The War Machine and the State: The Army of the Andes after the Fall of the River Plate's State, 1820

The War Machine and the State: the Army of the Andes after the fall of
the River Plate’s State, 1820

Abstract: This paper explores the political capabilities of armies in
State building processes under the hypothesis that armed forces
are, in revolutionary situations, able to play a creative role of
first importance. In order to address this point the article will
focus on a paradigmatic case: the political behaviour of the army of
the Andes during the collapse of the central State of the River Plate
in 1820. First, the study will follow the particular way in which this
army was created, analyzing its difficult relations with the
Government of Buenos Aires, its role during the fall of the central
State and its survival after the dissolution of the latter. Then the
attention will shift to the new relations that the army of the Andes
(now a part of the Liberating Army of Peru) instituted with the State
of Chile, and its pivotal role in the establishment of the new
independent State of Peru. This itinerary will allow us to re-evaluate
many of the common notions about the relationship between States and
Armies within the State Building theory, stressing the need to
generate more sophisticated theoretical tools.