Enlightenment Spain
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{{History of Spain|
image=[[Image:Francisco de Goya, The Fates (Atropos).JPG|250px]]
|caption=''Atropos (or [[destiny|Fate]])'' by [[Francisco Goya]]}}
The [[Age of Enlightenment]] came to [[Spain]] in the [[eighteenth century]] with the [[France|French]] [[Bourbon dynasty]], after the decay of the Spanish economy, bureaucracy, and empire in the latter years of [[Habsburg Spain|Habsburg rule]]. This Bourbon period of reform and 'enlightened despotism' focused on modernizing the Spanish government, infrastructure, and institutions, culminating in the rule of [[Charles III of Spain|King Charles III]] and the work of his minister, [[José Moñino|José Moñino, count of Floridablanca]].
The century began with the [[War of the Spanish Succession]] over the ascension of a relation of [[Louis XIV of France]] to the throne of Spain and ended with the [[Napoleonic Wars]] in which Spain would become a bloody battleground. Charles III's successors, fraught by war, foreign intervention, unrest in the empire, corruption, and the pain of reform, would face an increasingly restive and unstable Spain, the painful consequences of which would become the [[Carlist Wars|civil wars]] that dominated [[Mid-nineteenth century Spain|Spain in the nineteenth century]].
==War of Succession (1700-1715)==
{{main|War of the Spanish Succession}}
[[Image:Philip V.jpg|frame|left|Prince [[Philip V of Spain|Philip of Anjou]], grandson of King [[Louis XIV of France]], future King Philip V of Spain]]
The last years of the rule of the deformed, mentally retarded, and childless [[Charles II of Spain|Charles II]], were dominated by the politics of who would succeed the unfortunate monarch, the last Spanish king of the [[Habsburg dynasty]]. Economic troubles, the decay of the Spanish bureaucracy, a series of defeats in wars against [[France]], and the erosion of imperial institutions in the seventeenth century had left Charles the king of a declining empire, and his physical and mental weakness provided him with little ability to reverse the course of his country. Even so, the vastness of the [[Spanish Empire]] in the [[New World]], along with her naval resources, had made Spain a vital part of European power politics. If the throne of Spain was to succeed to a relative of the king of France, or if the two countries were to be united, the balance of power in Europe might shift in France's favor. If it remained in the hands of another member of the anti-French, [[Austria]]n Habsburg dynasty, the status quo would remain. No longer the colossus of European politics that it had been in the [[sixteenth century]], Spain had become a prize for Europe's great powers.
[[Image:Cavalry in front of a Burning mill by Wouwerman.jpg|thumb|right|300px|''Cavalry in front of a burning mill'', by [[Philip Wouwerman]]. Spain's countryside was devastated by the [[War of the Spanish Succession]].]]
Charles II, who had been ridiculed by his father and his family for his defects, decreed in one of his last official acts that his crown would pass to his nephew, [[Philip V of Spain|Philip of Anjou]], the Bourbon grandson of King [[Louis XIV of France]], and the heir to the French throne. [[Crown of Castile|Castilian]] legitimists, who valued the succession of the closest heir of the king over the continuation of Habsburg rule, supported the king's plan. Spanish officials were also concerned with Spain remaining an independent country, rather than another part of the French or Austrian empires. Even so, on hearing the news that his nephew had become King of Spain, Louis XIV proclaimed, "The [[Pyrenees]] are no more."[http://countrystudies.us/spain/11.htm]
The Austrian Habsburg claimant to the Spanish throne, [[Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Archduke Charles of Austria]], argued that he had been cheated out of the throne of Spain unfairly. [[England]] and the [[Netherlands]], who had backed [[Duke Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria]] as the successor to the Spanish throne as a means of preventing either Spain or France from becoming more powerful, accepted Philip of Anjou as king of Spain but eventually chose to support Austria after Louis XIV did not respect the fact that France was not to take too much advantage of a Bourbon on the Spanish throne. Austria, with the backing of England and the Netherlands, chose to go to war over the issue after France rejected a plan of partition, launching the [[War of the Spanish Succession]].
The Spanish ''[[cortes]]'' remained divided on the issue, and when war was declared in [[1702]], the war between Europe's great powers also became a civil war in Spain. [[Valencia (autonomous community)|Valencia]], [[Catalonia]], and [[Aragon]] pronounced in favor of the Austrian candidate as king, fearing (rightly) that the Bourbon candidate would attempt to change the decentralized administration of the country that afforded the Catalans and Aragonese considerable autonomy from [[Madrid]]. An English-Dutch army, marching from [[Portugal]], attacked Spain in [[1705]], but was for a time repulsed. The war elsewhere seemed to go well for France and her candidate for the Spanish throne initially, but at the [[Battle of Blenheim]] in [[1704]], Austria was saved from defeat by a British expedition under the [[Duke of Marlborough]]. Ten years of difficult fighting in [[Germany]], [[Italy]], [[Iberian Peninsula|Iberia]], the [[Low Countries]], and even the [[New World]] (where it became known as [[Queen Anne's War]]) followed. Madrid itself was occupied in [[1706]] and [[1710]], and much of the Spanish countryside was devastated by campaigns fought across its soil, both by foreign soldiers, its own army and the revolting Aragonese, Catalans, and Valencians.
