Baliscan War of Independence
| Baliscan War of Independence | |||||||||
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| Part of Decolonization of the Americas | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
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Republicans:
Diplomatic support:  United Kingdom |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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 Maria I John VI |
 Josep I | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 120,000–180,000 killed | |||||||||
| History of Balisca |
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| Timeline |
The Baliscan War of Independence (Baliscano: La Guerra de Independencia Baliscana), also known as La Resistencía, was a conflict against attempts by Spain under Joseph Bonaparte to forcibly re-impose colonial rule in the Baliscan archipelago, and it marked the end of the Espanya Boba period of Baliscan history stretching back to the early 18th century. Although there has been research on the idea of a pan-Baliscan identity that overlapped the early political boundaries, political unification of the archipelago was not the aim of most, nor was it necessarily inevitable. In fact, there was little coordination between the different factions in the opening years, despite their mutual interest in resisting the Spanish attempt at conquest.
The Spanish had wider support in the economic Bayaran economic elite, in the hopes of preserving slavery (upon which it's profitable plantation economy was based). This support intensified to the Granyana Proclamation, in which the Southern Confederation pledged to "fully eradicate" the practice. However beyond this, the Bayarans had little affection for the new Bonapartist regime in Spain and it's struggle for legitimacy.
Unlike the other Spanish American Wars of Independence, the Resistencía was primarily fought to preserve independence against an attempted imperial reconquista, as opposed to the civil wars between colonists seen in South America.
In 1815, representatives of Royalist Bayara surrendered to the republicans following the decisive Battle of Navassa, effectively destroying the last royalist strongholds in mainland Balisca, allowing the republicans to consolidate their forces. While this did not change the position of Spain against separatism, it largely resulted in the collapse of the royalists in Balisca. Over the course of the next two years, anti-royalist councils imprisoned, executed or expelled the former hacienda and slave-owning class. The continued political instability in Spain, without a navy, army or treasury, convinced many former royalists of the need to formally abandon their cause and embrace independence.
Independence also did not result in the end of political turmoil, and was immediately followed by political infighting. Many of the slave owners that were expelled largely relocated to Brazil and Argentina, and their expropriated land and assets were turned over to the newly emancipated population. Additionally, the new nation did not have a well-defined identity, but rather the process of creating a new identity was only beginning. This would be carried out through newspapers and the creation of national symbols.
Most significantly, borders between the emergent republics were not firmly established, and competing movements for federalism or confederalism in the new state. The two largest republics that emerged from the wars—Bayara and Hesperia —fought a bloody conflict that effectively split the fledgling confederation from 1819 to 1820. It would eventually descend into civil war and collapsed entirely in 1828 following Bayara's attempt to split from the confederation.
