Jasen and Maverick -- Thanks for the comments.
Jasen, I do agree that a bigger-picture view of the action might well advance the action better. I sat down attempting to deliver just that...and produced this. I think it is different: there's a fair bit of action, for one.
And Maverick, there is a war, just not the one you were hoping for...yet.
Overall, I've been doing a fair bit of research on Spain and Spanish America and didn't want to leave out bits that I've discovered along the way. Hopefully, there's enough faulty reasoning that our Spanish board-mates will be outraged enough to comment and thus correct my gross inaccuracy.
Additionally, I've begun to wade into the treacherous waters of European diplomacy, by mucking about with the Congresses. Any thoughts on potential effects thereof is most welcome!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Part IIIa: To Redress the Balance of the Old
From Imperial Struggle, National Renewal: Spain in the 19th Century
By Lloyd Donaldson, Yale University Press, 1988.
Chapter 3: The Quasi-Revolution, 1820-1823
The Cadiz Mutiny
Since he had returned to the throne after the withdrawal of French troops in 1814, Ferdinand VII had been anything but “the desired one.” At the urging of supporters among the nobility and the Church, Ferdinand had gone back on his promise to abide by the Constitution of 1812, ushering in a period of absolutism. Ferdinand restored the Inquisition. He favored a camarilla of friends, which undermined his official ministers, whom he nevertheless changed frequently. The reestablishment of central administration (one more centralized than previous Bourbon governments) produced resentment among even the Iberian provinces who had enjoyed the tremendous amount of home rule granted them by the Constitution. The mounting economic crises added to the growing list of failures….
…Opposition to Ferdinand’s rule coalesced in clandestine organizations. Although tertulias had long been occasions for political discussion, the first secret societies appeared in Cadiz in the early days of Constitutional rule. Spanish liberals and army officers formed clandestine groups, often called sociedades patrióticas. Masonic lodges, established initially by the French but controlled by Spanish officers and liberals after 1814, became covert centers of opposition. Ironically, though, all such groups pale by comparison to budding Sociedad Thrasybulo then being formed by the independentist forces in South America….
…Throughout the late 1810s there were several revolts against Ferdinand’s rule: that of Javier Mina in 1814, that of Juan Diaz Porlier in La Coruña in 1815, and many others. Perhaps the most audacious was the 1818 conspiracy known as The Great Masonic Plot—the subject of epic 1954 Barcelona-wood film Padres y Patria—which sought to restore Carlos IV as a constitutional monarch.
Opposition to the war in the Americas provided the liberals with a new avenue by which to forward their cause. In 1819, they exploited discontent in the large expeditionary army encamped in Andalucía awaiting transport to the New World. Some officers were receptive, but even the most disposed—Colonels Juan O’Donojú and Antonio Quiroga—were too cautious to make the first move. Morillo’s victories in New Granada and Venezuela, however, began to change matters: while Spain lacked the ships to carry the whole army to America—a promise of Russian ships had meant that the expedition had grand hopes to make for Buenos Aires—the defeat of Bolivar provided an opening to the Spanish. A number of battalions were shipped to Morillo over the course of the late autumn of 1819 to provide him reinforcements. [1] This proved key in the efforts to win over a cadre of officers to support the Cause. On January 1, 1820, O’Donojú and Quiroga, along with a handful of dedicated officers, led the all the army regiments around Cadiz to raise the banner of the Constitution.
Unopposed by government troops, the Ejército de la constitución began a triumphant march through southern Spain, slowly making its way toward Madrid. Each city through which the army passed greeted the troops as liberators and set about holding elections to effect home rule (or rather the army only passed through cities which it was certain of bloodlessly controlling). [2] Some cities, such as Zaragoza and Barcelona, revolted of their own accord.