[[Image:Allegory of the Peace of 1714.jpg|frame|right|Allegory on the [[Treaty of Utrecht]] ([[1713]]) ending the [[War of the Spanish Succession]]]]
A compromise peace came with the [[Treaty of Utrecht]] in [[1713]] between France and most of the great powers. France and the Allies agreed that Louis XIV's grandson, Philip, would become King [[Philip V of Spain]], but that the thrones of France and Spain were never to be united. While France's territories remained largely intact, Spain was forced to cede her European empire in the peace; her Italian possessions, including [[Naples]], [[Milan]], and [[Sardinia]], were given up to [[Austria]], along with [[Sicily]], which was ceded to [[Savoy]]. Spain was also forced to give up the [[Spanish Netherlands]] to [[Austria]], and the island of [[Minorca]] and [[Gibraltar]] to Britain. In exchange, Philip was able to keep the remainder of the Spanish empire. Even after the peace was signed, however, the [[Catalonia|Catalans]] - who had been operating independently against Philip during the war, operating under the banner "Privilegis o Mort" (Liberty or Death)[http://countrystudies.us/spain/11.htm] - continued to resist after the British withdrew; [[Barcelona]] was not retaken by Spanish forces until late in [[1714]], and much of the country was devastated in its resistance. This date (September 11, 1714) is commemorated as the [[National Day of Catalonia]].
==Reform (1715-1746)==
[[Image:Elizabeth Farnese.jpg|thumb|left|200px|[[Elizabeth Farnese]], queen of Spain and wife of [[Philip V of Spain]]]]
Philip proved an effective administrator, centralizing the Spanish authority by eliminating regional parliaments and beginning a process of harmonizing laws among the various regions of Spain's empire. His selection of capable French and Italian ministers to key positions in the government reined in independent, isolated, and corrupt ministries that had flourished in the later period of Habsburg rule. However, Philip - a [[manic depression|manic depressant]] often dominated in his policies by his wife [[Elizabeth Farnese]] - adopted an aggressive foreign policy that invested Spain in a series of costly wars throughout his reign.
The loss of so much of the territory promised to him by Charles II's decree and Philip's personal ambition put him at unease with the treaty. Philip's wife Elizabeth - a member of the royal family of [[Parma]] - and her favorite minister, Cardinal [[Giulio Alberoni]], desired to have their claims in Italy and those of Philip's restored. An alliance of France, Britain, and the Netherlands condemned Spain's ambitions which threatened the peace of Europe; in [[1717]], Philip invaded [[Sardinia]], one of the territories lost to Austria after the [[War of the Spanish Succession]]. The invasion of [[Sicily]] thereafter prompted the formation of the Quadruple Alliance of Britain, France, Austria, and the Netherlands to oppose Philip's ambitions. In [[1720]], embarrassed by the failure of Spanish arms at sea and on land in the [[War of the Quadruple Alliance]], Philip dismissed Alberoni and signed a peace treaty with Austria, with both sides recognizing the Treaty of Utrecht.
[[Image:Cannon shot by Velde.jpg|thumb|right|250px|''The cannon shot'' by [[Willem van de Velde, the younger]]. [[Spain]] and [[England]] fought a series of colonial and naval conflicts in the eighteenth century in the [[New World]] and the [[Mediterranean]].]]
The Spanish again attempted to regain some of their lost territory in the [[Anglo-Spanish War (1727)|Anglo-Spanish War]] of 1727-1729. An alliance was concluded in [[1725]] with the Austrians, who agreed to help the Spanish in retaking key naval bases in the Mediterranean - [[Minorca]] and [[Gibraltar]] - from the British. In response, an alliance was forged by the British Secretary of State, [[Charles Townshend]], with France and the Netherlands; when Philip did finally lay siege to Gibraltar, Austria declined to intervene against the powerful alliance, and Spain was left alone once again. Britain elected to devastate Spain's New World empire and her gold shipments, hoping to prevent Philip from buying the Austrians into intervention; the plan succeeded, and Philip was forced to sue for peace in [[1729]]. Elizabeth Farnese did get one of her wishes, though; the Italian duchies of [[Parma]], [[Piacenza]], and [[Tuscany]] were restored to her family.
