How Peru Accidentally Became a Superpower

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Embark on a journey through the mid-1800s, a pivotal era defined by the Industrial Revolution, where bird droppings, known as guano, emerged as a game-changer. This video navigates the influential role of Guano in the advent of industrial agriculture and the global shift in farming practices.
Facing the alarming decline of soil fertility and farming productivity due to industrialization, societies needed a new solution. Traditional practices like crop rotation and the application of manure no longer sufficed. Enter Guano, the miraculous substance that sparked an agricultural renaissance, rejuvenating fields and boosting harvests beyond expectations.
From farms in upstate New York, dwindling in productivity, to global fields experiencing unprecedented growth, this video reveals Guano's astonishing power and enduring influence on our world. From igniting agricultural transformations to shaping geopolitics, driving wars, and building empires, Guano has played a far-reaching role.
Join us as we explore the extraordinary tale of this natural fertilizer and its pivotal role in history.
- Contents of this video --------------------------------
00:00 - The Problem that Threatened Progress
04:47 - The Islands that Changed the World
09:11 - The Age of Guano & Suffering
13:13 - The New Peru
15:39 - An Empire is Born
18:39 - The Guano Empire Goes Bust
21:30 - The Greatest Discovery in Modern History
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THIS CHANNEL IS MADE POSSIBLE WITH THE HELP OF PATREON!
Support the channel by becoming a Patron today! / casualscholar
Thank you to the channel's generous Patrons!
Hayden Haun, Emmanuel Fredenrich, Pulaski, Adrian Willenbücher,
Hallucination, A Fan, robin valero
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Sources used ---------------------------------------------
Guano and The Opening of the Pacific World by Gregory T. Cushman
History's Great Untold Stories: The Larger Than Life Characters and Dramatic Events That Changed the World by Joseph Cummins
www.atlasobscura.com/articles...
www.futurity.org/industrial-a....
ushistoryscene.com/article/gu...
www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...
www.coha.org/the-great-peruvi...
www.encyclopedia.com/humaniti...
mises.org/library/great-guano...
www.economist.com/christmas-s...
yaffle53.wordpress.com/2014/0...
#Economics #History #Guano #CasualScholar #EconomicHistory

[@CasualScholar]

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[@nabankuraich9539]

10:43 10:44 10:44 10:46 10:46 10:47 10:52 10:52 10:52 10:53 10:55 10:56 11:03 11:04 11:06

[@rogertriebwasser4779]

😊😊😊😊😊😊 LLC😊

[@reinhardheinzwarfelr8215]

What are the music used in the video?

[@myxiong441]

​@@rogertriebwasser4779ex

[@extremosaur]

I saw a video where a pacifist said this was among the dumbest reasons to fight a war. Like bruh, literally this is feeding your nation.

[@Bell_plejdo568p]

So stealing from other countries is okay?

[@oahmed64]

​@@Bell_plejdo568p yes

[@Skyhanger]

​@@Bell_plejdo568p as long as we're stealing bird shit 🐦💩

[@PatrickKniesler]

While I can't disagree generally, one has to wonder at what point we're going to stop chasing jevons paradox with population.

[@extremosaur]

@@PatrickKniesler Once the education of a nation, and its breeding yield a population on average capable of perceiving at once nuance and greater than binary systems, I reckon the variety of demands would dissolve at least in part, the Jevons Paradox.

[@tr33ck]

Fantastic video. As a Peruvian, we were taught about the importance of the guano islands in school, but admittedly a more reserved version in regards to the atrocities our government committed with the usage of slaves. What hits particularly close to home is the way in which the elite withheld the profits made from guano to themselves and for vanity projects which ultimately fractured our economy and nation. Sadly the repercussions are still seen today, since our main industries revolve around mineral and petroleum extraction, and one could argue the government practices have hardly changed since the guano days when it comes to allocating the money earned from those industries. Thank you for this video Casual Scholar, I don't think many people nowadays know about the importance guano had in the development of modern society.

[@sethbartley2212]

fascinating! thanks for sharing your unique insights. I'll have to read into this further.

[@balabanasireti]

"As a" 🤓

[@BCSoHappy]

@@balabanasireti 6:01 had seen

[@lowtechredneck6704]

Do they also teach about the importance of the Andean plant that produces quinine? Highly ironic that it was the only effective treatment for centuries for a disease that only afflicted the Americas after European colonization. Peru has had much more impact on world history than is commonly recognized.

