Tema 4.1: Reinado de Carlos IV y la Guerra de Independencia PDF

# BLOQUE 4. LA CRISIS DEL ANTIGUO RÉGIMEN (1788-1833) ## 4.1. Reinado de Carlos IV. La Guerra de Independencia ### Reinado de Carlos IV The reign of Charles IV was conditioned by the outbreak in 1789 of the French Revolution and its subsequent evolution. An event of this magnitude created great...

# BLOQUE 4. LA CRISIS DEL ANTIGUO RÉGIMEN (1788-1833) ## 4.1. Reinado de Carlos IV. La Guerra de Independencia ### Reinado de Carlos IV The reign of Charles IV was conditioned by the outbreak in 1789 of the French Revolution and its subsequent evolution. An event of this magnitude created great concern throughout Europe, fearing that the revolutionary proposals would spread. But in Spain, this fear was very understandable due to its geographical proximity and the family relationship between the monarchs of both countries. Spain's foreign policy, since the War of Succession and the arrival of the Bourbons, had been marked by its alliance with France through the Family Pacts, but the French Revolution forced Spain to reconsider its attitude towards the new France that was being formed. Thus, relations with the revolutionary neighboring country went through three phases: - Phase of neutrality between 1789 and 1792. - Phase of war between 1793 and 1795. - Phase of alliance between 1796 and 1808. ### Prevention and neutrality (1789 - 1792) When Charles IV ascended to the throne, he kept the Count of Floridablanca as his Prime Minister, whose policy was characterized by a vigilant and neutral attitude towards France and repression against revolutionary propaganda (mail coming from France was inspected, newspapers could not publish news about the revolution, the Inquisition was reinforced...). ### Ascenso de Godoy and war against France (1793 - 1795) Due to the influence of Queen Maria Luisa of Parma, a young corps guard, Manuel Godoy, was promoted to the position of Prime Minister. In this way, he became the true ruler of Spain from 1792 until the end of the reign in 1808. The French Revolution had entered a phase of radicalization and had abolished the monarchy. Godoy's policy was initially aimed at saving the life of the French king, Louis XVI, although he was guillotined in January 1793. Shortly after, in March, France declared war on Spain, and a war began that Spain wanted to present as a crusade against the forces of evil embodied in revolutionary France. Spain’s military inferiority forced the war to come to an end. The Peace of Basel of 1795 restored all the territories conquered during the war by the French to Spain. Godoy received the title of Prince of Peace. ### The alliance with revolutionary France (1796 - 1808) In 1796, the first Treaty of San Ildefonso was signed, which was equivalent to a renewal of the old Family Pacts, by which Spain was linked to France in a policy of collaboration and mutual defence. This implied, therefore, taking on the confrontation with England and its ally Portugal, which were France's main enemies. The rivalry with England had serious consequences for Spain, including the attacks by the English on Spanish ships trading with America and, most notably, the Franco-Spanish defeat at Trafalgar (1805), which meant the sinking of Spain as a maritime force. ### The crisis of 1808 The situation in Spain in 1808 was one of economic, political, and social crisis: - Uncontrolled increase in prices. - Foreign trade collapsed after the destruction of the fleet at Trafalgar in 1805. - State indebtedness to finance wars. - Outrage against Charles IV and Godoy (his Prime Minister). All these factors led to the emergence of a group opposed to the king and his favorite, organizing around the Prince of Asturias, Fernando (future Fernando VII), in what was known as the Fernandino Party. The following events took place during this period: - The Treaty of Fontainebleau (October 1807), signed by Godoy and Napoleon, allowed French troops to cross Spain to occupy Portugal, thus cooperating with the continental blockade against England. However, Napoleon's plan included the invasion of Spain, and French troops were taking positions. - The Aranjuez Mutiny (March 1808): A popular assault on Godoy's palace, incited by the Fernandinos, who succeeded in getting Charles IV to dismiss Godoy and abdicate in favor of his son Fernando. - The Abdications of Bayonne (May 1808): This term refers to the abdication of both Charles IV and Fernando VII in favor of Napoleon, who gave the crown to his brother Joseph I. The privileged classes and many institutions accepted French authority, especially the afrancesados (people heavily influenced by the Enlightenment who supported Joseph I during the War of Independence [1808–14] to help implement necessary reforms to modernize Spain. They were persecuted after the war). ### The War of Independence On May 2, 1808, the people of Madrid rose up against the French invaders. Marshal Murat (head of the French troops in Madrid) repressed the popular uprising (executions on May 3), but it was useless. The rebellion against the French spread throughout Spain, marking the beginning of the War of Independence. The War of Independence was a national war of liberation against the invasion of the French army. The factions fighting in the war were: - The French army, in the service of the government of Joseph Bonaparte. It was supported by the afrancesados, who saw the arrival of the French as an opportunity to spread their enlightened ideas. They had a large, well-organized army. - The Spanish army and people, in the name of the legitimate King of Spain, Fernando VII. Despite the inferiority of their army and their poor organization, the guerrilla and the help provided by Portugal and Britain (Wellington) played a key role. Notable