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 Cádiz.
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 (“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.
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 and were supported by the
British army. El Empecinado, el Cura Merino or Agustina de Aragón was 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.
Answer the following questions:
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?
2. Spanish American Independence
Map of territories that became independent during those wars (blue).
At the beginning of the 19th century, after nearly 300 years of Spanish colonial rule, wars of
independence broke out in Mexico, Central and South America. These revolutions led to the
formation of the 18 Spanish-speaking nations we see today in Latin America.
More than a few people in Spain's colonies were influenced by the Enlightenment and the
American and French revolutions, and among them was a growing dislike of Spain's restrictions
over economic matters. There were restrictions on trading with foreigners, restrictions against
growing crops that would compete with crops grown in Spain, and restrictions on making goods
that would compete with goods made in Spain. Taxes imposed by Spanish authorities were also
annoying.
Criollos (People of Spanish heritage born in Latin America claiming pure Spanish blood)
were not participating in government and were living under the more authoritarian tradition of the
Spaniards. The Church and its Inquisition were dominated by Spaniards. So was too the military
in Latin America. The families of Spain's officials enjoyed their authority and higher status. They
were haughty toward the Criollos as well as toward Indians, and the Criollos resented it. Many of
them had a non-white in their family sometime in the 200 years since the Europeans had arrived
in the New World, while people born in Spain prided themselves on their purity.
A turning point for Latin America was Napoleon's move into Spain and Portugal. From 1808
to 1814, Napoleon held Spain's king, Ferdinand VII, captive. The peninsular provinces
responded to the crisis by establishing juntas and the creation of a "Supreme Central and
Governmental Junta of Spain and the Indies". The overseas kingdoms would send one
representative each. These "kingdoms" were defined as "the viceroyalties of New Spain, Peru,
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New Granada, and Buenos Aires, and the independent captaincies general of the island of Cuba,
Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Chile, Province of Venezuela, and the Philippines."
Most Spanish Americans saw no reason to recognize a rump government that was under
the threat of being captured by the French at any moment, and began to work for the creation of
local juntas to preserve the region's independence from the French. Junta movements were
successful in New Granada (Colombia), Venezuela, Chile and Río de la Plata (Argentina).On
May 25, 1810, a junta in Argentina claimed rule on behalf of Ferdinand VII. A junta in Santiago
(Chile) declared independence on September 18, 1810, and in Asuncion (Paraguay)
independence was declared on May 14, 1811. A junta in Caracas (Venezuela) declared
independence on July 5, 1811, and independence was declared also in La Paz (Bolivia) and in
New Grenada (Colombia). And fighting erupted between Spanish authorities in Latin America
and those associated with the juntas. The proponents of independence called themselves
patriots, a term which eventually was generally applied to them
Hidalgo and Morelos in New Spain (Mexico)
Underlying social tensions had a great impact on the nature of the fighting. Rural areas
were pitted against urban centres, as grievances against the authorities found an outlet in the
political conflict. This was the case with Hidalgo's peasant revolt, which was fuelled as much by
discontent over several years of bad harvests as with events in the Peninsular War. Hidalgo was
originally part of a circle of liberal urbanites in Querétaro, who sought to establish a junta. After
this conspiracy was discovered, Hidalgo turned to the rural people of the Mexican Bajío to build
his army, and their interests soon overshadowed those of the urban intellectuals.
In Mexico City, the administrative centre of New Spain, a Criolle junta declared its support
for Ferdinand VII and for independence. New Spain had a population of around 1.2 million
whites, 2 million mestizos (part Indian, part white), 4 million Indians and there were some blacks
on the Caribbean coast. The Criolles were interested in maintaining their property and status visà-vis Mexico's vast numbers of Indians and mestizos
SPANIARDS:
Viceroys, governors, presidents and oidores in de
Audiencia, archbishops, bishops, important parish
priests superiors of religious communities. Officials
and Crown traders
CRIOLLOS:
Encomenderos and hacenderos, who could access to
positions in the councils. They coul join religious
communities and be in charge of parishes
MESTIZOS, MULATOS Y ZAMBOS:
Farmhands, artisans, carpenters, masons, etc.