[@ajax4898]

thank you for sharing

[@HandyMan657]

That's awesome, "How birdshit changed the course of history." I have never heard it put in exactly the same way I have before. Thank You Cas.

[@tungsten2009]

the subtitles say "how sheet changed the course of history" lol

[@Mrbfgray]

Tangent: at least on a small scale some market garden farmers (say 2 to 5 acres or so) have manage to be quite profitable without any commercial fertilizers (organic or synthetic) but instead compost and soil management, large scale organic farms may require organic fertilizer inputs but can regenerate soils while profiting from them. Naturally both tend to result in considerably higher quality produce but at significant price premium. (maybe common knowledge)

[@icosthop9998]

​@@Mrbfgray TY

[@senatorjosephmccarthy2720]

@@Mrbfgray , But in the seventh year shall be a Sabbath of rest unto the land, a Sabbath to Yehovah. Thou shall neither sow thy field nor prune thy vineyard. That which groweth of its own accord.. thou shall not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed, for it is a year of rest unto the land. Leviticus 25: 4 and 5. This command and principal of operation applies to all land on earth in all ages, and would have/will rejuvenate the land to it's former potential, but will not enrichen it beyond, as will composting.

[@m1k3droid]

It is a myth that guano islands were solely about fertilizer. Mainlanders could easily get guano from many areas including bat caves, pig and chicken farms, etc. What these islands were valued for was that the purity of the guano was especially needed for making quality gun powder for naval cannon used on battleships.

[@davey815]

That's actually correct. Most of this was used to make highly explosive gunpowder, and even nitroglycerin... aka another form of nitrogen... aka.... TNT!!!

[@icosthop9998]

​@@davey815 TY

[@wmffmw1854]

Agreed. Gunpowder was the real driver. Fertilizer was a convenient secondary use.

[@wmffmw1854]

@@davey815 Not quite, you forgot fuming nitric acid used to make Nitroglycerin and many other explosives and industrial processes. Then came oil.

[@g.g.v5716]

Not true, those composts are really poor compared to peruvian guano islands

[@AwokenEntertainment]

Wow! I'm Peruvian and I never would've known that the discovery of Guano in Peru shaped the course of the world's history this much.. how fascinating

[@catholic3dod790]

That is why England and Chile that stolen the two provinces (states) Arica and Tarapacá for guano and saltire to make powders for the guns.

[@catholic3dod790]

​@@ems4884 I went to Paracas. The birds pooed on the hills or guano. They smelled horrible.

[@brankobelfranin8815]

@@catholic3dod790 We did not steal them , read son.

[@lolproo]

Ese gringo ha tirado varias cosas erroneas, el guano peruano era importante pero no te sostenia una economía.

[@brankobelfranin8815]

@@lolproo cual gringo

[@Ryanandboys]

As a farmer I did already know most of this and I have at times tried to explain to others but it never landed as well as I thought it schould have. Lol Now I can show them this video!

[@ChemEDan]

🐦💩

[@MonsterMash01]

The spelling. That was the reason. Lol joking

[@azuriteknight2484]

The twists and turns of this story are fascinating. Love how you tied in various seemingly unrelated topics and showed the sort of butterfly affect that small moments can have.

[@CasualScholar]

Thank you so much! Happy you enjoyed!

[@msmsmsms4262]

2:57 "This is the astonishing and strange tale of how bird shit changed the course of history" lol the way that line was backed up by the epic opening song was great!

[@hinpoppo9185]

BURD SHET STUNLOCKED ME I was expecting a mild “bird poop” but got hit by the hard T 😭

[@augenbutter]

The island of Nauru, in the western Pacific Ocean, had migrating birds using it as their travel stop and toilet. It made the inhabitants wealthy, before it disappeared after the toilets were cleaned out.

[@peterburger5145]

As an Australian, I know that Nauru was the source of our phosphate fertiliser.

[@AG-iu9lv]

One of my upper level undergrad electives was history of peoples of South Asia & the pacific, during which we covered Nauru. That class turned out to be surprisingly useful in understanding that history is all context and does not happen in a vacuum.

[@Rdg875]

As a Peruvian, we are also taught that while the guano represented an important revenue stream during the early days of the Republic, this period is labelled by one of our most important historians as the "fallacious prosperity" as the Government instead of selling directly, it delegated the task to private entities (local and foreigners), with the latter using the gains to improve their industrial capacity in their respective countries, while ours remained stagnated. On top of that, a poor spending plan generated many poor-quality infrastructure and railways that only represented more debt. "in Peru it is extraordinary what does not happen" - Jorge Basadre - Peruvian Historian

[@sethbartley2212]

fascinating! thanks for sharing your unique insights. I'll have to read into this further.

