 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Spain under Joseph Bonaparte" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(June 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Kingdom of (the) Spain(s)[a] and (the) Indies | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1808–1813 | |||||||||
| Motto: Plus Ultra (Latin) "Further Beyond" | |||||||||
| Anthem: Marcha Real (Spanish) "Royal March" | |||||||||
 Spanish territory occupied at some point during the war by King Joseph Bonaparte. Military governments dependent on Paris (since 1810): Biscay, Navarre and Aragon Military government of Catalonia, dependent on Paris (since 1810) / Territory annexed to the French Empire (from 1812 until the Treaty of Valençayin 1813). Territory never occupied by Joseph Bonaparte's government, besides Spanish America, the Philippines, Spanish Guinea: Canary Islands, Cadiz, Ceuta, Melilla, Cartagena, Alicante and Balearic Islands. | |||||||||
| Status | Client state of theFrench Empire | ||||||||
| Capital | Madrid | ||||||||
| Official languages | Spanish French (dynastic) | ||||||||
| Common languages | Catalan Basque Galician | ||||||||
| Religion | Catholicism (State Religion) | ||||||||
| Demonyms | Spaniard, Spanish | ||||||||
| Government | Unitarysemi-constitutional monarchy | ||||||||
| King | |||||||||
• 1808–1813 | Joseph I | ||||||||
| Regent | |||||||||
• 1808 | Joachim Murat | ||||||||
| First Secretary of State | |||||||||
• 1808–1813 | Mariano Luis de Urquijo | ||||||||
• 1813 | Juan O'Donoju O'Ryan | ||||||||
• 1813 | Fernando de Laserna | ||||||||
| Legislature | Cortes Generales | ||||||||
| Historical era | Napoleonic Wars | ||||||||
| 6 May 1808 | |||||||||
| 8 July 1808 | |||||||||
| 21 June 1813 | |||||||||
| 11 December 1813 | |||||||||
| Currency | Spanish real | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Spain | ||||||||
Bonapartist Spain was aNapoleonic client state established in 1808 afterNapoleon, who had stationed hisImperial Army in Spain under the pretense of ajoint Franco–Spanish invasion of Portugal, forced the rulingSpanish Bourbons toabdicate, and installed his brother,Joseph Bonaparte on the Spanish throne, which ignited a people's revolt by Spanish citizens and led to thePeninsular War, where France was defeated and forced to retreat from Spain.
The kingdom was officially known asKingdom of (the) Spain(s)[a] and (the) Indies, with "the Indies" referring to theEast andWest Indies as well asSpain's colonial possessions more broadly. It never managed to exert control over these territories however, not only did the French invasion weaken Spain's grasp on its overseas empire, kickstarting theSpanish American wars of independence, but even on theSpanish mainland, theHouse of Bonaparte's grip was tenuous. Large parts of the country came under the control ofjuntas, which remained loyal toFerdinand VII and theold Bourbon kingdom, allying with theCoalition forces ofBritain andPortugal to undermine theFrench occupation.
Guerrilla warfare bogged down French troops for years in Iberia, which hindered the French military and Napoleon referring to Spain as theSpanish Ulcer. A series of decisive Coalition victories from 1812 to 1813 atSalamanca andVitoria meant the defeat of theBonapartist régime and the expulsion ofNapoleon I's troops. In theTreaty of Valençay Napoleon recognized Ferdinand VII as the legitimateKing of Spain,[1] though the Bourbon andAnglo-Portuguese forces continued to pursue the retreating French Imperial Army as part of theSixth Coalition in an invasion of France.
Spain had been allied with France against Britain since theSecond Treaty of San Ildefonso in 1796. After the defeat of the combined Spanish and French fleets by the British at theBattle of Trafalgar in 1805, cracks began to appear in the alliance, with Spain preparing to invade France from the south after the outbreak of theWar of the Fourth Coalition. In 1806, Spain readied for an invasion in case of aPrussian victory, but Napoleon I's rout of thePrussian Army at theBattle of Jena-Auerstedt caused Spain to back down. However, Spain continued to resent the loss of its fleet at Trafalgar and the fact that it was forced to join theContinental System. Nevertheless, the two allies agreed to partition Portugal, a long-standing British trading partner and ally, which refused to join the Continental System.
Napoleon was fully aware of the disastrous state of Spain's economy and administration, and its political fragility. He came to believe that it had little value as an ally in the current circumstances. He insisted on positioning French troops in Spain to prepare for aninvasion of Portugal, but once this was done, he continued to move additional French troops into Spain without any sign of an advance into Portugal. The presence of French troops on Spanish soil was extremely unpopular in Spain, resulting in theTumult of Aranjuez by supporters ofFerdinand VII, the heir apparent to the throne.Charles IV of Spain abdicated in March 1808 and his prime minister,Manuel de Godoy was also ousted.
