Thousand Days' War

The Thousand Days' War is a civil armed conflict in the newly created Republic of Colombia, (including its province of Panama), from October 17,October 1899 to  November 21, 1902, at first between the Liberal Party and the government led by the National Party, and later–after the Conservative Party has ousted the National Party–between the liberals and the conservative government. 

Caused by the longstanding ideological tug-of-war of federalism versus centralism between the liberals, conservatives, and nationalists of Colombia following the implementation of the Constitution of 1886 and the political process known as the Regeneración, tensions reach a fever pitch after the presidential election of 1898, and on October 17, 1899, official insurrection against the ruling conservatives of the National government is announced by members of the Liberal Party in the Department of Santander, who accuse the National party of maintaining power through fraudulent elections.

The situation is worsened by an economic crisis caused by falling coffee prices in the international market, which mainly affects the opposition Liberal Party, which has lost power.

Hostilities begin on the 11th of November, when liberal factions attempt to take over the city of Bucaramanga, giving way to active warfare.

It ends three years later with the signing of the Treaty of Neerlandia and the Treaty of Wisconsin.

The war resulted in a Conservative victory, and ensures the continued dominance of the Conservative Party in Colombian politics for another twenty-eight years.

Colombia's political structure as a unitary state will not be challenged again.

An international conflict, the war extends into Ecuadorian and Venezuelan territory.

Conservative and liberal factions of these two countries, as well as Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, back their respective parties within Colombia.

American interests in the Panama Isthmus lead to an American intervention and naval deployment in Panama (at this time part of Colombia) under the guise of upholding the Treaty of Mallarino-Bidlack.

With an estimated one hundred thousand to one hundred and fifty thousand fatalities, about two and a half percent of the nation's population at that time, the conflict is the deadliest and most destructive war in the history of Colombia

It leads to severe economic, political, and social repercussions for the country, including a partial collapse of the nation's economy, continued governmental instability, and the eventual loss of the Department of Panama as an incorporated territory of the republic in 1903.

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