War of the Pacific

The War of the Pacific was fought from 1879 to 1884 between Chile and an alliance of Bolivia and Peru, and grew out of a dispute over nitrate taxation: in February 1878 Bolivia raised taxes on a Chilean mining company in violation of an 1874 treaty, and when the company refused to pay, Bolivia confiscated its property, prompting Chile to occupy the Bolivian port of Antofagasta on 14 February 1879. Peru was drawn in through its secret alliance with Bolivia. The war ended in a decisive Chilean victory that demonstrated Chile's military-technological advantage over its opponents: the Treaty of Ancon with Peru in 1883 and the Pact of Valparaiso with Bolivia in 1884 ceded Tarapaca from Peru to Chile and left Bolivia landlocked after the loss of its Litoral Department.