228 Hispanic America
and Napoleon in the Alps. The patriotic army fought
not only against the Spanish soldiers that were on the con-
tinent, but also against the formidable expeditions sent by
the mother country. And above these obstacles there was
another much more important, resistance and revolt sup-
ported by South-American loyalists. The War of Inde-
pendence was a frightful civil war, in which one party was
supported by Spanish soldiers and Spanish resources.
The distinguished Venezuelan sociologist, Vallenilla
Lanz, has presented overwhelming proofs of the civil char-
acter of the war in Venezuela. Let us remember that the
great stronghold of the Spanish power was in Peru, in the
mountainous part of this country. The Peruvian Indians,
recruited by the Spaniards and trained by them, formed the
powerful armies that defeated the patriots in Quito, Chile,
the tableland of the Upper Peru, and the northern part
of Argentine. The natives of Pasto in the central part
of Colombia were famous for their heroic loyalty to the
king and to the Catholic Church, which they believed was
linked to the Spanish throne. Summarizing these facts we
may say that independence was achieved to a certain extent
against the indigenous races, the Ilaneros of Venezuela,
and the Indians of Peru.
The miraculous character of the revolutionary move-
ment in this second period and the greatness of its achieve-
ments have attracted the attention of many sociologists
and historians. The peaceful colonists who lived such a
monotonous and quiet life during almost three centuries,
awoke suddenly to the new ideas; they displayed the most
dynamic activity; they created almost ex nihilo armies and
institutions, and gave to history the instance of one of
the most remarkable epics in modern times. The material-
istic school, represented in South America by Professor