Editing Peru (section)

== History ==
<!--lots of paragraphs without citations--> {{main|History of Peru}}

{{see also|Periodization of pre-Columbian Peru|Agricultural history of Peru|Economic history of Peru}}

===Prehistory and Pre-Columbian Peru===
{{main|Pre-Columbian Peru|Andean civilizations}}
[[File:Caral-25.jpg|alt=|left|thumb|Remains of a [[Norte Chico civilization|Caral/Norte Chico]] pyramid in the arid Supe Valley]]
The earliest evidences of human presence in Peruvian territory have been dated to approximately 12,500 [[Common Era|BCE]] in the [[Huaca Prieta]] settlement.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dillehay |first=Tom D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GIIlDwAAQBAJ |title=Where the Land Meets the Sea |publisher=University of Texas Press |year=2017 |isbn=9781477311493 |page=4 |access-date=30 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200317022348/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Where_the_Land_Meets_the_Sea/GIIlDwAAQBAJ |archive-date=17 March 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>  Andean societies were based on agriculture, using techniques such as [[irrigation]] and [[Terrace (earthworks)|terracing]]; [[camelid]] husbandry and fishing were also important. Organization relied on [[Reciprocity (cultural anthropology)|reciprocity]] and [[Redistribution (cultural anthropology)|redistribution]] because these societies had no notion of market or money. The oldest known complex society in Peru, the [[Caral–Supe civilization|Caral-Supe civilization]], flourished along the coast of the Pacific Ocean between 3,000 and 1,800 BCE.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Ancient Andes |url=https://historyguild.org/the-ancient-andes/ |access-date=2025-05-18 |website=History Guild |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=UNESCO |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1269/ |access-date=2025-05-18 |website=whc.unesco.org}}</ref> These early developments were followed by archaeological cultures that developed mostly around the coastal and Andean regions throughout Peru. The [[Cupisnique]] culture which flourished from around 1000 to 200 BCE<ref>{{cite journal |last=Cordy-Collins |first=Alana |date=1992 |title=Archaism or Tradition?: The Decapitation Theme in Cupisnique and Moche Iconography |journal=Latin American Antiquity |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=206–220 |doi=10.2307/971715 |jstor=971715 |s2cid=56406255}}</ref> along what is now Peru's [[Pacific coast]] was an example of early pre-[[Inca Empire|Inca culture]].
[[File:Moche_earrings.jpg|alt=|thumb|[[Moche culture|Moche]] earrings depicting warriors, made of turquoise and gold (1–800 CE)]]
The [[Chavín culture]] that developed from 1500 to 300 BCE was probably more of a religious than a political phenomenon, with their religious center in [[Chavín de Huantar]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Chavin (Archaeological Site) |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/330 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508102511/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/330 |archive-date=8 May 2016 |access-date=27 July 2014 |publisher=UNESCO}}</ref> After the decline of the Chavin culture around the beginning of the 1st century CE, a series of localized and specialized cultures rose and fell, both on the coast and in the highlands, during the next thousand years. On the coast, these included the civilizations of the [[Paracas culture|Paracas]], [[Nazca culture|Nazca]], [[Wari culture|Wari]], and the more outstanding [[Chimú culture|Chimu]] and [[Moche culture|Moche]].

The Moche, who reached their apogee in the first millennium CE, were renowned for their irrigation system which fertilized their arid terrain, their sophisticated ceramic pottery, their lofty buildings, and clever metalwork.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Beck |first1=Roger B. |url=https://archive.org/details/mcdougallittellw00beck |title=World History: Patterns of Interaction |last2=Black |first2=Linda |last3=Krieger |first3=Larry S. |last4=Naylor |first4=Phillip C. |last5=Shabaka |first5=Dahia Ibo |publisher=McDougal Littell |year=1999 |isbn=0-395-87274-X |location=Evanston, IL |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Mochica culture, pre-Inca in northern Peru |work=Sobre Peru |date=11 September 2009 |url=http://sobre-peru.com/2009/09/11/cultura-mochica-pre-inca-en-el-norte-peruano/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160629145512/http://sobre-peru.com/2009/09/11/cultura-mochica-pre-inca-en-el-norte-peruano/ |archive-date=29 June 2016 }}</ref> The Chimu were the great city builders of pre-Inca civilization; as a loose confederation of walled cities scattered along the coast of northern Peru, the Chimu flourished from about 1140 to 1450.<ref name="Keatinge22" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=UNESCO 2 |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/366/ |access-date=2025-05-18 |website=whc.unesco.org}}</ref> Their capital was at [[Chan Chan]] outside of modern-day [[Trujillo, Peru|Trujillo]].<ref name="Keatinge22" /> In the highlands, both the [[Tiwanaku Empire|Tiahuanaco]] culture, near [[Lake Titicaca]] in both Peru and Bolivia,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Blom |first1=Deborah E. |last2=Janusek |first2=John W. |date=2004 |title=Making Place: Humans as Dedications in Tiwanaku |journal=World Archaeology |volume=36 |pages=123–141 |doi=10.1080/0043824042000192623 |s2cid=154741300}}</ref> and the Wari culture, near the present-day city of [[Ayacucho]], developed large urban settlements and wide-ranging state systems between 500 and 1000 CE.<ref>[http://countrystudies.us/peru/2.htm Pre-Inca Cultures] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103012150/http://countrystudies.us/peru/2.htm|date=3 November 2016}}. countrystudies.us.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=UNESCO 3 |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/567/ |access-date=2025-05-18 |website=whc.unesco.org}}</ref>
[[File:Machu_Picchu,_Peru.jpg|alt=|left|thumb|The citadel of [[Machu Picchu]], an iconic symbol of pre-Columbian Peru]]
In the 15th century, the [[Inca Empire|Incas]] emerged as a powerful state which, in the span of a century, formed the [[Inca Empire|largest empire]] in the [[Pre-Columbian era|pre-Columbian Americas]] with their capital in [[Cusco]].<ref>Rowe, John (1948). "The Kingdom of Chimor". ''Acta Americana''.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Dunnell |first=Tony |date=2019-05-11 |title=Ten Interesting Facts About The Inca Empire |url=https://www.savacations.com/ten-interesting-facts-inca-empire/ |access-date=2025-05-18 |website=SA Vacations |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui". Encyclopedia Britannica, 1 Apr. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pachacuti-Inca-Yupanqui. Accessed 18 May 2025</ref> The Incas of Cusco originally represented one of the small and relatively minor ethnic groups, the [[Quechua people|Quechuas]]. Gradually, as early as the thirteenth century, they began to expand and incorporate their neighbors. Inca expansion was slow until about the middle of the fifteenth century, when the pace of conquest began to accelerate, particularly under the rule of the emperor [[Pachacuti]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Demarest |first1=Arthur Andrew |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=IqecX148zLsC|page=57}} |title=Religion and Empire: The Dynamics of Aztec and Inca Expansionism |last2=Conrad |first2=Geoffrey W. |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1984 |isbn=0-521-31896-3 |location=Cambridge |pages=57–59}}</ref> Under his rule and that of his son, [[Topa Inca Yupanqui]], the Incas came to control most of the Andean region, with a population of 9 to 16 million inhabitants under their rule. Pachacuti also promulgated a comprehensive code of laws to govern his far-flung empire, while consolidating his absolute temporal and spiritual authority as the God of the Sun who ruled from a magnificently rebuilt Cusco.<ref>Peru [http://countrystudies.us/peru/3.htm The Incas] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103012145/http://countrystudies.us/peru/3.htm|date=3 November 2016}}</ref> 

