Peru - national flag
The flag was officially adopted in 1825. The choice of the red and white
colors is believed to be inspired by an event in 1820 during the independence
struggle with Spain, where a flock of birds with white bows and red wings flew
over the freedom hero José de San Martín's camp. The state and war flag has the
state coat of arms in the middle of the white stripe.
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Peru - history
The oldest safe traces of people in Peru are from approximately 10,000 BC Resident
groups were found early in the coastal drought, but with the spread of
agriculture, from approximately 1800 BC increasingly the basis for permanent residence
in the highlands.
Prehistory
According to a2zgov, Franz Hogenberg's colored engraving from the middle of the 1500's. shows
Cuzco shortly after the Spanish conquest. Europeans' perception of the new world
as primitive had to be revised after the encounter with the great urban
civilizations, first the Aztec Empire and later the Inca Empire, whose capitals
are both included in Braun and Hogenberg's city atlas, Civitates orbis terrarum
(6 vols., 1572-1617, World Cities).
Both in the highlands and in the coastal area, a number of cultures with
urban communities and class and class division (see also other high
cultures) emerged with Chavín (from about 1200 BC) in the northern highlands as
the first. Later, Moche, Nazca, Tiahuanaco (now
Bolivia), Huari and Chimú.
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such as PER which represents the official name of Peru.
From the middle of the 1400's. based on the Cuzco Valley in the highlands,
the Incas conquered almost all of present-day Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador, as well
as parts of Colombia, Chile, and Argentina. The Inca Empire was thus less than a
hundred years old, when in 1532-33 a few hundred Spanish conquistadors, led
by Francisco Pizarro, succeeded in conquering the empire.

That such a numerically inferior Spanish force succeeded in capturing the
vast empire was partly due to the fact that it was politically divided after
several years of civil war, and that the first epidemic diseases of the old
world had begun to ravage.
Moreover, the capture in 1532 and the execution the following year by the
Inca ruler Atahualpa contributed to the paralyzing action of the highly
centralized Inca Empire.
The capital Cuzco was captured in 1533, and within a few years Spanish power
was secured and all major Native American resistance defeated, although the last
Inca resistance pocket in Vilcabamba in the jungle area NE of Cuzco was only
finally broken with the execution of the Inca Tupac Amaru. in 1572.
The colonial era
With the founding of Lima in 1535, Cuzco was replaced as the administrative
center of Peru, which became a Spanish viceroyalty in 1542. The country was
until approximately 1550 marked by fierce strife between the leading Spanish
conquistadors; most, including Francisco Pizarro, were murdered or killed in
combat.
This was followed by a longer crisis. An efficient administration had not yet
been established, and the colossal mortality among the Native American
population due to the epidemic diseases that the Spaniards had brought with them
resulted in a shortage of labor on the estates and in the mines.
Only under Viceroy Francisco de Toledo, 1569-81, was the colony
administration put into system. Native American forced labor was organized in
the mita system, which enabled a more efficient exploitation of the unusually
rich silver mines of Potosí in present-day Bolivia, and the viceroyalty, which
from approximately 1580 to into the 1700-t. formally included, the whole of South America
except the coast of Venezuela and Brazil, became vital to the Spanish colonial
empire.
Since the Viceroyalty's silver riches during the 1700's. was being depleted,
the Spanish colonial power gradually implemented a number of administrative
reforms, including in an attempt to improve the economy and ensure tighter
controls.
Two new vices were established, in 1739 New Granada, which included northern
South America, and in 1776 La Plata in the southeastern part of the
continent. Lima's position as the undisputed center of Spanish South America was
thus brought to an end, and the vastly reduced viceroyalty lost much of its
significance.
