War between Ecuador and Peru (1939-1945)

When asked about the period 1939-1945, we tend to think that World War II and the European (with North Africa and the Asian part of the USSR) and Pacific theaters of operations, were the only ones that saw a conflict.

But life, with its corresponding conflicts, continued in other latitudes, and an old conflict between Peru and Ecuador shook South America between 1941 and 1942.

The 1941 Peruvian-Ecuadorian war that took place between the two countries was a military conflict due to disagreements over shared borders in the Amazon and Andean regions.

These disagreements date back to Peruvian independence and the so-called Gran Colombia (which included current Colombia, Venezuela, Panama and Ecuador), at the beginning of the 19th century, logical due to the depopulation and wildness of the disputed areas, and to the zeal that any country of any continent it has traditionally kept on claiming territories for itself.

The most immediate precedent to the conflict in the mid-20th century is the war between Peru and Ecuador from 1858 to 1860, which was mixed with the Ecuadorian Civil War. Also at the beginning of the 20th century there were episodes of tension on the common border, with advances and positioning of detachments that would increase until 1940, despite the fact that in 1936 an agreement had been signed between both countries to delimit the borders.

The casus belli it is not clear, and each of the parties gives their argument.

On the Ecuadorian side, Peru was accused of trying to invade the country taking advantage of skirmishes between border patrols as an excuse. On the Peruvian side, Ecuadorian troops are awarded an attempt to occupy the territory of Zarumilla.

The Ecuadorian infantry forces on the border faced Peruvian forces far superior to level of troops, and even armed with tanks, of which the Ecuadorian border forces they lacked.

Be that as it may, the first shots of the war were fired on July 5, 1941, and by the nature of the exchanges, it was a conflict that had exploded accidentally and would escalate, unlike something planned from beforehand.

On the second day of the conflict, July 6, I saw the intervention of the force Peruvian air force, which attacked various Ecuadorian targets on the border and its vicinity.

Peru led the way in the military sphere of the conflict, largely thanks to the fact that it had a airborne, something very modern for the time, and that starred in the first airborne operation seen in the southern cone.

This was directed against the Ecuadorian city of Puerto Bolívar, on July 27, 41, of which it took control. In addition, the Ecuadorian armed forces lacked aviation (just a few old biplanes and triplanes that were not rival), which was another advantage for Peru.

Due to the internal political situation, the Ecuadorian government concentrated its forces around the capital, Quito, without moving them, and quickly requested a ceasefire.

Apart from some specific actions, such as exchanges of fire between patrols, and the unsuccessful attempt to bombard a airplane Peruvian man on an Ecuadorian artillery patrol boat near Puerto Bolívar, the war ended here.

The misuse of the Ecuadorian army troops, as well as their shortage of modern weaponry, led to the defeat of Ecuador against a much more militarily prepared Peru, whose army had adapted to the new times by acquiring tanks and airplanes, and using a medium still as novel as the airborne.

When the parties met in Rio de Janeiro, they signed the protocol that bears the name of the Brazilian city, but the border conflict would not end there.

The Peruvian troops withdrew from the areas they occupied during the days that their offensive lasted, and a border of common agreement that, however, in 1960 would be denounced by Ecuador, and that in 1981 would cause the so-called conflict of Paquisha, and in 1995 that of Cenepa.

The solution Definitive came in 1998, when the border between the two countries was agreed and physically demarcated.

Issues in War between Ecuador and Peru (1939-1945)