[@Rdg875]

​@@sethbartley2212 Years later, we had another economic boom with saltpeter. Rich saltpeter deposits were found in the south along within Bolivian territory (when Bolivia had a sea access). Eventually, it escalated to the War of the Pacific with Chile which resulted in Chile gaining the region of Arica and removing Bolivia of its sea access. The causes are different but the result was the same.

[@balabanasireti]

As a 🤓

[@KainYusanagi]

Just another reason why I have hated international companies. If a company wants to do business in another country, it should have to work with a local company, so that both have vested interest in doing well for each other as well as themselves in a symbiotic relationship, rather than an exploitative one.

[@erikmaguina1]

Yup as a Peruvian I also learned this from the history class.

[@declanmarshall6581]

I cant beleive how little school prepared me for life, bird poop salesman was never brought up when talking about the possible jobs that the subjects i took could lead to, it was doctor, lawyer, engineer but never on the prospects of harvesting white gold?

[@lowtechredneck6704]

I prefer Simon Whistler's terminology; "sweet, sweet ass-gold".

[@gongboom]

In my island of Curaçao we have a tall "Table Mountain" that was mined for phosphate to the point that is disppearing. The tiny island of Klein Curaçao or "Small Curacao" off the coast was also mined. Several meters of its top soil were removed for its phosphate.

[@Seaweedsz]

As a peruvian, I really appreciate this video about our history. While I would have personally preffered a video about the economic history of Peru (kind of like how you did on your video about the soviet union or the one about Lichtenstein) I still found it insightful and it even helped me remember some things from history class back at school

[@balabanasireti]

As a 🤓

[@jasonhaven7170]

Like the fact they were enslavers and colonisers.

[@romeosantos9006]

Yes, Peru was an enslaver of Easter Islanders, destroyed their history, depopulated the island, let the selfish elite dominate the decrepit economy, preferred visual illusion of progress, envied Chile, treacherously allied itself with Bolivia against Chile, was too weak to defend even Lima, and lost the War of the Pacific. Peru has a lot of historical baggage.

[@romeosantos9006]

I bet Peruvian history glosses over its cruelty to Easter Islanders and the island itself.

[@Seaweedsz]

@@romeosantos9006 You seem to like making assumptions. We actually got to learn a bit about it, though we did not spend as much time with it as we did with the history of exploitation of blacks, chinese and of course the native themselves

[@FXwashere]

If you want to increase the value of your car, hope that a bird poops on it.

[@gannonpatton2858]

This is why I always park my car under power lines.

[@Mr.Isquierdo]

The moment he mentioned what they did to the Easter Island people I knew that was moment the island failed. The strongest and most knowledgeable gone. The rats. The pillaging. Why have historians questioned this event when they know an entire third of a population vanished?

[@jz94117]

It is a mystery. Where did all the Easter Islanders go? They just seemingly left in the middle of their meals.

[@Mr.Isquierdo]

@@jz94117 there is a second encounter years after. The trees were gone, the people fought over caves, and there was cannibalism. I don't remember the documentary I saw years ago though. It mentioned two separate visits. I don't think it was the guano ship though

[@nunyabiznes33]

Eh, didn't the Polynesians themselves accidentally brought rats? Those mofos have been hitchhicking all through the Austronesian Expansion.

[@htopherollem649]

saw a video relatively recently that provided evidence for a disease being the cause for the loss of trees on Rapanui

[@andresamplonius315]

Actually Rapa Nui "failed" long before europeans "discovered" it.

[@parabelluminvicta8380]

well we must say the dinosaurs did the most work for millions of years shitting in the planet. hahaha

[@hamanu666]

Over one million years of poop. That’s a lot of poop!

[@Caleta280]

This is the real reason why British coordinated full support to Chile to invade Peru. And when Peru wanted to buy ammo and ships, guess who stepped in to block other countries after been paid to deliver it: USA. Later the US tried to play the friendly role by supporting a peace deal, after the Dutch, English and US companies had absorbed all sorts of contracts from the Peruvian nationals. USA even suggesting that Peru should pay Chile the cost of war, an insult to peace treaties. Then USA declared its Monroe doctrine.