To the other problems came in 1780 the outbreak of a large Native American
uprising led by the mestizo José Gabriel Condorcanqui, also known as Tupac Amarú
2. In 1781, however, the uprising was crushed and the leader executed.
Presidents of committees |
1824-26 |
Simón Bolívar |
1829-33 |
Agustín Gamarra |
1839-41 |
Agustín Gamarra |
1845-51 |
Ramón Castilla |
1855-62 |
Ramón Castilla |
1872-76 |
Manuel Pardo |
1904-08 |
José Pardo |
1908-12 |
Augusto Leguía |
1915-19 |
José Pardo |
1919-30 |
Augusto Leguía |
1933-39 |
Óscar Raimundo Benavides |
1939-45 |
Manuel Prado |
1945-48 |
José Luis Bustamante |
1948-50 |
Manuel Odría |
1950-56 |
Manuel Odría |
1956-62 |
Manuel Prado |
1962-63 |
Ricardo Pérez Godoy |
1963-68 |
Fernando Belaunde Terry |
1968-75 |
Juan Velasco Alvarado |
1975-80 |
Francisco Morales Bermúdez |
1980-85 |
Fernando Belaunde Terry |
1985-90 |
Alan García Pérez |
1990-2000 |
Alberto Fujimori |
2000-01 |
Valentín Paniagua Corazao |
2001-06 |
Alejandro Toledo |
2006-11 |
Alan García Pérez |
2011- |
Ollanta Humala |
Independence
In the rest of South America, the ever-larger and more self-conscious Creole
elite had gradually come to form the dynamic and innovative element of the
colonies, while Peru, by virtue of its past as the center of colonial power,
remained dominated by a conservative Spanish upper class.
Therefore, as in the rest of the South American colonies, there were no
significant independence efforts before the Argentine José de San Martín took
Lima in 1820.
The primary purpose was to weaken the Spanish colonial power and thereby
ensure Argentina's continued independence.
Peru was declared independent in 1821, but the Spanish royal forces still
controlled most of the highlands until Simón Bolívar's forces in 1824 finally
defeated them.
However, Spain only recognized Peru's independence after suffering a defeat
in a 1866 reconquest attempt.
Bolívar's attempts to unite northern South America, including Peru, proved
unsustainable; in 1826 he left the country, which the following year, led by
General Agustín Gamarra (1785-1841), broke away from Bolívar's Greater Republic
of Colombia.
In 1836, Andrés de Santa Cruz formed the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation, but
it disbanded again after the defeat in 1839 to Chile, which feared for its
position in the area. From the beginning of the 1840's, Peru received large
revenues from guano exports to especially Europe.
During Ramón Castilla 1845-51 and 1855-62, the economy thus improved, and the
economic room for maneuver was, among other things, used for the abolition of
the Native American tribute and in 1854 of slavery. The economic compensation
that the slave owners received was primarily invested in the development of
agriculture, especially sugar cane and cotton, in the coastal areas. The
workforce was replaced of Chinese workers, which were imported in
relatively large numbers.
Guano production was controlled by foreign interests, and since the country
was also often plagued by internal strife and corruption, the revenue had not
led to any significant development of infrastructure etc.
President Manuel Pardo (1834-78) tried to remedy this in the 1870's, when
large-scale construction projects were launched, especially the construction of
railways to better bind the country together and facilitate the transport of
goods to export ports.
But the guano adventure was coming to an end, and in the economic crisis, one
became increasingly dependent on foreign loans; the exploitation of the rich
nitrate deposits in the Atacama Desert was thwarted when Chile in the Pacific
War 1879-83 conquered the area after having occupied Lima in 1881.
1883-2000-t.
In the following three decades, Peru entered a fairly stable political
period, and the economy improved again. However, American influence in Peru grew
in parallel, and in 1924 Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre formed the left-wing,
national populist movement APRA, facing American imperialism and the
dictatorship that Augusto Leguía had imposed in a coup in 1919. The struggle
between APRA and right-wing forces, especially the military, have since been a
recurring theme in Peru.
Encouraged by parts of the international oil industry, Peru invaded Ecuador
in 1941. By the end of the war in 1942, Peru had secured the bulk of the
Ecuadorian Amazon and thus large potential oil revenues as well as access to the
Atlantic via the Amazon River.
Ecuador first officially recognized the conquest of Peru in 1998; until then,
there were repeated military clashes in the border areas.