…
Liberales, Moderados, and Exaltados
The distinctive difference in the political make-up of the Quasi-Revolution, as compared to the movement behind the Cadiz Cortes in 1808, was the emergence of a number of different groups agitating for change. There were the liberals, mostly middle class and those notables who had supported the previous regime under the Constitution. And then there were also those moderates who, while not necessarily advancing an ideological purpose, had grown tired of the despotic nature of Ferdinand’s regime and wanted a return to stable, effective government, whatever its nature. However, there were also a sizable group of a more revolutionary character that sought to advance a more radical agenda.…
…In late February, a group of these radical exaltados, made public threats in Madrid itself. Liberals were in the process of organizing public demonstrations in the hope of provoking Ferdinand to accept the restoration of the Constitution peaceably. Such plans would be but a sideshow to those enacted on March 1 by an extremist group. They attacked a carriage, bearing the Royal Arms, believing it to carry Infante Carlos, brother of Ferdinand VII. In actuality, the carriage held Infanta Maria Francisca, Carlos’ wife, and their two year old son, also named Carlos. Maria was killed: some reactionary sources suggest it to have been intentional, but her death appears to have been an accident, the result of the carriage having been overturned in the fray. [3]
The fate of the young Count of Montemolin is indicative, though, of the confused nature of even the radicalism of the Quasi-Revolution. In Jacobin Paris, such a young noble would surely have been killed had he fallen into the hands of a radical mob. Not so in Liberal Spain. The same day, a basket bearing the young prince was delivered by a priest to the royal palace. The priest is said to have been given the young boy by the leader of the mob himself.
The incident had a profound effect on both Ferdinand and Carlos. He fled the city for the north even as the Constitutional Army entered the capital, believing his brother to be a prisoner of revolutionaries and his son to have been slaughtered along with his wife. Ferdinand soon proved Carlos right on at least one of the charges: he refused to leave the palace, even to meet with the leaders of the Army. Hence, when O’Donojú called for new elections, he did so in the name of the king. To many Spaniards, it seemed reminiscent of the Junta of 1808, acting in the name of an absentee King. [4] Nevertheless, had Ferdinand consented to cooperate the leaders of the revolt would surely have accepted the veneer of legitimacy he offered.
****************************
From HIST 208: History of Modern Mexico, 1600-2000
Lectures by Prof. Ian McCormick, University of Texas at Houston
“…The outbreak of the Quasi-Revolution left the Viceroyalty of New Spain in a tenuous position. Militarily, the situation for the Royalists seemed secure: the independentist army of Vincent Guerrero was confined to marginal regions, like its many predecessors. However, the news of the restoration of the Constitution brought political turmoil: thousands of pamphlets were issued in support of the Constitution. While orders issuing from the alleged Ministers in Madrid commanded Viceroy Juan Ruiz de Apodaca to institute elections, Ruiz hesitated to implement them, without word from the King himself. This of course led to outbreaks of political violence as journalistic debates began to translate into street protest.
While the Provisional Government in Madrid appeared to be taking steps to grant New Spain more autonomy, the elite groups in Mexico itself wanted nothing to do with the liberal precepts of the Constitution of 1812. Its widespread suffrage seemed a recipe for just the kind of political discord that now engulfed the region. Its lack of any guarantee of the fueros—the privileges of the Church, the military, and increasingly the nobility—was completely unacceptable…
…Thus convinced that continued connection to Spain was only a recipe for social warfare, the national elite began to discuss ways to ensure an orderly government. To do so, they made use of the same sorts of societies and meetings used by Liberals in the lead up to the turmoil in Spain. One such meeting was the Mexico City salon of María Ignacia Rodríguez de Velasco; it was this group that convinced the ruthless and efficient Colonel Augustín de Iturbide, who had just been tasked with eliminating Guerrero’s troops, to act on their behalf. Thus was the fateful chain of events that would lead to a meeting in Chilpancingo set in motion. [5]
***************************
From Imperial Struggle, National Renewal: Spain in the 19th Century
By Lloyd Donaldson, Yale University Press, 1988.
The Sons of Saint Louis
Carlos immediately set about raising an army. A strong believer in the divine right of kings, he like the Liberals sought only to reclaim the government of Spain in the name of Ferdinand VII. While Carlos’ Ejército del rey (army of the King) enjoyed the support of the provincial nobility and the clergy, he could not muster sufficient forces to assault a Liberal stronghold. And the Liberal armies would not leave the cities: O’Donojú and Reigo could not afford to test their revolution and preferred to ignore Carlos’ force in the hopes that they would melt away as the legitimacy of the regime was made manifest.
This status quo changed after the intervention of the Bourbon regime in Paris in mid 1821, following the Carbonari revolt in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and the subsequent invasion of Naples by the forces of the “Holy Alliance” after the Congress of Troppau. Under a supposed diplomatic license and under pressure from ultras in his own country, Louis XVIII organized “volunteer” brigades to serve under the command of “Don Carlos, Regent of Spain.” These brigades were styled “the sons of Saint Louis” and the government of France kept up the legal fiction that these were groups of private, concerned citizens. The protests of Great Britain at this action were one of the pretexts for the meeting of the Congress of Verona in 1822….
