Spain’s Transformation: From Old Regime to Independence (1808-1833)

Posted on Nov 28, 2024 in History

Spain: End of the Old Regime — War of Independence (1808–1814)

Initially, French troops were defeated at Bailén (July 1808).
This led to Napoleon’s presence in Spain, occupying almost the entire peninsula. Cities like Girona and Zaragoza resisted major sieges.
In 1809, Spain allied with Britain and Portugal. British support was crucial for victories at Arapiles (Salamanca), Vitoria, and San Marcial (Guipúzcoa).
By 1814, the French were forced to retreat.
Beyond regular warfare, guerrilla fighters played a key role, implementing a popular struggle.

Parallel to Joseph I’s pro-French government, a Central Board ruled in the king’s absence, first in Seville, then from 1810 in Cádiz, a city free of French rule under British protection.
This Board comprised liberal intellectuals and nobles eager to end the Old Regime, and absolutists supporting Ferdinand VII’s return.
On May 1, 1810, the first Cortes convened in Cádiz as a single chamber, unlike the absolutist three estates (nobility, clergy, commoners). Liberals and absolutists clashed politically and socially.
Their mission was to profoundly change the country. They declared themselves holders of national sovereignty, decreed freedom of the press, abolished the feudal regime and the Inquisition, and drafted the 1812 Constitution of Cádiz, Spain’s first constitution.
For the first time in Spanish history, the idea emerged that power should not be absolute but based on the nation’s general will.
The Constitution, with 348 articles, established the separation of powers (legislative in the Cortes, executive in the King, judicial in courts), universal male suffrage, and abolished noble privileges.
It dismantled the Ancien Régime, transforming the monarchy from absolute to constitutional.
Spaniards became politically divided into liberals (doceañistas) and absolutists (realistas).
On May 10, 1814, Ferdinand VII abolished the Constitution.

Also known as the Sexenio Absolutista.
Ferdinand VII returned to Spain, hailed by the people.
The Manifesto of the Persians ended the 1812 Constitution, declaring it null. A coup confirmed the rise of conservative sectors: clergy, army, landowners.
Given the dire economic situation and lack of freedom, continuous uprisings occurred, often triggered by the military (pronunciamientos).

On January 1, 1820, Rafael del Riego’s pronunciamiento in Cabezas de San Juan (Seville) succeeded.
The King, against his will, swore to and restored the Constitution of Cádiz.
For three years, the Liberals governed, implementing radical policy changes. They divided into moderates, progressives (exaltados), and supporters of deeper reforms.
Continuing economic problems, Latin American independence movements, absolutist harassment, and the King’s opposition led to the Holy Alliance’s intervention, requested by the King himself.
Foreign powers at the Congress of Verona (October 1822) agreed to invasion, which occurred in April 1823 with the arrival of the Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis.

The Holy Alliance intervention ushered in the Ominous Decade, one of Spain’s darkest periods. Ferdinand VII suppressed the Liberal Triennium’s reforms and violently repressed liberals (Riego, Torrijos, Mariana Pineda).
Plots and uprisings were attempted but failed.
The succession problem arose as Ferdinand VII had no sons.
Ferdinand VII abolished the Salic Law (in force since Philip V), which forbade female succession, making his daughter Isabel the heir.
In June 1833, the Princess was recognized as heir. Isabel was three years old. The King’s brother, Infante Don Carlos, refused to recognize her and went into exile.
In September, the King died, and his mother, Queen Maria Cristina, became regent.
Liberals supported Isabel, while absolutists supported Don Carlos.
Absolutists became known as Carlists and initiated the Carlist Wars to regain the throne, spanning three periods: First (1833–1839), Second (1846–1849), and Third (1872–1876).

During Ferdinand VII’s reign, exploiting Spanish weakness after the War of Independence and fueled by European revolutionary, liberal, and nationalist ideas, most Spanish American territories gained independence after 300 years of control.
Only Puerto Rico and Cuba remained under Spanish sovereignty until 1898.
After several attempts, in 1815, Generals Simón Bolívar in Venezuela and José de San Martín in Argentina led the emancipation movements, resulting in countries like Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Argentina, and Chile.