Ethnische Kriege in Lateinamerika im 19. Jahrhundert (review)

Ethnische Kriege in Lateinamerika im 19. Jahrhundert. By MICHAEL RIEKENBERG. Historamericana, no. 5. Stuttgart: Verlag Hans-Dieter Heinz; Akademischer Verlag Stuttgart, 1997. Notes. Index. Bibliography. 169 pp. Cloth.

Michael Riekenberg's book on ethnic wars in nineteenth-century Latin America is organized around three sets of issues: (1) the distinguishing traits of nineteenth-century Latin American ethnic wars; (2) the modes of ethnic violence employed in Latin America during the nineteenth century; and (3) the transformations of Latin American ethnic wars during this period. Riekenberg succeeds very well in responding to these questions, offering new interpretations and insights.

Before addressing these issues in four case studies, the author lays out his theoretical framework, namely, the distinction between ethnic revolts and ethnic wars. Ethnic revolts were common in Latin America during the colonial period and occurred mainly as reactions to oppression. Ethnic wars, on the other hand, emerged as a consequence of changing patterns in the relationship between state and local or regional (ethnic) communities, transformations that were unfolding with considerable force in the early nineteenth century. When spatial organization as another determinant factor in this relationship is also taken into account, it becomes clear that the majority of ethnic wars grew out of the complex transformations which took place in Latin America during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century and were therefore responses to quite different factors than those that contributed to ethnic revolts.

The author distinguishes two main categories of ethnic wars, namely, "hegemonic" and "competitive." Hegemonic ethnic wars usually occurred in a frontier situation, and were often triggered by territorial expansionism. The state was involved as an actor and violence could easily escalate to high levels, including ethnic massacres and even complete extermination of the "enemy." Competitive ethnic wars, on the other hand, were usually linked to the fragmentation caused by the existence of comparatively strong local groups and ethnic communities within a weak state. The former were the main actors; they generally aimed at separation from neighbouring groups or territories, but their violence could also be directed at the state. Thus the pattern which prevailed in this kind of war was one of fragmentation, dissection, and dissolution, while in the hegemonic type an integrative pattern prevailed, though imposed by force at the expense of the defeated group.

The four case studies on Yucatán (1847-53), the La Plata region (1776-1835) for hegemonic wars, with Guatemala (1838-80) and Peru (1880-85) for competitive wars, exemplify very well the similarities and the differences between the two categories of ethnic wars. They are concise and carefully written, drawing on a wide range of published historical sources (in the Guatemalan case also archival sources) and bibliography. Comparisons mainly with European history relate the Latin American ethnic wars to those in other regions.

This is a well-structured book and a very useful contribution to the current discussion on ethnic wars in Latin America and may also provide material for comparative analysis. In addition to specialists in the field of Latin American history who will find the book most rewarding, the book will certainly be useful to other historians, political scientists, sociologists and anthropologists, especially if they are interested in the study of ethnic conflicts and the formation of the modern nation-state.

Iris Gareis, Frobenius-Institut an der Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt

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