…With theses forces, Carlos was able to win the battle of Zaragoza and enter that previously Liberal city in May 1822….
***************************
From A Historical Dictionary of Europe
By James Liddell, Macmillan-Spencer, 1956.
“Troppau, Congress of” One of a series of diplomatic meetings that together compromise the Concert of Europe (see EUROPE, CONCERT OF) inaugurated by the Congress of Vienna in 1815(see VIENNA, CONGRESS OF). Held in late 1820 in response to the revolt in the Two Sicilies and the outbreak of the Quasi-Revolution in Spain. France and Britain sent observers only, as Metternich’s intention to use the Congress as an excuse to invade Naples and snuff out any hint of Revolution in Austria’s sphere of influence was plain from the start. The agreement reached by Metternich and Tsar Alexander permitted Austrian, Prussian, and Russian troops to invade the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies whose king had been forced to swear an oath to a Constitution modeled on that of Spain’s. Nevertheless, the “Protocol of Troppau” which held that European states should be protected by international action against internal changes brought about by force gave France the pretext to begin sending aid to Legitimist forces under Prince Carlos….[6]
***************************
From Imperial Struggle, National Renewal: Spain in the 19th Century
By Lloyd Donaldson, Yale University Press, 1988.
Ferdinand and the Declaration of Right
The personality of Ferdinand VII is a study in contradictions: at time he is a craven, cowardly figure; at times he is cruel and capricious; at times he is bold, daring, even audacious. In truth, there was often a consistent motive for his actions: his own personal advancement, prestige, and power. Hence, when it was necessary to gain the affection of liberal reformers to regain his throne in 1814, he promised to abide by their principles. Just so, he abandoned those principles when it became apparent that he could win the loyalty of the Church and conservatives.
After the Quasi-Revolution had progressed and his brother had become the rallying cry for the conservatives, however, Ferdinand needed new supporters. Indeed, many conservatives began openly to whisper of forcing the abdication of Ferdinand once the Liberals were crushed, and installing the young, dashing Carlos on the throne. In the context of Ferdinand’s many changes in political orientation, his reaction to this new circumstance should appear unsurprising, but it nevertheless determined the outcome of the Quasi-Revolution.
Over the course of 1821, the divide between the liberals and radicals had grown more manifest. Perhaps the only thing to which the two sides could agree was to quash an attempt by the delegates from the Americas to forward a settlement which would satisfy their demands for greater autonomy and equality. And that agreement appeared in jeopardy in 1822 as the liberals began to look to the Americans for support against the radicals, who argued that the success of Carlos’ “reactionary” forces stemmed from inadequate reforms. Meanwhile, moderates began to look to Carlos’ forces with some longing: one observer hoped they would deliver Spain from the grips of “Masons, Carbonari, and heretics.”
Thus, Ferdinand summoned the leaders of the Provisional Government to Auranjuez with a proposal. He would commit himself to the Constitution of 1812, if the Liberals would agree to a Declaration of Right, listing certain exclusions to that document….Essentially, the Declaration inserted into the Constitution of 1812 some protection for the Church and for the nobility, while maintaining the political settlement. These protections did not amount to anything like the former fueros maintained by the Bourbon court, but simply gave the Church and the nobles pride of place in the new regime. The Declaration thus offered the Liberals the chance to maintain the economic and political reforms they cherished, with a chance for social stability. They agreed. Ferdinand dismissed the most extreme of the exaltados and confirmed Liberal ministers in their place.
…When Carlos heard that of Ferdinand’s public acceptance of the Constitution and of the Declaration, he found his position fundamentally altered. He was now leading a rebellion, not a Reconquista. But his troops and backers would not be discouraged; they demanded action. Ferdinand’s consent, they said, was simply an indication of the desperation of his imprisonment….
…Ferdinand’s insistence on sending an army to meet the forces led by his brother seems to betoken something of his personal desires. Perhaps the thought of his brother usurping his throne evoked a constancy of purpose that simply ruling his country had not. In any case, the decision to seek a final confrontation between the Liberals and Reactionary forces would prove fateful….
The Act of Settlement
...It goes without saying that Carlos’ forces were demoralized when they confronted the Liberal Army on the plain near the city of Sigüenza: the Ejército del rey was opposing a force, personally attended by King Ferdinand himself. Hardly what Carlos’ initial supporters had bargained for. Carlos himself attempt to order his army to lay down their arms and surrender, but the Sons of Saint Louis, who by now formed the majority of his force, would hear nothing of it. Carlos was found chained to his tent after the Liberal forces routed the last vestiges of opposition….