After [[1729]], Philip was more reserved in his use of Spanish power and sought the close support of allies, in particular France: a more cautious strategy that yielded positive results. Philip sought a friendly axis with his relatives in France in the [[War of the Polish Succession]], where he succeeded in regaining [[Naples]] and [[Sicily]] for his son, the future [[Charles III of Spain]]. The [[Family Compact (French and Spanish history)|Family Compact]] with [[Louis XV of France]] was signed in [[1733]], bringing the two states closer together after the embarrassments of the Quadruple Alliance. Friction with Britain prompted by the [[War of Jenkins' Ear]] ([[1739]]-[[1741]]) pushed Philip into a closer alliance with France in the years leading to the [[War of the Austrian Succession]], in which Philip obtained further concessions from Austria for his family in Italy.
Late in his reign, Philip elected to place the reformation of his government in the hands of his ministers. The youthful and ambitious [[Zenón de Somodevilla]] had been created Marquis of Ensenada in [[1736]] for his successful diplomacy after the War of the Polish Succession, and seven years afterwards, in [[1743]], he was made Philip (and Elizabeth's) favorite at court, and for the remainder of Philip's reign, Ensenada effectively ruled Spain. Ensenada sought a cautious but independent foreign policy that distanced his country from either France or Britain, and desired a stable, peaceful atmosphere in which Spain could reform her institutions.
==Balancing act (1746-1759)==
[[Image:Ferdinand VI 2.jpg|thumb|right|200px|King [[Ferdinand VI of Spain]] (r. [[1746]]-[[1759]])]]
The end of the [[War of the Austrian Succession]] had awarded Ensenada a victory that cemented his support in Spain. However, two years before the war ended, [[Philip V of Spain|King Philip]], his strongest supporter, died, and was succeeded by his son [[Ferdinand VI of Spain|Ferdinand VI]]. Ferdinand - Philip's son by his first marriage to [[Marie Louise of Savoy]] - had suffered under the domineering influence of his stepmother as a child, and as king, he was constantly unsure of his own abilities. [[Elizabeth Farnese]], the queen who had effectively controlled Philip V, left the court on her husband's death. Like his father, though, Ferdinand was extremely devoted to his wife, and she dictated much of his policy and political decisions; at the time of Ferdinand's coronation in [[1746]], it was said that "Queen Barbara has succeeded Queen Elizabeth."[http://www.xs4all.nl/~kvenjb/madmonarchs/ferdinand6/ferdinand6_bio.htm] For her part, Queen [[Maria Magdalena Barbara|Maria Barbara de Braganza]], a member of the [[Portugal|Portuguese]] royal family, advocated a policy of neutrality that coincided with the opinions of her leading courtiers, far different from the irredentist policy of Elizabeth.
Ferdinand's rule reaped good fortune and the rewards of Philip V's reforms. He was a charitable ruler, relieving drought-stricken [[Andalusia]] from all taxes in [[1755]] and devoting large sums of money to the reconstruction of that part of the country. As king, he deferred many of his judgements to his leading ministers.
[[Image:Barbara de Braganza.jpg|thumb|left|200px|[[Maria Magdalena Barbara]] de Braganza, Queen of Spain, wife of [[Ferdinand VI of Spain]]]]
Ensenada continued to be the leading member of court in the early part of Ferdinand's reign. After the successful alliance with France in the War of the Austrian Succession, he advised strengthening that bond as a means of protecting Spain's vulnerable security and checking British interests in her empire. He was opposed by an [[anglophile]] faction at court led by [[Jose de Carvajal y Láncaster]], a mixed British-Spanish gentleman descended from the [[House of Lancaster]]. Carvajal believed that the key to Spain's defense and modernization was a closer alliance with Britain, whose naval power could complement Spain's empire and whose commercial strength could encourage economic development in Spain. Carvajal's most enduring accomplishment was the [[1750]] agreement with Portugal, which ended a long, low-level conflict in [[Banda Oriental]] (southern [[Uruguay]]) between the two countries.
[[Image:José de Carvajal y Lancáster.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Jose de Carvajal y Láncaster]], leader of the pro-[[United Kingdom|British]] faction in King [[Ferdinand VI of Spain|Ferdinand VI]]'s court.]]
The agreement with Portugal, however, was to have important political consequences for Spain. The agreement traded seven [[Jesuit]]-established and -operated missions in southern Uruguay for Portuguese-founded and -controlled [[Uruguay]]. The plan (opposed by both the Jesuits and the British) led to resistance led by the Jesuits and their native [[Guarani]] allies in the area. Both Spain and Portugal responded in force to the crisis, suppressing the Jesuits and Guarani in the [[War of the Seven Reductions]]. The war broke a traditionally friendly relationship between the Spanish government and the Jesuits and launched a period of anti-Jesuit policies both in Spain and Portugal that would be continued by [[Charles III of Spain]].