From towns. They could join clergy
INDIANS:
Mandated (encomendados) to Criollos and
Spaniards to work in mines and farms
(haciendas)
BLACK PEOPLE:
Slaves. They worked in mines and
plantations
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A sixty-year-old Criollo priest, Miguel Hidalgo, had a more radical response to events. Hidalgo was
an intellectual who had drawn from the Enlightenment, and he dismissed popular notions concerning
race. Hidalgo had been fighting for the well-being of Mexico's Indians and Mestizos, including a call for the
return of lands stolen from the Indians. Pursuing this in the wake of the more conservative independence
movement in Mexico City, he organized an uprising for December 8, 1810. Then, in the early morning of
September 15 at the village of Dolores (110 miles northwest of Mexico City), Hidalgo was warned that
Spanish authorities in the nearby town of Querétaro had learned of his plans and were sending a force
against him. Hidalgo rang his church bell, calling his Indian and Mestizo followers to action. And,
according to reports, he shouted:
Long live Ferdinand VII! Long live religion! Death to bad government!
Hidalgo's followers, with their farm tools as weapons,
marched to the town of San Miguel thirty miles to the northwest,
picking up hundreds of combatants from farms and mines along
the way. The militia of San Miguel joined the uprising Hidalgo's
army swelling to several thousand. Within a week, Hidalgo's army
reached the town of Guanajuato, sixty miles farther northwest.
And now they met resistance. Defending soldiers killed 2,000 of
Hidalgo's men. Shocked by the reality of warfare, Hidalgo's men
went on a rampage, killing all opponents they could, including
those who surrendered
The growing army moved on, taking one town after
another. But Hidalgo's force was tiring and many had lost their
weapons. Rather than strike for control of the capital, Mexico City,
Hidalgo ordered his force to the nearby provincial capital,
Guadalajara, for a rest. There, he set up a government, with one
small printing press, and began training his army. He sent another
priest, José María Morelos, and 25 men on a mission to capture
Acapulco (on the coast in southern Mexico).
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla
Moving against Hidalgo's rebellion, 6,000 soldiers moved through Guanajuato and
approached Guadalajara. Hidalgo's army outnumbered the rival force thirteen to one, but a battle
outside of town went badly for Hidalgo's men. They panicked and fled. Hidalgo, with about a
thousand men, retreated north to Saltillo in the foothills of the Sierra Maestra mountains (near
Monterrey). Those around Hidalgo replaced him as their leader, while their enemy was capturing
one town after another, and they captured Hidalgo. He was captured and executed at Dolores on
July 31, 1811.
José María Morelos, meanwhile, had gathered a force of
around 9,000 men and was occupying towns and hills south of
Mexico City. Following Napoleon's withdrawal from Spain and
Ferdinand's return to power in 1814, Ferdinand sent additional
troops to Mexico. After a series of disasters late 1813, he was
defeated in Tezmalaca. He was taken prisoner and brought to
Mexico City in chains. He was tried and executed for treason on
December 22, 1815 in San Cristóbal Ecatepec, north of Mexico
City. After his death, his lieutenant, Vicente Guerrero, continued the
war of independence.
The signature of José María Morelos
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On February 24, 1821, Colonel Agustín de
Iturbide, a royalist Criollo officer who had gained
renown for the zeal with which he persecuted Hidalgo's
and Morelos' rebels during the early independence
struggle, switched allegiances and invited the rebel
leader to meet and discuss principles of a renewed
independence struggle. He proclaimed three principles,
or "guarantees," for Mexican independence from
Spain; Mexico would be an independent monarchy
governed by a transplanted King Ferdinand, another
Bourbon prince, or some other conservative European
prince, Criollos and peninsulares would henceforth
enjoy equal rights and privileges, and the Roman
Catholic Church would retain its privileges and position
as the official religion of the land. It is known as the
Plan of Iguala. The plan was so broadly based that it
pleased both patriots and loyalists
On August 24, 1821, representatives of the Spanish crown and Iturbide signed the Treaty of
Córdoba, which recognized Mexican independence under the terms of the Plan of Iguala. On
September 28 Iturbide proclaimed the independence of the Mexican Empire, as New Spain was
to be henceforth called. The Treaty of Córdoba was not ratified by the Spanish Cortes. Iturbide, a
former royalist who had become the paladin for Mexican independence, included a special
clause in the treaty that left open the possibility for a Criollo monarch to be appointed by a
Mexican congress if no suitable member of the European royalty would accept the Mexican
crown.
