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Territorial disputes between Chile and Argentina, primarily over Patagonia, were mostly resolved when the two countries signed a treaty of 1881 recognizing their mutual border – although one 50km section of this, just north of Torres del Paine, remains unresolved. (Although the two governments agreed on the position of the border in 1991, this was not ratified by the Argentine parliament, and at the time of writing no formal agreement had been concluded.)

In 1890 the authoritarian president José Manuel Balmaceda’s decision to act in direct defiance of Congress led to Civil War, with the army backing Balmaceda and the navy backing Congress. Following his defeat, Balmaceda committed suicide.

The 20th century

Chilean society remained deeply divided, with a vast gap between the disempowered workers and the ruling and landed elite, and strikes became increasingly common, typically resulting in brutal oppression. A number of social reforms were introduced by president Arturo Alessandri in a new constitution in 1925, a theme which was to be taken further by a later president, Eduardo Frei, in the 1960s.