[@g.g.v5716]

During that time, Chile, being the poorest country in America, was manipulated by British interests that sought to invade Peru, mainly due to its rich mineral deposits. As a result of the war between Peru and Chile, Peru's saltpetre mines and guano islands fell under the control of British companies. In this situation, Chile acted as a pawn in the hands of foreign interests and eventually seized Peruvian lands. It's also important to note that years before the conflict, England secretly provided Chile with arms and even supplies such as clothing, creating an imbalance of power in the region. In this context, Peru had invested in purchasing arms and ships in Europe, but these resources were blocked by England. Additionally, the country was dealing with internal civil conflicts, which weakened its ability to defend itself effectively. This combination of factors further exacerbated Peru's situation in the war and paved the way for the appropriation of its resources by foreign interests.

[@cliffwoodbury5319]

South American should be so much more profitable than it is today. They were feeding the world for that long!!! This was a great video!!!!

[@dennisestradda9746]

Amerika has kept it down toppling democratically elected president after another for dictatorship

[@g.g.v5716]

Yes, and the Potatoe comes from Peru!

[@krono5el]

more like the Americas were being robbed and stolen from while being destroyed for some christian europeans to get rich the last 400 years :D

[@godofthisshit]

@cliffwoodbury5319 The profits are in spain, portugal, and your wealth caste.

[@BendyDH]

South America all around should have definitely had a similar story to the US and Canada in terms of prosperous and modernized nations go, but corruption and European wealth stealing for far too long stunted the potential of South America all around. In the very least Argentina should be a world superpower right now with the likes of the US, Europe, Japan, etc

[@Cdr_Mansfield_Cumming]

Of course, today it's been worked out that with the correct cover crops and rotating certain crops farmers don't need nitrogen, lime or potassium to be spread on their fields and still produce better crops.

[@pedclarkemobile]

Phosphorus is the macro element that is harder to maintain. It cannot be pulled from the air like N or C, it needs to be supplemented by rock dust or synthetic sources.

[@JosephStJames2000]

You took an incredibly complex series of historical situations and created a concise timeline that was both easy to understand and engaging. Amazing presentation.

[@sergekudrynskyj6662]

An eye-opening history of the value and influence of bird droppings in agriculture. And the exploitation and use of labour in a hazardous unhealthy environment.

[@orboakin8074]

22:25 How is Mr. Fritz not more well known?! His invention single-handedly saved so many lives and guaranteed food production for generations after him. he is a hero.

[@Mr.Isquierdo]

Same reason why the inventor of dynamite is remembered

[@orboakin8074]

@@Mr.Isquierdo yeah, I see your point.

[@vermillioncap8784]

Well he created most of the gas used in ww1 so you know, not a hero. Just a guy who did a good thing.

[@krono5el]

synthetic anything is never good for anyone or anything on earth.

[@genericnameinc]

What do you mean not well known? The haber-bosch method for synthesizing ammonia is taught in middle school chemistry... Well I guess it depends where you're from.

[@phann860]

Extremely good and insightful, poor Fritz Haber apart from his Nitrogen extraction process was also involved in poison gas production during WW1. A sad tale as he was also Jewish and of course had to leave Germany. A great scientist all in all.

[@thescott1091]

Fritz Haber's story is so remarkable and sad it's wild there hasn't been a movie made about him. His chemicals or poison gases also made an appearance in WWII as well...such a shame how it all ended for him.

[@bobdollaz3391]

He didn't remain Jooesh, he converted to Lutheranism although that wasn't appealing enough to the 30's regime

[@faridzuank3798]

I saw this in @veritasium channel, very informative!

[@antasosam8486]

Sounds like karma

[@RK-cj4oc]

Please do more videos like this. This was amazing. Keep up the great work.

[@cameronhedstrom7404]

Very cool! One of the few channels these days I watch the video start to end with no skips or anything.

[@MrPoornakumar]

I learnt in 24 minutes what all I wanted to know for decades. Thank you.

[@davidhenningson4782]

Never... underestimate the 'significance' of a "good dump!" Those birds literally changed the world... one priceless dropping at a time😌

[@winter_just_as_summer]

Interesting Vid for sure! Who'd have thought that all would have gone to nowhere if not for bird poo 😂 2 remarks for more precison though: 1. WW I started in 1914 2. BASF, that got the patent from Haber (who issued it in 1908 and got it granted in 1911) build the first industrial factory centered around the haber-process in 1913. Just FYI

[@akapoka8732]

You know you watch too much random informational KZbin videos when you get upset thinking “No way he titled the video this and it’s about GUANO..” then I remember nobody really knows about guano other than people who watch this type of stuff.

