Alternative History
Republic of Colombia
República de Colombia
Timeline: Swear with Glory to Die!
Gran Colombia Flag Coat of arms of Gran Colombia New
Flag Emblem
Anthem: 
Marcha Libertadora
ColombiaMapSGD4
Location of mainland Colombia and island provinces (green)
CapitalMaracaibo
Largest city Bogotá
Official languages Spanish
Demonym Colombian
Government Federal presidential constitutional republic
 -  President Rafael Correa
 -  Vice President Jorge Glas
Legislature Congress
 -  Upper house Senate
 -  Lower house Chamber of Representatives
Independence from Spain
 -  Established December 17, 1819 
 -  Santander Constitution October 13, 1829 
Population
 -  2023 estimate 150,475,907 
Currency Bolivar ($)
Drives on the right

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia (Spanish: República de Colombia) is a country located in South America and the Caribbean. Bordered by Argentina, Chile and Paraguay the south, the Canadian province of Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south and east, Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the east. Since its independence from the Spanish Empire, Colombia has remained one of the richest and most powerful countries in the Americas.

First home to various indigenous peoples, cultures and a large Empire, the modern-day province of Venezuela was settled by Spain in the early 16th century despite initial resistance from the natives. Most of the territory was organized in the Spanish Viceroyalty of New Granada, officially declaring independence from Spain as the Republic of Colombia, founded by Simón Bolívar. Bolívar declared himself dictator of Peru and Bolivia (which was named after him) later unifying them to Colombia, causing a rebellion that was rapidly crushed by the national army. During its first years, Colombia oversaw a political turmoil in which the country almost fell into a civil war, being stopped by the reforms of Francisco de Paula Santander. The 19th century was a period of several conflicts with nations like Brazil and Spain, but also building relations with other recently-independent countries, that ended up in the creation of the Guayaquil Accords. By the 20th century, Colombia had crowned itself as one of the most powerful nations in the world, having great involvement in big international events like the two World Wars, Martes 16, the Spanish Civil War and the Cold War.

In the modern day, Colombia is a developed country, having the world's largest known oil reserves, also being home to the Panama Canal that connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It is a founder founder of the Latin American Union, the United League of Nations and the PTO.

Etymology[]

"Colombia" comes from the last name of Christopher Columbus or Cristobal Colón in Spanish. Originally created to refer to all of the American Continent, the name was adopted by the Republic of Colombia after its independence from the Spanish Empire.

History[]

Pre-Colonial era (Before 1493)[]

Evidence of human habitation in modern-day Colombia have been traced as far as 12,500 BCE in a settlement located in Peru called Huaca Prieta. Around the 15th century, the Inca Civilization trascended into an Empire that comprised most of the Pacific coast of South America, comprising most of the Andean region, controlling a population of 9 to 16 million inhabitants under all of its existence. From the years 1438 to 1533, the Empire used a large variety of ways like conquest or assimilation to incorporate most of the western part of South America, mainly centered on the Andean mountain ranges, going from southern New Granada to northern Chile, between the Pacific Ocean in the west and the Amazon rainforest in the east. A big variety of local languages and dialects where spoken in the Inca Empire, with Quechua being the official language. The incas considered the king (called Sapa Inca) to be the child of the sun, according to their religion.

The Inca Empire tried to make incursions into the coast of Ecuador and the Amazon jungles located in southern Colombia, but ultimately failed because of the hostility imposed by the native tribes, causing them to retreat and use guerrilla tactics.

During the Spanish colonization, the population of most of the tribes in the territory dropped significantly because of diseases like smallpox, to which the natives had no immunity.

Indigenous peoples in Venezuela are credited for the Arepa, one of the main plates in Colombian cuisine.

Colonization (1501-1810)[]

Spanish Colonization[]

Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada spanish conquistador

Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, who led an expedition to the interior of Colombia

In his third voyage to the new world, Christopher Columbus and his crew landed in the Gulf of Paria, located in Venezuela. Impressed by what he saw there, Colombus described the zone as "Heaven on Earth" in a letter to the Catholic kings of Spain. Later in 1499, Alonso de Ojeda, part of the crew of Colombus, reached the Guajira Peninsula. After navigating near the Caribbean and exploring the Gulf of Urabá, they founded the town of Santa María la Antigua del Darién in 1510, being the first city founded by conquistadors in mainland America.

Spanish Conquistadors made alliances with local indigenous communities, which were vital to the consolidation of the Empire in both South and North America. Said communities suffered a decline in population thanks to Eurasian diseases, with smallpox being the most prominent example.

Spain made trade between the viceroyalties illegal, the shortage of Asian products coming from the Philippines like silk and porcelain encouraged illegal trade within the empire. The Department of Córdoba became the distribution center for the illegal imports.

German Colonization (1528-1546)[]
Coat of arms of Welser family

Coat of Arms of the Welser Family

In 1528, the king of Spain gave a significant part of territory in the modern-day Venezuela to German Welser family. This new colony with the name of "Klein-Venedig" became the largest initiative in colonization of the New World by the Germans, lasting from 1528 to 1546. Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor who was also the King of Spain at the moment, granted the family the right explore, rule and colonize the given territory. Ambrosius Ehinger, first German explorer in the zone, established the city of Maracaibo in 1529.

