19th Century
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1808 | Francisco Antonio García Carrasco, unpopular Governor of Chile. Spanish king Ferdinand VII is imprisoned by Napoleon during his invasion of Spain. | |
| 1810 | Imitating the juntista movement of the rest of Latin America, the criollos (people of Spanish ancestry, but not born in Spain) of Santiago de Chile proclaim a governing Junta. | |
| 1811 | Tired of being circumvented by political intrigues, José Miguel Carrera takes power by military means and initiates a dictatorship. | |
| 1812 | Hostilities begin between the moderados, led by Bernardo O'Higgins, and the exaltados, led by Carrera. Carrera institutes the first Chilean national symbols (flag, coat of arms, and national anthem), and Fray Camilo Henríquez begins to publish the Aurora de Chile, the first Chilean newspaper. The Chilean Constitution of 1812 comes into effect. Founding of the Logia Lautaro. | |
| 1813 | The Spanish send military expeditions (under Antonio Pareja and Gabino Gaínza) from the Viceroyalty of Peru. In the ensuing battles O'Higgins rises to be seen as a figure of great stature, overshadowing the continually less popular Carrera, who ultimately resigns. Francisco de la Lastra becomes Supreme Director. | |
| 1814 | The "Disaster of Rancagua". Mariano Osorio, in command of a third Spanish expedition, defeats O'Higgins (October 1 – 2). Osorio reconquers Santiago for Spain. Exodus of Chilean patriots to Mendoza, Argentina, where they receive the support of José de San Martín. Those patriots who remain in Chile are captured by the Spaniards are deported to the Juan Fernández Islands. Osorio is confirmed Governor of Chile by the Viceroy Fernando de Abascal of Peru. The talaveras, under the command of San Bruno, install a regime of terror extending to those merely suspected of sympathy for the Chilean cause. | |
| 1815 | Guerrilla resistance against the Spanish begins, led by Manuel Rodríguez Erdoiza, and other spies such as Justo Estay. Increasing enmity between Osorio and Abascal leads Abascal to replace Osorio with Casimiro Marcó del Pont. | |
| 1817 | Battle of Chacabuco. O'Higgins defeats Rafael Maroto, reconquering Santiago. Captain San Bruno, hated chief of the talaveras, is captured and — less than 24 hours later — executed by firing squad. O'Higgins becomes dictator. | |
| 1818 | O'Higgins signs the Chilean Declaration of Independence (February 12). Shortly afterwards, in the Battle of Maipú, a new military expedition led by Mariano Osorio is defeated, and Chile definitively obtains independence (April 5). The rivalry between O'Higgins and Manuel Rodríguez ends with the ambush and assassination of the latter in Tiltil. The brothers Juan José and Luis Carrera are shot in Argentina. | |
| 1820 | Valdivia is captured by Lord Cochrane who commands the Chilean navyFreedom Expedition of Perú was organized in 1820 by the government of Chile | |
| 1821 | José Miguel Carrera arrested as a montonero (mounted rebel/bandit) in Argentina, and executed in Mendoza. | |
| 1822 | The Chilean Constitution of 1822 comes into effect. | |
| 1823 | Ramón Freire leads a military expedition from Concepción to Santiago and forces O'Higgins to resign. He goes into exile in Peru, where he dies in 1842. Freire assumes power. | |
| 1825 | Taking advantage of the unsurveyed border, and ignoring the royal decree of 1681 and the principal uti possidetis, Simón Bolívar grants the port of Cobija to Bolivia. This gives Bolivia an outlet to the sea between Chile and Peru, which it will retain until the War of the Pacific. | |
| 1826 | Freire incorporates Chiloé, the last area under Spanish control, into Chile. Later he resigns, initiating an interregnum known as The Anarchy. First attempt in Chile of federal (as against centralized) government, led by the first president of Chile Manuel Blanco Encalada, and the federalist José Miguel Infante. | |
| 1828 | Francisco Antonio Pinto assumes power after the resignation of Encalada and his predecessors. Chilean Constitution of 1828. | |
| 1829 | Chilean Civil War of 1829. After several battles, Joaquín Prieto defeats Ramón Freire in the Battle of Lircay. | |
| 1830 | Diego Portales begins to remodel Chilean institutionality, converting it into an authoritarian republic. | |
| 1831 | José Joaquín Prieto becomes president of Chile. He will serve two consecutive five-year terms. With him, the so-called decenios (decade-long reigns) begin, which continue until 1871. This 30-year Conservative Party hegemony is sometimes referred to as the Authoritarian Republic. | |
