There are seven countries in the long and narrow Central America. Why can't it be unified into a federal country?

The heyday of Spanish colonies included almost the whole South American continent except Brazil, plus Mexico and Central America. /kloc-in the 9th century, the independence movement swept through the western colonies, and 12 countries became independent in South America, covering a total area of 9.3 million square kilometers.

Spain established a huge colonial empire in America.

Compared with the disintegration of the Spanish colony, the Portuguese colony in South America was intact and became a country, while Brazil became the largest country in South America, with an area of 85 1 000 square kilometers.

What's more, Central America has a total area of only 523,000 square kilometers, but there are seven countries, at least 2 1 1,000 square kilometers. Even compared with the broken South American countries, it is very small. So, why are there so many countries in Central America? Is it possible to become a unified federation?

20 18 land area and population data of seven central American countries

I. Colonial history of Central America

Central America is a long and narrow isthmus connecting the two continents of North and South America. It is located between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, and the narrowest place is only over 60 kilometers. After the opening of the Panama Canal, Central America became a strategic place to connect the two oceans.

In order to effectively rule the vast colonies, the Spanish first established the "New Spanish Governor" in Mexico in 15 19, and then established three governor regions of Peru, New Granada and La Plata.

Establishment of Spanish colonial governor's area

Because the new Spanish governor has a wide range of jurisdiction, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and even the southwestern United States are included. Therefore, the colonial authorities set up several viceroy jurisdictions in their territory, among which Guatemala was responsible for managing Central America.

Although the total area of Central America is small, the terrain is long and narrow, and it is divided into many regions by mountains and jungles, which is very inconvenient to manage. The colonial authorities established six more provinces in Guatemala, namely Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Chiapas. Only central America has provinces, and Mexico is directly managed by the governor's district.

The Spanish discovered rich silver mines in South America, and together with a large area of undeveloped land, a large number of Spanish civilians and businessmen poured in, which gradually changed the population composition here. The descendants of these European immigrants are called native whites, and they are basically Indo-European hybrids.

In colonial times, slaves worked in coffee plantations in South America.

By the end of 18, these indigenous whites had become the main population of Spanish colonies. They are the main force of colonial economic activities, operating mines, large manors and trade with Europe, with a lot of wealth but no corresponding political status.

Because the Spanish government stipulates that colonial officials must be born in Spain, colonial-born whites cannot be officials. This deprived indigenous whites of their right to participate in political activities and became one of the main factors that triggered the colonial independence movement.

Second, the trend of colonial independence.

Due to the discriminatory policies of the Spanish colonial authorities, indigenous whites gradually no longer regarded themselves as Europeans, but as descendants of Indians. This situation generally occurred in the whole South American continent, which aggravated the contradiction between indigenous whites and Spanish colonists.

Under the cruel rule of colonial authorities, Indians never stopped armed struggle. Although all previous uprisings failed, they gradually won the support of indigenous whites, making resisting the Spanish colonial authorities the knowledge of South American society.

/kloc-At the beginning of the 9th century, the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars broke out in Europe, and modern enlightenment and national liberation swept across the Atlantic Ocean. At the same time, Spain was severely impacted by the French Revolution.

The black uprising first gained independence in Haiti and became the first independent country in South America.

1In June, 808, Napoleon invaded Spain, which plunged Spain into a long-term melee and seriously weakened its control over the South American colonies. Taking this as an opportunity, South America opened the curtain of colonial independence.

The first independent country in Latin America was Haiti, a colony that France snatched from Spain. Through arduous armed struggle, the black uprising skillfully used the contradiction between Britain, France and the West to achieve national independence in 1803. Encouraged by Haiti's independence, Spanish colonies in South America launched an all-round struggle for independence.

The Battle of Ayacucho was the last great victory of the South American continental war of independence.

18 10 In September, riots broke out in Mexico, the territory of the new Spanish governor. Then, the other three governors' jurisdictions also made public responses. From 18 16, wars for independence broke out all over South America.

18 18, the independence movement made its first breakthrough in the viceroy of Peru, and the viceroy of Chile announced the establishment of the first independent country "Republic of Chile". Subsequently, the remaining governors of Peru became the "Republic of Peru". The governors of La Plata are divided into Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia. The new governor of Granada became the "Greater Republic of Colombia".

Spain recognized the independence of South America, and the two sides wore similar clothes, indicating that the revolution was not completed.

182 1 year, Mexico also gained independence, the new Spanish governor was abolished together with the governor of Guatemala under its jurisdiction, and six Central American provinces hitchhiked away from the suzerain Spain.

The newly independent countries in South America are basically divided according to the administrative units of the former colonies, and the governor of Guatemala has always been under the jurisdiction of the new governor of Spain, so it seems a natural choice for Central America to merge into the newly established Mexico.

