The military history of South America can be divided into two major periods – pre- and post-Columbian – divided by the entrance of European forces to the region. The sudden introduction of steel, gunpowder weapons and horses into the Americas would revolutionize warfare. Within the post-Columbian period, the events of the early 19th century, when almost all of South America was marked by wars of independence, also forms a natural historical juncture. Throughout its history, South America has had distinct military features: it has been geographically separated from many major military powers by large oceans; its unique terrain has imposed major logistical challenges, and privileged naval lines of communications.
Since the 1940s, the region has avoided wars between its states; see South American Long Peace.
Early military history Early South American military history is distinctively different from that in Asia or Europe.Diamond, pp358-9. Metallurgy influenced warfare in the Americas less than in other parts of the world; in South America the use of stone, wood and bone, backed by limited use of copper, dominated weaponry up until the European invasions. The extinction of horses early on in the human habitation of the Americas meant that early South Americans had no cavalry – five thousand years of using horses in warfare had no parallel on the continent. In naval warfare, early South Americans did not build ships on a size comparable with those on other continents. Politically, state formation also came relatively late to South America,Diamond p.363. affecting the ability of South America to generate large armies early on in its history.
Caribbean coast, Amazonia and the south
The northern edge of the continent saw army events dominated by a struggle between two ethnic groups. The first, the Arawak, lived along the eastern coast of South America, as far south as what is now Brazil, and up into Guyana. When first encountered by Christopher Columbus, the Arawak were described as a peaceful people, although the Arawak had already dominated other local groups such as the Ciboney. The Arawak had, however, come under increasing army pressure from the Caribs, who are believed to have left the Orinoco River area in South America to settle in the Caribbean. Over the century leading up to Columbus' arrival in the Caribbean archipelago in 1492, the Caribs are believed to have displaced many of the Arawaks who previously settled the island chains, and making inroads into what would now be modern Guyana. The Caribs were skilled boatbuilders and sailors, and owed their dominance in the Caribbean basin to their military skills. Cannibalism formed a key part of the Caribs' war rituals: the limbs of victims may have been taken home as trophies.This is disputed by modern Caribs.
The territory of current-day Brazil had as many as 2,000 tribes prior to European discovery, mostly semi-nomadic peoples who subsisted on hunting, fishing, gathering, and migrant agriculture. One such tribe were the Tupi, who had expanded to inhabit almost all of Brazil's coast, reaching an estimated population of 1 million people by 1500 AD. The Tupi often fought against the other tribes of the region and among themselves, aiming to capture their enemies to later kill them – as amongst the Caribs, cannibalism was a key part of the Tupi rituals after a war.Darcy Ribeiro – O Povo Brasileiro, Vol. 07, 1997 (1997), pp.28–33; 72–5 and 95–101. Further south, across the regions of modern-day Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay, early South American warfare appears to have been sporadic and decentralised – although the historical sources prior to contact with European invaders is limited. The Minuane were one of the indigenous tribes of Uruguay, related to the other tribes in the area like Charrúa and Guenoa, living across the area today known as Uruguay, northeastern Argentina and southern Brazil. They were a nomadic people that sustained themselves through fishing and foraging. Another Paraguayan tribe, the Guaraní people, also had a nomadic, decentralized society; they tended to form tribal groups by dialect, and like the Minuane, were not known as a war-like people – although the Charrúa people are believed to have killed Spanish explorer Juan Díaz de Solís during his 1515 voyage up the Río de la Plata
Pacific Rim
By contrast, the mountainous Pacific Rim of South America saw the evolution of a sequence of empires deploying well organised military forces. Early cultures in the central Andes seem to have been less centralised and far less militaristic. The Chavín culture, for example, which dominated the Moche Valley region in modern-day Peru from 900 BC to 300 BC, has left no archaeological trace of warfare. The Moche, however, formed a complex state along the northern coast of Peru from 100 BC – 700 AD, which included warfare. The mummified remains of a Moche woman found in 2005 were accompanied by various military and ornamental artifacts, including war clubs and spear throwers, hinting at the military technology of the Moche."Mummy of Tattooed Woman Discovered in Peru Pyramid", Norris S, National Geographic News, 16 May 2006, accessed 16 May 2006 Towards the end of the Moche, later settlements have fortifications and defensive works, but there is no evidence of a foreign invasion, for example by the Wari empire, as many scholars have suggested in the past. There is however some evidence of social unrest, possibly the result of climatic changes as factions fought for control over scarce resources.Lost society tore itself apart, Davidson N, BBC Website, BBC Horizon, 2 March 2005, accessed 4 March 2005
As the Moche declined, the Wari civilisation was growing in power, lasting from 600 – 1200 AD. The capital city of Wari was located north-east of the modern city of Ayacucho, Peru. From there, the Wari expanded to control much of the highlands and coast of modern Peru. Early on, their territory expanded to include the ancient oracle center of Pachacamac, though it seems to have remained largely autonomous. Later it expanded to include much of the territory of the earlier Moche and later Chimu cultures.Collier, 1992.
