The sale of the flag and the liberal revolution-ecuador (1895)

The Liberal Revolution of 1895 is considered one of the most important revolutions in the history of our country. Through this, Ecuador was seeking for a complete transformation eliminating the “Partido Progresista” and trying to do the same with the Conservative Party. Most people in Ecuador were considering accepting new ideas. People were ready for a change and ready to move on from the samepolitical party that had ruled the country for many years. These people were followers of the Liberal Party, who felt it was their time to be in power.
This revolution meant the end of the relationship between the Church and the State, eliminating the Catholic Religion as the one and only religion of the State. In addition, it was important to remove the power Church had in politic matters and ineducation. This revolt looked for integration of the country, improvement of commerce, introducing woman to society as equal to man ( ).
There were many strikes and revolts in different places and it became clear a civil war was going to take place. The country’s situation was no longer acceptable: country had a budget deficit; Ecuador was lacking of public work; there were constant attacks withPeru, among other reasons. It was all matter of time (and an excuse) until something occurs. We can dare to mention that this excuse was known as the Sale of the Flag (La venta de la Bandera) during the presidency of Dr. Luis Cordero Crespo. This event was apparently caused by the Governor of Guayas, Dr. José María Plácido Caamaño, and the Consul of Ecuador in Valparaíso, Sr. Luis Noguera. Thisevent lead to the end of Cordero’s presidency and to the period of Progresismo.
After this, revolts took place. The Liberal Revolution was, without a doubt, the most significant change in the history of the Republic.( ) This civil war began in Guayaquil under the leadership of General Eloy Alfaro, who represented the Radical Liberal Party. This revolution began in 1895 and ended in 1912 with thedeath of Alfaro.
Even though the bourgeoisie was the social sector that benefited the most from this civil war, sectors such as the “campesinado costeño”, montoneros, artisans, particularly form Guayaquil, and intellectuals were the ones that spread the liberal ideas.

II. Background: Pre-Sale of the Flag

Luis Cordero Crespo was president of Ecuador from July 1, 1892 to 16 of April 1895. Hewas member of the Progresistas that was a liberal Catholic political party.
During his presidency, there was an unbalance between income and outcomes of the country. This caused an insufficient fund for the payment of expenses; in addition, most of the fund available was used for the protection of the country: war expenses. One of the most important events, if not the most important one, duringhis presidency was one known as the Sale of the Flag.
It all goes back to 1894 when China and Japan were at war. Japan won this conflict and as a result they wanted to expand their conquest as far as Manchuria, province of China.
Some of the biggest monopolies of North America and Europe provided help to Japan. One of the forms of this help was financial support for the purchase of weapons andassets in general that will benefit Japan. The country obtained the amount of money necessary for the purchase of items they were interested. However, there were some war ships and weapons that presented some difficulties at the moment of acquiring them. The construction of a war ship lasted around 3 to 4 years and to avoid the waiting, they finally decide to purchase them. ( )
After taking thedecision of purchasing the war ship, there was a question to be asked: where to purchase them? It was impossible to obtain the ships from England, Germany or France. These countries were improving and expanding their own war armament. Therefore, Japan decided to look for the armament in independent countries, especially those in Latina America. The reason why they focus their attention there...