Chiapas province, which is close to Mexico, was the first to announce its integration into Mexico, and called on the other five provinces to follow suit. Mexico couldn't wait for them to talk about the results, and sent troops to annex the whole of Central America. In this way, the first independence of Central America lasted less than a year.

Three. Broken south America

After gaining independence, the first problem facing South American countries is how to form a country. For the white people in South America, except the suzerain country, the status of colonies is equal, and there has never been a unified tradition.

Bolivar, the main leader of the liberation movement, originally planned to unify all Spanish colonies and form a federal state similar to the United States. At his insistence, the Governor's District of New Granada became the "Greater Republic of Colombia" directly, and then he planned to expand to the whole of South America on this basis.

The Great Republic of Colombia is a unified testing ground in South America, but the experiment was very unsuccessful.

However, Bolivar's plan met with internal opposition from the beginning, and his strength and prestige were not enough to integrate the power of the colony. The independence movement in the south also has a leader, San Martin, who is no less than Bolí var in all aspects. Although San Martin later voluntarily withdrew from the power struggle, Bolivar's influence on the southern countries was not great.

In the independence movement, the colonial manor owners and businessmen also joined the ranks and achieved a certain leading position. The fundamental purpose of driving out colonial officials is to replace them and maintain the existing political situation.

It is said that bolivar, the liberator, sighed before he died: we will never be happy.

On the other hand, due to the limitation of topography and suzerain, the economic dependence between colonies is very weak. The markets of gold, silver, coffee, sucrose and other primary agricultural and mineral products produced by the colonies are mainly in Europe, and the industries are very underdeveloped, so it is necessary to import industrial products from Europe.

The topography of South America also limited the emergence of a federal power. The harsh terrain conditions such as mountains, deserts and tropical jungles make the communication between colonies extremely inconvenient, the flow of people and logistics difficult, and they do not have the objective conditions to integrate into a country.

Broken south American territory

Therefore, high-ranking politicians in independent countries prefer to deal directly with European countries rather than being controlled by a powerful country. The people also lack a unified will, and Bolí var's grand federal plan is difficult to succeed in all aspects.

Not only that, Bolivarian is also unable to deal with the separatist forces within the "Greater Republic of Colombia". After only seven years, the pilot countries of this grand federation were divided into four countries: Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama.

Fourth, the short-lived Central American Federation.

Compared with South American countries, Central American provinces are more like their smaller versions, and there are political factions in favor of unity and division. The civil strife in Mexico gave Central America the opportunity to establish itself independently.

Although Mexico achieved independence, it was only a temporary compromise between various factions. Iturbide, the leader of the independence movement, proclaimed himself emperor, which was opposed by various factions, leading to the outbreak of civil war. Faced with the chaos in Mexico, Central American countries decided to decouple from it. As the capital of the former governor-general, Guatemala first declared its independence and established the "Central American Union Province".

Mexican independence is the product of compromise among various forces, but iturbide claimed to be the emperor, which caused more confusion.

Due to historical inertia, the other four provinces have successively joined the "Central American Union Province". Only Chiapas province, which is close to Mexico and has strong economic dependence on it, is willing to stay in Mexico and become a part of Mexico from now on.

However, before 2 1 century, Mexico was in the chaos of foreign invasion, domestic revolution and military dictatorship. Chiapas is the poorest and most backward state, because it is located at the southernmost tip of Mexico and has a weak foundation of government rule.

1825, the United Province of Central America was renamed the United States of Central America, which was the first time that Central America established its own country. Guatemala is the capital, and all provinces have equal status, which is similar to a federal country like the United States.

The national flag and emblem of the United Province of Central America or the United States of Central America.

Although merged into one country, there are also fierce disputes within Central America. Conservatives representing the interests of the manor advocate maintaining the existing land system, preferring the independence of the provinces, while liberals representing the interests of the bourgeoisie demand land reform and hope to maintain the federal state.

Conservatives and liberals are widespread in Central American countries. Because Central America is divided by mountains and jungles, the geographical conditions of different provinces are different, and the power contrast between the two factions in different countries is not the same.

Guatemala and El Salvador have fertile land, the largest number of large manors and strong conservative forces; Honduras and Nicaragua are poor in land and pay more attention to the development of commerce, with liberal forces dominant; There are many small farmers in Costa Rica, who depend on Colombia economically and do not participate in disputes between the two factions.

Although Central America is small, it has dense mountains, cramped plains and extremely unbalanced economy.

The contradiction between the two factions around land ownership and political power is becoming more and more fierce. No matter which faction comes to power, the other faction is bound to oppose it and actively seek to overthrow the other party's ruling status. After the contradictions gradually intensified, the two sides began to resolve their differences by force, and civil wars frequently occurred in various provinces.

