The History of Spain from 1788 to 1871
1. Timeline of events:
·1788 December: Carlos IV becomes king.
·1805 October: Battle of Trafalgar.
·1807 October: Treaty of Fontainebleau.
·1808 May: Abdication of Carlos IV, start of Spanish War of Independence.
·1808 June: Joseph I becomes king.
·1808 July: Battle of Bailén.
·1812 March: Constitution.
·1813 March: Joseph I is expelled.
·1813 December: End of War of Independence.
·1814 March: Fernando VII returns to Spain as king.
·1814 May: Congress of Vienna.
·1815 June: End of the Congress of Vienna.
·Battle of Waterloo.
·1815 September: Formation of Holly Alliance.
·1815 November: Formation of Quadruple Alliance.
·1820: Trienio Liberal in Spain.
·1820s: Revolutions of Portugal, Spain and Greece.
·1823: Return to Absolutism in Spain.
·1830: Revolutions of France and Belgium.
·1848: Revolutions of France, Austrian Empire, German Confederation and Italy.
·1859: Unification of Italy starts.
·1871: Italian unification ends.
3. Carlos IV. The crisis of the Old Regime in Spain.
In 1788, Carlos IV becomes King of Spain. However, he doesn’t want to rule, letting other people do it instead. Firstly, his father’s counsellors, influenced by enlightened ideas are the ones ruling. When they retired, Carlos IV relied on
At first moment, Spanish foreign policy was against the French revolution, but when Napoleon became emperor, they made an alliance with him. From then on, both Spanish and French armies joined to fight the opposing countries, mainly Great Britain.
Both countries participated in the
This defeat made Napoleon strategies change, deciding he will, instead, focus on England’s allies and attacking them through land, making Portugal his main objective. In 1807, Spain signed the
Meanwhile, in Madrid, Fernando VII wasn’t happy with Godoy’s role in the court, more important than Fernando’s himself, so in March 1808, Fernando plotted against Godoy and his own father, carrying out the
There, Fernando threatened his father with killing Godoy when he tried to escape from the palace if he didn’t abdicate in his favour. This way, Fernando VII became King of Spain.
4. The war of independence
Napoleon didn’t like this situation at all, so he invited Carlos IV, Fernando VII and Godoy to
José I implemented the Bayonne Constitution including enlightened reforms (everyone had to pay taxes, there was equality under the law…). Even though most of the Spaniards rejected him, there were also some supporters of the French king among the people because of his liberal thoughts and Constitutions. They were called the
There was also another government, the
In 1808 the peninsula had been already taken by Napoleon as the French troops had been setting down throughout the country while moving towards Portugal.
The
The people attacked with whatever they had near (sticks, stones, throwing different objects…) and soldiers defended themselves with their weapons. Spanish soldiers couldn’t defend their people because many of them had been destined to fight with the Frenchs troops and others had orders of staying in the barracks. Monteleón barrack, however, disobeyed its orders, and its soldiers fought the French ones. Some of these soldiers were Velarde, Ruiz and Dauiz. French soldiers, leaded by Murat and Soult, easily defeated the Madrilenians and fired them the
Triggered by this, Napoleon made a decree by which everyone accused of rebellion against France had to be executed.
Cities from the whole country started having secret
Aranjuez, Cádiz, Asturias… In the junta of Móstoles they declared war. This declaration was written by Móstoles’ major and then spread throughout the country.
5. The War:
·May 1808 – July 1808: Summer campaign.
From these days on, the whole country turned into a battle field in which Napoleon had taken for granted he would be the winner. Then, he sent not very well trained troops thinking Spain would be very easy to conquer as its citizens were quite ignorant.
In July 1808, the
·July 1808 – 1809: Occupation of the Iberian Peninsula.
Bailén’s defeat made Napoleon really angry and in January 1809 he sent very well-trained troops, managing to conquer the whole country except from Cádiz (too near to Gibraltar, English territory).
·1809 – 1811: Wellington’s attacks and Guerrilla War.
The
Guerrilleros were later considered heroes and given important posts in the army. Some of the most important guerrilleros were Espoz y Mina, “El Empecinado”, el cura Merino and Agustina de Aragón, who was the one captaining the Aragonese guerrilla because there weren’t enough men (who had already been killed by the French)
·1812 – 1814: Spanish-English offensive.
Taking advantage of the
In 1810, the Central Council was replaced by the
6. The constitution of Cádiz:
The 19
·Constitutional monarchy. ·Popular sovereignty. ·Limited male suffrage. ·Catholicism as state religion. ·Separation of powers into executive, legislative and judicial. ·Equality under the law. ·Right to privacy. ·Freedom of press. ·Prohibition of torture. ·Economic reforms helping the bourgeoisie.