_______________________________
Notes:
[1] This is of course where the POD begins to introduce major changes in Spain. OTL Morillo kept asking for more troops. The beginning of the Liberal Trenio in 1820 meant that Ferdinand didn’t send anything, except orders to negotiate a truce with Bolivar—which Bolivar later broke. TTL Morillo’s victories convince Ferdinand to send more troops sooner. Not perhaps the most rational moves—to send troops after they are most need to an area already pacified—but Ferdinand is not exactly a statesman par excellence. On the other hand, it will give Morillo much needed manpower to put toward his pacification efforts.
[2] This is the primary result of the differing dispositions of troops due to the reinforcements sent to Morillo. The most loyal troops have been sent to America, leaving all the garrisons in Anadalucia disposed to join the Cadiz Mutiny. OTL Major Rafael Riego led the mutiny because O’Donojú and Quiroga were too cautious (or so say my paltry sources). TTL O’Donojú and Quiroga take the plunge because their troops are not keen on the idea of being shipped to the war. Additionally, the army was soon opposed by government troops. The main effect of the Mutiny was to set off a cascade of declarations from various provinces in support to the Constitution of 1812. TTL the army is able to move as one and thus the dynamics of the protests in favor of the Constitution will also change. It should also be noted that OTL it was with Juan O’Donojú that Augustín de Iturbide negotiated the Treaty of Córdoba, by which Mexico gained its independence from Spain under the terms of the Plan of Iguala.
[3] According to my scant sources, Carlos was threatened by radicals during the Liberal Trenio OTL. I don’t think this incident too out of place, plus it’s a key part of my plans for TTL’s version of the Liberal Trenio.
[4] OTL Ferdinand took on oath to support the Constitution on March 7. TTL he refuses so the conspirators keep him “sequestered while he mourns the death of his sister in law” and rule in his name. They are between a rock and a hard place though because they cannot win the support of the entire country without the King’s word and they risk international intervention if they seem to be committing an outright coup.
[5] OTL elections were held under the Constitution, which led to a bit too much liberality in the eyes of the elite. TTL things aren’t that clear so the elections aren’t held…which actually leads to the kind of violence the elites fear. Chilpancingo is a town near Iguala, since butterflies will mean the meeting between Iturbide and Guerrero take place at a slightly different place.
[6] OTL France waited until the Congress of Verona gave them official license to act. TTL they act a bit sooner, because the Quasi-Revolution appears revolutionary at the outset. They are also acting to counter-balance Metternich’s move into Naples. This will have larger impact on the Congress of Verona two years later.
Jasen, I do agree that a bigger-picture view of the action might well advance the action better. I sat down attempting to deliver just that...and produced this. I think it is different: there's a fair bit of action, for one.
And Maverick, there is a war, just not the one you were hoping for...yet.
Overall, I've been doing a fair bit of research on Spain and Spanish America and didn't want to leave out bits that I've discovered along the way. Hopefully, there's enough faulty reasoning that our Spanish board-mates will be outraged enough to comment and thus correct my gross inaccuracy.
Additionally, I've begun to wade into the treacherous waters of European diplomacy, by mucking about with the Congresses. Any thoughts on potential effects thereof is most welcome!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Part IIIa: To Redress the Balance of the Old
From Imperial Struggle, National Renewal: Spain in the 19th Century
By Lloyd Donaldson, Yale University Press, 1988.
Chapter 3: The Quasi-Revolution, 1820-1823
The Cadiz Mutiny
Since he had returned to the throne after the withdrawal of French troops in 1814, Ferdinand VII had been anything but “the desired one.” At the urging of supporters among the nobility and the Church, Ferdinand had gone back on his promise to abide by the Constitution of 1812, ushering in a period of absolutism. Ferdinand restored the Inquisition. He favored a camarilla of friends, which undermined his official ministers, whom he nevertheless changed frequently. The reestablishment of central administration (one more centralized than previous Bourbon governments) produced resentment among even the Iberian provinces who had enjoyed the tremendous amount of home rule granted them by the Constitution. The mounting economic crises added to the growing list of failures….