Although the United States of America in Central America nominally has a president and a congress, it does not have a strong government and a unified army, and its ability to restrict the provinces is very weak, which is basically an empty shelf. 1838 In April, Nicaraguan conservatives overthrew the liberal government and announced their withdrawal from the United States of Central America for the first time. Within a year, other provinces became independent, and the United States in Central America completely disintegrated.

After the division of the United States of Central America, Central America has no chance to merge.

This is the only unity in Central America. Driven by the trend of colonial independence, the high-level and ordinary people in all provinces will be unified. But the real power of the government is more in the hands of conservatives, who are unwilling to have a strong government in order to maintain the colonial land system. If we miss this opportunity, the hope of Central American reunification will be dashed.

There are two other countries in Central America, Panama and Belize, whose situation is quite special. At this time, Panama belonged to the United Republic of Colombia, and its ties with Central America were weak. Belize was occupied by the British as early as the late17th century and has always been a British colony, which has nothing to do with the independence movement of western colonies.

Verb (abbreviation for verb) Central America in the War

The United States of America in Central America is gone, but the contradiction between conservatives and liberals still exists. Moreover, these two factions need to support the armed struggle of the same faction in neighboring countries while overthrowing the ruling rival factions in their own countries by force. So in the next few decades, civil wars and wars between countries never stopped.

During several periods when liberals dominated, there were actions to restore the Central American Federation. 1842, 1852, 1896, 192 1 year, several countries formed a larger federal state four times, but all died in the longest two years and the shortest month.

In the long-term war, conservatives became more and more deeply integrated with the army with more political and economic resources, and finally formed a military dictatorship. Central American countries have come to this step one after another, which is further away from the goal of reunification.

The United Fruit Company of the United States is becoming more and more powerful in Central America, interfering in the politics of various countries everywhere.

19 14 After the Panama Canal was opened, the strategic position of Central America rose sharply. The United States supports conservatives in Central American countries and prevents Central America from merging into a big country again.

After World War II, socialist ideas were accepted by some liberals in Central America, and the Soviet Union began to intervene in Central American affairs. The United States increased its military assistance to conservatives and military dictatorships in various countries, suppressed liberal armed forces, and intensified the war in Central America.

The Two Oceans Canal was originally proposed by the United States in Central America, but Panama was finally chosen.

Central America has also made some attempts to integrate the resources of various countries, hoping to accelerate economic development. 1960, Central American countries established a common market, hoping to achieve economic integration first. But the rapid war delayed this process for 20 years.

1969 A war broke out between Honduras and El Salvador because of a football match. The real cause of the conflict is that Honduras expelled hundreds of thousands of Salvadoran immigrants, which triggered the opposition between the two countries. The war lasted only five days, but the two countries were hostile 1 1 year, and the Central American market could not operate at all.

Honduras' expulsion of Salvadoran immigrants is the real reason for the football war.

On the other hand, the ideological trend of national liberation and democratization after World War II also affected Central America, and civil wars against dictatorship broke out in various countries one after another, which lasted for a long time. It was not until the end of the 20th century that a new government was established. Prior to this, the Central American Common Market had the conditions for implementation, but this was only a small step.

Belize, two other countries in Central America, declared its independence from Britain in 198 1. Its official language is English, which is far from the former Spanish colony in all aspects. Panama did not leave Colombia until 1903, and its relationship with Central American countries was not deep in history or economy.

It can be said that since independence, Central American countries have never been truly peaceful, and various political forces have taken turns to come to power, so that military dictatorships generally appeared in the end, and it was not until the 1990 s that they returned to the people.

The canal has brought Panama a prosperous economy, ranking first with Costa Rica.

Up to now, the problems left over from wars in Central American countries, such as mines and infectious diseases, have not been well solved. The national economy is stagnant and people's livelihood is difficult. Compared with other countries in South America, it is still the most backward.

Only Costa Rica, far away from the disputes in Central America, is the happiest country in Central America, because its agriculture and tourism are relatively developed, and its per capita GDP exceeds $65,438 +0.2 million. The per capita GDP of other Central American countries is less than half that of Costa Rica.

Central American countries have not been unified so far, which is closely related to the geographical conditions and deliberate arrangements of colonial authorities, as well as the political polarization caused by economic inequality. This disagreement eventually rose to war and military dictatorship, tearing the relationship between countries and neighboring countries. For more than 100 years, Central American countries have long been fragmented, and the possibility of rebuilding a grand federation is extremely small.

Long-time writer Pei Lin

An old lover of history

Thomas, editor in charge

Editor-in-Chief, Global Intelligence Officer, graduated from London School of Economics and Political Science.

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