Thousand Days' War

TheThousand Days Warwas acivil warinColombiawhich was fought from October 17th 1899 to November 21st 1902. It was fought over whetherColombiashould havefederalismorcentralism.

History

In 1863,Colombiagot aConstitutiongiving the peoplefreedom of speech,freedom of religionand the right to ownguns.It also gave Colombia a system offederalismand theseparation of church and state.

In 1884,Rafael Núñezwas electedpresidentofColumbiaand wanted to get rid offederalismand get rid of theseparation of church and stateand get rid ofsecularismand used theslogan“onenation,onegoal,oneGod”.When Núñez retired, hisVice PresidentMiguel Antonio Carotook over as president.

Caro usedgovernmentcensorshipto stop criticism by banningnewspaperswhich criticized him and had majorpoliticianswho opposed himarrested.Then theColombian Liberal Partyrebelled against him and he crushed three differentrebellions.In 1894, the rebels attacked Caro’sgovernmentbut in 1895 theysurrendered.

Breakout

In 1896, Caro quit being president after members of theLiberal Partyasked that he liftmartial lawand in the nextelectionin 1898,Manuel Antonio Saclementewon while 84 years old. Then in 1899, theLiberalsattackedSantandertoprotestSaclemente’s policies and started acivil war.

Battles

Between the 11th and 13th of November, 1899, theBattleofBucaramangakilled1000 people andinjured500. Soon thewarspread to all ofColombia.In 1901, PresidentCipriano CastroofVenezuelasent hisarmytoColombiato help the Liberals. In 1902,GeneralUribe Uribe decided he couldn’t win and agreed to surrender.

Treaties

The American PresidentTheodore Rooseveltsent hisnavyto protect thePanama Canalso after the twofactionssigned atreatyinPanama,they signed a second on an Americanshipwhich officially ended thewaron the 21st of November, 1902.

In Popular Culture

Gabriel Garcia Márquezwrote somenovelsabout thewar.TheDisneymovieEncantois about afamilyofrefugeesfrom the war.