Update on Europe!
Ugh, finally now that school is out for winter I can update. Now I know I said the next update would be on South America...well I lied. I was working on that particular update when it occurred to me it would be best to cover some events in Europe first (of course events in Spain being paramount, since the South American update covers certain things you'd need to know about in Spain).
The Spanish Liberal Insurrection and the Neapolitan Revolution of 1821
Fernando VII of Spain, followed by the Cortes Generales, which ruled Spain briefly from 1820 to 1821.
In the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, Spain continued to be a nest for war, as the once mighty empire convulsed with rebellion and renewed invasion. In December 1818 a mutiny rocked the port city of Cadíz in southern Spain [1]. Discontented soldiers, wary of the prospect of traveling across the Atlantic to fight a losing war rose up against Fernando VII’s government. The mutiny, led by liberal members of the officer corps, seemed to waiver at first, as there was little public support seemingly evident. Within a matter of weeks, however, it spread like wildfire throughout southern and western Spain, and by the beginning of spring 1819 a rebel army was on the march towards Madrid. The rebel’s aim was the restoration of the 1812 Constitution by the King. After several months’ worth of skirmishes the rebels entered Madrid in late June 1819 and effectively placed Fernando VII under de facto house arrest. Fearing for his life Fernando reinstated the constitution and even went as far as to embrace the Liberal cause, or at least put on a show that he was. Most liberals, many of whom still vividly recalled the horrors of Fernando’s return in 1814 and subsequent purges, were not amused by the King’s show of support. In fact Fernando did much more to harm his credibility in the face of his own supporters, as questions emerged as to his ability to rule as an absolute monarch.
With vast numbers of the army defecting to the Liberal cause, the few forces still willing to fight in the name of the King were forced into the Pyrenees, launching periodic assaults on liberal forces but too weak to do much else. From here Fernando’s supporters petitioned the great powers for support. Indeed the events in Spain prompted Great Britain, France, Russia, Austria and Prussia to meet at the start of 1821 in order to discuss any means to deal with the “Spanish Question.” The negotiations were at a standstill over the issue of France sending its own forces into Spain in order to restore order. The deadlock came to an abrupt halt in May 1821 when the powers received news of the apparent assassination of Fernando VII as Royalists attempted to rescue him from his house arrest. Due to the confusing and chaotic environment in which Fernando met his end, there has never been clear consensus as to who killed him. Many liberals had plenty of reason to kill Fernando, but in the various events throughout Fernando’s reign that diminished his absolute authority in the eyes of his subjects, such as his acquiescence to Napoleon in 1808 and his relatively light handed approach to the recent revolution, his most ardent supporters quickly grew disillusioned with him. Regardless, the powers, alarmed by the turn of events in Spain gave France the prerogative to invade. Nearly 60,000 strong, the French army would barrel into Spain in July, decimating the Liberal army as it attempted to stop the second French invasion of its homeland in a quarter century. By mid-August the French had entered Madrid and had pushed the rebels into Andalusia, Taking Seville on 29 August and Cadíz several weeks later on 10 October. With French backing, conservatives soon returned to rule in Madrid. As Fernando VII had yet to produce an heir, the throne passed down to Fernando’s younger brother, the Infante Carlos. After a brief period of pacification the Infante would be crowned in Madrid on 17 January 1822 as King Carlos V. One anonymous liberal would commentate soon after Carlos V’s ascension that “despite my utter hatred for ‘el Deseado,’ at least he would listen to our pleas before killing us.”
Meanwhile, half way across the Mediterranean Sea, a similar revolt to the one of 1819 in Spain would surface in the Kingdom of Naples on the Italian Peninsula. Unlike in Spain, however, the Neapolitan revolt of 1820 would accomplish so much more than anything that came out from the Spanish debacle. Despite a series of reforms initiated by King Gioacchino I at the start of his reign in 1808, many liberals demanded more [2]. As in Spain, and for the most part emboldened to act by the revolt of said country, the Liberal movement in Naples was led by the Neapolitan military officer corps. Several months following the events in Spain, the Neapolitan Liberals, led by the General Guglielmo Pepe, marched on the city of Naples and demanded that Gioacchino accept a liberal constitution along the lines of the Spanish Constitution. Gioacchino gave in to the Liberal’s demands and had a new constitution created for the Kingdom, proclaimed and signed in May 1821. The constitution’s key points were its emphasis on constitutional monarchy, as it placed sovereignty in the people as opposed to the king. The constitution also placed a few restrictions on the gentry and the church, though Gioacchino was wary of giving too many concessions, lest he provoke the Austrian giant across the Adriatic. Regardless of this the constitution placated many of the liberal’s demands for greater reform. The reforms also lead to warmer relations with Great Britain, which until recently had been supporting the neighboring Kingdom of Sicily, whose Bourbon monarch Ferdinand III ruled with an absolute fist…or at least as absolute as he could, as the restive Sicilians continued to resent the continued presence of the foreign Bourbons in the island. Gioacchino also managed to strengthen his relationships with many Liberals across the Italian Peninsula, many of whom were also strong proponents for Italian Unification. These relationships in turn would cause Gioacchino himself to embrace the thought of unification. Over the next few years, as Naples would grow in wealth and power in the wake of the Muratian reforms, it would come to the forefront of eventual Italian unification.
King Gioacchino I of Naples
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[1] Samething that happened in OTL, just one year earlier. Of course another difference is despite beginning earlier it also ends earlier.
[2] Yes that's Joachim Murat. In TTL he doesn't run off to Napoleon's side during the 100 days, and despite the odds manages to retain his throne in Naples.
