Venezuelan Civil Wars
The Venezuelan Civil Wars, particularly the Federal War from 1858 to 1863, were driven by the conflict between the Conservative and Liberal parties that emerged in the 1840s. The Conservative Party, representing landowners and merchants, and the Liberal Party, a coalition of the urban middle class and local caudillos, initially united to overthrow the military regime of José Tadeo Monagas. However, ideological differences led to a violent split, with the Liberals, known as Federalists, rising against a new oppressive Conservative government. Key figures included Ezequiel Zamora, who advocated for social reform and peasant rights, and Juan Crisóstomo Falcón, who focused on maintaining local power structures. Despite the guerrilla tactics of Zamora, who died in battle, the conflict resulted in significant casualties, estimated at 15,000 to 20,000. The war concluded with a treaty in 1863, leading to Falcón’s presidency, which struggled with the aftermath of economic ruin and political chaos. Ultimately, the Liberal forces prevailed, but the conflict left a profound impact on Venezuela's social and political landscape.
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Venezuelan Civil Wars
At issue: Political ambition of local caudillos; peasant discontent with concentration of landownership
Date: 1858–1870
Location: Venezuela
Combatants: Liberal “federalists” and peasant movements vs. Conservative “centralists,” major landowners and merchants
Principal commanders:Liberal, Ezequiel Zamora (1817–1860), Antonio Guzmán Blanco (1829–1899), Juan Crisóstomo Falcón (1820–1870); Conservative, Julián Castro (1815–1875), Manuel Felipe de Tovar
Principal battle: San Carlos
Result: Victory of federal forces, but central authority was restored with the accession of Blanco to power in 1870
Background
In the 1840’s, the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party were formed in Venezuela. The Conservative Party represented the interests of the great landowners and of the import-export merchants and their foreign associates. The Liberal Party was a loose coalition of the urban middle class, debt-ridden planters, artisans, intellectuals, and disaffected local caudillos. Despite their differences, these two parties joined forces in March, 1858, in a revolution that overthrew the hated military regime of José Tadeo Monagas. The coalition soon broke apart, however, when a faction of extreme Conservatives seized power and installed a government even more repressive than the Monagas regime, imprisoning or deporting many Liberals, who responded with an uprising that began the Federal War (1858–1863).
Action
The Federalists, as the Liberals came to be known, had two leaders, Ezequiel Zamora and Juan Crisóstomo Falcón. These two leaders represented two different views on federalism. Whereas for Falcón, “federalism” simply meant the continued supremacy of the local caudillo, for Zamora, it meant being for real social reform, against the concentration of landownership, and against the monopolization of political power by major merchants and planters. The Conservatives, on the other hand, were known as Centralists in that they represented the central government located in Caracas, the capital city. Yet, in many ways, the struggle between the Federalists and Centralists—except for the peasant war led by Zamora—centered on which local caudillo would occupy the position of supreme caudillo at Caracas.
Zamora was a true guerrilla leader with exceptional military ability. After suffering a short exile under the extreme Conservatives, he returned to Venezuela in February, 1859, to lead guerrilla forces of peasants and artisans that had risen in spontaneous revolt against the Conservatives. As this peasant front defeated one hacienda owner after another, it occupied and expropriated large estates, created federal states, and called for the election of local governments by the citizenry. Zamora’s promising democratic reforms were cut short by his death by a sniper’s bullet in 1860, at the Battle of San Carlos. Some Liberals who viewed Zamora as too radical welcomed his death. It is estimated that, between 1858 and 1860, 15,000-20,000 died in the struggle between guerrilla bands and the Conservative forces.
The Conservative army was headed by Julián Castro, who was later replaced by Manuel Felipe de Tovar. Neither victory, however, was decisive because the retreating armies were not destroyed. Although the Liberals were still favored in their war against the Conservatives, in 1863, Antonio Guzmán Blanco, who was Falcón’s secretary general and his ablest lieutenant in the war, met secretly with the Conservative Pedro José Rojas at a hacienda called Coche just outside of Caracas. There they drew a treaty to end the war.
Aftermath
Falcón became president in 1863, but he could not handle the economic ruin and political instability that followed and was overthrown in 1868. Monagas assumed the presidency again in 1868, but he died after a few months, and his son José Ruperto succeeded him. The Liberals soon revolted. In April, 1870, they took Caracas. The war continued in other places for two more years, but the Conservatives were finally beaten. In 1870, Blanco seized power and went on to create a relatively successful commercial-bureaucratic system, ensuring some stability against the fractious caudillos. The war had cost some 50,000 lives, many haciendas had been destroyed, and the cattle herds of the llanos had virtually disappeared.
Bibliography
Gilmore, Robert. Caudillism and Militarism in Venezuela, 1810–1910. Athens: Ohio University Press, 1964.
Lombardi, John. Venezuela: The Search for Order, the Dream of Progress. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982.
Rudolph, Donna Keyse. Historical Dictionary of Venezuela. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 1996.