CAUSES and CONSEQUENCES of the Spanish War of INDEPENDENCE

Spain has been for many years a great power and one of the greatest empires on the planet, but also There was a time when the decline that took place in the nation led to it being almost conquered by France. To talk about the war in which the Spanish took up arms to expel the French from their territory, in this lesson from a Professor we must talk about the causes and consequences of the Spanish War of Independence.

The Spanish War of Independence it was an armed conflict that took place between 1808 and 1814 between the Spanish, with English and Portuguese support, and the France of Napoleon. The war was caused by the conquest of the Napoleonic troops of the Spanish nation, taking advantage of its military and political weakness, forcing the Hispanic monarchs to abdicate and Napoleon's brother, José I.

The war was important for many reasons, being the first time that the Spanish people sought something akin to democracy and their identity as Spaniards. It was a war marked by the use of guerrillas

The enormous consequences that it brought to Spain and to the rest of the known world makes it essential to know all the possible information about this event, being one of the major wars in Europe and especially from Spain.

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To understand how a great nation like Spain was taken over by France, we must list the numerous causes that started the war, for with this, to understand the complicated situation in which the region was found and how it caused the invasion of the region by Napoleon. The main causes of the Spanish War of Independence are as follows:

• France and UK they were engaged in a war for the hegemony in Europe, causing the rest of European nations to support one or another nation. Spain was betting on France, and for this reason the Spanish monarchs gave Napoleon permission to pass with his troops to Portugal, This being a region that supported the United Kingdom, all this with the promise that Napoleon would give part of Portugal to the Spanish. For this reason, the French crossed the border and were occupying regions on their way to Portugal, in what was a simple alliance.
• During the passage of the French the Mutiny of Aranjuez, partly due to the French occupation and to a greater extent due to the harsh crisis that has arisen in Spain for years. This mutiny was caused by Fernando VII, who wanted the crown of his father, King Carlos IV, getting after the mutiny.
• Worried about the situation of the crown, as he considered it to be too weak to be a good ally, Napoleon summons Fernando and Carlos to the city of Bayonne where he forces both monarchs to abdicate, being the new King Joseph I, Napoleon's brother.
• After taking the crown, the French took all the Spanish cities of great relevance, the Spaniards taking too long to react to the enormous power and number of French people.
• On May 2 an uprising took place protesting the new king and the French conquest, being quickly stopped by French troops. The outrage caused caused uprisings to begin throughout Spain, initiating the Spanish War of Independence.

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To continue with this lesson on causes and consequences of the Spanish War of Independence, we must talk about the end of the war and what were the effects it had on society Spanish. The main consequences of the Spanish War of Independence were the following:

• Fernando VII became monarch of Spain again after signing a pact with France, promising to accept the Constitution of 1812, although it finally did not.
• The Spanish people who had supported Napoleon were expelled from Spain, being known as Frenchified and traitors to their homeland.
• The human casualties caused a demographic shock that would take centuries to solve, not only because of the war but also because of the famines caused by the lack of food during and after the conflict.
• The crisis caused in America for the years without a king and for their little participation in the Cortes of Cádiz where they were ignored by the peninsular, caused the beginning of the Spanish American Wars of Independence, with which Spain would lose almost all the colonial regions of it.
• After the war, Spain went bankrupt, causing one of the largest economic crises in the history of the country, in part due to the destruction of its industry and the loss of American resources.
• The weakness of both Spain and her king made will cease to be considered a great power, so the country was no longer invited to international congresses and became a second-level nation.
• The promulgation and subsequent abolition of the Constitution of Cádizit caused tensions between two groups, the absolutists in favor of Fernando VII and the liberals who defended the creation of a democratic Constitution.

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