Restoration (Peru)

The Restoration (Spanish: Restauración), known within the context of the dissolution of the Peru–Bolivian Confederation as the Second Provisional Government (Spanish: Segundo Gobierno Provisional), was the period in Peruvian history following the reestablishment of a united Peruvian state after the War of the Confederation and prior to the period of military anarchy, lasting from 1839 to 1841.

Following the defeat of the Confederate Army at the Battle of Yungay, General Agustín Gamarra returned triumphantly to Lima on February 24, 1839 and was confirmed as provisional President. He then called the Constituent Congress in the city of Huancayo instead of Lima, as the Chilean Army was still on the eve of repatriation.

After two years, Gamarra sought to annex Bolivia to Peru through a military campaign that cost him his life at the Battle of Ingavi. He was succeeded by Manuel Menéndez, who served as constitutional president until he was overthrown by General Juan Crisóstomo Torrico, beginning a period of political instability to the point of anarchy.

History

The Constituent Congress meeting in Huancayo ratified Agustín Gamarra in the Presidency, first as provisional President (August 15, 1839), while the new Constitution was sanctioned. Once this was approved, and after popular elections, Gamarra was proclaimed Constitutional President (July 10, 1840).

During this second government, Gamarra followed the same guidelines as the first, being authoritarian and conservative, as circumstances demanded, after several years of civil war. He faced the challenge of pacifying the country, having to face the “regenerative” revolution that Manuel Ignacio de Vivanco led in Arequipa, proclaiming himself Supreme Chief (1841). The Minister of War Ramón Castilla was sent to combat it, who after suffering defeat in Cachamarca, triumphed over the Vivanquistas in Cuevillas.