…Opposition to Ferdinand’s rule coalesced in clandestine organizations. Although tertulias had long been occasions for political discussion, the first secret societies appeared in Cadiz in the early days of Constitutional rule. Spanish liberals and army officers formed clandestine groups, often called sociedades patrióticas. Masonic lodges, established initially by the French but controlled by Spanish officers and liberals after 1814, became covert centers of opposition. Ironically, though, all such groups pale by comparison to budding Sociedad Thrasybulo then being formed by the independentist forces in South America….
…Throughout the late 1810s there were several revolts against Ferdinand’s rule: that of Javier Mina in 1814, that of Juan Diaz Porlier in La Coruña in 1815, and many others. Perhaps the most audacious was the 1818 conspiracy known as The Great Masonic Plot—the subject of epic 1954 Barcelona-wood film Padres y Patria—which sought to restore Carlos IV as a constitutional monarch.
Opposition to the war in the Americas provided the liberals with a new avenue by which to forward their cause. In 1819, they exploited discontent in the large expeditionary army encamped in Andalucía awaiting transport to the New World. Some officers were receptive, but even the most disposed—Colonels Juan O’Donojú and Antonio Quiroga—were too cautious to make the first move. Morillo’s victories in New Granada and Venezuela, however, began to change matters: while Spain lacked the ships to carry the whole army to America—a promise of Russian ships had meant that the expedition had grand hopes to make for Buenos Aires—the defeat of Bolivar provided an opening to the Spanish. A number of battalions were shipped to Morillo over the course of the late autumn of 1819 to provide him reinforcements. [1] This proved key in the efforts to win over a cadre of officers to support the Cause. On January 1, 1820, O’Donojú and Quiroga, along with a handful of dedicated officers, led the all the army regiments around Cadiz to raise the banner of the Constitution.
Unopposed by government troops, the Ejército de la constitución began a triumphant march through southern Spain, slowly making its way toward Madrid. Each city through which the army passed greeted the troops as liberators and set about holding elections to effect home rule (or rather the army only passed through cities which it was certain of bloodlessly controlling). [2] Some cities, such as Zaragoza and Barcelona, revolted of their own accord.
…
Liberales, Moderados, and Exaltados
The distinctive difference in the political make-up of the Quasi-Revolution, as compared to the movement behind the Cadiz Cortes in 1808, was the emergence of a number of different groups agitating for change. There were the liberals, mostly middle class and those notables who had supported the previous regime under the Constitution. And then there were also those moderates who, while not necessarily advancing an ideological purpose, had grown tired of the despotic nature of Ferdinand’s regime and wanted a return to stable, effective government, whatever its nature. However, there were also a sizable group of a more revolutionary character that sought to advance a more radical agenda.…
…In late February, a group of these radical exaltados, made public threats in Madrid itself. Liberals were in the process of organizing public demonstrations in the hope of provoking Ferdinand to accept the restoration of the Constitution peaceably. Such plans would be but a sideshow to those enacted on March 1 by an extremist group. They attacked a carriage, bearing the Royal Arms, believing it to carry Infante Carlos, brother of Ferdinand VII. In actuality, the carriage held Infanta Maria Francisca, Carlos’ wife, and their two year old son, also named Carlos. Maria was killed: some reactionary sources suggest it to have been intentional, but her death appears to have been an accident, the result of the carriage having been overturned in the fray. [3]
The fate of the young Count of Montemolin is indicative, though, of the confused nature of even the radicalism of the Quasi-Revolution. In Jacobin Paris, such a young noble would surely have been killed had he fallen into the hands of a radical mob. Not so in Liberal Spain. The same day, a basket bearing the young prince was delivered by a priest to the royal palace. The priest is said to have been given the young boy by the leader of the mob himself.
The incident had a profound effect on both Ferdinand and Carlos. He fled the city for the north even as the Constitutional Army entered the capital, believing his brother to be a prisoner of revolutionaries and his son to have been slaughtered along with his wife. Ferdinand soon proved Carlos right on at least one of the charges: he refused to leave the palace, even to meet with the leaders of the Army. Hence, when O’Donojú called for new elections, he did so in the name of the king. To many Spaniards, it seemed reminiscent of the Junta of 1808, acting in the name of an absentee King. [4] Nevertheless, had Ferdinand consented to cooperate the leaders of the revolt would surely have accepted the veneer of legitimacy he offered.