A scandal at court, resulting from a conspiracy between Carvajal and the British ambassador, led to the embarrassment of Ensenada and his disrepute at court. When Carvajal died in [[1754]], Philip and his wife dismissed Ensenada, fearing that the Marquis's French sympathies would lead to an alliance with [[Louis XV of France]] and war, without Carvajal's British sympathies to counterbalance him. An [[Ireland|Irishman]], [[Richard Wall]], was appointed to replace Ensenada as chief minister. Wall, a staunch defender of Spain's neutral policy, successfully kept the country out of war for the remainder of Ferdinand's reign, in spite of the outbreak of the largest European war since the [[Thirty Years' War]], the [[Seven Years' War]].
Although his wife had always feared that Ferdinand would die before her and leave her destitute - she had amassed huge personal wealth as a safeguard against this - it was his wife Maria Barbara who would precede him, dying in [[1758]]. Deeply distraught by her death, Ferdinand became apathetic to his duties as king, and indeed, suicidal. He died a year later, in [[1759]].
==Enlightened despotism (1759-1788)==
[[Image:Charles III of Spain.jpg|thumb|left|200px|King [[Charles III of Spain]] (r. [[1759]]-[[1788]])]]
Ferdinand's successor was [[Charles III of Spain|Charles III]], son of [[Philip V of Spain|Philip V]] by his second wife, [[Elizabeth Farnese]]. Charles had been named Duke of [[Parma]] at his mother's demand at the age of sixteen. His experience there gave him a place to experiment with the practice of [[enlightened despotism]]. He exhibited a martial spirit early on, acquiring [[Naples]] and [[Sicily]] by force of arms and becoming "[[Kingdom of the Two Sicilies|King of the Two Sicilies]]," though his tastes were generally more peaceful. On arriving in Spain, he did not share [[Jose de Carvajal y Láncaster|Carvajal]]'s taste for an alliance with Britain; he had borne the island nation a certain mistrust ever since a British fleet had forced his neutrality in the [[War of the Austrian Succession]].
He had been introduced to reform by his mentor in Sicily, [[Bernardo Tanucci]]. Although Tanucci remained behind in the Two Sicilies to advise Charles's son, King [[Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies]], as the two thrones could not be united by consequence of treaty, Charles carried with him a cadre of Italian reformers who saw potential in the Spanish bureaucracy for modernization. The architect of the first phase of Charles III's reforms was one such Italian, [[Leopoldo de Gregorio]] - a man of humble origins whose ability as a military supplier for the Neapolitan army impressed the king and raised him to royal prominence. Created "Marquis of Esquilache" in [[1755]], Gregorio was one of Spain's leading statesman from the arrival of Charles III to the Marquis's death in [[1785]].
[[Image:Esquilache-2.jpg|thumb|right|175px|[[Leopoldo de Gregorio, marquis de Esquilache]], Spanish statesman and reformer of King [[Charles III of Spain|Charles III]]]]
Although the [[Seven Years' War]] had broken out in [[1756]], Spain had managed to remain strictly neutral under the ministry of [[Richard Wall]], who continued to lead Spain's government in the early years of Charles III. Charles, however, bore a grudge against the English and as the war became increasingly desperate for France, he went against his chief minister's wishes and intervened on France's behalf in [[1762]]. Spain fared poorly in the war, and the British occupied [[Havana]] and [[Manila]] within a year. [[Florida]] was ceded to the British and Spain recognized British control over [[Minorca]] and [[Gibraltar]] in [[1763]], although [[Louisiana]] was given to Spain to compensate her for her losses. After the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)]], however, Spain could focus on internal development.
By far the largest landholder in Spain, the Church had been treated with great charity by the Spanish kings of the seventeenth century - [[Philip IV of Spain|Philip IV]] in particular donated large tracts of territory in religious piety. Much of this land went unused, and a great deal of the remainder of the country was owned by gentlemanly ''[[Hidalgo (Spanish nobility)|hidalgo]]s'' who lived primarily off of the state. The system had grown long obsolete, and a growing population (Spain's population would increase from eight to twelve million between [[1700]] and the [[French Revolution]]) had put great pressure on the government to reform. Like neighboring [[Portugal]], Spain's antiquated bureaucracy had grown dependent on the income and production from its colonies to support an unmanageably large class of landowning, nonproductive gentlemen and clergy.
[[Image:Scene from an Inquisition by Goya.jpg|thumb|left|350px|''Inquisition Scene'' by [[Francisco Goya]]. The [[Spanish Inquisition]] was still in force in the late eighteenth century.]]
The [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] had been a force of [[anticlericalism]] in Europe, and Charles, in applying its lessons to Spain, saw it similarly. [[Ferdinand VI of Spain|Ferdinand IV]] had undertaken to reduce the power of the [[Jesuit]]s in Spain and had arranged for Spain's kings to appoint her own bishops, a power that France's kings had held since the fifteenth century. Charles, who advocated a radical policy and rapid modernization of the country, expelled the Jesuit Order from Spain completely in [[1767]] (see [[Suppression of the Jesuits]]). The [[Inquisition]] was scaled back, but not completely eradicated; as late as [[1787]], a woman was burned as a witch.