Spain and Liberators in South America
Simón Bolívar. Oil painting by Ricardo Acevedo Bernal
Simón Bolivar was a Criollo with a few
drops of Indian and African blood and proud of
it. He was born into Venezuela's plantation
society and into wealth, and in his late teens
he enjoyed leisure in Europe. He was
influenced
by
liberalism
and
the
Enlightenment, and he acquired an admiration
for Napoleon. In the year 1810, at the age of
27, he was back in Venezuela, supporting
Venezuela's pro-independence junta. The
junta sent Bolivar back to Europe as the head
of a delegation aiming at international support.
He returned in 1811 unsuccessful but with
Venezuela's leading dissident, a vain
revolutionary, Francisco de Miranda, who had
been in exile in England.
In behalf of the junta in Caracas, Miranda declared Venezuela and New Grenada
(Columbia) to be republics. The junta removed the trading restrictions that Spain had imposed. It
exempted taxes from the sale of food, ended the paying of tribute to the government and
prohibited slavery. Battles were fought between Miranda's forces and a Spanish army that had
been stationed in Venezuela. In July 1812, Miranda's forces were defeated and the Spaniards
regained control over Caracas.
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Outside Caracas small bands of rebels led by military chieftains continued their defiance of
Spanish authority. Simón Bolivar built a force of 2,000 men and fought his way back to the city,
entering in triumph on August 7, 1813. Following Ferdinand's return to power in 1814 and more
troops arriving from Spain, Bolivar was driven westward to New Granada.
Rebel forces could no longer claim power in the name of King Ferdinand, and Spanish
forces were advancing against the rebels elsewhere in Spanish America. In Chile the leader of
liberal regime, Bernardo O'Higgins, was forced to flee with his army across the Andes Mountains
into Western Argentina, where he was welcomed by José de San Martín, the liberal-monarchist
governor in the province of Cuyo. In Venezuela, the Spaniards put Miranda in a dungeon -where he died in 1816. The Spanish drove Bolivar from New Grenada, Bolivar fleeing to Jamaica
and Haiti. He was depressed and without any of his former wealth, but his hopes of creating a
new order in South America soon revived.
In 1817, San Martin and O'Higgins went with their armies back across the Andes Mountains
to Chile. There they defeated the Spanish and took power in the city of Santiago.
José Francisco de San Martín y Matorras
Bernardo O'Higgins por José Gil de Castro
They laid plans to sail north to Lima (Peru), the centre of Spain's authority in Latin America,
the wealthiest and economically successful of Spain's Latin American cities, a city filled with
conservative Criolles.
On the Atlantic coast, in an area called Banda
Oriental (northeast of Buenos Aires), another rebel force
was having successes. This force was under José
Gervasio Artigas, who was allied with other cattle-raising,
gaucho, landowners. He distrusted urbanites, broke with
junta leaders in Buenos Aires and fought against Brazil's
intrusions. Eventually he was to be known as the father of
his country: Uruguay.
Dibujo de J.M. Blanes
Artigas en la Ciudadela. Óleo sobre tela. Juan Manuel Blanes
1884
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In 1818, Spain invaded Chile again and defeated O'Higgins at Cancha Rayada, but San
Martín defeated the Spanish at the Battle of Maipú. In 1919, Spain lost in New Grenada to
Bolivar, who arrived in Bogotá in August, 1819. Bolivar organized what became Gran Colombia,
including what are now Ecuador, Colombia and Panama, and became its president on December
17, 1819.
King Ferdinand, meanwhile, was having trouble in Spain. After returning to power in 1814,
he had been pursuing a policy of absolutism. And he was not paying his army. In 1820, soldiers
assembled for embarkation to the Americas revolted, and various groups in Spain joined the
revolt. They drove Ferdinand from power. Bolivar moved with his army back to Venezuela and
late that year he signed an armistice with the commander of Spain's forces there. In 1821,
Bolivar's armistice with the Spanish ended. On June 21 he won the Battle of Carabobo (about
ninety miles, or 150 kilometres southwest of Caracas), and Caracas fell to Bolivar a few days
later. Venezuela was now free of Spanish rule.
By now San Martín had landed in Peru, with the help of a British sea captain, Thomas
Cochran. The invasion force was welcomed by rebellious inhabitants of coastal towns and joined
by Peru's Indians. Lima's conservative forces fled inland. Spain's viceroy in Lima preferred
negotiations to fighting and invited San Martín and his force into Lima. San Martín entering the
city on July 12 amid celebrations in the streets. San Martín had not come to rule. All he wanted
was Peru's independence. And he had Bolivar's help. Bolivar defeated Spain's supporters at
Quito in May, 1822. In July, Bolivar met with San Martín, who was still combating Spain's
supporters in the interior. Martín turned Peru over to Bolivar and returned to Chile.
