AHC: Best Case Bolivia
- Thread starter Slime_blob
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Also control the saltpeter mines to get more money instead of letting Chile control it for money
Bolivia was/is a nation with incredible mineral wealth... I confess I'm not well-versed enough in South American history to name any specific POD(s), but the potential was definitely there to become a regional powerhouse...
Permanent Union with Peru, control of it's Pacific Coast, and control of Chaco, which grants it river access to Buenos Aires and Montevideo.
Having Competent leaders might make them alot richer than before. How much richer if they are lucky?
Chaco is a desert wasteland. Selling it to Paraguay would help more
Chaco is Paraguay's northern rain forest region (although much of it has been converted into bountiful farmland).
Osman Aga
Banned
Bolivia keeps it's coastline and gets some more European immigrants like some other South American Nations.
Keeping Antofagasta might help, but bolivian core is the Altiplano, keeping their coastline from an ambitious Chile will be hard. Also keep them united with Peru is no go because that will no longer be Bolivia. Best case Bolivia IMO is that they keep their core altiplano, recognize, accept and integrate quechua and aymara majorities in their civil affairs long before OTL, develop and encourage local industry based in their vast mineral resources. Losing the litoral might happen even if they do their best, the Andes is such a geographical barrier and its easier for Chile to keep Atacama rather than Bolivia.
They couldn't attract immigrants like their neighbors but improvement in agriculture and urbanization of the Altiplano might boost the local population growth. All of this can only be achieved if competent governors are elected during these decades. Avoid internal struggles and keep integrating the numerous indigenous people and european descendents into a single nation that considers the Altiplano as their shared homeland. If this can be done, Bolivia might be a landlocked yet stable, democratic and plurinational country. Time passes, lithium is being exported, small industries processing and adding value to their natural resources keep growing in the mountains, Santa Cruz develops enough to be a second core for bolivian people, and even tourism can become a big deal, as bolivian culture would be a rich mixture of andine and european integration
They couldn't attract immigrants like their neighbors but improvement in agriculture and urbanization of the Altiplano might boost the local population growth. All of this can only be achieved if competent governors are elected during these decades. Avoid internal struggles and keep integrating the numerous indigenous people and european descendents into a single nation that considers the Altiplano as their shared homeland. If this can be done, Bolivia might be a landlocked yet stable, democratic and plurinational country. Time passes, lithium is being exported, small industries processing and adding value to their natural resources keep growing in the mountains, Santa Cruz develops enough to be a second core for bolivian people, and even tourism can become a big deal, as bolivian culture would be a rich mixture of andine and european integration
There was a Bolivian plot to turn Bolivia into an kind of personal-union with Brazil, an idea refused by Pedro I due to the difficulties of protecting Bolivia from attacking Peruvian troops when Portugal was preparing to launch an war of reconquest against Brazil.
Maybe if you could make the Emperor of Brazil be the King of Bolivia, then the two countries could be richer and more stable today.
Controlling the La Plata basing would certainly be easier with their combined strength. Chile would also be hard pressed to fight a Bolivia supported by a Brazil who could bombard Chilean cities.
Bolivia would've easy acess to both oceans.
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The best way would be to keep the Peru-Bolivian Confederation, which was led by Santa Cruz, around. Something needs to happen in Chile for the union to be allowed to consolidate, though.
Bolivia has several times tried to diplomatically regain access to the sea, including with American-led conferences. These have so far failed because Bolivia wants Arica at the far north of Chile, but Peru claimed Arica as well until well into the 20th century which meant it would be very challenging for Chile to exchange Peruvian land. Relations between the three countries usually results in either Peru or Chile complaining about the solution and therefore nothing getting done.
However, I think it's plausible for one of these conferences to succeed and Bolivia being awarded Arica or a small strip of land north of there (as one proposal called for, they'd need to build a port city and it would be small thanks to water issues) and thus regaining the sea. Sea access is crucial for a developing country's success so this would be a huge boost for Bolivia.
There is of course the War of the Pacific and the potential of Chilean defeat or a very costly Chilean victory ensuring they're basically forced to leave Bolivia with a port if they want anything at all (and never gain Peruvian land).
It's thousands of kilometers from the Bolivian-Brazilian border to the Atlantic. As for getting to the River Plate, the Bermejo and Pilcomayo rivers are supposedly not navigable by large barges, but I wonder if it can be done with hovercraft and what's the cost of that.
As for keeping access to the Pacific, I'd say Bolivia's best chance is to add Argentina to the Pacific War, but I don't see how. While an ambitious Argentine president might want the whole of Tierra del Fuego and even the Chilean Patagonia for direct Argentine access to the Pacific, Argentina had a weak navy at the time and was coming out of the civil wars and the war of the Triple Alliance.