Land reform and agricultural reform placed a new burden on Spanish society and alienated both clergymen and landed gentleman in Spain. Charles chose to ally with the merchantmen of his country and a growing middle class that came with a new prosperity during his rule. An advocate of [[free trade]], Charles reduced the tariff barriers that had been the core of Spanish trade policy for centuries. The Marquis of Esquilache successfully liberalized the grain trade in [[1765]].
[[Image:Esquilache riots.jpg|thumb|right|250px|"''[[Esquilache Riots|Motin de Esquilache]]''", by [[Francisco Goya]]. The liberalization of the grain trade by [[Leopoldo de Gregorio, marquis de Esquilache]] caused a sharp rise in grain prices, and in turn, riots.]]
Although he believed in centralized government and continued the reforms of his predecessors to reduce the autonomy of the regional governments, Charles approved of establishing prototype chambers of commerce (see ''[[Sociedad Económica de los Amigos del País]]'') to encourage local economic development and initiative. The national infrastructure was improved to foster the development of Spanish manufacturing, and a unified monetary system was implemented.
The reforms were not without costs, however, and in [[1766]], in the context of a worldwide grain shortage and the difficulties of the recently liberalized grain trade, riots broke out in Madrid and other cities in Spain against rising grain prices. The "''[[Esquilache Riots|Motin de Esquilache]]''" drove the king from his capital and embarrassed the king's chief minister. An [[Aragon]]ese official, [[Pedro Pablo Aranda]], gained prominence during the crisis and led the government in the king's absence.
[[Image:The Count of Floridablanca by Francisco Goya.jpg|thumb|left|225px|''The [[José Moñino y Redondo, conde de Floridablanca|Count of Floridablanca]]'', Spanish statesman and reformer, by [[Francisco Goya]]]]
Aranda, as the leader of the Aragonese faction at court, favored a more decentralized system of government. Esquilache, who formerly had the king's ear, was sent abroad as an ambassador, and for a time Aranda was the leading figure in Spanish politics. A criminal prosecutor named [[José Moñino]] gained prominence as the investigator of the riots and as an outspoken supporter of the king's reformist policies. Esquilache arranged to have him made ambassador to [[Rome]] in [[1767]]; in [[1773]] Moñino succeeded in having the [[Pope]] revoke the papal charter of the Jesuit Order. For this success, Moñino was created [[Count of Floridablanca]].
The new count was named chief minister in [[1777]] and undertook the material reform of the Spanish bureaucracy. His chief bureaucratic successes were the creation of a true cabinet system of government in [[1778]] and the creation of Spain's first national bank, the [[National Bank of San Carlos]], in [[1782]]. Recognizing the damage done to Spain's education system after the expulsion of the Jesuits, Floridablanca undertook drastic reform to hire new teachers and modernize Spain's education system. Floridablanca's most enduring accomplishment was the freedom of trade in Spain's empire in the [[New World]] to foreigners.
Although Floridablanca - like Carvajal before him - admired British governance and believed that a cordial relationship with [[George III of the United Kingdom]] was the best policy for Spain, the [[American Revolutionary War]] was too great an opportunity for King Charles, and Spain went to war against Britain alongside France and the [[Netherlands]] in [[1779]], after providing monetary assistance to the rebels. [[Bernardo de Galvez]], the governor of Spanish Louisiana, led the campaign to retake the forts lost to the British since [[1762]]; Pensacola, Florida was retaken in [[1782]], and the Bahamas were seized later that year. The [[Treaty of Paris (1783)]] restored much of what Spain had lost in the [[Seven Years' War]], including [[Florida]].
==Trouble abroad (1788-1808)==
[[Image:Family of Charles IV by Goya.jpg|thumb|right|250px|''The Family of [[Charles IV of Spain|Charles IV]]'' by [[Francisco Goya]]]]
King [[Charles III of Spain|Charles III]] died on [[14 December]] [[1788]]. Seven months later, [[France|French]] revolutionaries stormed the [[Bastille]], launching the [[French Revolution]].
Charles III's eldest son was both epileptic and retarded and was passed over for the throne in favor of his second eldest, [[Charles IV of Spain|Charles IV]]. Charles IV was seen by many of his time as being as disinterested in politics as [[Ferdinand VI of Spain|Ferdinand VI]] had been. His chief interest upon his arrival in Spain (he had grown up in [[Naples]]) was hunting, and for all of his rule, his policies were dominated by the will of his wife.
[[Image:Pedro Pablo Aranda.jpg|thumb|left|200px|The [[Pedro Pablo Aranda|Count of Aranda]], the leader of the [[Aragon]]ese faction in the courts of [[Charles III of Spain|Charles III]] and [[Charles IV of Spain|Charles IV]]]]
His wife [[Maria Luisa of Parma]], however, took as her lover [[Manuel de Godoy]], a soldier from a humble family, was dashingly handsome, particularly when Maria Louisa compared him to Charles IV. He had made the queen's acquaintance in [[1788]], months before she became queen, and by the time of her accession, she had become completely enamored. The king was very fond of Godoy, even though he was fully aware of his wife's [[adultery]], and Godoy became Spain's chief minister in [[1792]].
