19th Century Spanish Wars: Peninsular and Carlist Conflicts
The Peninsular War (1807–1814)
The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was a military conflict fought by Bourbon Spain and Portugal, assisted by the United Kingdom, against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when the French and Spanish armies invaded and occupied Portugal in 1807, and escalated in 1808 after Napoleonic France took over Spain, previously its ally, and installed Joseph Bonaparte on the Spanish throne. The war on the peninsula lasted until the Sixth Coalition defeated Napoleon in 1814 and is regarded as one of the first wars of national liberation, significant for the emergence of large-scale guerrilla warfare.
The Carlist Wars: 19th-Century Spanish Civil Conflicts
The Carlist Wars were a series of civil wars that took place in Spain during the 19th century. The contenders fought to establish their claim to the throne, although some political differences also existed. Indeed, several times during the period from 1833 to 1876, the Carlists—followers of Infante Carlos (later Carlos V) and his descendants—rallied to the cry of “God, Country, and King” and fought for the cause of Spanish tradition (Legitimism and Catholicism) against liberalism and, later, the republicanism of the Spanish governments of the day. The Carlist Wars had a strong regional component (Basque region, Catalonia, etc.), given that the new order called into question region-specific law arrangements and customs kept for centuries.
Factions and the Succession Crisis
When Ferdinand VII of Spain died in 1833, his fourth wife, Maria Cristina, became Queen Regent on behalf of their infant daughter, Isabella II. This splintered the country into two factions known as the Cristinos (or Isabelinos) and the Carlists. The Cristinos were the supporters of the Queen Regent and her government and were the party of the Liberals. The Carlists were the supporters of Carlos V, a pretender to the throne and brother of the deceased Ferdinand VII. Carlos denied the validity of the Pragmatic Sanction of 1830 that abolished the semi-Salic Law (he was born before 1830). They wanted a return to an autocratic monarchy.
Timeline of the Three Carlist Wars
- The First Carlist War (1833–1840): This conflict lasted more than seven years, and the fighting spanned most of the country at one time or another, although the main conflict centered on the Carlist homelands of the Basque Country, Aragon, Catalonia, and Valencia.
- The Second Carlist War (1846–1849): This was a minor Catalan uprising. The rebels tried to install Carlos VI on the throne. In Galicia, the uprising was on a smaller scale and was put down by General Ramón María Narváez.[2]
- The Third Carlist War (1872–1876): This war began in the aftermath of the deposition of one ruling monarch and the abdication of another. Queen Isabella II was overthrown by a conspiracy of liberal generals in 1868 and left Spain in some disgrace. The Cortes (Parliament) replaced her with Amadeo, the Duke of Aosta (and second son of King Victor Emmanuel of Italy). Then, when the Spanish elections of 1872 resulted in government violence against Carlist candidates and a swing away from Carlism, the Carlist pretender, Carlos VII, decided that only force of arms could win him the throne. The Third Carlist War lasted until 1876.