Dissolution of Gran Colombia

The Great Colombia It was one of the most important American plans in history, being a model of a nation that united several of the countries that We know today forming a great state, but that for various reasons ended up dividing and never fully functioned well. To talk about the process of division that led to the formation of numerous republics, in this lesson from a PROFESSOR we offer you a summary of the dissolution of Gran Colombia with map.

Index

1. Causes of the formation of Gran Colombia and member countries
2. Dissolution of Gran Colombia: short summary
3. Greater Colombia Division

Behind the Independence of Colombia of the Spanish Empire after a long war that had liberated most of the Spanish dependencies, the new States they were looking for their place in the world, waiting for a new form of government suited to the interests of their people. Before joining, some of the regions had sought federal-type systems, the United Provinces of Nueva Granada and Venezuela being an example, but none of the models worked.

In this situation of doubt appeared Simon Bolivar, who was one of the main architects of the independence of many American regions, and who suggested the creation of a great union of american peoples to form the Great Colombia and to be able to compete with the great European powers, both in a military and economic way.

La Gran Colombia: member countries

In 1819, Gran Colombia was formed with the union of New Granada, Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama, all of them being former Spanish colonies. But from that moment on, there were numerous clashes between the inhabitants of the new region, due to the disputes over the form of government and considering that not all regions were represented in the same way shape.

The reasons for the great difference between regions, both socially and economically, that there were not enough ways of communication or the great political differences meant that in the end the only thing that united all the regions was Bolivar.

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Since April 1826 to November 1831 the dissolution of Gran Colombia took place, being a slow period in which numerous events ended up leading to the end of a nation that could have been very important in history.

In 1824 the situation in Gran Colombia was tense, because many guerrillas wanted to be a Spanish colony again, and also many who feared a possible Spanish or French attack. In this situation, the vice president of Gran Colombia, Francisco de Paula Santander summoned all young people between the ages of 16 and 50 to enlist for a possible war.

But in Venezuela the measure was not well seen and it did not take long to limit the orders that came from the central government, since they considered that other regions were not going to send as many young people as they. In a situation of total tension in Venezuela, José Antonio Páez declared in disobedience and took the government of Venezuela promising not to receive orders from the central government. This situation, coupled with the fact that Congress seemed incapable of fixing the Constitution, made the nation even more tense.

Simón Bolívar and his dictatorship

To try to stop the crisis and in its quest to maintain Greater Colombia, Simón Bolívar chose to take over the legislative powers and transform the nation into a dictatorship. But Bolívar's idea was a disaster, and many objected, blaming the American leader for wanting to return to the dictatorship of the Spanish king and even trying to kill Bolívar on the call Septembrina Conspiracy.

The tension over Bolívar was growing and the mechanism of the dictatorship In trying to prevent the separation, it had turned out to be a total failure, causing the figure of the so-called Liberator to be more in doubt every day.

In this situation the Republic of Peru and Gran Colombia went to war due to the ongoing tensions on the border of both regions. Bolívar as a war veteran was the first to go to the area, leaving a council of ministers chosen by him in power.

This fact made that while Bolívar was battling in the south a series of politicians of different ideologies sought to reform the constitution, in a process that turned out to be a total chaos. It was at that moment and seeing that the situation was impossible to fix that Bolívar decided to resign, being exiled and shortly after dying seeing how his dream of Greater Colombia disappeared.

To finish with this summary of the dissolution of Gran Colombia, we must talk about the different divisions of Greater Colombia, since not all regions were separated in the same way and at the same weather.

Separation from Venezuela

Although the separation of Venezuela had been a fact for years, it can be considered that the official division took place in the assemblies of 1829 that took place in Valencia and Caracas, where it was decided to separate and deny the sovereignty of Bolivar. On September 22, 1830, the new constitution that established Venezuela as its own and independent region was sanctioned.

Separation from Ecuador

The independence of Venezuela and the death of Bolívar led the Ecuador region to ask for independence. Although Ecuador's first declaration of independence took place in May 1830, it was not until the creation of the constitution in September that made what we now know as Ecuador.

Separation from Panama

After the separation of Venezuela and Ecuador, Gran Colombia was formed only by Colombia and Panama, being in September 1830 that this region announced that it was separating from Colombia. The separation of Panama was a slow process that took longer than the rest of the regions that had formed Greater Colombia.

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• Blanco, J. B. (2007). From Greater Colombia to New Granada, the historical-political context of the constitutional transition. Prolegomena. Rights and Values, 10 (20), 71-87.
• Thibaud, C. (2002). Forms of war and construction of political identities. The war of independence (Venezuela and New Granada 1810-1825). Political Analysis, (45), 35-44.
• Gil Fortoul, J. (1930). Constitutional history of Venezuela. I take first, The colony, the independence, The great Colombia. Caracas: Parra León Brothers.