REIGN OF CHARLES IV (1788-1808)

Charles IV acceded to the throne in 1788 at the age of 40 and immediately left power in the hands
of the prime minister, Manuel Godoy. During his reign, the political crisis of the Old Regime began,
under the influence of the French Revolution.

1) In Spain, the 19th century was a period of transformation in which the political, economic, and
social structures of the Old Regime disappeared. However, their limited scope left Spain behind
with respect to the great European powers.

2) Absolutism gave way to a liberal system, but this change took place in an atmosphere of great
instability marked by civil wars, military coups d’état, and the loss of the colonial empire.

Due to fears that it would spread to Spain, the borders were closed, the Enlightenment reforms were
stopped, as they were thought to have inspired the revolution; and the war was declared with
France after the execution of Louis XVI on January 23, 1793.

3) The population grew, but moderately; and the economy was modernized, but the progress was
delayed, slow, and less intense than in other European countries, which is why Spain continued to be
an agrarian country.

4) A new class-based society was established, centered on wealth. However, landowners continued
to have significant influence, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat grew very little, and the peasantry
continued to make up the majority.

5) The Catholic Church remains with a great grip on people’s minds.

The French invaded the Basque Country and Navarra, which forced Godoy to sign the Peace of Basel
in 1795.

 In 1807, Godoy shifted his policy and allied with Napoleon after the signing of the Treaty of
Fontainebleau. The treaty contained an agreement to invade and divide up Portugal. With this
pretext, French troops entered Spain. The occupation of strategically important points of the
Peninsula made it clear that his intention was also to invade Spain. This fact caused the Mutiny
of Aranjuez (1808), a popular revolt against Manuel Godoy’s policies instigated by the heir to
the throne, the future Ferdinand VII.

 Therefore, Charles IV demoted Godoy and abdicated the throne in favor of his son Ferdinand,
a supporter of Absolutism.

 Napoleon ably took advantage of the disagreements within the royal family: he drew father and
son to Bayonne (France), got both to abdicate to him (Abdications of Bayonne), and yielded
the Spanish throne to his brother Joseph Bonaparte.

THE REIGN OF JOSEPH I (1808-1813)

Joseph Bonaparte is appointed to the Spanish Crown. He made some reforms.

 Conservative political system, but not Absolutism.

 Rights for prisoners.
 Abolition of torture.
 And suppression of the privileges of the nobility and the Church.

 Spaniards divided into two ideological groups:

 Afrancesados. They accepted the new monarchy and its reforms. They were a minority, mainly
civil servants and some members of the nobility and the clergy (the most educated). They saw
the French as an opportunity to develop the country and introduce reforms

Patriots. They refused a foreign monarch. Among them:

 Liberals: petite burghers and liberal professionals (intellectuals). They wanted to draw up a
constitution.

 Very traditional and uneducated people (mainly peasants and poor, by also members of the
clergy and the nobility). They defended traditional values (God, country, king, ancient laws).
Their motto: “Vivan las caenas”

THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE (1808-1813)

A Supreme Central Junta (a shadow government) will coordinate the resistance.

 In the cities: the French advance was stopped thanks to the resistance met in Girona, Zaragoza,
and Valencia

 In the countryside: guerrilla warfare, with the figures of Espoz y Mina, Father Merino, and El
Empecinado

 Battle of Bailén, Jaén, 1808: the Spanish people managed to beat the French troops. Napoleon
decided then to send 250.000 soldiers. Spain is crushed and occupied with the exception of
Cádiz.

1812, a turning point:

 Battle of Arapiles, Salamanca: the English general Wellington, who had ashore in
Portugal, became awarded that the campaign of Napoleon in Russia would turn out a
disaster and attacked France. English victory. From then on, the French were defeated
in Vitoria and San Marcial.

 Disaster or Napoleon in Russia

1813, Treaty of Valencay. Napoleon withdrew from Spain

THE CORTES DE CÁDIZ AND THE CONSTITUTION

1810, the Supreme Central Junta summoned the Cortes of Cádiz, elected by male popular vote.

The liberals won the majority and went to the Cortes to make reforms and to approve a
constitution (1812, 19 Mars, la Pepa).

Reforms:

Freedom of the press, Abolition of manors, Abolition of the trade guilds (to allow free trade)
And the abolition of the Holy Inquisition.
The Constitution of 1812, the first in the history of Spain:

 Recognized individual rights like equality before the law.

 Established national sovereignty.
 And the separation of powers.
 Thus, absolutism was replaced by a liberal and parliamentarian political system.
 Limited Suffrage.
 Catholicism remains the official religion of Spain. The lay States was not declared.