8.-The reign of Fernando VII
·Restoration of absolutism 1814 – 1820.
Fernando VII returned to Spain and was received as legitimate king but when he was crowned, he abolished the Constitution of 1812 and returned to Absolutism.
·Trienio Liberal 1820 – 1823.
Some revolts led by two soldiers,
·Absolutist decade 1823 – 1833.
In 1823, Fernando VII sent a message to the
In 1830, he proclaimed his
Under Salic law, the heir would have been his brother
9.-The Congress of Vienna
It was a meeting where the leaders of various European countries met to agree about some measures:
The restoration of absolute monarchy:
§The European monarchs, who had been removed from power by Napoleon, returned to power. However some of these monarchs had to accept constitutional limits to their power
oChanges to Europe´s borders:
§Napoleon´s conquest had transformed the map of Europe. After his defeat, another series of changes were made
oFormation of alliances:
§Two alliances were formed to enforce the agreements of the Congress of Vienna.
·The Holy Alliance: Russia, Austria and Prussia
·The Quadruple Alliance: Russia, Austria, Prussia and Great Britain.
·France Quintuple Alliance: Russia, Austria, Prussia, Great Britain and France.
·The holy alliance, the quadruple alliance and the quintuple alliance
10.-The age of revolutions:
·Liberalism:
·It has its origins in the Enlightenment ideas.
·Liberalism emphasised individual freedoms and represented the interest of the bourgeoisie
·Key principles:
oNational sovereignty
oThe form of government was the constitutional monarchy
oThe separation of powers (legislative, executive and judicial branches)
oLimited suffrage, only male property owners have the right to vote.
oFreedom of association, expression, religion and the press
·Nationalism:
·It argues in favour of the rights of people who defined themselves as nations to establish their own independent states.
·Many nationalist movements originated fights in countries and regions to free themselves from napoleon´s domination and his empire.
·Key principles:
oNational sovereignty
oThe form of government was chosen by what each nation prefers
oThere were independent nation-states (independent states whose inhabitants have a common national identity)
oNation-states should have a population made up of people who have a common history, religion and culture.
oThis common things created a well-integrated society
·Democracy:
·Democratic movements defended ordinary people´s right to participate in politics.
·Democratic movements expressed the demands of the middle classes and working classes and the opposition to the inequalities produced by industrial capitalism.
·Key principles:
oNational sovereignty
oThe preferment form of government was the republic
oOpposition to monarchy, considered incompatible with democracy
oEveryone with the majority age had the right to vote
oPolitical parties should defend the rights of the middle and working classes.
·Revolutions in the first half of the 19
·1820s:
oIn Portugal and Spain there were liberal revolutions that aimed to establish constitutional monarchies. The social class which revolt was …
oGreece won its independence from the Ottoman Empire through a liberal and nationalist revolution. The social class which revolt was …
·1830
oIn France a liberal revolution established a constitutional monarchy.
oIn Belgium a nationalist revolution gained independence from the Netherlands. The social class which revolt was …
·1848
oRevolutions broke out in France, the Austrian Empire, the German Confederation and Italy. These revolutions were more radical.
oThe middle classes demanded democratic reforms which would give them access to political power
oAll the revolutions failed except the French one which brought about the proclamation of the second republic and the introduction of the right of voting with the majority of age.
11.- Italian and German unifications:
oThat in both cases nationalist movement emerged during the first half of the 19
oItaly: king Victor Emmanuel II and Cavour (Italian prime minister)
oGermany: Otto von Bismarck (Prussian´s prime minister)
·Timeline of the events in both countries:
oItaly
oThe unification process was initiated by the kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia in 1859
oThey gain support from France so Emmanuel II and Cavour fought successfully against Austria. As a result the Austrians were expelled from Lombardy (region of Italy)
o The Piedmontese conquered and unified the rest of the Italian Peninsula with the help of Garibaldi.
oItaly became a constitutional monarchy
oThe unification process ended in 1871.
oRome became the capital of Italy in 1871
oGermany:
oOtto von Bismark began the German unification process with a conflict with Denmark.
oAfter defeating Denmark in 1864, Prussia increased its control and influence in northern Germany, following the 1876 Austro-Prussian war
oFrance was defeated in the 1870-1871 Franco-Prussian war
oBismark established the German
oThe Italian one was achieved with the conquest and unification of the Italian peninsula with the help of Garibaldi.
oThe Germany one was achieved with Franco-Prussian war