Ferdinand VII was declared the legitimate monarch, and returned toMadrid expecting to take up his duties as king.Napoleon Bonaparte summoned Ferdinand VII toBayonne,France, and he went, fully expecting Napoleon Bonaparte to approve his position as monarch. Napoleon I had also summoned Charles IV, who arrived separately. Napoleon I pressed Ferdinand VII to abdicate in favor of his father, who had abdicated under duress. Charles IV then abdicated in favor of Napoleon I, since he did not want his despised son to be heir to the throne. Napoleon I placed his brotherJoseph Bonaparte on the throne. The formal abdications were designed to preserve the legitimacy of the new sitting monarch.
Charles IV hoped that Napoleon I, who by this time had 100,000 troops stationed in Spain, would help him regain the throne. However, Napoleon I refused to help Charles IV, and also refused to recognize his son - Ferdinand VII, as the new king. Instead, he succeeded in pressuring both Charles IV and Ferdinand VII to cede the crown to his brother, Joseph Bonaparte. The head of the French forces in Spain, MarshalJoachim Murat, meanwhile pressed for the formerPrime Minister of Spain,Manuel de Godoy, whose role in inviting the French forces into Spain had led to the mutiny of Aranjuez, to be set free. The failure of the remaining Spanish government to stand up to Murat caused popular anger. On 2 May 1808, the younger son of Charles IV, theInfante Francisco de Paula, left Spain for France, leading to a widespread rebellion in the streets of Madrid.
TheCouncil of Castile, the main organ ofcentral government in Spain under Charles IV, was now in Napoleon's control. However, due to the popular anger at French rule, it quickly lost authority outside the population centers which were directly French-occupied. To oppose this occupation, former regional governing institutions, such as theCortes of Aragon and the Board of the Principality ofAsturias, resurfaced in parts of Spain; elsewhere,juntas (councils) were created to fill the power vacuum and lead the struggle against French imperial forces. Provincial juntas began to coordinate their actions; regional juntas were formed to oversee the provincial ones. Finally, on 25 September 1808, a singleSupreme Central Junta was established in Aranjuez to serve as the acting resistance government for all of Spain.
Joachim Murat established a plan of conquest, sending two large armies to attack pockets of pro-Ferdinand resistance. One army secured the route between Madrid andVitoria and besiegedZaragoza,Girona, andValencia. The other, sent south toAndalusia, sackedCórdoba. Instead of proceeding toCádiz as planned, GeneralDupont was ordered to march back to Madrid, but was defeated by GeneralCastaños at theBattle of Bailén on 22 July 1808. This victory encouraged the resistance against the French in several countries elsewhere in Europe. After the battle, King Joseph left Madrid to take refuge in Vitoria. In the fall of 1808, Napoleon himself entered Spain, entering Madrid on 2 December and returning Joseph I to the capital. Meanwhile, a British army entered Spain from Portugal but was forced to retreat toGalicia. In early 1810, the Bonapartist offensive reached the vicinity ofLisbon, but were unable to penetrate the fortifiedLines of Torres Vedras.
The Josephine State had its legal basis in theBayonne Statute.
When Ferdinand VII leftBayonne, in May 1808, he asked that all institutions co-operate with the French authorities. On 15 June 1808 Joseph Bonaparte, the elder brother of Napoleon I was madeKing. The Council of Castile assembled in Bayonne, though only 65 of the total 150 members attended. The Assembly ratified the transfer of the Crown to Joseph Bonaparte and adopted with little change apart from a constitutional text drafted by Napoleon I. Most of those assembled did not perceive any contradiction between patriotism and collaboration with the new king. Moreover, it was not the first time a foreign dynasty had assumed theSpanish Crown: at the start of the eighteenth century, theHouse of Bourbon came to Spain from France after the last of theSpanish Habsburgs,Charles II, died without offspring.
Napoleon Bonaparte and Joseph Bonaparte both underestimated the level of opposition that the appointment would create. Having successfully appointed Joseph IKing of Naples in 1806 and other family rulers inHolland in 1806 andWestphalia in 1807, it came as a surprise to have created a political and later military disaster.[2]
Joseph Bonaparte promulgated theBayonne Statute on 7 July 1808. As a constitutional text, it is aroyal charter, because it was not the result of a sovereign act of the nation assembled inParliament, but a royal edict. The text was imbued with a spirit of reform, in line with theBonaparte ideals, but adapted to theSpanish culture so as to win the support of the elites of the old regime. It recognized theCatholic religion as the official religion and forbade the exercise of other religions. It did not contain an explicit statement about the separation of powers, but asserted the independence of the judiciary. Executive power lay in the King and his ministers. The courts, in the manner of the old regime, were constituted of the estates of the clergy, the nobility and the people. Except with regard to the budget, its ability to make laws was influenced by the power of the monarch. In fact, the King was only forced to call Parliament every three years. It contained no explicit references to legal equality of citizens, although it was implicit in the equality in taxation, the abolition of privileges and equal rights between Spanish and American citizens.[vague] The Constitution also recognized the freedom of industry and trade, the abolition of trade privileges and the elimination of internal customs.
