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 G. E. Church, “Bolivia by the Rio de la Plata Route,” ''Geogr. Jour.'' xix. pp. 64-73 (London, 1902); C. B. Cisneros and R. E. Garcia, Geografia Comercial de la America del Sur (Lima, 1898); Sir W. M. Conway, Climbing and Exploration in the Bolivian Andes (London, 1903); M. Dalence, Bosquejo estadistico de Bolivia (Chuquisaca, 1878); J. L. Moreno, Nociones de geografia de Bolivia (Sucré, 1889); Edward D. Mathews, Up the Amazon and Madeira Rivers, through Bolivia and Peru (London, 1879); Carlos Matzenauer, Bolivia in historischer, geographischer und cultureller Hinsicht (Vienna, 1897); M. F. Soldan, Narracion de Guerra de Chile contra Peru y Bolivia (La Paz, 1884); C. M. Pepper, Panama to Patagonia (Chicago, 1906); A. Petrocokino, Along the Andes, in Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador (London, 1903); Comte C. d’Ursel, Sud Amérique: Séjours et voyages au Brésil, en Bolivie, &c. (Paris, 1879); Charles Wiener, Pérou et Bolivie (Paris, 1880); Bolivia, Geographical Sketch, Natural Resources, &c., Intern. Bur. of the American Republics (Washington, 1904); Boletin de la Oficina Nacional de Inmigración, Estadistica y Propaganda Geográfica (La Paz); Sinopsis estadistica y geográfica de la Republica de Bolivia (3 vols., La Paz, 1902–1904); G. de Crequi-Montfort, “Exploration en Bolivie,” in La Géographie, ix. pp. 79-86 (Paris, 1904); M. Neveau-Lemaire, “Le Titicaca et le Poopo,” &c., in La Géographie, ix. pp. 409-430 (Paris, 1904); British Foreign Office Diplomatic and Consular Reports (London); United States Consular Reports; Stanford’s Compendium of Geography and Travel, vol. i., South and Central America (London, 1904). For Geology see A. d’Orbigny, Voyage dans l’Amérique méridionale, vol. iii. pt. iii. (Paris, 1842); D. Forbes, “On the Geology of Bolivia and Peru,” ''Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc.'' vol. xvii. (London, 1861), pp. 7-62, pls. i.-iii.; A. Ulrich, “Palaeozoische Versteinerungen aus Bolivien,” ''Neues Jahrb. f. Min.'' Band viii. (1893), pp. 5-116, pls. i.-v.; G. Steinmann, &c., “Geologie des südostlichen Boliviens,” ''Centralb. f. Min., Jahrg.'' (1904), pp. 1-4.

The country now forming the republic of Bolivia, named after the great liberator (q.v.), was in early days simply a portion of the empire of the Incas of  (q.v.). After the conquest of Peru by the Spaniards in the 16th century the natives were subjected to much tyranny and oppression, though it must in fairness be said that much of it was carried out in defiance of the efforts and the wishes of the Spanish home government, whose legislative efforts to protect the Indians from serfdom and ill-usage met with scant respect at the hands of the distant settlers and mine-owners, who bid defiance to the humane and protective regulations of the council of the Indies, and treated the unhappy natives little better than beasts of burden. The statement, moreover, that some eight millions of Indians perished through forced labour in the mines is a gross exaggeration. The annual diminution in the number of the Indian population was undoubtedly very great, but it was due far more to the result of European epidemics and to indulgence in alcohol than to hard work. The abortive insurrection of 1780–82, led by the Inca Tupac Amarú, was never a general rising, and was directed rather against Creole tyranny than against Spanish rule. The heavy losses sustained by the Indians during that outbreak, and their dislike and distrust of the colonial Spaniard, account for the comparative indifference with which they viewed the rise and progress of the 1814 colonial revolt against Spain, which gave the South American states their independence.