From 1438 to 1533, the Incas used a variety of methods, from conquest to peaceful assimilation, to incorporate a large portion of western South America, centered on the [[Andes|Andean]] mountain ranges, from southern Colombia to northern Chile, between the Pacific Ocean in the west and the Amazon rainforest in the east. The official language of the empire was [[Quechuan languages|Quechua]],<ref>Torero Fernández de Córdoba, Alfredo. (1970) "Lingüística e historia de la Sociedad Andina", Anales Científicos de la Universidad Agraria, VIII, 3–4, págs. 249–251. Lima: UNALM.</ref> although hundreds of local languages and dialects were spoken. The Inca referred to their empire as ''Tawantinsuyu'' which can be translated as "The Four Regions" or "The Four United Provinces." Many local forms of worship persisted in the empire, most of them concerning local sacred ''[[Huaca|Huacas]]'', but the Inca leadership encouraged the worship of [[Inti]], the sun god and imposed its sovereignty above other cults such as that of [[Pachamama]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Inca – All Empires |url=http://www.allempires.com/article/index.php?q=inca |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120164828/http://www.allempires.com/article/index.php?q=inca |archive-date=20 January 2012 |website=www.allempires.com}}</ref> The Incas considered their King, the [[Sapa Inca]], to be the "[[Solar deity|child of the sun]]."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20091110041802/http://www.nflc.org/Reach/7ca/enCAInca.htm "The Inca"] at the [[Wayback Machine]] (archived 10 November 2009) ''The National Foreign Language Center at the University of Maryland.'' 29 May 2007. Retrieved 27 July 2014.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2015-03-11 |title=Inca: Empire, Religion & Civilization |url=https://www.history.com/articles/inca |access-date=2025-05-18 |website=HISTORY |language=en}}</ref>

===Conquest and colonial period===
{{main|Spanish conquest of Peru|Viceroyalty of Peru}}
[[File:Luis Montero - The Funerals of Inca Atahualpa - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright=1.21|''Los funerales de Atahualpa'' (1867) by Luis Montero. [[Atahualpa]] was the last [[Sapa Inca]], executed by the Spaniards on 29 August 1533.]]
Atahualpa (or Atahuallpa), the last [[Sapa Inca]], became emperor when he defeated and executed his older half-brother [[Huáscar]] in a civil war sparked by the death of their father,<ref>{{Citation |last=Lavallé |first=Bernard |title=7 El fin de Atahualpa |date=2004 |work=Francisco Pizarro : Biografía de una conquista |pages=123–139 |url=https://books.openedition.org/ifea/936 |access-date=19 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240319053716/https://books.openedition.org/ifea/936 |archive-date=19 March 2024 |url-status=live |series=Travaux de l'IFEA |place=Lima |publisher=Institut français d’études andines |language=es |isbn=978-2-8218-2650-2}}</ref> Inca Huayna Capac. In December 1532, a party of ''[[Conquistador|conquistadors]]'' (supported by the [[Chanka|Chankas]], [[Huanca people|Huancas]], [[Cañari|Cañaris]] and [[Chachapoya culture|Chachapoyas]] as [[Indian auxiliaries]]) led by [[Francisco Pizarro]] defeated and captured the Inca Emperor Atahualpa in the [[Battle of Cajamarca]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Battle of Cajamarca {{!}} Summary {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Cajamarca-1532 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204140859/https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Cajamarca-1532 |archive-date=4 February 2021 |access-date=19 March 2024 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> After years of preliminary exploration and military conflicts, it was the first step in a long campaign that took decades of fighting but ended in Spanish victory and colonization of the region known as the [[Viceroyalty of Peru]] with its capital at [[Lima]], which was then known as "La Ciudad de los Reyes" (The City of Kings). The conquest of Peru led to spin-off campaigns throughout the viceroyalty as well as expeditions towards the Amazon Basin as in the case of Spanish efforts to quell Amerindian resistance. The last Inca resistance was suppressed when the Spaniards annihilated the [[Neo-Inca State]] in [[Vilcabamba, Peru|Vilcabamba]] in 1572.

The Indigenous population dramatically collapsed overwhelmingly due to epidemic diseases introduced by the Spanish as well as exploitation and socio-economic change.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Lovell |first=W. George |year=1992 |title='Heavy Shadows and Black Night': Disease and Depopulation in Colonial Spanish America |journal=Annals of the Association of American Geographers |volume=82 |issue=3 |pages=426–443 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-8306.1992.tb01968.x |jstor=2563354}}</ref> Viceroy [[Francisco de Toledo]] reorganized the country in the 1570s with gold and silver mining as its main economic activity and Amerindian [[Mit'a|forced labor]] as its primary workforce. With the discovery of the great silver and gold lodes at [[Potosí]] (present-day Bolivia) and [[Huancavelica]], the viceroyalty flourished as an important provider of mineral resources. Peruvian [[bullion]] provided revenue for the Spanish Crown and fueled a complex trade network that extended as far as Europe and the Philippines. The commercial and population exchanges between Latin America and Asia undergone via the [[Manila Galleon|Manila Galleons]] transiting through Acapulco, had [[Callao]] at Peru as the furthest endpoint of the trade route in the Americas.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Schottenhammer |first=Angela |year=2019 |title=Connecting China with the Pacific World? |url=https://www.academia.edu/44625493 |url-status=live |journal=Orientierungen. Zeitschrift zur Kultur Asiens |page=144 |issn=0936-4099 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210527045556/https://www.academia.edu/44625493/Connecting_China_with_the_Pacific_World |archive-date=27 May 2021 |access-date=27 May 2021 |quote=The wreck excavation could prove that European style jewelry was being made in the Philippines. Some 56 intact storage jars were discovered. Investigations revealed that they had come from kilns in South China, Cochin China (Vietnam), and Siam (Thailand), and one was of Spanish design. The archaeology of the Nuestra Señora de la Concepción, consequently, also provides us with intriguing new insights into the trans-Pacific trade connection and the commodities involved. Each time a galleon arrived at Acapulco, a market, la feria, was organized. This attracted all kinds of people such as Indian peddlers, Mexican and Peruvian merchants, soldiers, the king's officials, and friars, as well as a few Chinese and some Filipinos. From Acapulco, the goods were transported into the hinterlands, into Mexico City, and various other places, including Peru. The Peruvian port at that time was Callao and the Ciudad de los Reyes, that is Lima, the capital of the Viceroyalty of Peru. Generally speaking, much of what was not sold (rezagos) directly in Acapulco was redirected towards Peru. Peruvian ships, mainly loaded with silver, mercury, cacao from Guayaquil, and Peruvian wines, sailed to ports along the Mexican and Guatemalan coasts, returning with Asian goods and leftover cargo from the galleon ships. Besides Callao and Guayaquil, Paita was also frequently a port of call.}}</ref> In relation to this, Don [[Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera]], governor of Panama was also responsible for settling [[Zamboanga City]] in the Philippines by employing Peruvian soldiers and colonists.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Second book of the second part of the Conquests of the Filipinas Islands, and chronicle of the religious of our Father, St. Augustine |url=http://www.zamboanga.com/html/history_1634_moro_attacks.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228083013/https://www.zamboanga.com/html/history_1634_moro_attacks.htm |archive-date=28 February 2021 |access-date=18 February 2021 |website=Zamboanga City History |quote=He (Governor Don Sebastían Hurtado de Corcuera) brought a great reenforcement of soldiers, many of them from Perú, as he made his voyage to Acapulco from that kingdom.}}</ref> [[History of slavery#Americas|African slaves]] were added to the labor population to expand the workforce. The expansion of a colonial administrative apparatus and bureaucracy paralleled the economic reorganization.

