Spain during the French REvolution: Charles IV´s reign and the Peninsular War

1. SPAIN DURING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION:
THE CRISIS OF THE ANCIEN RÉGIME
AND THE PENINSULAR WAR (1788-1814)

2. CHARLES IV (1788-1808)
When Charles III died, his son
Charles IV became the new
king. He was not gifted to rule
and Charles III adviced him to
keep the counts of Aranda and
Floridablanca as ministers.
His reign was conditioned by
the French Revolution.
COUNT OF ARANDA COUNT OF
FLORIDABLANCA

3. MANUEL GODOY, PRINCE OF THE PEACE,
PAINTED BY GOYA
This alliance strongly conditioned Charles IV´s reign and was
decisive in its embarrassing end.
In 1792 Charles IV
appointed Godoy, a
former royal guard, as
prime minister .
At the beginning Godoy
decided to fight against
France, but after
Spain’s defeat in the
War of the Pyrenees
(1793-1795), he signed
an alliance with
France, against their
common enemy: Great
Britain.

4. BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR (1805)
VILLENEUVE GRAVINA
NELSON
In 1805 France and Spain declared war to Great Britain, but the Hispano-French
Armada was defeated in Trafalgar (Cádiz).
In 1806 Napoleon decided to order the Continental Blockade against Great Britain.

5. TREATY OF FONTAINEBLEAU (OCTOBER 1807)
Signed in the Château of
Fontainebleau, near Paris,
it allowed the French
armies to cross Spain to
invade Portugal.
The French troops started
coming into Spain and
occupying cities
CHÂTEAU OF FONTAINEBLEAU

6. MUTINY OF ARANJUEZ (MARCH 1808)
In March 1808 Godoy
moved the royal family to
Aranjuez, fearing that
Napoleon wanted to occupy
Spain.
Godoy´s enemies, led by
Prince Ferdinad, conspired
against Godoy and
instigated the people to
storm the Royal Palace.
Godoy was arrested and
fired and Charles IV
abdicated on his son, who
started reigning as
Ferdinand VII.
MUTINY OF ARANJUEZ

7. Charles IV regreted his decision
and sent a letter to Napoleon,
asking for his help to get the
crown back.
In May Napoleon called Charles
and Ferdinand to Bayonne
(France)
FERDINAND VII

8. THE BEGINNING OF THE PENINSULAR WAR(2ND
MAY 1808)
On the 2nd
of May 1808, some
people of Madrid observed that
the members of the royal family
were going out of the Royal
Palace, escorted by French
soldiers. They thought that the
royal family was being abducted
by the French and a revolt
against them started. The French
troops strongly repressed the
revolt, but protests spread
throughout all the country.
Francisco de Goya, the painter,
witnessed the events in Madrid
and reflected them on his
paintings The 2nd
and the 3rd
of
May 1808 (painted after the end
of the war).

9. ABDICATIONS OF BAYONNE (5TH
MAY 1808)
Meanwhile in Bayonne Napoleon obliged
Ferdinand VII to give the crown of Spain back
to his father Charles IV. Charles IV gave it to
Napoleon and Napoleon gave the crown to his
elder brother, Joseph, who became Joseph I.
JOSEPH I

10. PENINSULAR WAR
(1808-1813)
1808: FIRST MONTHS
END OF 1808 TO 1812:
-ALMOST TOTAL FRENCH CONTROL
OF THE COUNTRY
- ONLY RESISTANTS: GUERRILLA
APRIL 1812-
END OF 1813
- RETREAT OF FRENCH TROOPS FOR
THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN
- HISPANO-BRITISH OFFENSIVE FROM PORTUGAL
- INITIAL DISORGANIZATION
- UNEXPECTED VICTORY IN BAILÉN
- SIEGES

11. THE PENINSULAR WAR (1808-1814)
- Initial disorganization of the
Spanish army, commanded by
nobles and poorly prepared to
fight against the French.
- The French army found big
resistance in some cities: sieges
of Zaragoza and Girona.
- Unexpected victory in Bailén (19th
July 1808). The Spanish troops,
commanded by General
Castaños, defeated the French
troops, commanded by Dupont.
The Spanish troops took
advantage of their knowledge of
the ground.
Bailén was the first French major
defeat in Europe.
BAILÉN SURRENDER
FIRST STAGE

