guayaquil to the Republic of Colombia, promoted by Bolívar, a fact with which San Martín was against it.
In addition, it is also presumed that San Martín explained his reasons why he wanted a monarchy to be established with a European prince in Peru, while Bolívar defended the republic.
The meeting ended with the decision by San Martín to withdraw from the conflict, handing him over to Bolívar and leaving for Europe, where he would die many years later.
References
- Galasso, N. (2011). History of Argentina 1. Ediciones Colihue: Argentina.
- Great Espasa Encyclopedia (2005). San Martín, José de. Great Espasa Encyclopedia. Colombia: Espasa.
- Lynch, J. (1973). The Spanish American Revolutions 1808-1826. Norton.
- Moreno, J. (August 25, 2013). The summit that defined America. The Reporter of History. Recovered from reporterodelahistoria.com.
- Ramos, J. (2006). Revolution and counterrevolution in Argentina. Honorable Senate of the Nation: Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- Yépez, A. (2009). History of Venezuela 1. Caracas, Venezuela: Larense.
- Yépez, A. (2011). Universal history. Caracas, Venezuela: Larense.