Spain’s Absolutist Decade and American Colonies’ Emancipation

Posted on Feb 5, 2025 in History

The Absolutist Decade (1823-1833)

This last stage, known as the “Ominous Decade,” started with strong repression. Liberals were again persecuted, imprisoned, and executed (cainismo). Spain lived under a rule of terror. The absolutists annulled the anticlerical measures of the Liberal Triennium, although the Inquisition was not re-established.

Spain suffered a deep economic crisis due to three events:

  1. The collapse of foreign trade due to the independence of the colonies.
  2. The depreciation of the currency.
  3. The worsening of external debt because Ferdinand refused to acknowledge the debt incurred during the Liberal Triennium.

At this stage, there was a division between hardliners and moderate absolutists regarding two conditions imposed by the Holy Alliance:

  1. The non-restoration of the Inquisition.
  2. The granting of amnesty to liberal detainees.

Ultimately, the Inquisition was not restored, and an amnesty was granted in May 1824. Then, an intransigent coup attempted to assassinate the Prime Minister, urging the army to restore the Inquisition. The coup was aborted, and its main leaders were executed, except for the leader, King Charles’s brother. His supporters were called Carlists. They based their ideology on four principles:

  1. The defense of absolutism and repudiation of liberalism.
  2. Protection of the Church.
  3. The claim of the old charters of the old kingdoms.
  4. The defense of the humblest social classes.

In 1829, the King married Maria Cristina, his cousin. Until then, Carlos was the heir since the King had no descendants.

The Emancipation of the American Colonies

The process of independence from the Spanish colonies in America was launched after the French invasion of Spain, due to the power vacuum caused by the war against the invaders. Revolutionary juntas of resistance also appeared in the American colonies, rejecting the authority of the central board of the peninsula. These movements were driven by military officers and the local bourgeoisie. From these boards, the independence of Venezuela (Simon Bolivar) and Paraguay were proclaimed in 1811.

After the French invaders were expelled from Spain, the King sent troops to the American territories, but the wave of independence continued in Argentina, Chile (San Jose Martin), and Colombia. Spanish troops were defeated in Carabobo, near Caracas, by General Simon Bolivar, in 1821. After that, the revolutionary wave spread to India, Mexico, Ecuador, and the United Provinces of Central America. Only Cuba and Puerto Rico remained under Spanish sovereignty.

Besides the Creole bourgeoisie, the following were involved in the conflict:

  1. The mestizos, Indians, and black slaves did not oppose the independence movement.
  2. Spanish politicians, both absolutists and liberals.
  3. Liberal deputies rejected arguments for the Constitution of 1812, which recognized full Spanish Americans as equals.

The revolutionary process had the support of the US and Great Britain. The defeat was a blow to Spain since raw materials (mostly silver) stopped arriving. This impacted Spanish dominion in the Atlantic and Pacific.