[@skyblueo]

Thank you for this video. I had never heard of the American Guano Islands. It brings a new understanding to the battle of Midway.

[@clivematthews95]

WOW 😯 Absolutely mind blowing! The road humanity took to get to modernity is absolute madness. This begs the question yet again, are we good for this earth or it’s biggest curse?🤔 Greed, ignorance, exploitation, and world domination by any means are the true diseases that will be the end us

[@domthabomb3045]

Very well said…..

[@krono5el]

the indigenous Americans treated the land just fine. its the invading foreigners from europe that have no history or connection to the American continent so they will destroy it and everything on it without remorse in the name of jesus and the queen : D

[@senatorjosephmccarthy2720]

Please type: King James Bible Online, Matthew 24: 4, 6, 7 and especially 8. Leading to Revelation 13. Revelation 14. Leading to Matthew 24: 21 and 22.

[@clivematthews95]

@@senatorjosephmccarthy2720 that’s a lot of work, and I’m not really Christian or religious 😭

[@jrstf]

It appears the left wing politics will end us far before nature does. One by one the major agricultural centers are being shut down. Sri-Lanka farming shutdown by their own government by denying fertilizer to the farmers, Netherlands working on doing the same. Ukraine shutdown by a war to topple Russia.

[@DIRECTCURRENT336]

It's wild to think how many people's lives were supported by bird poop. And how if alternatives hadn't been found how insane the global starvation rates would have skyrocketed once all the bird poop had been used up.

[@theorderofthepurplephoenix3321]

“The astonishing and strange tale of how bird shit changed the course of history” -Casual Scholar

[@erikmaguina1]

😅😅😅😅 I was laughing at the same thing

[@pulidoraul4937]

The explanation of the guano issue is excellent. I have known it for some time, because my family from Canary Island used this kind of fertilizer...

[@Well_Earned_Siesta]

“How birds*** changed the world” should have been the video title… probably would get at least 10x more views

[@rockystonewolf]

Great video! Yes, Germany might have found the Nitrate harvesting from air, but Norwegian inventor Christian Birkeland was in the race too. Funded by business entrepreneur Sam Eyde, they made Norsk Hydro producing fertilizer in Norway. They plant had half Birkeland ovens, the others BASF ovens from Germany.

[@ThinWhiteAxe]

ahhh time for my bird poop fix.

[@williamlloyd3769]

Related to these deposits in Peru. The Guano Islands Act was passed by USA 1856. This United States federal law passed by the Congress enables citizens of the United States to take possession in the name of the United States any unclaimed islands containing guano deposits.

[@esmenhamaire6398]

Superb. I knew some of the content, but about half of it I did not - thank you for expanding my knowledge of history!

[@niall5821]

If only Peru had had a strong leader, such as Paraguay's Dr. Francia, perhaps guano revenue could have been better spent. Maybe Peru's navy preemptively occupying islands all over The Pacific Ocean in order to better monopolize the resource. Uchronia. Being peruvian and fond of history I admire the accuracy of your video.

[@celdur4635]

We did use it better, and had a good leader. This video is grossly misinformed.

[@jasonhaven7170]

Fond of what? The fact they were enslavers and colonisers.

[@celdur4635]

@@jasonhaven7170 Please.

[@romeosantos9006]

Yes, Peru was an enslaver of Easter Islanders, destroyed their history, depopulated the island, let the selfish elite dominate the decrepit economy, preferred visual illusion of progress, envied Chile, treacherously allied itself with Bolivia against Chile, was too weak to defend even Lima, and lost the War of the Pacific. Peru has a lot of historical baggage.

[@Pan_Z]

@Celdur > Disagrees > Doesn't elaborate Not the most convincing argument. What do you think was wrong in the video?

[@ROXANNE708]

Fascinating video! Keep putting out the amazing content! 👍

[@joshlaws439]

I always love your content it’s always so informative and they really help to educate me further on economics

[@nicocorbo4153]

great video. humboldt is one of my favorite historical figures

[@Cronkna]

Man you need more subscribers you’re underrated as hell!

[@andrewrossy]

Utterly marvellous… such an amazing 24 minutes. Thank you. .

