Deserters and rebels. Two ways to understand the militarization in Guatemala and Chiapas, 1825-1859

Abstract

Research on military mobilization and the application of justice during the first half of the nineteenth century has provided new nuances that help to understand the state construction of that period in Hispanic America. This article is inspired by this renewal to make a first attempt at exploration about the ways in which the military and militiamen were judged. Problem of first importance because the new political legitimacy passed through the citizenship, and this was understood in many occasions as a right won by the participation in the militias and regular units. This article will address two territorial spaces under construction, Guatemala and Chiapas, which were part of the General Captaincy of Guatemala and maintained political and economic ties despite being part of two different national projects after 1823.