Chilean History, 1540–1990

Chilean history from the sixteenth century to the late twentieth century began with Spanish attempts to occupy the central valley and the prolonged resistance of Mapuche communities. Colonial towns, estates, mines and Pacific trade developed unevenly, while the frontier south of the Biobío remained contested. Independence in the early nineteenth century created a republic whose institutions, landholding patterns and regional inequalities continued to change.

During the nineteenth century Chile expanded economically and territorially, fought the War of the Pacific and experienced the civil war of 1891. The twentieth century brought labour organisation, mass politics, reform and growing polarisation. Salvador Allende’s election in 1970 was followed by the military coup of 11 September 1973 and the dictatorship led by Augusto Pinochet until 1990.

Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits trilogy, A Long Petal of the Sea, Of Love and Shadows, Violeta and My Name Is Emilia del Valle use different parts of this long history. This umbrella context should normally support a series or broad family saga, while individual books are linked to more precise child records such as the conquest, the War of the Pacific, the 1891 civil war or the Pinochet dictatorship.