Historia general de América Latina. vol. 5. La crisis estructural de las sociedades implantadas

The ambitious project to publish nine large volumes of the Historia general de América Latina suffered chronic difficulties in funding that delayed publication significantly. For this reason, many recently published works were not incorporated into the series, which has finally become available in the past few years. A team of 20 historians contributed to volume 5, which covers an enormously complex period from around 1750 through the 1830s (John Lombardi’s chapter includes material reaching up to 1850). There are inconsistencies, but many chapters offer very good historical analysis, and some are outstanding.Adopting a traditional but thorough approach, John Lynch introduces the complex elements of the growing crisis within the Spanish American territories during the Bourbon era. Manuel Chust Calero (whose essay readers will be surprised to find incorrectly attributed to “Miguel Chust Calero,” an error especially puzzling in light of the fact that the author does not have a brother or other family member who works in the same field) analyzes the crisis in Spain — the resistance of the absolutist Bourbon monarchy to change, the Napoleonic invasion, the popular uprisings and emergence of the regional juntas, and the rise and collapse of the Junta Central. In January 1809, this interim regime proclaimed that the American provinces were part of the monarquía española and must be granted representation. The process of junta formation spread to the Americas, including Buenos Aires, Upper Peru and Quito, and Caracas, as well as an abortive attempt in Mexico City that produced a golpe de estado. At Cádiz, the Cortes drafted the Constitution of 1812, which granted the American provinces equality of representation. In 1812, with half of Spain still occupied by French armies, the Cádiz regime dispatched the first Spanish expeditionary forces from the peninsula to combat insurgency in the Americas. Finally, in 1814 King Fernando VII restored absolutism and dashed the hopes of many Spanish Americans for some form of autonomy rather than outright independence. Owing in part to Spain’s own weaknesses, the use of military expeditions to support American royalists and to crush the independence movements failed. On the Portuguese and Brazilian side, Frédéric Mauro presents a broad survey of Brazilian advances toward the attainment of independence that left the mother country nearly prostrate.The seven chapters that form a central core of the volume each begin with the title “Casos de continuidad y ruptura.” Although one might expect to find thematic chapters analyzing the military, political, and social struggles of the independence epoch, the emphasis varies depending upon different approaches. Frank Moya Pons illustrates the horrors of the Haitian Revolution, intervention, and chronic warfare that devastated the population and the economy. Elías Pino Iturrieta underscores the centrifugal forces that eventually sundered Gran Colombia. Noemí Goldman presents a well-argued overview of independence in the viceroyalty of Río de la Plata and the captaincy general of Chile. Timothy Anna once again undertakes the incredibly difficult task of unraveling the complexities of the independence period in New Spain and Central America. He presents a provocative argument that the Mexican wars of independence were civil wars fought by Mexicans, a thesis that should produce further debate. Crisóbal de Losada stresses the negative impact of the centralizing Bourbon reforms on Peru and Charcas, with the result of turning the independence decade into a civil war between irreconcilable factions. In his analysis of the lengthy military struggle, Losada explains the difficulties faced first by José de San Martín, who attempted to establish a monarchy, and then by Simón Bolívar, whom Peruvians viewed as a foreign despot. Cecília María Westphalen examines Brazil, while Germán Carrera Damas concludes this section with an essay centered on Bolívar, who despite his political vision ran up against tenacious adversaries who did not share his ideas.Chapters 12 – 20 examine diverse themes, beginning with an ambitious and well-crafted study by Pedro Pérez Herrero titled “Conflictos ideológicos y lucha por el Poder.” He begins by examining the economic and political background surrounding the eighteenth-century Bourbon reforms and concludes that the reformers took advantage of previous growth and in the end provoked tensions and uprisings against mal gobierno. Nelson Manrique analyzes indigenous struggles in Peru, beginning with the Túpac Amaru uprising and continuing through independence. Josefina Zoraida Vázquez examines the difficult international relations of the new states, while Waldo Ansaldi surveys the emergence of new political thought in the Latin American nations. In one of his last essays, the late François-Xavier Guerra presents a masterful analysis of the mentalities and passions of both sides in the conflict — examining grand themes in the great struggles between those who sought to defend the existing order and those who strove to implement a new and better political system.Although it is not possible to mention every essay, some major themes are well covered, while others receive less attention. There is limited treatment of the major theaters of warfare or discussion about the nature of conflicts that produced often-brutal iterations of insurgency, counterinsurgency, and guerrilla warfare. The complexity of the royalist side and of Spain’s remarkable efforts to dispatch expeditionary forces to the Americas during and after its own national crisis deserves greater attention. Although Brazil is present in the volume, as is so often the case the parallels, connections, and similarities with Spanish America are not sufficiently pursued.Nevertheless, the editors are to be congratulated for assembling a fine team of international specialists and for publishing a volume that will influence the forthcoming bicentennial celebrations of the independence epoch.

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