In 1823, Europe's Holy Alliance delegated the French to put Ferdinand back onto his throne.
Louis XVIII of France sent an army of 100,000 into Spain, and a bloodbath followed Ferdinand's
restoration. Britain was enjoying the trade with Latin America that had been denied by Spain, and
Britain warned against any attempt to reestablish Spain's rule in Latin America. The United
States was also enjoying its new freedom to trade with Latin America, and in December that year
the U.S. President, James Monroe, proclaimed what became known as the Monroe Doctrine:
aimed at Russian designs on Alaska and also against Spain attempting to regain its lost colonies.
In August, 1824, Bolivar launched an important battle at Junín, in what was soon to be
called Bolivia in honour of Bolivar. Next, in December, fighting alongside a Peruvian force,
Bolivar won the Battle of Ayacucho, 200 miles southeast of Lima. Spain was no longer a colonial
power in South America.
Activities
1. Describe the division in Latin American colonial society. (Who made up these groups? What
percentage of the population did they make up? What roles did they play in society?)
Spaniards
Criolles
Mestizos
Mulattos
Indians
Africans
2. Identify the following people: (Who were they and what role did they play in Spanish
American Independence?)
Padre Miguel Hidalgo
Padre José María Morelos
Agustín de Iturbide
Simón Bolívar
José de San Martín
Bernardo O’Higgins
3. How did events in Europe lead to revolution in the Spanish colonies?
4. What is the significance of the “grito de Dolores”?
5. What role did Indians, mestizos, and creoles play in Mexico’s independence from Spain?
6. Find out what is Monroe Doctrine
7. Name the Latin American countries that received their independence from Spain.
Name:
Date:
Main leader:
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3. Language Glossary
1. Find out the meaning of the following words:
 Guerrilla warfare
 The Bayonne Statute
 Pronunciamiento
 The Pragmatic Sanction of 1830
2. Useful words
 Salic Law
 Regency
 Fueros
 To spread:……………………………extender, propagar
 To split:……………………………….dividir, partir, romper
 Joint:…………………………………..conjunto (a joint invasion, una invasión conjunta)
 Soil:……………………………………suelo, territorio (Spanish soil, suelo español)
 Flight:…………………………………huida, (vuelo)
 Crowd:………………………………..multitud (crowded, atestado, abarrotado)
 To notice:…………………………….darse cuenta
 To bribe:……………………………...sobornar
 To nickname:………………………..motejar (poner mote)
 To hold power:………………………ostentar el poder
 On behalf of:…………………………en nombre de
 To grant a right:……………………..otorgar un derecho
 Freedom of worship:………………..libertad de culto
 To plot:……………………………….conspirar
 Largely:……………………………....en gran parte
 Allegiance:……………………………fidelidad
 To cope with:…………………………soportar, sobrellevar
 To father:……………………………..engendrar
 To plunge:……………………………sumir, hundir
 To endure:……………………………perdurar
 To evolve:…………………………….evolucionar
 Allegedly:……………………………..supuestamente, presuntamente
 Growth medium (culture medium):..caldo de cultivo
 To resign:…………………………….dimitir
 Incomes:……………………………..ingresos
 Wealthy:……………………………...rico
 Illiteracy:……………………………. analfabetismo
 Long-lasting:………………………...duradero
 Barely:………………………………..apenas
 To resume:…………………………..reanudar
 To expel:……………………………..expulsar
 To overwhelm:……………………….abrumar, sobrecoger
 Overwhelming:……………………….abrumador, aplastante
 To take advantage of:……………….aprovecharse de
 To be in force:………………………..estar en vigor (una ley, una constitución)
 Hurriedly:……………………………..apresuradamente
 To merge with:……………………….fusionarse con
 To put an end to:…………………….poner fin a
 The establishment:………………….el sistema
 On the eve of:………………………..en la víspera de
 To be compelled to:…………………verse obligado a
 To break out: ………………………..estallar, (una guerra, una revolución o un brote infeccioso)
 Unrest:………………………………..malestar (social unrest, tensions sociales)
 Domain:………………………………ámbito, campo
 To achieve:…………………………..conseguir
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