The Pacific WarBackgroundThe Pacific War (Spanish: Guerra del Pacífico), also called the Saltpeter War, was a war between the united forces of Bolivia and Peru against Chile fought between 1879 and 1883. The countries fought over territory in the Atacama Desert, rich in nitrates and guano, seabird droppings, bats and seals. Guano is an effective fertilizer and ingredient for gunpowder due to its high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen. The immediate cause of the war (trigger) The territorial conflict between Chile, Bolivia and Peru began well before the start of the war itself, after its discovery, in In the 1840s, guano was an important resource for global economic and military expansion; However, it did not reach its peak until after 1878, when Bolivia brought up the 1873 contract, which allowed the Antofagasta Nitrate & Railway Company, the region's largest miner, to extract saltpeter tax-free . The Bolivian government wanted to implement a new tax of 10 cents per quantal, despite protests from the Chilean government, and even threatened to confiscate the company's assets if it refused to pay. However, the Antofagasta Nitrate & Railway Company refused to pay and asked the Chilean government to intervene. Chile responded and sent a warship to the area. Additionally, the Chilean military claimed the port city of Antofagasta, after Bolivia announced the seizure and auction of the company. The non-immediate causes of the war are a subject of debate, because the war is important in Latin American history and because it is open to several interpretations. I will focus on three main paradigms of international politics: realism theory, world society and dependency.Realism:Main players: Chile, Bolivia and Peru...... middle of paper .... ..this city to connect to Chile, which also affected the Chilean decision to intervene.Conclusion and consequences of the warThe consequences of the war were enormous for both sides of the conflict. Chile was able to appropriate rich guano expansions, important to the country's economic well-being, and eventually emerged from the crisis. Sicotte, Vizcarra and Wandscneider estimate that if Chile had not taken control of the expansions, its revenues from nitrates would have fallen by 80% by the end of the 19th century. In contrast, Bolivia not only lost its expansions, it also lost its access to the sea and became a landlocked country. Analysis of the conflict from 3 different angles confirmed once again that the three theories, realism, world society and dependency theory have the right to exist and can give a reasonable analysis to the conflict.