The naval balance behind the War of the Pacific

The War of the Pacific was also known as the Saltpeter War and the Ten Cents War. Its crisis arose from disputed Atacama territory, nitrate wealth, and Bolivia's contested tax. The argument that Chilean nitrate shareholders drove the war needs qualification because Chilean elites also had property exposed in Peru and Bolivia, while all three states claimed territory or taxation rights. Peru's secret alliance with Bolivia could not provide the usual peacetime warning and deterrence because Chile was not meant to know it existed. Peru and Bolivia possessed more soldiers and, on paper, more ironclads, while coastal Bolivia had no navy and relied on letters of marque. Chile began with fewer troops and heavy ships, but it had a more coherent naval tradition and could make sea power serve the wider campaign.