After King Ferdinand VII overthrew his father, Charles IV of Spain, Napoleon summoned Ferdinand VII to Bayonne. Napoleon promised Ferdinand recognition as the Spanish monarch, but it was a trap. Napoleon forced Ferdinand VII to abdicate, and gave the Spanish throne to his own brother, Joseph Bonaparte. Joseph was seen as an illegitimate king by most of the Spanish people. Napoleon's choice led to both conventional and guerrilla warfare against Joseph I and the French forces, which would drain part of the Grand Armé in a 6 year long war, but also contributed to the spark of the Latin American independence movements.
This is generally seen as one of Napoelon's main mistakes, which partly led to the fall of his empire, but also to Spain's own colonial empire. Who could have Napoleon chose, instead of his brother, that could have been more likable to the Spanish people, and thus not have sparked rebellions against his rule?

Possible options:
  • Charles IV, and his PM, Manuel Godoy, had remained loyal allies to France for more than a decade, but are disliked (Ferdinand's plot to overthrow his father is prove of it)
  • Infante Carlos María Isidro, born on 1788 (later on claimant to the Spanish throne as Charles V) was next in the line of succession, but was an absolutist, ultraconservative and extremely religious, so too hard to manipulate.
  • Infante Francisco, born on 1794, behind Carlos in the line of succession, was just 14 years old on 1808, so could be easy to manipulate and he would need a regent (maybe someone loyal to Napoleon, or even Joseph).
  • Other? (let me know)
 
Also:
-Joachim Murat, Napoleon's brother-in-law (who instead became King of Naples IOTL)
-Charles, former King of Etruria, with infanta Maria Luisa as his regent

Murat wanted the Spanish throne for himself, and his resentment over it would fuel his later betrayals of Napoleon. He probably wouldn't have been much more popular than Joseph...but choosing him still might have saved Napoleon a lot of trouble. That way, the scheming and disloyal Murat (and Caroline, the brains of the operation) would be appeased - and distracted with the task of handling the mess in Spain. Who knows, maybe Murat would even do well against the Spanish rebels. And the loyal and reasonably competent Joseph stays in Naples (rather than in Spain where his qualities were irrelevant and worthless).
 
Keep Ferdinand, like he promised. He might be a very weak reed to lean on, but better that than the running sore than the Spanish war became.
The problem was that Napoleon didn't trust Ferdinand. If I remember correctly, Ferdinand, unlike his father, disliked the French. The moment another coalition against Napoleon starts, Ferdinand will jump right in.
 
Also:
-Joachim Murat, Napoleon's brother-in-law (who instead became King of Naples IOTL)
-Charles, former King of Etruria, with infanta Maria Luisa as his regent

Murat wanted the Spanish throne for himself, and his resentment over it would fuel his later betrayals of Napoleon. He probably wouldn't have been much more popular than Joseph...but choosing him still might have saved Napoleon a lot of trouble. That way, the scheming and disloyal Murat (and Caroline, the brains of the operation) would be appeased - and distracted with the task of handling the mess in Spain. Who knows, maybe Murat would even do well against the Spanish rebels. And the loyal and reasonably competent Joseph stays in Naples (rather than in Spain where his qualities were irrelevant and worthless).

The Spaniards would dislike Murat as much as they disliked Joseph.
 
The problem was that Napoleon didn't trust Ferdinand. If I remember correctly, Ferdinand, unlike his father, disliked the French. The moment another coalition against Napoleon starts, Ferdinand will jump right in.
Right. So, to avoid the possibility of a war, you guarantee one? Smart move Napy
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Edit: to be fair, it is far more obvious in hindsight than it was beforehand.
 
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I think frankly, Spain going up against Nappy was probably going to happen irregardless from what I've seen on this thread. Charles would've been kicked out by Ferdinand and he would go up against Napoleon with the support of the coalition, or Nappy gets a puppet who is unpopular and cause a general uprising among the Spanish.
 
The Spaniards would dislike Murat as much as they disliked Joseph.

Joseph wasn't half bad - it was Napoleon himself who really killed Joseph's chances of ever being popular with the Spaniards. Any alternative King would also be hated, as long as Napoleon's own policies towards Spain remained the same.

So you're not wrong, per se, but the nature of the problem is somewhat different and more complex.
 
What about Infante Francisco? Second in the line of succession to Ferdinand (only behind his brother Carlos), fourteen years old, so he would need a regent (someone loyal to Napoleon, like Murat maybe), and would later on his life have liberal leanings, unlike his two elder brothers Ferdinand and Carlos. He is a Bourbon, so he will gain more support than any outsider. If Napoleon makes Ferdinand VII and Infante Carlos abdicate their rights to the crown, Francisco is next in the line of succession.
 

Vitruvius

Donor
Also:
-Charles, former King of Etruria, with infanta Maria Luisa as his regent
Maybe if she married Lucien Bonaparte with him acting as co-Regent. It would be tough to pull off as neither party was in favor of the union and I don't think Maria Luisa would like the idea of deposing her father, she was IIRC uncomfortable with Northern Lusitania as it meant removing her brother in law Joao and his family.

Alternatively maybe Infante Francisco de Paula with him being engaged to Marie Leticia Murat. Murat is made (nominal) King of Portugal and acts as Regent in Spain. This would probably be the doing of Caroline and is equally difficult to pull off.
 
Or just keep Fernando. He's a widower. Napoléon's got two nieces lying around (both Lucien's daughters). Marry Fernando to Charlotte/Christine Bonaparte (both of whom had rather strong personalities IIRC) and off we pop.

Interestingly enough, in an article I read once (think it was still on Encarta) it said Godoy wanted Fernando to marry the daughter of Louis XVI. Fernando refused and instead, proposed to a niece of Napoléon. However, Madame Royal was married in 1799 when most of Boney's nieces were still in the single digits. But that, plus the fact that Napoléon intended to marry Lucien's daughters to the prince of the Asturias and the grand duke of Würzburg's son, means that Fernando might not be so much anti-French as anti-Godoy.
 
My understanding was that Joseph's imposition caused a nationalist backlash, and he was generally unpopular from the start, but in time he came to shore up a solid base of liberal and middle class support which favored the Napoleonic reforms. Spain's ideological kulturkampf between liberals and reactionaries (under the Carlist banner) would dominate much of the rest of the century.
 
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