Spain’s Ominous Decade & Latin America Independence
The Ominous Decade (1823-1833) and the Emancipation of Latin America
The Ominous Decade, as it was known by liberals, began the same day that Ferdinand VII was released by the Hundred Thousand Sons of St. Louis. He issued a decree annulling all legislation passed during the Liberal Triennium. The new monarch was to return to the Old Regime and absolutism. Immediately, repression against liberals began. Riego was hanged in Madrid in November. Although the Inquisition was not restored, Faith Seals were created, which exercised inquisitorial functions and repression. The Valencian teacher Cayetano Ripoll was the last victim of religious fanaticism. Despite legal repression, the Liberals continued military conspiracies.
The danger of new pronouncements led Ferdinand to take an extreme measure: the army’s dissolution. The monarch asked France for the continued presence of the Hundred Thousand Sons of St. Louis while he reorganized the armed forces. Around 22,000 French soldiers remained in Spain until 1828. In parallel, the absolutist regime dealt with the purification of the administration, which led to the expulsion of thousands of civil servants, especially teachers.
One of the few positive aspects of the last absolutist decade was the reform launched by Finance Minister Lopez Ballesteros. The reform allowed for a balanced budget, which was helped by the lessening of military spending after the independence of the colonies.
The Emancipation of the American Colonies
Several factors explain the outbreak of the independence movement:
- The growing discontent of the Creoles, people of Spanish descent born in America, who, despite their wealth and culture, were denied access to major political office in the colonies, which were reserved for Spaniards.
- Limitations on free trade and economic development of the settlements imposed by the colonial regime. These limitations were financially detrimental to the native bourgeoisie.
- The influence of Enlightenment ideas and the example of the independence of the United States of America.
- The political crisis caused by the Napoleonic invasion, which deprived the authorities representing the monarchy of Joseph I in the colonies of legitimacy.
There are two main stages in the process of independence:
1808-1814: American territories declared independence from Napoleonic Spain but kept their ties with the authorities in Cádiz, sending representatives to the Cortes. When Ferdinand VII was restored to the throne, all colonies except Argentina returned to join the Spanish Crown.
1814-1824: Absolutism led to military pronouncements towards independence, which rapidly spread among the Creoles. This shift was encouraged by England, which quickly became the dominant economic influence in the area, and the United States. Among the independence leaders, San Martin and Bolivar stand out.
The wars of independence followed a complex trajectory, culminating in the Spanish defeat at Ayacucho in 1824. This battle ended Spanish domination in America. Only the Antillean islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico remained linked to the metropolis. Simón Bolívar proposed the alternative of American unity after the end of the Hispanic empire. However, the shortsightedness of the new rulers, economic backwardness, communication difficulties, and U.S. maneuvers led to the failure of the Bolivarian ideal and the political fragmentation of Hispanic America.