With the conquest started the spread of Christianity in South America; most people were forcefully converted to [[Catholic Church|Catholicism]], with Spanish clerics believing like Puritan divines of English colonies later that the Native Peoples "had been corrupted by the Devil, who was working "through them to frustrate" their foundations.<ref>Russell Bourne, ''Gods of War, Gods of Peace'' (New York: Harcourt Books, 2002), 7–9.</ref> It only took a generation to convert the population. They built churches in every city and replaced some of the Inca temples with churches, such as the [[Coricancha]] in the city of Cusco. The church employed the [[Inquisition]], making use of torture to ensure that newly converted Catholics did not stray to other religions or beliefs, and monastery schools, educating girls, especially of the Inca nobility and upper class, "until they were old enough either to profess [to become a nun] or to leave the monastery and assume the role ('estado') in the Christian society that their fathers planned to erect" in Peru.<ref>Kathryn Burns, ''Colonial Habits'' (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1999), 15–40.</ref> Peruvian Catholicism follows the [[syncretism]] found in many Latin American countries, in which religious native rituals have been integrated with Christian celebrations.<ref name="discover-peru.org2" /> In this endeavor, the church came to play an important role in the [[acculturation]] of the Natives, drawing them into the cultural orbit of the Spanish settlers.

[[File:TupacAmaruII.jpg|thumb|210x210px|[[Túpac Amaru II]]]]
By the 18th century, declining silver production and economic diversification greatly diminished royal income. In response, the Crown enacted the [[Bourbon Reforms]], a series of [[Edict|edicts]] that increased taxes and partitioned the [[Viceroyalty]]. The new laws provoked [[Rebellion of Túpac Amaru II|Túpac Amaru II's rebellion]] and other revolts, all of which were suppressed. As a result of these and other changes, the Spaniards and their [[Creole peoples|creole]] successors came to monopolize control over the land, seizing many of the best lands abandoned by the massive native depopulation. However, the Spanish did not resist the [[Portuguese colonization of the Americas|Portuguese expansion of Brazil]] across the meridian. The [[Treaty of Tordesillas]] was rendered meaningless between 1580 and 1640 while [[Iberian Union|Spain controlled Portugal]]. The need to ease communication and trade with Spain led to the split of the viceroyalty and the creation of new viceroyalties of [[Viceroyalty of New Granada|New Granada]] and [[Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata|Rio de la Plata]] at the expense of the territories that formed the [[Viceroyalty of Peru]]; this reduced the power, prominence and importance of Lima as the viceroyal capital and shifted the lucrative [[Andes|Andean]] trade to [[Buenos Aires]] and [[Bogotá]], while the fall of the mining and textile production accelerated the progressive decay of the Viceroyalty of Peru.

Eventually, the viceroyalty would dissolve, as with much of the Spanish empire, when challenged by national independence movements at the beginning of the nineteenth century. These movements led to the formation of the majority of modern-day countries of South America in the territories that at one point or another had constituted the Viceroyalty of Peru.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Peru |url=http://countrystudies.us/peru/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103011538/http://countrystudies.us/peru/ |archive-date=3 November 2016 |access-date=27 July 2014 |website=countrystudies.us}}</ref> The conquest and colony brought a mix of cultures and ethnicities that did not exist before the Spanish conquered the Peruvian territory. Even though many of the Inca traditions were lost or diluted, new customs, traditions and knowledge were added, creating a rich mixed Peruvian culture.<ref name="discover-peru.org2" /> Two of the most important Indigenous rebellions against the Spanish were that of [[Juan Santos Atahualpa]] in 1742, and Rebellion of [[Túpac Amaru II]] in 1780 around the highlands near Cuzco.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Túpac Amaru II |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tupac-Amaru-II |access-date=10 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190603132731/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tupac-Amaru-II |archive-date=3 June 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Independence===
<!--4 paragraphs with no citations--> {{main|Peruvian War of Independence}}
[[File:Batalla_de_Ayacucho_by_Martín_Tovar_y_Tovar_(1827_-_1902).jpg|alt=|thumb|The [[Battle of Ayacucho]] was decisive in ensuring Peruvian independence.|left]]
In the early 19th century, while most South American nations were swept by [[Decolonization of the Americas|wars of independence]], Peru remained a [[Royalist (Spanish American Revolution)|royalist]] stronghold. As the elite vacillated between emancipation and loyalty to the Spanish monarchy, [[Independence of Peru|independence]] was achieved only after the occupation by military campaigns of [[José de San Martín]] and [[Simón Bolívar]].

The economic crises, the loss of power of Spain in Europe, the [[American Revolutionary War|war of independence in North America]], and Native uprisings all contributed to a favorable climate to the development of emancipation ideas among the [[Criollo people|C''riollo'']] population in South America. However, the Criollo oligarchy in Peru enjoyed privileges and remained loyal to the Spanish Crown. The liberation movement started in Argentina where autonomous juntas were created as a result of the loss of authority of the Spanish government over its colonies.