Charles V revoked Welser's concession in 1546, while the colonists from Germany slowly died because of the tropical diseases in the zone.

Spanish Colonization[]

The Viceroyalty of New Granada was first established in 1717, but had to be re-established in 1739 after a short period of not existing. New Granada was split between the Captaincy General of Venezuela, the New Kingdom of Granada, the Presidency of Quito and the Governorate of Guayaquil, comprising most of the modern territory of Colombia.

Santa Fé de Bogotá was choosen to be the Capital of the Viceroyalty, fastly turning into one of the main administrative centers in the Spanish territories in the New World, alongside other important cities like Lima or Buenos Aires.

Independence and early 19th Century[]

Bolivar's campaigns (1810-1823)[]

Posthumous portrait of Simón Bolivar

Simón Bolívar, proclaimed as El Libertador is considered the father of the modern Republic of Colombia.

Uprisings in the viceroyalties of New Granada and Peru were unsuccessful since the beggining of the Colonization of the New World, all of them being rapidly crushed by the Spanish authorities. The Napoleonic invasion of the Iberian Peninsula immediately triggered a chain reaction in the colonies, that added with the discontent of the creole elites who were against some of the restrictions imposed imposed by Spain, started a conflict for independence.

Venezuela declared independence under the leadership of Francisco de Miranda on 5 July, 1811. Cundinamarca would also declare independence on the same year under the United Provinces of New Granada. After becoming the leader of the independentist forces, Simón Bolívar would launch the nicknamed "Admirable Campaign" in 1813, from New Granada to Venezuela. Bolívar, now nicknamed as El Libertador would establish a new, short-lived Second Republic of Venezuela, that was rapidly crushed by the royalist forces.

Shortly after the French invasion of Spain concluded, Ferdinand VII was officially restored, and he would send an army to retake their possesions in South America. A Third Republic of Venezuela was established by Bolívar in the territories still controlled by the patriotic army, two years later, Venezuela and New Granada (later renamed Cundinamarca) joined to form the Republic of Colombia. The Battle of Carabobo assured the independence of the nation from Spain, while the Battle of Pichincha resulted in Quito joining the Republic.

Liberation of Peru (1809-1826)[]

The Viceroyalty of Peru (which would later become the provinces of Perú, Chanca and Bolívar) was the main stronghold of the Royalist forces in the South American continent. José de San Martín, who had previously fought for the independence of Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata, formed an army of roughly 3800 soilders and crossed the Andes Mountains in only 21 days. After joining with the Chilean forces, a fleet commanded by San Martín arrived in the Port of Paracas, starting a new campaign for the liberation of Peru.

Entrevista Argentina y Colombia (1822)

A painting representing the Conference of Guayaquil between San Martín and Simón Bolívar.

The North of Peru and the city of Guayaquil were occupied by the royalist forces led by Gregorio Escobedo. Despite continuing military advances, San Martín planned to negotiate the Independence of Peru diplomatically with the Viceroy, but failed. On 12 July 1821 Lima was occupied and San Martín declared the independence of Peru shortly after. Three years later, Bolívar liberated Guayaquil.

In 1822, Simón Bolívar and San Martín organized the Guayaquil Conference, in which Bolívar was left responsable of fully liberating Peru and Upper Peru, while San Martín retired from politics. The recently-formed Peruvian Congress declared Bolívar dictator of the nation. A congress made in the city of Chuquisaca would rename the region of the Upper Peru "Bolivia" in his honor, and he would become dictator of the nation.

Congress of Panama (1826)[]

The Congress of Panama was held in Panama City in 1826 with the objective of creating cooperation between the Latin American republics. 7 of the 8 nations invited to the congress attended, including Mexico, Argentina and Chile. In the Congress, Bolívar used the collapse of the United States of America as an example of why the new republics should embrace unity and cooperation, instead of competition over influence. He also achieved the formation of an alliance between Colombia and Mexico, with the sole condition of Colombia handing over the Mosquito Coast, and agreed to help the United Provinces in the Cisplatine War.

Peruvian Revolt (1826-1829)[]

Shortly after the Congress, Bolívar used his power as dictator of both Peru and Bolivia to annex both nations into Colombia, and enacted a new Constitution. Because of the lack of autonomy the constitution gave to the provinces, nationalism would start to exponentially grow in Peru, causing a crisis, leading to the secession of the province from the Union in a conflict known as the Peruvian Revolt.

Francisco de Paula Santander y Omaña

Francisco de Paula Santander, second president of Colombia who had a great influence over the Constitution of the nation

The separation of Peru left Bolivia geographically isolated from the rest of the nation, and obligated the revolutionaries to fight a war on two fronts. Bolívar temporarily retired from his duties as president to form a new army that would re-establish control over Peru. His vice-president, Francisco de Paula Santander would assume as the de facto leader of Colombia. The rebellion was finally crushed at the Battle of Pastaza, and the war would end in 1829, with Peru and Bolivia being integrated once again into the nation. After the end of the war and because of his declining health, Bolívar would resign as President and call for a Second Constitutional Convention, that federalized the union in order to prevent future conflicts over the autonomy of the provinces. During the Convention, President Santander agreed to move the capital from the Andean city of Bogotá to Maracaibo in the coast of Venezuela.