The Seaboard Oligarchy and the «Aristocratic Republic» in Peru, 1895-1919

Abstract

This paper considers the political activities of the Peruvian elite during the República Aristocrática from the viewpoint of one oligarchic family, the Aspíllagas, whose private correspondence can be found in the Archivo del Fuero Agrario in Lima. It argues that historians should consider the political behaviour of oligarchic families from the viewpoint of their local concerns and family rivalries. The need to assert control over scarce resources (land, labour, water) propelled them into political involvement at the national level. Yet by the final years of the República Aristocrática they felt a keen sense of betrayal by politicians and bureaucrats alike.