1. The Crisis of the “Ancien Régime” in Spain (1808-1833).

The current Spanish society takes shape in the 19th century. It was in the 19th century when Liberalism and
Capitalism spread all over Europe and arrived in Spain, nevertheless both systems came late and in a more
temperate way.
The first stage, called the Crisis of the “Ancien Régime”, established the transition from the Old System to the
Liberal Society. This change was peculiar within Europe and it was in this period when the most important
conflicts of the Spanish Liberalism took place. The fear to the French Revolution stopped the slight economic
and cultural reforms undertaken by the enlightened ministers in the 18th century.

A: The “Guerra de la Independencia española” AND THE CONSTITUTION OF CADIZ.

Spain began the 19th century in the midst of a period of crisis and social unrest. These were the main causes:
- A long cycle of bad harvests and Epidemics.
- Wars against Revolutionary France, a.k.a. “Guerra de la Convención“, (1793-1795); War against England
(1797-1801) ; War of the Third Coalition (1803-1806) where Spain lost the best ships of her Navy in the
Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
- Separatist movements in the Spanish American Colonies, where many resources for the Crown Treasury
came from.
The political situation was also critical and the dissatisfaction with King Carlos IV exploded in 1808 with the
Mutiny of Aranjuez. The King had to abdicate in favour of his son Fernando VII.

The Mutiny of Aranjuez (“Motín de Aranjuez”.)

Napoleon had nearly all Europe in his hands at that time but when Portugal, a close ally to England violated
the Continental System, he looked for the Spanish support. Manuel Godoy, Prime Minister or Valido of King
Carlos IV, signed the Treaty of Fontainebleau with Napoleon in 1807. They agreed to let the French Army a
free pathway through Spain for a joint invasion of Portugal. However the true intention of Napoleon was to
conquer Spain herself and ensure the southern border of France.

The presence of French troops in Spanish soil made the concern spread out all over the country. Godoy finally
took the Royal Family to Aranjuez with the idea of a flight southwards or even to America if necessary. In this
context on March the 17th 1808 a crowd stormed the Palace and Godoy hardly could hide and save his life. It
was Fernando, Prince of Asturias who was behind the Mutiny. Two days later he forced his father, the King
Carlos IV to abdicate in his favour. The Mutiny of Aranjuez was the beginning of the end of the “Ancien
Régime” in Spain. When Napoleon noticed about the dispute between the father and the son, he called them to
Bayonne, and forced both of them to abdicate the Spanish throne. After the Abdications of Bayonne, where
Fernando was appropriately bribed, Napoleon ceded the crown to his brother Jose Bonaparte who became
King of Spain with name of José I. The people soon nicknamed the foreign king as “Pepe Botella”. Napoleon
granted then the Bayonne Statute (Glossary 2).
The spontaneous uprising of the Spanish people against the invader led to the War of Independence (1808-
1814). The French Army never controlled the whole Spanish territory but prevailed until 1812. The Spanish
developed the Guerrilla Warfare (Glossary 1) and were supported by the British army. El Empecinado, el
Cura Merino or Agustina de Aragón were the most famous heroes of the guerrilla warfare in the “Guerra de
la Independencia”.
Only the “Afrancesados”, members of the intellectual elites, supported the French invasion as they thought it
was the only way to modernise Spain.
After the terrible repression of the patriots in Madrid on May 2nd and 3rd 1808, the Mayor of Móstoles
called to arms to liberate the fatherland. When the uprising extended to all the towns in the country, Napoleon
himself had to get involved to quell the Spanish rebellion.

However, from 1812 on an Anglo-Spanish army led by Wellington gained territory until the French were
thrown out of Spain in 1814 and Fernando VII recovered his crown. During the War of Independence there
were two parallel powers in Spain: the Monarchy of José I and the “Junta Central Suprema” that held power
on behalf of Fernando VII.
This “Junta” managed to call the Cortes in Cadiz in 1812 and approved the first Spanish Constitution on
March 19th upon a liberal majority. This Chart, popularly known as “La Pepa”, abolished Absolutism,
established the National Sovereignty, and proposed a constitutional monarchy with separations of powers.
However, “La Pepa” did not grant the freedom of worship and considered the Roman Catholic Church as the
only religion allowed.

Art. 1. La *ación española es la reunión de todos los españoles de ambos hemisferios.

Art. 2. La ación española es libre e independiente, y no es ni puede ser patrimonio de ninguna familia ni
persona.
Art. 3. La soberanía reside esencialmente en la ación, y por lo mismo pertenece a ésta exclusivamente el
derecho de establecer sus leyes fundamentales.
Art. 12. La religión de la ación española es y será perpetuamente la católica, apostólica, romana, única
verdadera. La ación la protege por leyes sabias y justas y prohíbe el ejercicio de cualquiera otra.