[@CasualScholar]

Thank you for the incredibly kind comment :)

[@spencergauta8160]

One of the most informative videos I’ve watched. Didn’t know ANY of this History

[@michalchik]

There's an important omission in the basic science of this video that changes the whole conclusion. The guano shortage problem was not solved during world war I by The haber process. Only one aspect of it the nitrogen shortage was solved by that. The phosphorus problem is still solved by guano and geologic phosphorus deposits, and we are just about to run out of those, there is a phosphorus crunch going on right now and it's getting worse. There are very hard efforts going into solving the phosphorus problem, but it's not going to be as easier as pulling it out of that atmosphere because there is no phosphorus in the atmosphere, most of it is diluted in the ocean or spread out in the rocks and minerals of the earth. This is a looming crisis, and only some areas are going to be naturally abundant enough in their soil to allow them to be independent of phosphate fertilizers. You should consider doing the part two on the imminent phosphorus crisis and the international conflict it will probably cause

[@gamingwithmahirofficial2489]

this channel deserves a million subs

[@mattheweburns]

I read a book written by the USDA in the late 1800s suggesting extremely high yield for crops and cattle. That they subsidized even back then with unreasonable numbers.

[@seanmxkid]

Anyone else get the notification for this video and found themselves unable to not click to see how you were somehow addicted to bird poop?

[@DailyLifeSolution]

Me.

[@edgarmichael3276]

The intro was soooo dramatic... made my day.....how bird shit saved humanity... or the symbiotic relationship that saves the planet. Great video

[@moremer66]

"bird shit". greatest line Ive heard on here

[@markeverhart3835]

lmao. dude drops the line "how birdshit changed the course of history" got me dying.

[@jasonhaven7170]

13:14 The Peruvians were colonisers of the Easter Islands and enslavers of Black, Chinese and Polynesian peoples.

[@g.g.v5716]

INDEED

[@Mastercrack_GS]

Something that Peruvian historians, professors, and even the government itself try to hide.

[@AboveBoardAndBeyondControl]

That there is some Batsh!t crazy economics...literally! Outstanding Video! Love it!

[@m6uso]

WHAT AN INTRODUCTION

[@catholic3dod790]

Arriba, Perú 🇵🇪 Más trabajos

[@alexlents4689]

Props for having an uncensored swear in the thumbnail (a pretty mild one, but still a de-mon risk)

[@lukulamagnus5198]

Took me back to Econs History class in Uni. You got geopolitics right . Pitt the Oil Producing nations refused to learn from history. There are still millions in subsistence and peasant agric who don't get hold of fertilisers and die early.

[@alexanderbaca7352]

In so far as I am aware we still have to mine phosphorus, and in fact it is a very limited resource, perhaps a different video on rock phosphate?

[@DragoonXV]

I knew there was phosphorus mining in some Pacific Islands in the 20th century. I didn't know about guano until today! It's refreshing to get historical content that I'm not familiar with

[@Microbex]

One of Russia's main exports is fertilizer. Ukraine's main export is corn.

[@Gc7788m]

Wasnt expecting that "bird shit" line 😅😅

[@andro9009]

I never thought that bird pope 💩💩💩 would be so important.

[@romeosantos9006]

The War of the Pacific involving Chile. Peru and Bolivia was oversimplified in this video.

[@g.g.v5716]

This video is telling partialy the truth. The british equiped and armed Chile 10 years before the war with Peru to ocuppy the peruvian nitrate mines which after the war ended as british companies and chile just gaining the land. The war was between Peru and the British

[@700mobster]

2:59 That caught me off guard lmao. I thought you were gonna say nitrogen or fertilizer but damn I guess that works too.

[@PUNKDUDE1991]

I'm surprised the British didn't outright take the islands from Peru

[@g.g.v5716]

Well they kinda did with the nitrate mines, this video is telling partialy the truth. The british equiped and armed Chile 10 years before the war with Peru to ocuppy the peruvian nitrate mines which after the war ended as british companies and chile just gaining the land. The war was between Peru and the British

[@Mastercrack_GS]

I don't know but an Englishman named John Thomas North was the one who financed the weapons, in addition to a vice admiral named Patricio Lynch who was trained by the English royal navy, England took them away indirectly.