After fighting for the independence of the Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata, [[José de San Martín]] created the [[Army of the Andes]] and [[Crossing of the Andes|crossed the Andes]] in 21 days. Once in Chile, he joined forces with Chilean army General [[Bernardo O'Higgins]] and liberated the country in the battles of [[Battle of Chacabuco|Chacabuco]] and [[Battle of Maipú|Maipú]] in 1818.<ref>Scheina, 2003, ''Latin America's Wars: The Age of the Caudillo, 1791–1899'', p. 58.</ref> On 7 September 1820, a fleet of eight warships arrived in the port of [[Paracas (municipality)|Paracas]] under the command of General José de San Martín and [[Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald|Thomas Cochrane]], who was serving in the Chilean Navy. Immediately on 26 October, they took control of the town of [[Pisco, Peru|Pisco]]. San Martín settled in [[Huacho]] on 12 November, where he established his headquarters while Cochrane sailed north and blockaded the port of [[Callao]] in Lima. At the same time in the north, [[Guayaquil]] was occupied by rebel forces under the command of Gregorio Escobedo. Because Peru was the stronghold of the Spanish government in South America, San Martín's strategy to liberate Peru was to use diplomacy. He sent representatives to Lima urging the [[Viceroy]] that Peru be granted independence, however, all negotiations proved unsuccessful.

[[File:La Independencia del Perú.jpg|thumb|San Martín proclaiming the independence of Peru. Painting by [[Juan Lepiani]].]]
The Viceroy of Peru, [[Joaquín de la Pezuela, 1st Marquess of Viluma|Joaquín de la Pazuela]] named [[José de la Serna, 1st Count of the Andes|José de la Serna]] commander-in-chief of the loyalist army to protect Lima from the threatened invasion by San Martín. On 29 January, de la Serna organized a [[Coup d'état|coup]] against de la Pazuela, which was recognized by Spain and he was named Viceroy of Peru. This internal power struggle contributed to the success of the liberating army. To avoid a military confrontation, San Martín met the newly appointed viceroy, José de la Serna, and proposed to create a [[constitutional monarchy]], a proposal that was turned down. De la Serna abandoned the city, and on 12 July 1821, San Martín occupied Lima and declared Peruvian independence on 28 July 1821. He created the first Peruvian flag. [[Upper Peru]] (present-day Bolivia) remained as a Spanish stronghold until the army of [[Simón Bolívar]] liberated it three years later. José de San Martín was declared Protector of Peru. Peruvian national identity was forged during this period, as Bolivarian projects for a [[Congress of Panama|Latin American Confederation]] floundered and a [[Peru–Bolivian Confederation|union with Bolivia]] proved ephemeral.<ref>Gootenberg (1991) p. 12.</ref>

Simón Bolívar launched his campaign from the north, liberating the [[Viceroyalty of New Granada]] in the Battles of [[Battle of Carabobo|Carabobo]] in 1821 and [[Battle of Pichincha|Pichincha]] a year later. In July 1822, Bolívar and San Martín gathered in the [[Guayaquil Conference]]. Bolívar was left in charge of fully liberating Peru while San Martín retired from politics after the first parliament was assembled. The newly founded [[Congress of the Republic of Peru|Peruvian Congress]] named Bolívar dictator of Peru, giving him the power to organize the military.

With the help of [[Antonio José de Sucre]], they defeated the larger Spanish army in the [[Battle of Junín]] on 6 August 1824 and the decisive [[Battle of Ayacucho]] on 9 December of the same year, consolidating the independence of Peru and Upper Peru. Upper Peru was later established as Bolivia. During the early years of the Republic, endemic struggles for power between military leaders caused political instability.<ref>Discover Peru (Peru cultural society). [http://www.discover-peru.org/peru-history-independence/ War of Independence] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021143330/http://www.discover-peru.org/peru-history-independence/|date=21 October 2016}}. Retrieved 28 July 2014</ref>

===19th century===
Once independence was proclaimed, San Martín assumed military-political command of the free departments of Peru, under the title of Protector, according to a decree given on August 3, 1821. The works of the Protectorate contributed to the creation of the National Library (in favor of knowledge), the approval of the National Anthem, and the abolition of the mita (in favor of the indigenous people). On December 27, 1821, San Martín created three ministries: Ministry of State and Foreign Affairs, committing Juan García del Río; [[Peruvian Armed Forces|Ministry of War and Navy]], to Bernardo de Monteagudo; and Ministry of Finance, to Hipólito Unanue.

From the 1840s to the 1860s Peru enjoyed [[Guano Era|a period of stability]] under the presidency of [[Ramón Castilla]], through increased state revenues from [[guano]] exports.<ref>Gootenberg (1993) pp. 5–6.</ref> In 1864, a Spanish expedition occupied the Chincha Islands (guano producers) and unleashed an international incident with great consequences in Peruvian internal politics, which led to a coup d'état against President [[Juan Antonio Pezet]], Mariano's government. Peru, with the help of [[Bolivia]], [[Chile]] and [[Ecuador]], sent a declaration of war on Spain. After the battle of Callao on May 2, 1866, the Spanish Navy withdrew from Peru. The government of José Balta was lavish in infrastructure works (construction of the Central Railway) although the first signs of excess government spending were already perceived. By the 1870s the guano resources had been depleted, the country was heavily indebted, and political in-fighting was again on the rise.<ref>Gootenberg (1993) p. 9.</ref>
[[File:Angamos2.jpg|alt=|thumb|The [[Battle of Angamos]], during the [[War of the Pacific]]]]
By 1859, some 41,000 Peruvians had died in the constant civil wars that shook the country since 1829. Thanks to the money from the sale of guano, Peru began to modernize with different public works such as railways; the civil and military bureaucracy grew; The indigenous people stopped paying tribute and the slaves achieved their freedom; The migration policy of Germans, Austrians, Irish and Italians began.

On April 5, 1879, Chile declared war on Peru, unleashing the Pacific War. The casus belli was the confrontation between Bolivia and Chile over a tax problem in which Peru was compromised by the Treaty of Defensive Alliance signed with Bolivia in 1873. However, Peruvian historiography is unanimous in maintaining that the deep cause of ''this'' war was Chile's ambition to take over the nitrate and guano territories of southern Peru. In the first stage of the war, the naval campaign, the Peruvian navy repelled the Chilean attack until October 8, 1879, the day in which the naval combat of Angamos was fought, where the Chilean navy with its ships Cochrane, Blanco Encalada, Loa and Covadonga cornered the monitor [[Huáscar (ironclad)|Huáscar]], the main ship of the Peruvian navy commanded by Admiral AP Miguel Grau, who died in the fray and since then became Peru's greatest hero.

