On his part the President of Bolivia was too much engrossed in the festivities connected with a masquerade to bother about notifying the people that their land had been invaded until several days after the event had occurred! Misfortunes far worse than anything which had fallen to the lot of its ally now awaited Peru, which first attempted an officious mediation and then declared war on the 4th of April.

Since Peru and Bolivia together had a population double that of Chile, and since Peru possessed a much larger army and navy than Chile, the allies counted confidently on victory.

But Peru's army of eight thousand--having within four hundred as many officers as men, directed by no fewer than twenty-six generals, and presided over by a civil government altogether inept--was no match for an army less than a third of its size to be sure, but well drilled and commanded, and with a stable, progressive, and efficient government at its back.

The Peruvian forces, lacking any substantial support from Bolivia, crumpled under the terrific attacks of their adversaries.
Efforts on the part of the United States to mediate in the struggle were blocked by the dogged refusal of Chile to abate its demands for annexation.

Early in 1881 its army entered Lima in triumph, and the war was over.
For a while the victors treated the Peruvians and their capital city shamefully.