[@jatochgte]

the Chileans gave a monumental beating to the Peruvian and Bolivian tyrants who had enslaved not only the Rapa Nui people, but also the Chinese Coolies, who were liberated by the Chilean army, which also took possession of the Island of Pascua and two other archipelagos, in addition to expanding its territory to Oceania and Antarctica, turning the small Kingdom of Chile into a tricontinental Republic and the largest naval power in the South Pacific, which even kept the USA at bay from intervening in Colombia and Panama !!

[@PatrickKniesler]

The War of the Pacific is very interesting, but has a pittance of representation in Western thought. I continue to wonder what might have happened if it became a proxy war for American and European nations.

[@user-vu3kt7ss5q]

That was quite enjoyable, sir.

[@dennisbibik3061]

"Bird shit" got me😂

[@SleepyKyju]

I really want to get into gardening. I have 9 parrots of my own and we have a non-profit parrot rescue/sanctuary out of our house. Time to switch to biodegradable cage liners and start a bird shit compost pile out back.

[@hoangvu220]

Incredible! I have never heard such a story before. Thanks. I learned something interesting today.

[@mattheweburns]

I knew there was more than just coal that sparked the industrial revolution, but we were never taught us in schools

[@seananthony7494]

Is it me or South America feels both familiar and exotic? I wish more videos focused on South America it’s such a unique place.

[@zimriel]

Joseph Conrad, "Nostromo"

[@cseijifja]

onyl reason it feels "exotic " , is mostly because of how filled with misinformation and stereotypes the palce is, in truth it's mostly iberian people in america.

[@ROXANNE708]

LOVE the new title! 💙

[@Horizon3165]

Well done documentary. Thank you.

[@DonPedroman]

In the 1860s Spain also ocuppied the Cincha Islands during the Spanish-South American war

[@stephenmoerlein8470]

Thanks for posting this interesting history.

[@lindarocco9974]

I RoccoMend this excellent video. Thank you Casual Scholar for creating this video for us to learn from. I look forward to watching many more of your videos.

[@renoits06]

you had me at bird shit

[@thanduxolomantakana8444]

Beautiful script and narrated excellently. 🎉

[@wotwot6868]

Very important lesson to learn for every individual of a nation state. Make sure that your government does not squander economic gains. Observe how some countries have manage not to squander.

[@angelofamillionyears4599]

This is an excellent post!! Very fascinating!!

[@canadiankewldude]

You should look into the scraps of writings on Easter Island, untranslated, to the ancient writings found in the "Indus Valley." To date, neither have been deciphered. Compare the two places with the letters used, it is obvious that at some point in history, there must have been some contact between the two.

[@MrHav1k]

I had no clue. What a fascinating video.

[@pmcllc1]

Good research and presentation

[@BobWeaver3000]

ngl, about a minute in, I had a hunch where he was goin with the intro, and at 3:01, got a legit LOL outta me when hunch was confirmed

[@petersz98]

Where there is muck there is money! As an old saying goes.

[@PinkyJujubean]

I love fhat you tell the history of a country from an economic standpoint. 😊

[@alyanton2157]

Thanks 🙏for videos! Awesomely

[@chrissmith7259]

Great video and knowledge

[@antoniohorta5656]

I believe the correct word is "fed" not feed. Long time ago.

[@zimriel]

This youtube is excellent and more people should see it. The only change is that I'd mention bat poop as well as bird poop. Also as these reserves run out, our chemists might be able to synthesise more nitrates, but only a nuclear-physicist can synthesise phosphorus. That's not happening at scale. What *might* happen at scale is asteroid mining. Be interesting if the Peruvian space-programme gets out into that. Let's hope the Peruvians offer better deals to its miners than their ancestors offered to Rapa Nui.

[@zimriel]

although 1913 as the first world war is, er. fix this plz Casual Scholar

[@markheaney]

It seems to be a pretty big stretch to say that the USA is or was the fourth largest empire because that had a bunch of mostly uninhabited islands.

[@arnordtetris7496]

The birds : I poop Rest of the world : r e a l s h i t

[@Uluru9737]

As far as I know, they also help the Inca farmers of Peru to cultivate better.

[@zimriel]

and cocaine!

[@igzuniga]

@@zimriel , you don't cultivate cocaine you dumb dumb, you cultivate coca leaf, its like saying you cultivate flour...people are stupid or pretend to be stupid this days...

[@JeffBilkins]

Surely once a ship carried 2k ton of soggy guano around South America and across the Atlantic it can never be used for anything else again?

[@angelofamillionyears4599]

Very interesting !!! You have great posts !! keep up the great work !!