Military of Ecuador - History

History

Ecuador's military history dates far back to its first attempt to secure freedom from Spain in 1811. In 1822 Ecuadorian troops, alongside other rebel forces, scored a decisive victory over the Spanish royalist army at the Battle of Pichincha. Although assisted by Peruvian troops, it would fight these only a few years later in 1828, as a member of the Confederation of Gran Colombia. Confederation forces, fewer than half of which were Ecuadorians, defeated a much larger Peruvian force near Cuenca, at the Battle of Tarqui. Eventually, Civil War would plunge the country and the army into disorder. In 1941 the Ecuadorian Military found itself weak and disorganized; the by now long-lasting territorial dispute with Peru escalated into a major conflict, the Ecuadorian–Peruvian War of 1941. A much larger and better equipped Peruvian force quickly overwhelmed the Ecuadorian forces, driving them back and invading the Ecuadorian territory. Ecuador had no choice but to accept Peru's territorial claims and signed Peace treaty in 1942. However, the treaty of 1942 failed to settle the border dispute and occasional clashes occurred in a then still non-demarcated border area between the nations. These clashes flared into another outbreak of serious fighting in January 1981 called the Paquisha War; similar incidents occurred in 1983 and again in 1984. The last military conflict with Peru occurred in 1995, during the Cenepa War, in which both sides claimed to be fighting inside their own territory until the signing of a ceasefire and the eventual separation of forces. The longest-running source of armed international conflict in the Western Hemisphere had ended.