" 
  Hi Marshal, I am inclined to agree that Keysanger has made a point here, and that it is probably too strong to have Wikipedia assert as a fact that, ""under international law at that time neither side had actually declared war"". That is an absolute statement. I think the statement should be attributed, i.e. ""According to X, ..."". When Wikipedia's voice makes an absolute statement, it should be a statement of an uncontested fact. Also I am finding it confusing that Keysanger's sources do indeed say that Bolivia declared war - not just that Chile thought Bolivia declared war. If these historians are wrong, the article doesn't help me to understand why they are wrong. I am happy to be persuaded otherwise? Also, could I suggest that having multiple threads open discussing multiple disputes at the same time is probably not ideal. Should we try to resolve this point first?   "