We are only concerned here with the War of Independence so far as it affected Upper Peru, the Bolivia of later days. When the patriots of Buenos Aires had succeeded in liberating from the dominion of Spain the interior provinces of the Rio de la Plata, they turned their arms against their enemies who held Upper Peru. An almost uninterrupted warfare followed, from July 1809 till August 1825, with alternate successes on the side of the Spanish or royalist and the South American or patriot forces,—the scene of action lying chiefly between the Argentine provinces of Salta and Jujuy and the shores of Lake Titicaca. The first movement of the war was the successful invasion of Upper Peru by the army of Buenos Aires, under General Balcarce, which, after twice defeating the Spanish troops, was able to celebrate the first anniversary of independence near Lake Titicaca, in May 1811. Soon, however, the patriot army, owing to the dissolute conduct and negligence of its leaders, became disorganized, and was attacked and defeated, in June 1811, by the Spanish army under Gey fol Goyeneche, and driven back into Jujuy. Four years of warfare, in which victory was alternately with the Spaniards and the patriots, was terminated in 1815 by the total rout of the latter in a battle which took place between Potosi and Oruro. To this succeeded a revolt of the Indians of the southern provinces of Peru, and the object being the independence of the whole country, it was joined by numerous Creoles. This insurrection was, however, speedily put down by the royalists. In 1816 the Spanish general Laserna, having been appointed commander-in-chief of Upper Peru, made an attempt to invade the Argentine provinces, intending to march on Buenos Aires, but he was completely foiled in this by the activity of the irregular gaucho troops of Salta and Jujuy, and was forced to retire. During this time and in the six succeeding years a guerrilla warfare was maintained by the patriots of Upper Peru, who had taken refuge in the mountains, chiefly of the province of Yungas, and who frequently harassed the royalist troops. In June 1823 the expedition of General Santa Cruz, prepared with great zeal and activity at Lima, marched in two divisions upon Upper Peru, and in the following months of July and August the whole country between La Paz and Oruro was occupied by his forces; but later, the indecision and want of judgment displayed by Santa Cruz allowed a retreat to be made before a smaller royalist army, and a severe storm converted their retreat into a precipitate flight, only a remnant of the expedition again reaching Lima. In 1824, after the great battle of Ayacucho in Lower Peru, General Sucre, whose valour had contributed so much to the patriot success of that day, marched with a part of the victorious army into Upper Peru. On the news of the victory a universal rising of the patriots took place, and before Sucre had reached Oruro and Puno, in February 1825, La Paz was already in their possession, and the royalist garrisons of several towns had gone over to their side. The Spanish general Olañeta, with a diminished army of 2000 men, was confined to the province of Potosi, where he held out till March 1825, when he was mortally wounded in an action with some of his own revolted troops.

General Sucre was now invested with the supreme command in Upper Peru, until the requisite measures could be taken to establish in that country a regular and constitutional government. Deputies from the various provinces to the number of fifty-four were assembled at Chuquisaca, the capital, to decide upon the question proposed to them on the part of the government of the Argentine provinces, whether they would or would not remain separate from that country. In August 1825 they decided this question, declaring it to be the national will that Upper Peru should in future constitute a distinct and independent nation. This assembly continued their session, although the primary object of their meeting had thus been accomplished, and afterwards gave the name of Bolivia to the country,—issuing at the same time a formal declaration of independence.

The first general assembly of deputies of Bolivia dissolved itself on the 6th of October 1825, and a new congress was summoned and formally installed at Chuquisaca on the 25th of May 1826, to take into consideration the constitution prepared by Bolivar for the new republic. A favourable report was made to that body by a committee appointed to examine it, on which it was approved by the congress, and declared to be the constitution of the republic; and as such, it was sworn to by the people. General Sucre was chosen president for life, according to the constitution, but only accepted the appointment for the space of two years, and on the express condition that 2000 Colombian troops should be permitted to remain with him.

The independence of the country, so dearly bought, did not, however, secure for it a peaceful future. Repeated risings occurred, till in the end of 1827 General Sucre and his Colombian troops were driven from La Paz. A new congress was formed at Chuquisaca in April 1828, which modified the constitution given by Bolivar, and chose Marshal Santa Cruz for president; but only a year later a revolution, led by General Blanco, threw the country into disorder and for a time overturned the government. Quiet being again restored in 1831, Santa Cruz promulgated the code of laws which bore his name, and brought the