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Carlos IV kingf of Spain
In 1788, Charles III died and Charles IV succeeded to the throne. He intended to maintain the policies of his father, and retained The Count of Floridablanca.
his reing coincided with the French Revolution and the Napoleanic Empire, as well as other events that affected Spain´s power and indepencence -
Nappoleon´s occupation of Spain: Battle of Trafalgar
in 1805 french and spanish foreces were defeated by the british at the Battle of Trafalgar.
The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval engagement fought by the Royal Navy against the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies, during the War of the Third Coalition -
Napoleon´s occupation of Spain: treaty of fontainebleau
in 1807 Spain signed th Teatry of Fontainebleau with France. This treaty gave Fench troops permission to pass through Spain on their way to attack Portugal.
The Treaty of Fontainebleau refers to a number of agreements signed at Fontainebleau, France, often at the Château de Fontainebleau -
the Spanish war of independence:
the Spanish War of Independence began when the people of Madrid rose up against the French occupation.
It had two important processes:
THE WAR: Spanish forces won some victories (Battle of Bailén), but soon the French occupation was almost complete.
Cadiz was the onlycity that did not fall to the french.
THE POLITICAL REVOLUTION: during the war, two separate governments coexisted in Spain:
- Joseph Bonaparte imposed the Constitution
- The Central Council represented the absent Fernando VII -
Napoleon´s occupation of Spain: Joseph Bonaparte
in the end, the French forces occupied Spain and sent Carlos IV and his son Fernando to Bayonne, in France. In Bayonne, Carlos IV and Fernando renounced their rights to the Spanish trone in favour of Napoleon.
Napoleon made his own brother, Joseph Bonaparte, the new king of Spain.
His arrival in Madrid, July 20, occurred during the War of Independence, after the popular uprising of May 2 against Napoleon's troops in Madrid, which was followed by revolts elsewhere in the country. He was proclaime -
Regency Council
in 1810 the Central Council was replaced by the Regency Council, wich then called together the Cortes -
cortes de cadiz
the cortes generales de cadiz approved the first Spanish constitution, that stablished the following principles:
-constitutional monarchy
-popular sovereignty
-catholicism as the state religion
-separation of power in branches
-guaranteed rights and freedoms -
defeat of the French
The French were finally defeated in 1813, thanks to the support from british forces led by the Duke of Wellington, and to groups of Spanish citizens who carried out guerrilla attacks on the French forces