The Constitution established theCortes Generales, an advisory body composed of the Senate which was formed by the male members of the royal family and 24 members appointed by the king from the nobles and the clergy, and a legislative assembly, with representatives from the estates of the nobility and the clergy. The Constitution established an authoritarian regime that included some enlightened projects, such as the abolition of torture, but preserving the Inquisition.
The Spanish uprising resulted in theBattle of Bailén on 16–19 July 1808, which resulted in a French defeat and Joseph I with the French high command fleeing Madrid and abandoning much of Spain.[2]
During his stay inVitoria, Joseph Bonaparte had taken important steps to organise the state institutions, including creating an advisoryCouncil of State. The king appointed a government, whose leaders formed an enlightened group which adopted a reform program. The Inquisition was abolished, as was the Council of Castile which was accused of anti-French policy. He decreed the end of feudal rights, the reduction of religious communities and the abolition of internal customs charges.
This period saw measures to liberalize trade and agriculture and the creation of a stock exchange in Madrid. The State Council undertook the division of land into 38 provinces.
As the popular revolt against Joseph I spread, many who had initially co-operated with theHouse of Bonaparte left their ranks. But there remained numerous Spanish, known asafrancesados, who nurtured his administration and made the Peninsular War partially acivil war. Theafrancesados saw themselves as heirs ofenlightened absolutism and saw the arrival of Bonaparte as an opportunity to modernize the country. Many had been a part of government in the reign of Charles IV, for example,François Cabarrus, former head of finance andMariano Luis de Urquijo, Secretary of State from November 1808 to April 1811.[2] But there were also writers like playwrightLeandro Fernández de Moratín, scholars likeJuan Antonio Llorente, the mathematicianAlberto Lista, and musicians such asFernando Sor.
Throughout the war, Joseph I tried to exercise full authority as the King of Spain, preserving some autonomy against the designs of his brother Napoleon I. In this regard, manyafrancesados believed that the only way to maintain national independence was to collaborate with the new dynasty, as the greater the resistance to the French, the greater would be the subordination of Spain to theFrench Imperial Army and its war requirements. In fact, the opposite was the case: although in the territory controlled by King Joseph I modern rational administration and institutions replaced the Old Regime, the permanent state of war reinforced the power of theFrench marshals, barely allowing the civil authorities to act.
The military defeats suffered by the French Imperial Army forced Joseph I to leave Madrid on three occasions:
Joseph Bonaparte spent time in France, he commanded theBattle of Paris, then travelling to theUnited States (where he sold the jewels he had taken from Spain). He lived there from 1817 to 1832,[3] initially inNew York City andPhiladelphia, where his house became the centre of activity for Frenchexpatriates, he married American Ann Savage inSociety Hill.
Joseph Bonaparte returned toEurope, where he died inFlorence,Tuscany (present dayItaly), and was buried in theLes Invalides building complex in Paris, France.[4]
In 1810, theCortes of Cádiz was created, it operated as a government in exile. TheCortes Generales had to move fromSeville to Cádiz to escape the French advance (The French enforced theSiege of Cádiz from 5 February 1810 to 24 August 1812, and the port city never surrendered). Its members disbanded and transferred its powers to a Council of Regency. The five regents convened the meeting of the Cortes in Cadiz. Cortes were representatives of the estates, but were unable to hold elections either in Spain or in the American colonies. The assembly thus lost its estates in favor of territorial representation.
The Cortes opened their sessions in September 1810 on theIsla de León. They consisted of 97 deputies, 47 of whom were alternates from Cádiz residents, who approved a decree expressing represent the Spanish nation and declared legally constituted in general and special courts in which lay the national sovereignty.[5]
The constitution they wrote did not last long. On 24 March 1814, six weeks after returning to Spain, Ferdinand VII abolished the constitution and had all monuments to it torn down.
_-_The_Battle_of_Vittoria_-_RCIN_407186_-_Royal_Collection.jpg)
In March 1813, threatened by theAnglo-Spanish army, Joseph I had left the capital and the Coalition offensive intensified and culminated in theBattle of Vitoria in June. French troops were finally evicted from Spain following the conclusion of theSiege of San Sebastián in September 1813, so removing any possibility of a return. In December 1813, theTreaty of Valençay provided for the restoration of Ferdinand VII.
| Sister republics |
|  Europe at the height of Napoleon's Empire | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Napoleonic creations |
| ||||||||||||
