What if France managed to score a victory in the War of Spanish Succession and manage to unite Spain and France? How does this effect the world?
If the Napoleonic wars are any guide, we might see earlier Latin American independence, especially if the existing relatively corrupt but flexible system of cabildos was exchanged for a more zealous and efficient oine based on intendants.
If the Napoleonic wars are any guide, we might see earlier Latin American independence, especially if the existing relatively corrupt but flexible system of cabildos was exchanged for a more zealous and efficient oine based on intendants.
I meant that traditional elites in Spanish America feared the prospect of a centralized, reforming "godless" administration in taking hold in Spain, whether it was composed of domestic liberals or (French) Bourbon absolutists. Either way, it threatened the old creole predominance in much of Latin America.
Felipe V was King of Spain only, not some variety of Franco-Spanish realm. Therefore Felipe depended on largely local talent for administration and lacked the direct backing of French troops; the reforms he instituted were more limited than those Louis XIV or XV (and their ministers of state) might have attempted as kings of a Bourbon empire.
Felipe V was King of Spain only, not some variety of Franco-Spanish realm. Therefore Felipe depended on largely local talent for administration and lacked the direct backing of French troops; the reforms he instituted were more limited than those Louis XIV or XV (and their ministers of state) might have attempted as kings of a Bourbon empire.