In the post-war period, the military has seized power in Peru several
times. Manuel Odría's dictatorship of 1948-56 was marked by political stability
and economic progress, but at the expense of severe repression by the
opposition, especially the APRA.
After a period of civilian rule, from 1963 under Fernando Belaunde Terry, who
carried out extensive land reforms, the military under the leadership of Juan
Velasco Alvarado regained power in 1968. Extensive nationalizations were
initiated, hitting American interests; on the other hand, relatively close
contacts were established with the Eastern Bloc.
Conditions for the Native American population improved, but the opposition
was suppressed. The political line turned right under a new military junta that
held power from 1975 until Peru in 1980 regained civil democratic rule under
Belaunde.
The 1980's became a period of crisis for Peru as for most of South
America. Falling world market prices for the main export products plunged Peru
into a deep economic crisis with violent inflation. In 1985, APRA came to
power for the first time under Alan García Pérez.
When García drastically cut back on the repayment of the huge foreign debt,
the World Bank reacted by stopping lending and lending, which further aggravated
the economic situation.
To the economic problems came the fight against the guerrilla and terrorist
movements The Luminous Path, which began its armed struggle in 1980, and
the MRTA from 1984. Large parts of Peru were in a state of emergency for
extended periods, and the economy was heavily burdened by such large resources
set aside for the fight and for reconstruction after guerrilla attacks on
infrastructure, etc.
In 1990, the hitherto unknown Alberto Fujimori came to power after the
election victory over the world-famous author Mario Vargas Llosa. Fujimori took
over a Peru on the brink of economic and political chaos.
He instituted drastic economic austerity measures, opened the country to
foreign investment and resumed repayment of foreign debt. They managed to bring
inflation under control, and eventually the economy emerged from the deep
crisis.
The economic recovery was thus successful, but did not benefit the vast
majority to any great extent, and Peru was still in 1999 marked by great social
and economic divides.
At the same time, the fight against drug trafficking intensified following
pressure from the United States; in the early 1990's, Peru accounted for
approximately 60% of the world's production of coca leaves, used legally as a
stimulant and painkiller, but from which cocaine can also be extracted.
Despite extensive US economic and military assistance, results have been
sparse; however, the effort has helped to improve relations with the United
States. In addition, Fujimori has successfully deployed large forces in the
fight against guerrilla movements, which have lost their footing in most areas,
just as the majority of guerrilla leaders have been captured or killed.
Fujimori's results, however, were obtained by brutal means and on the basis
of accusations of human rights violations and violations of fundamental
democratic rules of the game; in 1992, he thus dissolved parliament and
suspended the constitution to ensure the possibility of re-election.
In 2000, the scandals surrounding President Fujimori escalated. These were
both corruption cases and authoritarian rule, including the many who disappeared
without a trace in connection with the war against the guerrillas.
The pressure on Fujimori culminated after the victory in the autumn elections
of the same year, the course of which was heavily criticized by both the
opposition and international observers, and in November he resigned soon after
fleeing to Japan. He returned to Peru a few years later, but was sentenced to a
lengthy prison term for corruption and human rights violations.
After a transition period, Alejandro Toledo defeated former President Alan
García Pérez in the 2001 election. Peru thus got its first president of Native
American descent.
However, political unrest continues to plague the country. A truth commission
was set up to investigate the human rights violations that took place from 1980
and in 2002 a report revealed that under the Fujimori regime, more than 200,000
Indians were forcibly sterilized. The Truth Commission concluded in 2003 that
nearly 70,000 people had been killed during the war against the Shining Path.
Toledo's government continued to experience economic growth, but its promises
to fight poverty were not sufficiently fulfilled, and its rule was met by
growing popular protests.
They were further exacerbated by the corruption scandals that surrounded him,
and a commission set up by Congress in 2005 found him guilty of electoral fraud
in the 2001 election.
In the 2006 presidential election, Alan García Pérez made a surprising
comeback when he defeated the strongly nationalist Ollanta Humala (b. 1963).
Humala won the election in 2011 after defeating Keiko Fujimori (b. 1975),
daughter of Alberto Fujimori.
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