B: THE REIGN OF FERNANDO VII. (I) THE ABSOLUTIST SEXENNIUM 1814-1820.

Fernando VII recovered his throne in 1914, as soon as the war was over and Napoleon was defeated. He
immediately abolished the Constitution and restored the absolute monarchy. The liberals were excluded and
persecuted so they answered by plotting several “pronunciamientos” (Glossary 3) against the absolutism of
the king.
In addition to the serious situation of the country after the “Francesada”, things went even worse when the
“Libertadores” started their own War of independence in 1816. The “Libertadores” were the main leaders of
the Latin American wars of independence from Spain. They were largely bourgeois criollos (local-born
people of Spanish ancestry) influenced by liberalism and in most cases with military training in the
metropolis. The most prominent libertadores were Simón Bolívar (Venezuela, New Granada and Quito) and
José de San Martín (Argentina, Chile and Peru) who had a famous conference in Guayaquil in 1822.

C: THE REIGN OF FERNANDO VII. (II) THE LIBERAL TRIENNIUM 1820-1823.

In this context, it was a question of time that a liberal pronunciamiento succeeded finally. In 1820 Colonel
Riego started a mutiny demanding the return of 1812 Constitution and brought the period known as Liberal
Triennium. King Fernando was therefore forced to take the oath of allegiance to the Constitution against his
will. «Marchemos francamente, y yo el primero, por la senda constitucional» he said reluctantly. Nevertheless
the Holly Alliance agreed to quell the Liberal uprising in Spain and sent a French Army that invaded the
country once again in 1823. It was popularly known as “los Cien mil hijos de San Luis”. The royal absolutism
had been finally restored in Spain by a foreign influence.
D: THE REIGN OF FERNANDO VII. (III) THE OMINOUS DECADE 1823-1833.The period between 1823
and 1833 is known in the Spanish History as the Ominous Decade because of the fierce repression
undertaken by the King against the Liberals. The main problem Fernando VII had to face in his final decade
was the Succession Question. The King had fathered only two daughters so he favoured the Pragmatic
Sanction of 1830 (Glossary 4) in order to let his oldest daughter Isabel inherit the crown. This decision had to
cope with the opposition of the most radical absolutists who supported Carlos, the King’s brother. In the other
hand the Liberals supported Isabel, which eventually would plunge Spain into the Carlists Wars.

VOCABULARY
Current: actual Quell: reprimir
Shape: forma Behalf: nombre
Spread: extender Sovereignty: Soberanía
<evertheless: sin embargo, no obstante Worship: culto
Temperate: moderado Plot: conspirar
Within: dentro Therefore: por lo tanto
Undertake: emprender Oath: julamento
Midst: medio Allegiance: lealtad
Unrest: disturbios Cope: hacer frente
Mutiny: Motín Plunge: lanzar
Pathway: camino Bribe: sobornar
Joint: conjunto Statute: estatuto
Concern: preocupación Uprise: levantarse
Storm: asaltar Prevail: prevalecer
Fatherland: patria
Glossary

1. Guerrilla warfare refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including armed civilians (or
"regulars") use military tactics, like ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary
mobility to harass a larger and less-mobile traditional army, or strike a vulnerable target, and withdraw almost
immediately. The term was coined during the Spanish war of Independence and is used in many languages.
2. The Bayonne Statute (Estatuto de Bayona) was a constitution or a royal charter (carta otorgada) approved
in Bayonne, France, 8 July 1808, by Joseph Bonaparte as the intended basis for his rule as king of Spain. The
statute was Bonapartist in overall conception, with some specific concessions made in an attempt to
accommodate Spanish culture. Few of its provisions were ever put into effect.
3. A Pronunciamiento is a form of military rebellion or coup d'état peculiar to Spain and the Spanish
American republics, particularly in the 19th century. In a pronunciamiento, a group of military officers
publicly declare their opposition to the current government. The rebels then wait for the rest of the armed
forces to declare for or against the government. There is no fighting at this point; if the rebellion has no
support, the organizers lose. One example of a pronunciamiento was the successful rebellion of September
1868 against Queen Isabel II of Spain, by Generals Prim and Serrano.
4. The Pragmatic Sanction of 1830 was a Royal Decree enacted by Fernando VII to revoke the Salic Law.
The old Salic Law prevented women from inheriting the Crown, so Fernando brought forth the Pragmatic
Sanction of 1830, so that his oldest daughter Isabel would inherit the throne and be declared queen upon his
death.

QUESTIO<S

1. Why did Napoleon invade Spain?

2. What did the Mutiny of Aranjuez consist of?
3. What was the First Spanish Constitution? Where was it signed?
4. What is the Liberal Triennium?