The chief minister at the time of Charles IV's accession, [[José Moñino|José Moñino, count of Floridablanca]], was not easily ousted and had many supporters in the court, particularly in Castile. Floridablanca's chief opponent in Spanish politics was [[Pedro Pablo Aranda]], the leader of the Aragonese faction. Godoy made an alliance with Aranda, with whom Godoy sympathized, against Floridablanca. With the outbreak of the French Revolution and the execution of [[Louis XVI of France|Louis XVI]] in [[1792]], Floridablanca's liberalism faced greater skepticism. Aranda and Godoy had Floridablanca imprisoned in [[1792]] on charges of [[embezzlement]], of which he was later acquitted.
[[Image:Manuel Godoy Spain.jpg|thumb|right|350px|[[Manuel de Godoy]], by [[Francisco Goya]]]]
The spirit of reform that had made the reign of Charles III an era of renewed prosperity for Spain was extinguished in the reign of Charles IV. His queen and her lover were uninterested in the improvement of the Spanish bureaucracy and regarded Floridablanca as an exponent of the very sort of [[liberalism]] that was tearing France apart. The Aragonese faction led by Aranda, allied to many of the causes that had opposed Charles III's reforms, managed to undo much of the changes brought about in Charles III's tenure.
After the execution of Louis XVI in 1793, 20,000 men were mobilized and marched to the French border. The army, however, had been allowed to languish in Charles III's reign, and it was ill-equipped and ill-trained to cope with a French invasion. [[Navarre]] was quickly seized by the French, although the Spanish managed to hold their ground in [[Catalonia]] and even invaded French [[Languedoc]]. Godoy, unimpressed with Spain's military effectiveness, decided to come to terms with the new French Republic, and in [[1795]] signed the [[Treaty of Basel]], guaranteeing peace with France with the cession of [[Santo Domingo]] to the Republic.
[[Image:Coast scene with British man of war by Vernet.jpg|thumb|right|300px|''Coast scene with [[United Kingdom|British]] [[man-of-war]]'' by [[Claude-Joseph Vernet]]. The chaos caused in Spain by the interventions of foreign powers helped to embolden [[Latin American revolutions|independence movements]] within the [[Spanish Empire]].]]
Godoy, having abandoned his allies in the [[United Kingdom]] and [[Austria]], faced a decision: whether to continue to fight the Revolutionary France that had already defeated Spain once before, or to join the French side and hope for better times. The Spanish, after initially opposing the French, signed the [[Second Treaty of San Ildefonso|Treaty of San Ildefonso]] in [[1796]], allying Spain to France, in exchange for French support for Charles IV's relations ruling the Italian duchy of [[Parma]]. In response, the British [[blockade]]d Spain in [[1797]] and separated her colonial empire from the mother country. By the end of [[1798]], the Spanish fleet had been defeated by the British, and [[Minorca]] and [[Trinidad]] were occupied. In [[1800]], the Spanish returned [[Louisiana]] to France, which had been given to them in compensation for their losses at the end of the [[Seven Years' War]].
The [[Portugal|Portuguese]], who opposed the French, continued to trade with the British in spite of a series of French demands that they close their ports to British ships. In [[1801]], the Spanish delivered an ultimatum on behalf of France, and in the following border war, occupied the town of [[Olivenza]] (Olivença) before the Portuguese agreed to the Spanish and French demands. The town - which is disputed to the present day - continues to be administered by Spain though Portugal contends that the [[Congress of Vienna]] restored it to Portugal.
[[Image:Victory by Constable.JPG|thumb|left|300px|''His Majesty's Ship "[[HMS Victory|Victory]]", Capt. E. Harvey, in the Memorable [[Battle of Trafalgar]] between two [[France|French]] Ships of the Line'' by [[John Constable]]]]
The [[Treaty of Amiens]] in [[1802]] provided for a temporary truce in hostilities, only to be broken in [[1804]] when the British captured a Spanish treasure fleet off [[Cadiz]]. The French planned an invasion of England in the coming year; the Spanish fleet was to be an integral part in assisting this invasion. At the [[Battle of Trafalgar]] in [[1805]], the Spanish navy and the French Mediterranean fleet, attempting to join forces with the French fleets in the north for the invasion, were attacked by [[Horatio Nelson|Admiral Lord Nelson]] at the head of a British fleet in one of history's greatest naval engagements. The disastrous defeat that the Spanish and French suffered assured British control of the seas for a century, and seriously shook the resolve of the Spanish who began to doubt the usefulness of their alliance to France.