In 1879 Peru entered the [[War of the Pacific]], which lasted until 1884. [[Bolivia]] invoked its alliance with Peru against Chile. The [[Politics of Peru|Peruvian Government]] tried to mediate the dispute by sending a diplomatic team to negotiate with the Chilean government, but the committee concluded that war was inevitable. Peruvian historiography is unanimous in maintaining that the deep cause of this war was Chile's ambition to take over the nitrate and guano territories of southern Peru and Bolivia.
[[File:Batalla de Arica.jpg|thumb|[[Battle of Arica]], painted by [[Juan Lepiani]]]]

Almost five years of war ended with the loss of the [[Tarapacá Department (Peru)|department of Tarapacá]] and the provinces of [[Tacna Province|Tacna]] and [[Arica Province (Peru)|Arica]], in the Atacama region. [[Francisco Bolognesi]] and [[Miguel Grau Seminario|Miguel Grau]] are both renowned heros of the war. Originally Chile committed to a referendum for the cities of Arica and Tacna to be held years later, to self determine their national affiliation. However, Chile refused to apply the Treaty, and neither of the countries could determine the statutory framework. The War of the Pacific was the bloodiest war Peru has fought in. After the War of the Pacific, an extraordinary effort of rebuilding began. The government started to initiate a number of social and economic reforms to recover from the damage of the war. Political stability was achieved only in the early 1900s.

=== 20th century ===
[[File:Protocolo de Río.jpg|thumb|upright|The signing of the [[Rio Protocol]] in January 1942]]
Internal struggles after the war were followed by a period of stability under the [[Civilista Party]], which lasted until the onset of the authoritarian regime of [[Augusto B. Leguía]]. The [[Great Depression]] caused the downfall of Leguía, renewed political turmoil, and the emergence of the [[American Popular Revolutionary Alliance]] (APRA).<ref>Klarén, Peter (2000). ''Peru: society and nationhood in the Andes''. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 262–276, {{ISBN|0195069285}}.</ref> The rivalry between this organization and a coalition of the elite and the military defined Peruvian politics for the following three decades. A final peace treaty in 1929, signed between Peru and Chile called the [[Treaty of Lima (1929)|Treaty of Lima]], returned [[Tacna]] to Peru. Between 1932 and 1933, Peru was engulfed in a [[Leticia Incident|year-long war with Colombia]] over a territorial dispute involving the [[Amazonas (Colombian department)|Amazonas Department]] and its capital [[Leticia, Amazonas|Leticia]].

In 1941 Peru and Ecuador fought the [[Ecuadorian–Peruvian War]], after which the [[Rio Protocol]] sought to formalize the boundary between those two countries. In a military coup on 29 October 1948, General [[Manuel A. Odría]] became president. Odría's presidency was known as the ''Ochenio''. He came down hard on APRA, momentarily pleasing the oligarchy and all others on the right, but followed a [[Populism|populist]] course that won him great favor with the poor and lower classes. A thriving economy allowed him to indulge in expensive but crowd-pleasing social policies. At the same time, however, [[Civil and political rights|civil rights]] were severely restricted and corruption was rampant throughout his regime. Odría was succeeded by [[Manuel Prado Ugarteche]]. However, widespread allegations of fraud prompted the Peruvian military to depose Prado and install a military junta, via a [[1962 Peruvian coup d'état|coup d'état]] led by [[Ricardo Pérez Godoy]]. Godoy ran a short transitional government and held new elections in 1963, which were won by [[Fernando Belaúnde Terry]] who assumed presidency until 1968. Belaúnde was recognized for his commitment to the democratic process.

[[File:Junta Militar de 1968.jpg|thumb|left|Military Junta of 1968]]
On 3 October 1968 another [[1968 Peruvian coup d'état|coup d'état]] led by a group of officers led by General [[Juan Velasco Alvarado]] brought the army to power with the aim of applying a doctrine of "social progress and integral development", nationalist and reformist, influenced by the ''                    Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe'' ([[CEPAL]]), i.e. the                     “United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribean” theses on dependence and underdevelopment. Six days after the golpe, Velasco proceeded to nationalize the ''International Petroleum Corporation'' (IPC), the North American company that exploited Peruvian oil, and then launched a reform of the state apparatus, an agrarian reform. It was the biggest agrarian reform ever undertaken in Latin America: it abolished the [[Latifundium|latifunda]] system and modernized agriculture through a more equitable redistribution of land (90% of the peasants formed cooperatives or agricultural societies of social interest). Land was to be owned by those who cultivated it, and large landowners were expropriated. The only large properties allowed were cooperatives. 

Between 1969 and 1976, 325,000 families received land from the state with an average size of {{convert|73.6|acre|hectare}}. The "revolutionary government" also planned massive investments in education, elevated the [[Quechuan languages|Quechua]] language – spoken by nearly half the population but hitherto despised by the authorities – to a status equivalent to that of Spanish and established equal rights for natural children. Peru wished to free itself from any dependence and carried out a third-world foreign policy. The [[United States]] responded with commercial, economic and diplomatic pressure. In 1973 Peru seemed to triumph over the financial blockade imposed by Washington by negotiating a loan from the International Development Bank to finance its agricultural and mining development policy. The relations with Chile became very tense after the coup d'état of the [[general Pinochet]]. General [[Edgardo Mercado Jarrín|Edgardo Mercado Jarrin]] (Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Army) and Admiral Guillermo Faura Gaig (Minister of the Navy) both escaped assassination attempts within weeks of each other. In 1975 General [[Francisco Morales Bermúdez Cerruti]] seized power and broke with the policies of his predecessor. His regime occasionally participated in [[Operation Condor]] in collaboration with other American military dictatorships.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Francisco Morales Bermudez, ex-Peruvian military ruler, dies at 100 |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/07/16/morales-burmudez-peru-dies/ |access-date= |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=16 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220716221253/https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/07/16/morales-burmudez-peru-dies/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Brands|first=Hal|date=15 September 2010|title=The United States and the Peruvian Challenge, 1968–1975|journal=Diplomacy & Statecraft|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|volume=21|issue=3|pages=471–490|doi=10.1080/09592296.2010.508418|s2cid=154119414}}</ref>

President [[Alan García]]'s economic policies distanced Peru from international markets further, resulting in lower foreign investment in the country.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2 June 2010|title=Welcome, Mr. Peruvian President: Why Alan García is no hero to his people|url=http://www.coha.org/welcome-mr-peruvian-president-why-alan-garcia-is-no-hero-to-his-people/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418150551/http://www.coha.org/welcome-mr-peruvian-president-why-alan-garcia-is-no-hero-to-his-people/|archive-date=18 April 2019|access-date=18 April 2019|website=[[Council on Hemispheric Affairs]]|language=en-US}}</ref> After the country experienced [[chronic inflation]], in mid-1985, the Peruvian [[Peruvian sol (1863–1985)|sol]] was replaced by the [[Peruvian inti|inti]], which itself was replaced by the [[Peruvian sol|nuevo sol]] in July 1991 (the new sol had a cumulative value of one billion old soles). At the end of the 1980s, the per capita annual income of Peruvians fell to $720 (below the level of 1960) and Peru's GDP dropped 20%, with national reserves running a $900 million deficit. The economic turbulence of the time acerbated social tensions in Peru and partly contributed to the rise of violent rebel rural insurgent movements, like [[Shining Path|Sendero Luminoso]] (Shining Path) and [[Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement|MRTA]], which caused [[Internal conflict in Peru|great havoc]] throughout the country.<ref name="Leonard-2013" /><ref name="ECLAC-1992" /><ref>Luis Rossell, Historias gráficas de la violencia en el Perú, 1980–1984, 2008</ref>

