nvulsions in the country followed the abdication of
O'Higgins. Not only had the spirit of the strife between Unitaries and
Federalists been communicated to Chile from the neighboring republic
to the eastward, but two other parties or factions, divided on still
different lines, had arisen. These were the Conservative and the
Liberal, or Bigwigs (pelucones) and Greenhorns (pipiolos), as the
adherents of the one derisively dubbed the partisans of the other.
Although in the ups and downs of the struggle two constitutions were
adopted, neither sufficed to quiet the agitation. Not until 1830, when
the Liberals sustained an utter defeat on the field of battle, did the
country enter upon a period of quiet progress along conservative lines.
From that time onward it presented a surprising contrast to its fellow
republics, which were beset with afflictions.

Far to the northward, the Empire of Mexico set up by Iturbide in 1822
was doomed to a speedy fall. "Emperor by divine providence," that
ambitious adventurer inscribed on his coins, but his countrymen knew
that the bayonets of his soldiers were the actual mainstay of his
pretentious title. Neither his earlier career nor the size of his
following was sufficiently impressive to assure him popular support if
the military prop gave way. His lavish expenditures, furthermore, and
his arbitrary replacement of the Congress by a docile body which would
authorize forced loans at his command, steadily undermined his position.
Apart from the faults of Iturbide himself, the popular sentiment of a
country bordering immediately upon the United States could not fail to
be colored by the ideas and institutions of its great neighbor. So, too,
the example of what had been accomplished, in form at least, by their
kinsmen elsewhere in America was bound to wield a potent influence on
the minds of the Mexicans. As a result, their desire for a republic grew
stronger from day to day.

Iturbide, in fact, had not enjoyed his exalted rank five months when
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, a young officer destined later to become a
conspicuous figure in Mexican history, started a revolt to replace
the "Empire" by a republic. Though he failed in his object, two of
Iturbide's generals joined the insurgents in demanding a restoration of
the Congress--an act which, as the hapless "Emperor" perceived, would
amount to his dethronement. Realizing his impotence, Iturbide summoned
the Congress and announced his abdicat