Year: 1976
Type: article
Abstract: DUJRING the wars for Spanish American independence, the Viceroyalty of Peru was considered a bulwark of royalism because of the presence there of an army which had been greatly strengthened by Viceroy Jose Fernando de Abascal y Sousa during the period 1808-1816.1 Abascal's military measures have been viewed by some historians as the culmination of a program of military reform which began with Viceroy Manuel de Amat y Junient in 1761. Upon receipt of the news of Spain's entrance into the Seven Year's War in 1762 Amat had created a large militia in Peru, an action which allegedly enabled Peru to withstand the furious Indian revolts which had erupted during the period 17801783. Thereafter, the Army of Peru deferred the coming of independence long after its arrival elsewhere in South America.2 This paper constitutes an effort to re-examine the military reorganization which occurred in Peru after 1761 and to assess the army's performance during the revolt headed by Jose Gabriel Condorcanqui, or Tuipac Amaru II. While it is clear that Peru was never militarized prior to 1780, the causes for the failure of the reform are imperfectly
Author: Leon G. Campbell
Language: English
Subfield: Demography
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2315006980