War Of The Pacific: History Of Chile, Peru, And Bolivia

Introduction - War of the Pacific
At the turn of the 19th century there was a military conflict that greatly impacted the history of Chile, Peru, and Bolivia. I’m referring to the War of the Pacific that took place between 1879 and 1883. The effects of this war echo to this day and people in these countries still talk about it over 100 years since it happened.
This war was fought between Chile and the Alliance of Peru and Bolivia over the territories that now form the far north of Chile. The situation that caused the war to ignite was the occupation of the city of Antofagasta (which belonged to Bolivia back then) by Chilean forces. This was in response to the increased taxation over a Chilean nitrate mining company which operated in Antofagasta

Eventually, the Chilean navy decided to attack Peru’s main port of El Callao, farther north. However, to maintain the blockade over Iquique, Chilean captain Arturo Prat was left to maintain it with only a steam frigate and a schooner. Ironically, the Peruvian army was getting ready to reclaim Iquique, while the Chilean army was heading over to El Callao and both armies’ crossed each other on sea without noticing (Urrutia, 20). This led the meager Chilean forces left in Iquique to fight against the full might of the Peruvian navy. Of course, the Chileans ships stationed in Iquique, which were much older than the rest of their fleet, were no match against the Peruvian Admiral Grau’s

While in the ships, the players will alternate between using the various systems of the ship, like maneuvering, shooting the cannons, boarding the enemy ships, etc.
To take advantage of the resources gained from downing enemy ships, and capturing their crew, the player could use their lumber, for example, to improve their own ship. Upgrades to the ship include a sturdier hull to ram against other ships, the ability to launch mortar fire to the enemies, among others. These upgrades would be carried over from battle to battle to have a sense of progression and attachment to both ships.
The quality of a Hero
Finally, I would like to discuss the most important factor I found in my research. No matter what side we are considering, both Prat and Grau are considered epic heroes of Chile and Peru. Their bravery in battle was recorded by the journalists and doctors who were on board their ships, and transcripts of their speeches are kept to this day. While we may speculate how accurate these transcripts are (some scholars have proposed that they were probably drunk, considering liquor was used to keep the soldiers motivated during war) (Urrutia, 25), the truth is that people regard them as fact. Therefore, I think that it would be a disservice to the collective memory of these nations not to include these speeches in the game.