Colombian history
Brief history of Colombia summarized
A brief look at the brief history of Colombia, the coffee country.
Colombia in the beginning
For thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans, Amerindians lived in what is now Colombia. Some lived by fishing and hunting, but others by farming. The first Spaniard to land in the area was Alonso de Ojeda in 1500.
However, there was no permanent Spanish settlement until 1533, when Cartagena and Santa Marta were founded. Bogotá was founded in 1538. In 1564 Colombia was appointed captain general. The colony prospered and many African slaves were brought there.
However, in 1808 Napoleon made his brother king of Spain, but many people in the Spanish colonies refused to accept the new king. In 1810 most of Colombia declared its independence. It didn’t last long.
The Spanish reconquered the area in 1815-16. However, in 1819 Simón Bolívar defeated the Spanish at the Battle of Boyacá. Later a new nation composed of Colombia, Panama, Venezuela and Ecuador was formed. The new nation was called the Republic of Colombia.
However, regional differences caused the disintegration of the new country. Bolívar became dictator in 1828, but resigned in 1830 and Colombia (including what is now Panama) seceded from Ecuador and Venezuela.
However, Colombia was a troubled country and 8 civil wars took place during the 19th century. Furthermore, in 1849 there were two political parties, one conservative, representing the landowners and the Catholic Church, and the other liberal, representing the merchants and artisans.
Political instability continued throughout the late 19th century and in 1899 a terrible civil war called the Thousand Days War was fought. Then, in 1903, Panama seceded and became an independent nation.
Modern columbia
At the beginning of the 20th century Colombia was generally peaceful and the economy developed. Coffee exports increased. However, in 1948 another civil war broke out. It was called The Violence.
Colombia had always been dangerously divided between liberals and conservatives, but the assassination of liberal politician Jorge Eliécer Gaitán on April 9, 1948 was the spark that lit the fire. The army sided with the conservatives and in 1953 General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla became dictator.
However, in 1957 Rojas resigned and the two parties, Liberal and Conservative, agreed to share power. Between 1957 and 1974 his presidency alternated between them.
However, in the 1960s the leftist guerrilla began to operate in Colombia. Then in the 1970s, cocaine production in Colombia increased and continued to increase in the 1980s. The drug trade led to a great deal of violence. Meanwhile, in the early 1980s, Colombia was hit by a severe recession.
However, at the beginning of the 21st century the situation in Colombia improved. Violence in Colombia decreased after 2002. In addition, the Colombian economy grew rapidly and poverty and unemployment decreased. Colombia, like the rest of the world, suffered in the 2009 recession, but the economy soon recovered.
Colombia also suffered severe flooding in 2010. However, tourism in Colombia is growing. Today Colombia is developing steadily. Today the population of Colombia is 47 million inhabitants.
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