figures include Generals Palafox in the siege of Saragossa, and Castaños in the Battle of Bailén (July 1808). Notable guerrillas included Espoz y Mina, El Empecinado, and the Cura Merino. Two ideological factions could be distinguished: - Liberals: Their objective was to establish a constitutional monarchy. - Absolutists: Their objective was for Fernando VII to return to the throne of Spain and restore absolutism. The development of the War of Independence went through three phases: - **Until November 1808**: Characterized by the reaction of most Spaniards to the invasion. The French armies systematically occupied the Iberian Peninsula. The Spanish Army faced them at Bailén (1808), led by General Castaños, inflicting a severe defeat on the French troops of Marshal Dupont, forcing them to return to Madrid. The Spanish army also inflicted two defeats of relative importance in the area of El Bruch, giving rise to the famous legend of the Tambor del Bruch. Another part of the French army marched to Portugal, led by Marshal Junot, and fought the Portuguese troops and their British allies under Lord Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington. Faced with equal forces, the French agreed to withdraw from Lisbon and the southern regions of Portugal in the Convention of Sintra. Seeing their military failures, the king Joseph I decided to withdraw north towards the peninsula, occupying a narrow strip of Spanish territory between the Ebro and the Western Pyrenees, and moved his capital to Vitoria. - **From November 1808 to January 1812**: Phase of French predominance. England entered the conflict on the Spanish side, while Napoleon took charge of operations in Spain. Popular guerrilla warfare emerged as a new tactic to fight the French army. Learning of the progress of the war in Spain, Napoleon, at the head of 250,000 troops, entered Spanish territory through Irún in November 1808. Spaniards had organized into four armies to block the invasion: the western army, led by General Joaquin Blake facing the Basque Country; the central army, in Castile, under General Francisco Javier Castaños; the eastern army, in Catalonia, under General Vives; and the reserve army, in Aragon, under General José Palafox. However, the advance of the emperor was unstoppable and he defeated Blake's troops in Espinosa de los Monteros (Burgos) and Castaños's troops in Tudela. The great French victory at Somosierra on November 30, 1808, opened the gates of Madrid to the emperor, who entered on December 4th. Some of the most important cities also resisted the conquest, including Gerona, and Zaragoza. The siege of Zaragoza lasted until 1809, with figures such as General Palafox and the heroine Agustina de Aragon highlighted. The cities fell one by one, and by 1812, all major provincial capitals, except Cádiz, were under the control of the invaders. In 1810, the French conquered Seville, Tarragona in 1811 and Valencia in 1812. With the fall of the cities, the guerrilla was the only form of resistance and its activity remained constant. These were groups of armed civilians who attacked the French troops without following the protocols of conventional warfare and who relied on the support of the civilian population. Their attacks were unexpected, cruel, and very violent, aimed at disrupting supplies, spreading fear and disaffection among the soldiers, and limiting the advance of the invading troops. These guerrillas dominated areas of the territory, such as those led by Espoz y Mina in Navarre, Juan Martin "El Empecinado" between Madrid and Burgos, or the Cura Merino in Castile. - **From January 1812 to August 1813**: Spanish and British troops under Wellington, with Portugal's support on the rearguard, achieved victories at Arapiles (Salamanca, July 1812), Vitoria (June 1813) and San Marcial (Irún 1813). The progressive retreat of French troops was due to two factors: - Napoleon's defeat on the Russian front and the sending of 150,000 troops to France to make up for the defeat. - The counter-attack of British troops under Wellington from Portugal. British troops stopped the French at Torres-Vedras (Portugal) and harassed the French troops, driving them out of Badajoz. They achieved the great victory at Arapiles (Salamanca) in July 1812, along with Spanish troops who joined the campaign. Wellington led the attack against the French, taking Valladolid and Madrid, culminating in the Battle of Vitoria in 1813. Finally, the French suffered the defeat of San Marcial in 1813 when they tried to counterattack. However, Napoleonic troops remained in the eastern part of the country, both in Catalonia, which had been taken from Spain and incorporated as a new region of the Empire, and in the old Kingdom of Valencia. Eventually, throughout the first few months of 1814, Napoleonic troops were withdrawing from the eastern regions of Spain, until they finally left the Iberian Peninsula in the first few days of the summer of 1814. The war resulted in approximately a million deaths, almost 10% of the Spanish population, a large number of exiles in France who fled persecution for their collaboration or passivity towards the French, and acts of cruelty, exaggerated and depicted by Goya in his series of engravings "The Disasters of War". A large number of churches were destroyed, many works of art were stolen or looted, and a large number of documents and historical treasures were stolen. By the Treaty of Valençay (December 11, 1813) Napoleon returned the throne of Spain to Fernando VII. The last French troops left Spain in 1814. ### Consequences of the War of Independence. - **Human losses**: loss of approximately 10% of the population (dead, banished, and exiled). - **Material losses**: destruction of infrastructures, cities, agriculture, industry, and cultural heritage.