[[File:Alberto Fujimori en 1991.jpg|thumb|upright=.85|President [[Alberto Fujimori]] during his first term]]
The Peruvian armed forces, frustrated with the inability of the García administration to handle the nation's crises, drafted the [[Plan Verde]], which involved the genocide of impoverished and indigenous Peruvians, the control or censorship of the [[media in Peru]], and the establishment of a [[neoliberal]] economy controlled by a [[military junta]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rospigliosi|first=Fernando|title=Las Fuerzas Armadas y el 5 de abril: la percepción de la amenaza subversiva como una motivación golpista|publisher=Instituto de Estudios Peruanos|year=1996|location=Lima|pages=46–47}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Gaussens|first1=Pierre|date=2020|title=The forced serilization of indigenous population in Mexico in the 1990s|journal=[[Canadian Journal of Bioethics]]|volume=3|issue=3|pages=180+|doi=10.7202/1073797ar|quote=a government plan, developed by the Peruvian army between 1989 and 1990s to deal with the Shining Path insurrection, later known as the 'Green Plan', whose (unpublished) text expresses in explicit terms a genocidal intention|s2cid=234586692|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Burt|first=Jo-Marie|date=September–October 1998|title=Unsettled accounts: militarization and memory in postwar Peru|journal=[[NACLA|NACLA Report on the Americas]]|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|volume=32|issue=2|pages=35–41|doi=10.1080/10714839.1998.11725657|quote=the military's growing frustration over the limitations placed upon its counterinsurgency operations by democratic institutions, coupled with the growing inability of civilian politicians to deal with the spiraling economic crisis and the expansion of the Shining Path, prompted a group of military officers to devise a coup plan in the late 1980s. The plan called for the dissolution of Peru's civilian government, military control over the state, and total elimination of armed opposition groups. The plan, developed in a series of documents known as the "Plan Verde," outlined a strategy for carrying out a military coup in which the armed forces would govern for 15 to 20 years and radically restructure state-society relations along neoliberal lines.}}</ref> [[Alberto Fujimori]] assumed the presidency in 1990 and, according to the head of the [[National Intelligence Service (Peru)|National Intelligence Service (SIN)]] Rospigliosi, an understanding was established between Fujimori, [[Vladimiro Montesinos]], and some of the military officers involved in Plan Verde to abide by the military's demands prior to Fujimori's inauguration.<ref name="Alfredo3" /><ref name="Rospigliosi-1996b" /><ref name="Avilés-2009" /> Fujimori would go on to adopt many of the policies outlined in Plan Verde, which led to a precitious drop in inflation from 7,650% at the start of 1990 to 139% in 1991 and 57% in 1992.<ref name="Leonard-2013" /><ref name="ECLAC-1992" /><ref name="Alfredo3" /> When Fujimori faced opposition to his reform efforts, he dissolved Congress, suspending the judiciary, arresting several opposition leaders and assuming full powers in the ''[[Self-coup|auto-golpe]]'' ("self-coup") of 5 April 1992.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cameron |first1=Maxwell A. |date=June 1998 |title=Latin American Autogolpes: Dangerous Undertows in the Third Wave of Democratisation |journal=[[Third World Quarterly]] |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |volume=19 |issue=2 |page=228 |doi=10.1080/01436599814433 |quote=the outlines for Peru's presidential coup were first developed within the armed forces before the 1990 election. This Plan Verde was shown to President Fujimorti after the 1990 election before his inauguration. Thus, the president was able to prepare for an eventual self-coup during the first two years of his administration}}</ref><ref name="Alfredo3" /><ref>{{Cite journal |date=12 July 1993 |title=El "Plan Verde" Historia de una traición |url=https://www.scribd.com/document/310286817/El-Plan-Verde |url-status=live |journal=Oiga |volume=647 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008233742/https://www.scribd.com/document/310286817/El-Plan-Verde |archive-date=8 October 2021 |access-date=8 January 2022}}</ref> He then revised the constitution, called new congressional elections, and implemented substantial economic reform, including privatization of numerous state-owned companies, creation of an investment-friendly climate, and sound management of the economy. Nonetheless, these policies did not benefit the poorest much, and inequality persisted despite Fujimori's economic achievements.<ref name="Avilés-2009" /><ref name="Mitrovic-2021" />

Fujimori's administration was dogged by [[Insurgency|insurgent]] groups, most notably Shining Path, which carried out attacks across the country throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Fujimori cracked down on the insurgents and was successful in largely quelling them by the late 1990s, but the fight was marred by atrocities committed by both the Peruvian security forces and the insurgents: the [[Barrios Altos massacre]] and [[La Cantuta massacre]] by Government paramilitary groups, and the bombings of [[Tarata bombing|Tarata]] and [[Frecuencia Latina bombing|Frecuencia Latina]] by Sendero Luminoso. Fujimori would also broaden the definition of terrorism in an effort to criminalize as many actions possible to persecute left-wing political opponents.<ref name="Villalba-2022" /> Using the ''[[terruqueo]]'', a [[fearmongering]] tactic that was used to accuse opponents of terrorism, Fujimori established a [[cult of personality]] by portraying himself as a hero and made left-wing ideologies an eternal enemy in Peru.<ref name="Villalba-2022" /> Those incidents subsequently came to symbolize the [[Human rights in Peru|human rights]] violations committed in the last years of violence.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Black|first=Jan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JRdWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT355|title=Latin America Its Problems and Its Promise: A Multidisciplinary Introduction|year=2018|publisher=Taylor and Francis|isbn=9780429974694|page=355|quote=In September 1992, a small, elite squad within Peru's antiterrorist police (established under Garcia) captured the Shining Path leader, Abimael Guzman. Within the next few weeks, using information in Guzman's hideout, police arrested more than 1,000 suspected guerillas. During the next few years, the Shining Path was decimated.|access-date=19 March 2023|archive-date=27 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230427210130/https://books.google.com/books?id=JRdWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT355|url-status=live}}</ref> His ''[[Programa Nacional de Población]]'', 'National Population Program' also resulted with the [[forced sterilization]] of at least 300,000 poor and indigenous women.<ref name="Rospigliosi-1996b" /><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Gaussens|first1=Pierre|date=2020|title=The forced serilization of indigenous population in Mexico in the 1990s|journal=[[Canadian Journal of Bioethics]]|volume=3|issue=3|pages=180+|doi=10.7202/1073797ar |s2cid=234586692 |quote=a government plan, developed by the Peruvian army between 1989 and 1990s to deal with the Shining Path insurrection, later known as the 'Green Plan', whose (unpublished) text expresses in explicit terms a genocidal intention|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Back|first1=Michele|url=https://repositoriodigital.bnp.gob.pe/bnp/recursos/2/html/Racismo-y-lenguaje/286/|title=Racialization and Language: Interdisciplinary Perspectives From Perú|last2=Zavala|first2=Virginia|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2018|pages=286–291|quote=At the end of the 1980s, a group of military elites secretly developed an analysis of Peruvian society called ''El cuaderno verde''. This analysis established the policies that the following government would have to carry out in order to defeat Shining Path and rescue the Peruvian economy from the deep crisis in which it found itself. ''El cuaderno verde'' was passed onto the national press in 1993, after some of these policies were enacted by President Fujimori. ... It was a program that resulted in the forced sterilization of Quechua-speaking women belonging to rural Andean communities. This is an example of 'ethnic cleansing' justified by the state, which claimed that a properly controlled birth rate would improve the distribution of national resources and thus reduce poverty levels. ... The Peruvian state decided to control the bodies of 'culturally backward' women, since they were considered a source of poverty and the seeds of subversive groups|access-date=4 August 2021|archive-date=4 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804105110/https://repositoriodigital.bnp.gob.pe/bnp/recursos/2/html/Racismo-y-lenguaje/286/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In early 1995, once again Peru and Ecuador clashed in the [[Cenepa War]], but in 1998 the governments of both nations signed a peace treaty that clearly demarcated the international boundary between them. In November 2000, Fujimori resigned from office and went into a self-imposed exile, initially avoiding prosecution for human rights violations and corruption charges by the new Peruvian authorities.<ref name="The Economist-2007" />

