| Native Name: | República de Chile |
| Conventional Long Name: | Republic of Chile |
| Common Name: | Republic of Chile |
| Iso3166code: | omit |
| Era: | Decolonization of the Americas |
| Government Type: | Dictatorship |
| Event Start: | Established |
| Date Start: | 12 February |
| Year Start: | 1817 |
| Event End: | Disestablished |
| Date End: | 28 January |
| Year End: | 1823 |
| Event1: | Declaration of Independence |
| Date Event1: | 12 February 1818 |
| Event2: | Battle of Maipú |
| Date Event2: | 5 April 1818 |
| Event3: | Provisional Constitution |
| Date Event3: | 23 October 1818 |
| Event4: | Constitution |
| Date Event4: | 8 August 1822 |
| P1: | Reconquest (Chile) |
| Flag P1: | Flag of Cross of Burgundy.svg |
| S1: | Organization of the Republic |
| Flag S1: | Flag of Chile (1818).svg |
| Flag: | Flag of Chile |
| Coa Size: | 100px |
| Symbol Type Article: | Coat of arms of Chile |
| Image Map Caption: | Effective territory and claims based on the uti possidetis of 1810. |
| Capital: | Santiago |
| Common Languages: | Spanish (official) Indigenous languages (Quechuan languages, Aymara, Mapudungun, Kawésqar, Yaghan) |
| Leader1: | Bernardo O'Higgins |
| Leader2: | Ramón Freire |
| Year Leader1: | 1817-1823 |
| Year Leader2: | 1823-1826 |
| Title Leader: | Supreme Director |
| Stat Year1: | 1818 |
| Stat Pop1: | 850,000 |
New Fatherland (Spanish; Castilian: Patria Nueva) was a period in the history of Chile that began with the victory of Ejército de los Andes in the Battle of Chacabuco on 12 February 1817 and ended with the resignation of Bernardo O'Higgins as Supreme Director in 1823.
See main article: Bernardo O'Higgins.
Not long after becoming the Supreme Director of Chile, O'Higgins sent the Aguila, a ship captured in the port of Valparaiso, to rescue Chilean patriots stranded on the Juan Fernández Islands. O'Higgins formed an army to face the Spanish Empire forces hidden in the port of Talcahuano and the montoneras (traitor patriots, natives and bandits), who were on the shore of the Bio-Bio River.
He created the Vindication Tribunal, a legal apparatus that granted patriots the right to reclaim goods taken by the Spanish during the Reconquest. He also ordered the exile of priests advocating for continued fealty to the Spanish throne.
The independent people waited in Talca for the royalists, but the royalists took another path. San Martin and O'Higgins were caught by surprise.
In Santiago fear had spread with the defeat of the Ejército de los Andes and the Chilean army. Many people in Santiago were already going into self-imposed exile again in Mendoza. Rumors of the deaths of O'Higgins and San Martin spread rapidly.
In these circumstances, in the cabildo of 23 March, Manuel Rodríguez yelled "We still have our homeland, citizens!" and proclaimed himself the supreme director. He created a squadron called Húsares de la Muerte. It attracted many "carreristas", swearing to die before seeing the homeland in the hands of Spain again. Knowing this, O'Higgins went back to Santiago against medical advice and accompanied by San Martin. Both were welcomed with cannon shots on the sunrise of 24 March.
Despite having signed the Declaration of Independence, Chile and Argentina experienced unstable independence attributable to the presence of the Royalists in Peru. San Martín continued his planned invasion of Peru with the added support of O'Higgins. Organized in 1820 by the government of Chile, the Freedom Expedition of Peru, led by Commanding General José de San Martín and Lord Thomas Cochrane, was one of the central forces leading to the Peruvian War of Independence. In 1822, San Martin retired from the campaign, resigning as Protector of Peru. Simon Bolivar took his place, backed by the Colombian government, and continued to fight for Peru's independence.
Cochrane would settle the decisive blow to the Royalists in Chile when, in 1820, he seized the Valdivian Fort System, the most fortified place in South America at the time. Cochrane succeeded in the Capture of Valdivia using a surprise land assault. He then sent a small force in charge of Jorge Beauchef to pursue the Royalist army fleeing from Valdivia to Chiloe and, in the process, conquered the cities located further south of Valdivia - including Me Río Bueno and Osorno.
After the capture of Valdivia, Lord Cochrane left Colonel Jorge Beauchef as commander and governor of Valdivia. On 6 March 1820, Colonel Beauchef overcame the royalists during the battle of El Toro. From Valdivia, Cochrane went to Chiloe. He failed in a ground attack on Ancud and was forced to retreat. After the battle of El Toro, he began to consolidate his army's presence in the southern Chilean region, excluding Chiloé.
In Chilean historiography, the New Homeland is seen to have ended in 1823, with the resignation of O'Higgins in the open town council meeting of January 28.[1] O'Higgins, emotional, said goodbye to the audience with the following words:
However, the last Spanish territory in Chile, the island of Chiloé, would be conquered and annexed to the new Republic of Chile, only in January 1826, when the Treaty of Tantauco was signed, during the government of Ramón Freire, successor of O'Higgins.