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Short History Of Bolivia and Culture
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Bolivia was initially inhabited by the ancient Aymará civilisation, who lived on Lake Titicaca. This civilisation was then conquered by the Incas, who were themselves conquered by the Spanish in 1538.
Throughout Bolivia’s colonial history, it was known as Upper Peru., until Simon Bolivar led the country to independence in 1825. In its early years, independent Bolivia was ruled by a succession of caudillos (military dictators) who tried, with mixed success, to unite the country's three disparate regions: the central region, the eastern Andes and the Altiplano. Wars with three neighbouring countries followed.
Independence did not bring stability. For nearly 60 years, coups and short-lived constitutions dominated Bolivian politics. Bolivia's weakness was demonstrated during the War of the Pacific (1879-83), when it lost its seacoast and the adjoining rich nitrate fields to Chile.
An increase in the world price of silver brought Bolivia a measure of relative prosperity and political stability in the late 1800s. During the early part of the 20th century, tin replaced silver as the country's most important source of wealth. A succession of governments controlled by the economic and social elites followed laissez-faire capitalist policies through the first third of the century.
Living conditions of the indigenous peoples, who constituted most of the population, remained deplorable. Forced to work under primitive conditions in the mines and in nearly feudal status on large estates, they were denied access to education, economic opportunity, or political participation.
Bolivia's defeat by Paraguay in the Chaco War (1932-35) marked a turning point. Great loss of life and territory discredited the traditional ruling classes, while service in the army produced stirrings of political awareness among the indigenous people. From the end of the Chaco War until the 1952 revolution, the emergence of contending ideologies and the demands of new groups convulsed Bolivian politics.
The Nationalist Revolutionary Movement (MNR) emerged as a broadly based party. Denied its victory in the 1951 presidential elections, the MNR lead the successful 1952 revolution. Under President Victor Paz Estenssoro, the MNR introduced universal adult suffrage, carried out a sweeping land reform, promoted rural education, and nationalized the country's largest tin mines. It also committed many serious violations of human rights.
The positive effect of the wars was that the rule of the caudillos was challenged by a rising mercantile class, whose prosperity was rooted in the mining industries.
In 1953, Chile declared the port of Arica 'free' and has allowed Bolivia certain privileges in its use. The issue was not fully settled until 1992, when Peru agreed to allow Bolivia free use of the port of Ilo for 100 years.
Bolivia entered an era of political stability. Much of the credit is due to President Victor Paz Estenssoro, who held the presidency between 1952-56, and 1960-64. He was elected again in August 1985, at the head of a loose coalition of both left- and right-wing parties.
By the time Paz Estenssoro ceded office to Jaime Paz Zamora in August 1989, rampant hyper-inflation had been dramatically cut. Paz Estenssoro had been the candidate for the Movimiento Nacional Revolucionario (MNR).
Both the ADN and the MNR, sometimes in coalition, have enjoyed control of the presidency and the national assembly. In June 2002, the MNR's Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada returned as president, his party dominating both houses of Congress.
Lozada resigned in 2003, and Carlos Mesa assumed presidency, but resigned in June 2005 when a surge of protests swept the country after Congress approved an increase in taxes on foreign gas companies.
Presidential elections took place in December 2005 against a backdrop of political turmoil and social unrest. Evo Morales, a leftist from Bolivia's native community, won a decisive victory and was inaugurated as president in January 2006.