=== 21st century ===
{{See also|Peruvian political crisis (2016–present)|Peruvian protests (2022–2023)}}

Peru tried to fight corruption while sustaining economic growth at the start of the 21st century,<ref name="The Economist-2007" /> though [[Fujimorism]] held power over much of Peruvian society through maintaining control of institutions and legislation created in the 1993 constitution, which was written by Fujimori and his supporters without opposition participation.<ref name="Villalba-2022" /> In spite of human rights progress since the time of insurgency, many problems are still visible and show the continued marginalization of those who suffered through the violence of the Peruvian conflict.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=White |first=Gavin David |date=2009 |title=Displacement, decentralisation and reparation in post-conflict Peru |url=http://www.fmreview.org/protracted/white.html |journal=Forced Migration Review |access-date=2 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171015013756/http://www.fmreview.org/protracted/white.html |archive-date=15 October 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref> A caretaker government presided over by [[Valentín Paniagua]] took on the responsibility of conducting new presidential and congressional elections. Afterwards [[Alejandro Toledo]] became president in 2001 to 2006. On 28 July 2006, former president [[Alan García]] became President of Peru after winning the [[2006 Peruvian general election|2006 elections]]. In 2006, Alberto Fujimori's daughter, [[Keiko Fujimori]], entered Peru's political arena to continue her father's legacy and espouse Fujimorism.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ortiz de Zárate |first=Roberto |date=6 June 2016 |title=Keiko Fujimori Higuchi |url=http://www.cidob.org/biografias_lideres_politicos/america_del_sur/peru/keiko_fujimori_higuchi |access-date=21 February 2021 |website=[[Barcelona Centre for International Affairs]] |archive-date=9 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221209060543/https://www.cidob.org/biografias_lideres_politicos/america_del_sur/peru/keiko_fujimori_higuchi |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=20 September 2004 |title=Fujimori 'to run for presidency' |publisher=BBC |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3673082.stm |access-date=13 February 2016 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303033526/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3673082.stm |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Forero |first=Juan |date=9 April 2006 |title=Fujimori's Daughter Polishes Her Jailed Father's Image on the Road to Congress in Peru |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/09/world/americas/fujimoris-daughter-polishes-her-jailed-fathers-image-on-the.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=3 June 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=4 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201004070946/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/09/world/americas/fujimoris-daughter-polishes-her-jailed-fathers-image-on-the.html |url-status=live}}</ref> In May 2008, Peru became a member of the [[Union of South American Nations]]. In April 2009, former president [[Alberto Fujimori]] was convicted of human rights violations and [[Alberto Fujimori's arrest and trial|sentenced]] to 25 years in prison for his role in killings and kidnappings by the [[Grupo Colina]] [[death squad]] during his government's battle against leftist guerrillas in the 1990s.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Peru's Fujimori sentenced to 25 years prison|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN0746237820090407|work=[[Reuters]]|date=7 April 2009|access-date=10 July 2018|archive-date=12 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090412001459/https://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN0746237820090407|url-status=live}}</ref>

During the presidencies of [[Ollanta Humala]], [[Pedro Pablo Kuczynski]] and [[Martín Vizcarra]], the right-wing Congress led by Keiko Fujimori obstructed much of the actions performed by the presidents.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Flannery |first=Nathaniel Parish |title=Political Risk Analysis: How Will Peru's Economy Perform In 2017? |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanielparishflannery/2017/03/30/political-risk-analysis-how-fast-will-perus-economy-grow-in-2017/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221209053245/https://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanielparishflannery/2017/03/30/political-risk-analysis-how-fast-will-perus-economy-grow-in-2017/ |archive-date=9 December 2022 |access-date=9 December 2022 |website=[[Forbes]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021 |title=The Political Limits of Presidential Impeachment: Lessons from Latin America |url=https://www.giga-hamburg.de/en/publications/giga-focus/political-limits-presidential-impeachment-lessons-latin-america |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221209053253/https://www.giga-hamburg.de/en/publications/giga-focus/political-limits-presidential-impeachment-lessons-latin-america |archive-date=9 December 2022 |access-date=9 December 2022 |website=[[German Institute for Global and Area Studies]] |language=en-GB}}</ref> On 5 June 2011, [[Ollanta Humala]] was elected president, with his cabinet being [[Motion of no confidence|successfully censured]] by the Fujimorist Congress.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=31 March 2015 |title=Peru's Prime Minister Ana Jara deposed over spy row |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-32129407 |work=BBC |agency=BBC News |access-date=19 August 2017 |archive-date=20 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820050009/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-32129407 |url-status=live}}</ref> Beginning with [[Pedro Pablo Kuczynski]], Congress used [[Vacancy due to moral incapacity (Peru)|broadly interpreted]] [[impeachment]] wording in the 1993 Constitution of Peru that allowed impeachment of the president without cause<ref name="PROFE92" /><ref name="Taj-2021" /><ref name="Reuters-2021" /><ref name="Tegel-2021" /> to place pressure on the president, forcing him to [[Pedro Pablo Kuczynski#Resignation|resign]] in 2018 amid various controversies surrounding his administration. Vice president [[Martín Vizcarra]] then assumed office in March 2018 with generally favorable approval ratings as he led the anti-corruption [[2018 Peruvian constitutional referendum|constitutional referendum]] movement.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tegel |first=Simeon |date=12 August 2018 |title=Corruption scandals have ensnared 3 Peruvian presidents. Now the whole political system could change. |language=en |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/corruption-scandals-have-ensnared-3-peruvian-presidents-now-the-whole-political-system-could-change/2018/08/11/0cd43ab0-9a82-11e8-a8d8-9b4c13286d6b_story.html |access-date=17 August 2018 |archive-date=9 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109035248/https://www.washingtonpost.com/gdpr-consent/?next_url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/corruption-scandals-have-ensnared-3-peruvian-presidents-now-the-whole-political-system-could-change/2018/08/11/0cd43ab0-9a82-11e8-a8d8-9b4c13286d6b_story.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2018-04-15/perus-vizcarra-begins-presidency-with-57-pct-approval-rating|title=Peru's Vizcarra Begins Presidency With 57 Pct Approval Rating|date=15 April 2018|work=[[U.S. News & World Report]]|access-date=16 April 2018|archive-date=16 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180416073907/https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2018-04-15/perus-vizcarra-begins-presidency-with-57-pct-approval-rating|url-status=live}}</ref> 