[[Image:Ferdinand VII when Prince of Asturias.png|thumb|right|250px|''[[Ferdinand VII of Spain|Ferdinand VII]] when Prince of [[Asturias]]'' by [[Francisco Goya]]]]
After Trafalgar, Godoy withdrew from the [[Continental System]] that [[Napoleon Bonaparte|Napoleon]] had devised to combat Britain, only to join it again in [[1807]] after Napoleon had defeated the [[Prussia]]ns. Napoleon, however, had lost his faith in Godoy and King Charles; there was also growing support in Spain for the king's son, [[Ferdinand VII of Spain|Ferdinand]], who opposed the increasingly unpopular Godoy. Ferdinand, however, favored an alliance with Britain, and Napoleon doubted the trustworthiness of any Spanish royalty.
In [[1808]], Spain and France agreed to the partition of Portugal, which had renewed to support of the British after Trafalgar. The French and Spanish quickly occupied the country. Prince Ferdinand traveled to France, and rumors spread that he was asking for Napoleon to oust Godoy from power; the Spanish King sided with his favorite. Riots broke out in the country against Godoy, and he was arrested by a mob. To save him, the king abdicated in favor of his son Ferdinand. Napoleon, however, had lost confidence in the Spanish monarchy and when Ferdinand traveled to France to obtain the French emperor's support, Napoleon pressured Ferdinand to abdicate. He was replaced by [[Joseph Bonaparte]], Napoleon's brother. The Spanish chose to resist.
==War of independence (1808-1814)==
''See also: [[Peninsular war]]''
[[Image:Francisco de Goya y Lucientes 023.jpg|thumb|right|300px|''The Executions of the Third of May'' by [[Francisco Goya]]]]
The Spanish people rallied around the cause of Prince [[Ferdinand VII of Spain|Ferdinand]], who, even as a prisoner in France, was made into a national hero in what became a "war of independence" for Spain. [[Manuel de Godoy|Godoy]], [[Charles IV of Spain|Charles IV]], and his wife retired first to France, then to Italy, and left Spanish politics permanently.
The installation of [[Joseph Bonaparte]] as [[King of Spain]] sparked a revolution in Spain. On the [[3 May]] [[1808]], a revolt in [[Madrid]] was bloodily suppressed by the French army, which now found itself attempting the occupation of both [[Portugal]] and Spain. The incident and the perceived brutality of the French response created a rallying point for Spanish revolutionaries; the executions were captured famously by the Spanish painter [[Francisco Goya]]. The Spanish army, on the whole, pronounced itself in favor of Ferdinand and joined the British and Portuguese in a united front against the French.
[[Image:Joseph-Bonaparte.jpg|thumb|left|250px|[[Joseph Bonaparte]], [[King of Spain]] (r. [[1808]]-[[1814]])]]
Regional [[wiktionary:junta|juntas]] were set up that declared Joseph's monarchy invalid; the clergy rallied against the "godless" French. The juntas collectively asked Britain for aid, and [[London]] was only too happy to oblige. The Junta in [[Seville]] declared itself the Supreme Junta for Spain in [[1808]], and most regional juntas (and the colonies in the New World) assented to the supremacy of the Seville Junta, which became a provisional government for Spain in the absence of Ferdinand. A new French offensive the following year forced it to withdraw to [[Cadiz]], where it would remain until close to the end of the war.
King Joseph had attempted to reconcile with the Spanish early on; at [[Bayonne]], after the forced abdication of Ferdinand, Joseph gathered an assembly of Spanish notables to draft a constitution for his new Bonapartist regime in Spain. The most prominent members in Spanish politics - including the [[José Moñino|Count of Floridablanca]] - declined to attend. The cabinet and constitution that Joseph did present was viewed as illegitimate. Joseph entered Madrid on [[25 July]] [[1808]], after the rebellion against his government was already well under way.
[[Image:The Giant by Goya.jpg|thumb|right|300px|''The colossus'' by [[Francisco Goya]], a representation of the [[Peninsular War|war]] in [[Spain]]]]
A series of victories against the French in [[1808]] prompted [[Napoleon Bonaparte|Napoleon]] himself to invade Spain in [[1809]], forcing the British and their allies to evacuate the peninsula in only two months' time. Satisfied, Napoleon placed command of the war in the hands of one of his [[Marshal of France|marshals]], [[Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult]]. With the destruction of the Spanish army in 1808, Spanish resistance transformed into fierce [[guerrilla warfare]]. Although numerically superior to the regular British, Portuguese, and Spanish armies, so effective were the Spanish guerillas that of 350,000 men of the French ''Armée de l'Espagne'', 200,000 were employed in the protection of France's vulnerable lines of supply stretching across the breadth of Spain.
