Spain

E

5

Effects of the French Revolution

A weak ruler, prey to intrigues and corruption, Charles IV was dominated by his chief adviser, Manuel de Godoy. The reign of Charles (1788-1808) coincided with the turbulent French Revolution (1789-1799). The revolution caused extraordinary upheavals throughout Europe and had particularly adverse effects in Spain.

Many European monarchies watched in horror as the French Revolution unfolded, especially after the fall of the Bastille in Paris in 1789. Fearful that revolutionary ideas might spread to the peninsula, Spain’s Bourbon monarchy introduced repressive policies, revived the Inquisition, and ended plans for new domestic reforms. After revolutionary forces executed French Bourbon king Louis XVI in 1793, Spain joined Britain and other European powers in a war against France. The following year France invaded Spain and ravaged its northern provinces, occupying Bilbao and San Sebastián. After initial Spanish resistance, Godoy admitted defeat.

In 1796, as revolutionary fervor in France abated, Godoy reversed course and formed an alliance with France against Britain. The British navy proved superior to the French and Spanish fleets, however. For the next decade, British blockades largely cut off Spain from its American colonies. The economic consequences for Spain were disastrous, as Spanish colonial trade shifted to Britain and the United States and Spain’s finances deteriorated. Worse still, it soon became clear with the rise to power of Napoleon Bonaparte in France that Spain was a junior partner in the alliance. In 1800 Napoleon forced Spain to return the Louisiana Purchase to France. By 1805, after a joint Spanish-French fleet was destroyed by the British at the Battle of Trafalgar, Spain had been reduced to little more than a French puppet. Two years later, with Godoy’s consent, French troops marched across Spain in a bid to conquer Portugal. On their way, French forces occupied army garrisons in north and central Spain.

Resentment among the Spanish people grew, and they turned against Godoy and Charles. Godoy was deposed and Charles was forced to abdicate in favor of his son, Ferdinand VII. Napoleon, who had already decided to assume direct control of Spain, used the unrest as an opportunity to invade Spain. Napoleon ousted both Ferdinand and Charles and placed his brother, Joseph Bonaparte, on the Spanish throne.

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E

6

War of Independence

Many Spaniards refused to recognize Joseph as king and angrily opposed the French occupation. On May 2, 1808, a popular uprising drove Joseph from Madrid. In the violent Peninsular War that followed, Spain, aided by British troops, fought a war of independence from France. By 1810 French forces had defeated the major Spanish armies and occupied most of the country. But Spanish irregular fighters who employed guerrilla tactics—surprise attacks and rapid retreats—continually harassed the French forces. Their efforts prevented the French from routing British forces sent to protect Portugal or from completely conquering Spain. Over time the French forces weakened, and British troops under Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, pushed into Spain from the west. In 1813, after a series of bloody engagements, France was forced to evacuate the peninsula. See also Napoleonic Wars.

E6

a

Constitutional Reform

During the war, Spanish resistance leaders attempted to establish a liberal government in Spain. From 1810 to 1813 they convened a Spanish Cortes (national assembly) in Cádiz. The assembly proclaimed a constitution for Spain in 1812. Advanced for its time, the Cádiz constitution gave Spain a limited monarchy and a single-chamber parliament, curbed the power of the nobility and the Catholic Church, suppressed the Spanish Inquisition, and expanded protection of individual rights. Suffrage was tied to property ownership, giving business interests a strong voice in the new parliament. The constitution was a victory for liberalism in Spain. Thereafter, much of Spain’s history involved struggles to make the constitution’s ideals effective.

E6

b

Loss of American Colonies

As Spain struggled to gain its freedom from France, revolutionary movements took hold in many of Spain’s American colonies. The Spanish colonists had initially opposed French conquest in Spain. However, they soon were demanding independence themselves, inspired by the revolt of American colonists in the American Revolution, as well as by the ongoing rebellion in Spain. Apart from their desire for political independence, the colonists wished to break free of Spain’s imperial monopoly on American trade and to exchange goods freely with all nations. By 1826 only Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippine Islands, Guam, and several colonial settlements in northern Africa remained under Spanish rule; the mainland colonies in the Americas had all gained their freedom, and their resources were lost to Spain.

F

The Troubled Monarchy

F

1

The Reign of Ferdinand VII

After Napoleon’s defeat in the Peninsular War, Ferdinand VII returned to Spain in 1814 and was recognized as king. In an effort to restore the absolute monarchy, Ferdinand promptly repealed the Cádiz constitution. A harsh and vindictive ruler, Ferdinand sought to repress all liberal elements in Spain.

In 1820 Ferdinand ordered Spanish troops sent to Latin America to reclaim Spain’s former colonies. The troops, however, refused to go. The mutiny quickly spread into a national revolt, the Revolution of 1820. The revolution brought a liberal regime to power that forced Ferdinand to restore the Cádiz constitution. But the liberals were unable to rule effectively, and Spain remained politically divided. France, alarmed by the attack on the monarchy in Spain, intervened in 1823. French troops toppled the Spanish government and restored Ferdinand to absolute power. Leaders of the liberal government were arrested or driven into exile, and Ferdinand’s despotic, antiliberal rule lasted another decade.

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