The [[COVID-19 pandemic in Peru|COVID-19 pandemic]] resulted with Peru experiencing the highest death rate from COVID-19 in the world, exposing much of the inequality that persisted since the Fujimori administration<ref name="Mitrovic-2021" /> and triggering an economic crisis that led to [[Removal of Martín Vizcarra|Vizcara's removal from the presidency by Congress]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-54872826 |title=Peruvian Congress votes to impeach President Martín Vizcarra |work=BBC News |date=10 November 2020 |access-date=17 August 2021 |archive-date=28 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828224411/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-54872826 |url-status=live}}</ref> Widely seen as a coup by Congress, its head, the newly seated President [[Manuel Merino]], faced [[2020 Peruvian protests|protests]] across the country, and after five days, Merino resigned from the presidency.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-54953546 |title=Peru's President Merino resigns after deadly crackdown on protesters |work=BBC News |date=16 November 2020 |access-date=17 August 2021 |archive-date=3 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211003014756/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-54953546 |url-status=live}}</ref> Merino was replaced by President [[Francisco Sagasti]], who led a provisional, centrist government, and enforced many of Vizcarra's former policies.<ref>{{cite web |date=18 November 2020 |title=Francisco Sagasti sworn in as interim Peruvian leader |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-54967831 |access-date=17 August 2021 |work=BBC News |archive-date=16 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116223056/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-54967831 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[2021 Peruvian general election|Elections]] were held on 11 April 2021, and [[Pedro Castillo]] of the [[Free Peru]] party won the first round, followed closely by Keiko Fujimori, with right-wing parties allied with Fujimori maintaining positions in Congress.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-57897402 |title=Pedro Castillo declared president-elect of Peru |work=BBC News |date=20 July 2021 |access-date=17 August 2021 |archive-date=13 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813223041/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-57897402 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Protestas Lima Diciembre 2022 (3).jpg|thumb|Demonstrations in Lima during the [[2022–2023 Peruvian political protests]]]]
On 28 July 2021, Pedro Castillo was sworn in as the new [[president of Peru]] after a narrow win in a tightly contested run-off election.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dw.com/en/peru-pedro-castillo-sworn-in-as-president/a-58672989 |title=Peru: Pedro Castillo sworn in as president |work=DW.com |date=28 July 2021 |access-date=17 August 2021 |archive-date=13 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813235157/https://www.dw.com/en/peru-pedro-castillo-sworn-in-as-president/a-58672989 |url-status=live}}</ref> That same year, Peru celebrated the [[Bicentennial of the Independence of Peru|bicentenary of independence]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The bicentennial of Peru's independence: A historic opportunity |url=https://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2021/07/27/the-bicentennial-of-perus-independence-a-historic-opportunity.html |website=The Jakarta Post |language=en |access-date=20 January 2022 |archive-date=20 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120152550/https://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2021/07/27/the-bicentennial-of-perus-independence-a-historic-opportunity.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Castillo [[Pedro Castillo#Removal attempts|faced multiple impeachment votes]] during his presidency from the right-wing controlled Congress and on 7 December 2022, just hours before Congress was set to begin a [[Third impeachment and removal of Pedro Castillo|third impeachment effort]], Castillo tried to prevent this by attempting to [[2022 Peruvian self-coup d'état attempt|dissolve]] the opposition-controlled legislature and create an "exceptional emergency government." In response, Congress quickly held an emergency session on the same day, during which it voted 101–6 (with 10 abstentions) to remove Castillo from office and replace him with Vice President [[Dina Boluarte]]. She became the country's first female president.<ref>{{Cite news |date=7 December 2022 |title=Peru's President Accused of Coup After Move to Dissolve Congress |language=en |work=Bloomberg.com |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-07/peru-president-dissolves-congress-hours-before-impeachment-vote |access-date=8 December 2022 |archive-date=8 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208084351/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-07/peru-president-dissolves-congress-hours-before-impeachment-vote |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=7 December 2022 |title=Peru's President Pedro Castillo replaced by Dina Boluarte after impeachment |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-63895505 |access-date=8 December 2022 |archive-date=8 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208191334/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-63895505 |url-status=live}}</ref> Castillo was arrested after trying to flee to the [[Mexico|Mexican]] embassy and was charged with the crime of rebellion.<ref>{{Cite web |date=8 December 2022 |title=Peru president removed from office and charged with 'rebellion' after alleged coup attempt |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/07/peru-president-detained-pedro-castillo-coup |access-date=8 December 2022 |website=The Guardian |language=en |archive-date=7 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221207211159/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/07/peru-president-detained-pedro-castillo-coup |url-status=live}}</ref>

The Boluarte government proved unpopular as she allied herself with the right-wing Congress and the military, betraying her constituents.<ref name="Banda-2023" /><ref name="Patriau-2023" /> This resentment led to the [[2022–2023 Peruvian political protests]], which sought the removal of Boluarte and Congress, immediate general elections and the writing of a new constitution. Authorities responded to the protests violently, with the [[Ayacucho massacre]] and [[Juliaca massacre]] occurring at this time, resulting with the most violence experienced in the nation in over two decades.<ref name="Banda-2023" /> The strong response by the political elite in Lima raised concerns that they sought to establish an [[authoritarian]] or [[Military junta|civilian-military government]].<ref name="Banda-2023" /><ref name="Patriau-2023" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=4 January 2023 |title=Perú Libre presentará moción de interpelación contra ministro del Interior |url=https://larepublica.pe/politica/2023/01/03/marcha-por-la-paz-peru-libre-presentara-mocion-de-interpelacion-contra-ministro-del-interior-victor-rojas-pnp-atmp/ |access-date=12 January 2023 |website=[[La República (Peru)|La Republica]] |language=es |archive-date=12 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230112005354/https://larepublica.pe/politica/2023/01/03/marcha-por-la-paz-peru-libre-presentara-mocion-de-interpelacion-contra-ministro-del-interior-victor-rojas-pnp-atmp/ |url-status=live}}</ref>