Many Spanish [[liberal]]s - carrying the tradition of [[Charles III of Spain|Charles III]] and his ministers - saw in a close relationship with France the hope for modernity and progress in their country. Called "''[[afrancesado]]s''," they viewed the end of the [[Spanish Inquisition|Inquisition]] and the establishment of a more secular, liberal monarchy with affection, but as the French occupation dragged on, popularity for French rule even among liberals waned. By 1812, many of these afrancesados had become members of the Spanish guerilla war. The [[Spanish Constitution of 1812]] (the Cadiz Constitution) was drafted by the Supreme Junta. The constitution, written by an assembly dominated by liberal reformers, described a [[constitutional monarchy]]. The inquisition would be abolished, though [[Roman Catholicism]] was still the state religion and heresy a crime. The constitution - Spain's first - provided for [[freedom of speech]], [[freedom of association]], and universal manhood [[suffrage]]. In response to the constitution, France temporarily annexed [[Catalonia]].
[[Image:Duke of Wellington 2.jpg|thumb|right|225px|Sir [[Arthur Wellesley]], [[Duke of Wellington]], commander of [[United Kingdom|British]] and [[Portugal|Portuguese]] forces in [[Spain]] and [[Portugal]]]]
The British, under the command of [[Arthur Wellesley]], invaded Spain from Portugal in [[1810]]. A Spanish force, pulled together from the remnants of the Spanish army and volunteer fighters, joined him and successfully defeated the French under the personal command of Joseph Bonaparte at the [[Battle of Talavera]]. For his victory, Wellesley was made [[Duke of Wellington]], although not long after Talavera he was forced to retreat into Portugal once more. Although Wellington took [[Madrid]] on [[6 August]] [[1812]], he retreated not long after back to Portugal. With the stretched and harassed French forces depleted when Napoleon redeployed troops for what would be a disasterous offensive against Russia, Wellington saw an opportunity and attacked again in [[1813]]. At the [[Battle of Vitoria]], on [[21 June]] [[1813]], the French under the personal command of King Joseph were again defeated, and were subsequently forced as far back as the [[Pyrenees]] in early July. Fighting continued in the mountains throughout the winter, though in the spring of [[1814]] the Allies advanced into southern France.
Ferdinand was released by the French after the fall of Napoleon in 1814. On arriving in Spain, the most important question was whether he would swear by the Constitution of 1812, that the Supreme Junta had composed in his stead. The constitution, which also limited the king's powers considerably in favor of a [[unicameral]] legislature, was deeply unpopular among the conservative Spanish clergy, and among the people of Spain who associated much of it with the French who had only months before been evicted from their country. Ferdinand refused to accept the liberal constitution, and continued his rule in Spain as Charles IV had; as an absolute monarch.
{{Seealso|Mid-nineteenth century Spain}}
==References==
*Wright, Esmond, ed. (1984). ''History of the World, Part II: The last five hundred years'' (3rd ed.). New York: Hamlyn Publishing. ISBN 0-517-43644-2.
*Black, Jeremy (1996). ''The Cambridge illustrated atlas of warfare: Renaissance to revolution''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-47033-1
*Ubieto Arteta, Antonio (1997). '' Historia ilustrada de Espana, v.5: El Barroco espanol y el reformismo borbonico''. Madrid : Debate ; Valencia : Circulo de Lectores. ISBN 84-226-6342-2
*Ubieto Arteta, Antonio (1997). '' Historia ilustrada de Espana, v.6: Guerra, revolucion y Restauracion. 1808-1833''. Madrid : Debate ; Valencia : Circulo de Lectores. ISBN 84-226-6343-0
*Guimera, Agustin (1996). ''El reformismo borbonico : una vision interdisciplinar''. Madrid : Alianza : Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas. ISBN 84-206-2863-8
* Fernandez, Roberto (Fernandez Diaz) (2001). ''Carlos III''. Madrid : Arlanza Ediciones. ISBN 84-95503-21-2
* Egido Martinez, Teofanes (2001). ''Carlos IV''. Madrid : Arlanza Ediciones. ISBN 84-95503-22-0
* Kamen, Henry (2001). ''Philip V of Spain : the king who reigned twice''. New Haven : Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-08718-7
* Santos, José (2002). ''Martín Sarmiento : Ilustración, educación y utopía en la España del siglo XVIII''. La Coruña: Fundación Barrié de la Maza. ISBN 84-9752-009-2
==External links==
*[http://countrystudies.us/spain/ Library of Congress Country studies: Spain]
*[http://www.zum.de/whkmla/region/spain/spain17141759.html KMLA History of Spain]
*[http://www.artehistoria.com/ Artehistoria, providing biographies, histories, and lots of pictures] (in Spanish)
*[http://www.fuenterrebollo.com/ Portal Fuenterebollo], providing information on specific Spanish historical figures. In Spanish.
[[Category:The Enlightenment]]
[[Category:18th century in Spain]]
[[es:Ilustración política en España]]
[[fr:Espagne des Lumières]]
[[it:Spagna nel XVIII secolo]]
[[pl:Hiszpania Burbonów]]
[[zh:西班牙波旁王朝]]