The Chimú themselves had originated in the coastal areas once dominated by the Moche, centering on the Moche Valley, south of modern-day Lima. By 900 AD, a sequence of Chimú rulers had conquered the surrounding valleys,Rowe, John H. 1948. The kingdom of Chimor. Aus Acta Americana 6, (1–2): 27. with the final Chimú Kingdom being founded somewhere in the first half of the 14th century AD, followed by a great military expansion across the region.Bennett, Wendell C. 1937. Chimu archeology. The Scientific Monthly 45, (1) (Jul.): 35–48.Mosely, Michael E. p.548 in Rostworowski and Mosely (eds). At their peak, the Chimú advanced to the limits of the desert coast, to the Jequetepeque valley in the north, and Carabayllo in the south. Their expansion southward was stopped by the military power of the great valley of Lima, and the kingdom would survive up until the time of the Inca invasions.
Meanwhile, to the south, Tiwanaku had emerged as a well-organised, centralised military power for much of 400 AD – 1000 AD, taking forward military evolution in the Andean region. Tiwanaku, west of La Paz flourished as the capital for approximately five hundred years. Around 400 AD, Tiwanaku expanded militarily, moving into the Yungas and bringing its culture to many other cultures in modern-day Peru, Bolivia, and Chile. Tiwanaku grew by combining military expansion with colonies, trade agreements and the establishment of religious cult.McAndrews, pp.67–83. Tiwanaku's power continued to grow until about 950 AD when a dramatic shift in climate occurred. As the rains reduced, many of the furthest cities began to produce fewer crops to give to the elites. As the surplus of food dropped, the elite's power began to fail – by 1000 AD, Tiwanaku had disappeared. The land was not inhabited again for many years,Kolata, 1993. but the Tiwanaku approach to empire and military expansion was to be critical as a precursor of the Inca empire.
Further north along the Andes, into modern-day Ecuador, later cultures included the Quitus, who formed the city of Quito in the first millennium. The Quitu were ultimately conquered by the Caras tribe, who founded the Kingdom of Quito about 980 AD.Juan de Velasco's 1767 book Historia del Reino de Quito. Under their kings, the shyris, the Caras formed a powerful military state that would survive and dominate the Ecuadorian highlands up until the Inca period.
Inca conquests
The Inca Empire was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America.D'Altroy, pp.2–3. The Inca Empire arose from the highlands of Peru sometime in the early 13th century; from 1438 to 1533, the Incas used a variety of methods, from conquest to peaceful assimilation, to incorporate a large portion of western South America, centered on the Andean mountain ranges, including large parts of modern Ecuador, Peru, western and south central Bolivia, northwest Argentina, north and north-central Chile, and southern Colombia. The Inca approach to warfare was well organised and disciplined, building on the Andean military societies before it. It represented a major step forward in military organisation in South America.
Rise of the Inca
The Incan empire expanded into what later became Ecuador during the reign of Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, who began the northward conquest in 1463. He gave his son Topa control of the army, and Topa conquered the kingdom of the Quitu and continued coastward. Topa may have undertaken a sea voyage across the Pacific Ocean. Upon his alleged return from this voyage, he was unable to subdue the people of Puná Island and the Guayas coast. His son Huayna Capac, however, was able to subsequently conquer these peoples, including the Cañaris who put up resistance for many years, consolidating Ecuador into the Inca Empire. In the south, the Mapuche successfully resisted many attempts by the Inca Empire to subjugate them, despite their lack of state organization. They fought against Sapa Inca and Tupac Yupanqui and their respective armies. The result of the bloody three-day confrontation known as the Battle of the Maule was that the Incan conquest of the territories of Chile ended at the Maule River. They fell back to the north behind the Rapel and Cachapoal Rivers where they established a fortified border guarded by fortresses like Pucará de La Compañía and the Pucará del Cerro La Muralla.
The Incas developed an integrated form of warfare; spies would be sent into regions prior to an invasion; attempts would be made to bribe local leaders and to marry local elites into the Inca families. Where conquest by force had occurred, the Incan empire would uproot groups of Quechua-speakers from the Inca heartlands, called mitimaes, who were loyal to the empire and resettle them in the disputed regions.
Inca warfare