Between Civil Wars: Colombia’s Liberal Republic, Memory of the Thousand Days’ War, and the Drift to La Violencia

Abstract: Four successive liberal presidencies governed Colombia in the period called the Liberal Republic (1930-1946). Part of the liberal political strategy during this era involved invoking memory of the Thousand Days’ War (1899–1902), a major civil war between the conservative government of the moment and liberal rebels. This paper explores the consequences of such a strategy. It argues that the Liberal Party encouraged negative partisanship through constant references to the earlier period of warfare between the parties, and although party elites mobilized supporters through this use of memory, they failed to fulfill expectations for reform. As a result, liberal supporters grew disillusioned with the Liberal Republic, but its collapse in 1946 did not ease interparty tensions. The parties returned to armed conflict in the era of La Violencia. These factors are key to exploring the relationship between memory of the Thousand Days’ War and the outbreak of La Violencia.