Epilogue

Summary

Moderates whatever their colour, gave way to the forces of extremism across the next ten years (1811–21) of the history of the province. The old ruling elite of Caracas, and for that matter most of the province's white population, seem to have tried to stay out of the conflict that escalated around them in the years after July 1811. When this was not possible, as was often the case, they accommodated to whichever royalist or republican currently held the central reins of power. They had plenty of practice in transferring nominal allegiances. The radical rulers of the First Republic (July 1811 – July 1812) gave way to the royalist caudillo Domingo Monteverde (July 1812 – August 1813). He, in turn, was ousted by a resurgent Bolívar, who held sway in the province for less than a year (August 1813 – July 1814) before fleeing before another royalist maverick, José Tomás Boves. A combination of Boves, his lieutenants and bureaucratic Spanish officials from other provinces then governed Caracas for a period of nine months (July 1814 – April 1815) until the arrival of an expeditionary army from Spain under the leadership of Field Marshall Pablo Morillo. He and his aides ruled the province under a curious mixture of military occupation and partial restoration of the colonial order until mid-1821 when Bolívar finally liberated the province and Venezuela.

If anything, the multiple changes of government increased the determination of the population of Caracas to remain on the sidelines. It is probably often noticed but seldom remarked that every successful military effort to supplant the central authority in Caracas, from 1812 on, was mobilized outside the province or at best in its regional peripheries.