| 1832 | Discovery of mineral deposits in Chañarcillo, and the beginning of the rise of silver in what was then el Norte Chico and now constitutes the Atacama and Coquimbo regions of Chile. The mining fortunes constitute an important source of power in the following decades. | |
| 1833 | Chilean Constitution of 1833. "Portalian" — that is, inspired by Diego Portales — definitively fixed Chilean institutions. | |
| 1835 | On February 20, southern Chile was affected by the worst earthquake in the area in several decades, event witnessed by Charles Darwin. | |
| 1836 | Diego Portales declares the war on the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation. | |
| 1837 | Diego Portales is assassinated by mutinous soldiers in Quillota. A Chilean military expedition debarks in Perú, beginning the War of the Confederation. | |
| 1839 | Battle of Yungay and defeat of the Confederation. | |
| 1840 | The Vatican acknowledges the Independence of Chile | |
| 1841 | Manuel Bulnes, victorious marshal of the Battle of Yungay, elected president of Chile. | |
| 1843 | University of Chile founded. It will become on of the country's two most prestigious university. along with the Catholic University of Chile, which was founded years later. Fort Bulnes established, the first Chilean presence on the Strait of Magellan. | |
| 1844 | Spain recognizes the Independence of Chile | |
| 1848 | Founding of Punta Arenas in the Strait of Magellan | |
| 1851 | José María de la Cruz revolts in the southern provinces of Chile. Bulnes crushes the revolutionary attempt and signs the treaty of Purapel with the revolutionaries. Manuel Montt becomes the third of the decenal presidents. | |
| 1856 | The Dispute of Sacristán ("Cuestión del Sacristán"). An apparently trivial question of ecclesiastical discipline divides the Conservative Party into secular and ultra-Catholic factions, which lays the ground for their political defeat in the elections of 1861. | |
| 1857 | The Civil Code of Chile comes into effect; it will become a model for Latin American legal codes down to the present day. | |
| 1859 | Chilean Revolution of 1859. Pedro León Gallo, radical revolutionary of Copiapó, and others are defeated by the government forces. However, as a consequence, Antonio Varas renounces to his candidature. | |
| 1861 | José Joaquín Pérez of the Liberal Party elected president. His party will retain power until the Chilean Revolution of 1891. | |
| 1863 | A French adventurer proclaims himself Orélie Antoine I, King of Araucanía. After a short time he is arrested by the Chileans and deported. Pacification of Araucanía. | |
| 1866 | Chile, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia at war with Spain. The port of Valparaíso is bombed by the Spanish. A treaty of limits (borders) of 1866 is signed with Bolivia. | |
| 1871 | A constitutional reform prohibits re-election, resulting in the end of the decenios. Governments of five years duration persist until 1925, except for the premature death of Pedro Montt in 1910. | |
| 1874 | Another treaty of limits is signed with Bolivia due to political tensions. | |
| 1879 | Begin of the War of the Pacific. | |
| 1881 | Chilean troops occupy Lima, capital of Perú. Boundary treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina | |
| 1883 | Law of Civil Matrimony adopted. This secularization was fiercely resisted by the Roman Catholic Church. The Treaty of Ancón is signed with Perú to end the war. The "Pacification of Araucanía" is considered finished, and with that according to some historians also the War of Arauco. | |
| 1884 | War of the Pacific ends, allowing mining of saltpeter in the regions conquered from Peru and Bolivia, leading to great national prosperity for Chile. Treaty called "Pacto de Tregua". | |
| 1888 | Policarpo Toro leads a naval expedition to annex Easter Island. The Catholic University of Chile is privately founded. | |
| 1890 | The Malleco Viaduct is opened and railway traffic expands further south during the next decades. | |
| 1891 | 1891 Chilean Civil War. The constitutional president José Manuel Balmaceda is overthrown by troops favorable to the National Congress. The beginning of "Parliamentarism". | |
| 1895 | Easter Island is rented to Compañía Explotadora de Isla de Pascua. |
Read more about this topic: Timeline Of Chilean History