12. The French troops had
to retire to the Ebro
Valley and Napoleon
had to come personally
in the Iberian Peninsula
with his Great Army
(Grande Armée)

13. JUAN MARTÍN DÍAZ
EL EMPECINADO
FRANCISCO
ESPOZ Y MINA
The French Army, commanded by
Napoleon, occupied all Spain
except Cádiz.
Only guerrilla fighters resisted the
French. They invented a new way
of fighting (Guerrilla), based on the
knowledge of the territory and the
support of the local population:
they constantly harassed the
French soldiers, who were more
and better prepared. The guerrilla
fighters used irregular military
tactics, like surprise attacks and
sabotage.Their objective wasn´t
winning, but discouraging the
enemy.
2ND
STAGE: END OF 1808-APRIL 1812

14. GUERRILLA WAR: MAIN GUERRILLA GROUPS

15. THE DISASTERS OF WAR: GOYA´S SERIES OF ETCHINGS

20. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Los_desastres_de_la_guerra
ALL THE ETCHINGS OF THIS SERIES:

21. In April 1812, Napoleon
started retiring troops for
the Russian Campaign.
The Hispano-British army,
commanded by the Duke
of Wellington, took
advantage of this and
invaded Spain from
Portugal Their victories in
Ciudad Rodrigo, Los
Arapiles, Burgos, Vitoria
and San Marcial forced the
French to withdraw from
Spain
THIRD STAGE: APRIL 1812- END OF 1813

22. GOVERNMENT DURING THE WAR
OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT:
-Joseph I, supported by the Francophiles
- Very little popular support
- He tried to extend the reforms of the
Revolution to Spain, but his orders were not
obeyed and the war situation made the
implementation of many laws almost impossible.
LEANDRO
FERNÁNDEZ DE
MORATÍN,
JOSEPH I
JUAN
MELÉNDEZ
VALDÉS
FRANCOPHILES
The Francophiles considered the war as the
opportunity of modernizing Spain.

23. CORTES OF CÁDIZ
REBEL GOVERNMENT
COUNT OF FLORIDABLANCA,
PRESIDENT OF THE
SUPREME CENTRAL BOARD
Those who didn´t recognize the
authority of Joseph I created boards
(Juntas) in every city and province,
coordinated by a Supreme Central
Board that assumed the executive
and the legislative power.
The Supreme Central Board
assumed the regency and organized
the defense of the country. They got
in contact with the British and the
Portuguese in order to get their
support against the Napoleonic
army. They also decided to call
Cortes in 1810. The Cortes met in
Cádiz.
Many deputies defended liberalism
and this ideology was reflected in
the first Spanish Constitution.

24. CONSTITUTION OF 1812
- It was passed on the 19th
March 1812 (called
the “Pepa”)
- Inspired on the ideas of political liberalism:
- National sovereignty
- Division of powers
- Wide declaration of rights
- Indirect universal male suffrage
- But there were some remains of the
Ancien Régime, such as Catholicism as the
only allowed religion in Spain (many deputies
were members of the clergy) and wide
powers to the monarch (veto power). .
The Cortes of Cádiz also passed a lot of laws to abolish the Ancien Régime:
abolition of feudalism, guilds, the Inquisition, the estates. But these reforms
couldn´t extend due to war.

25. At the end of 1813 Napoleon
signed the Treaty of Valençay
with Ferdinand VII: he gave
the crown of Spain back to
Ferdinand VII and promised to
retire the French troops from
Spain with the condition of
respecting the Francophiles.
TREATY OF VALENÇAY (December 1813)
CHÂTEAU OF VALENÇAY
ALLEGORY OF THE RETURN OF
FERDINAND VII

26. The consequences of the
Peninsular War were
devastating: agriculture was
abandoned, cities and
industries were destroyed and
almost a million people died in
the war (200,000 French
soldiers and between 300,000
and 500,000 Spaniards).
Another consequence was the
return of absolutism, with
Ferdinand VII’s comeback.
Goya’s etching called “Against the general wellbeing”, a
critical cartoon that reflects the return of absolutism and
repression with Ferdinand VII’s comeback