****************************
From HIST 208: History of Modern Mexico, 1600-2000
Lectures by Prof. Ian McCormick, University of Texas at Houston
“…The outbreak of the Quasi-Revolution left the Viceroyalty of New Spain in a tenuous position. Militarily, the situation for the Royalists seemed secure: the independentist army of Vincent Guerrero was confined to marginal regions, like its many predecessors. However, the news of the restoration of the Constitution brought political turmoil: thousands of pamphlets were issued in support of the Constitution. While orders issuing from the alleged Ministers in Madrid commanded Viceroy Juan Ruiz de Apodaca to institute elections, Ruiz hesitated to implement them, without word from the King himself. This of course led to outbreaks of political violence as journalistic debates began to translate into street protest.
While the Provisional Government in Madrid appeared to be taking steps to grant New Spain more autonomy, the elite groups in Mexico itself wanted nothing to do with the liberal precepts of the Constitution of 1812. Its widespread suffrage seemed a recipe for just the kind of political discord that now engulfed the region. Its lack of any guarantee of the fueros—the privileges of the Church, the military, and increasingly the nobility—was completely unacceptable…
…Thus convinced that continued connection to Spain was only a recipe for social warfare, the national elite began to discuss ways to ensure an orderly government. To do so, they made use of the same sorts of societies and meetings used by Liberals in the lead up to the turmoil in Spain. One such meeting was the Mexico City salon of María Ignacia Rodríguez de Velasco; it was this group that convinced the ruthless and efficient Colonel Augustín de Iturbide, who had just been tasked with eliminating Guerrero’s troops, to act on their behalf. Thus was the fateful chain of events that would lead to a meeting in Chilpancingo set in motion. [5]
***************************
From Imperial Struggle, National Renewal: Spain in the 19th Century
By Lloyd Donaldson, Yale University Press, 1988.
The Sons of Saint Louis
Carlos immediately set about raising an army. A strong believer in the divine right of kings, he like the Liberals sought only to reclaim the government of Spain in the name of Ferdinand VII. While Carlos’ Ejército del rey (army of the King) enjoyed the support of the provincial nobility and the clergy, he could not muster sufficient forces to assault a Liberal stronghold. And the Liberal armies would not leave the cities: O’Donojú and Reigo could not afford to test their revolution and preferred to ignore Carlos’ force in the hopes that they would melt away as the legitimacy of the regime was made manifest.
This status quo changed after the intervention of the Bourbon regime in Paris in mid 1821, following the Carbonari revolt in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and the subsequent invasion of Naples by the forces of the “Holy Alliance” after the Congress of Troppau. Under a supposed diplomatic license and under pressure from ultras in his own country, Louis XVIII organized “volunteer” brigades to serve under the command of “Don Carlos, Regent of Spain.” These brigades were styled “the sons of Saint Louis” and the government of France kept up the legal fiction that these were groups of private, concerned citizens. The protests of Great Britain at this action were one of the pretexts for the meeting of the Congress of Verona in 1822….
…With theses forces, Carlos was able to win the battle of Zaragoza and enter that previously Liberal city in May 1822….
***************************
From A Historical Dictionary of Europe
By James Liddell, Macmillan-Spencer, 1956.
“Troppau, Congress of” One of a series of diplomatic meetings that together compromise the Concert of Europe (see EUROPE, CONCERT OF) inaugurated by the Congress of Vienna in 1815(see VIENNA, CONGRESS OF). Held in late 1820 in response to the revolt in the Two Sicilies and the outbreak of the Quasi-Revolution in Spain. France and Britain sent observers only, as Metternich’s intention to use the Congress as an excuse to invade Naples and snuff out any hint of Revolution in Austria’s sphere of influence was plain from the start. The agreement reached by Metternich and Tsar Alexander permitted Austrian, Prussian, and Russian troops to invade the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies whose king had been forced to swear an oath to a Constitution modeled on that of Spain’s. Nevertheless, the “Protocol of Troppau” which held that European states should be protected by international action against internal changes brought about by force gave France the pretext to begin sending aid to Legitimist forces under Prince Carlos….[6]
***************************
From Imperial Struggle, National Renewal: Spain in the 19th Century
By Lloyd Donaldson, Yale University Press, 1988.
Ferdinand and the Declaration of Right
The personality of Ferdinand VII is a study in contradictions: at time he is a craven, cowardly figure; at times he is cruel and capricious; at times he is bold, daring, even audacious. In truth, there was often a consistent motive for his actions: his own personal advancement, prestige, and power. Hence, when it was necessary to gain the affection of liberal reformers to regain his throne in 1814, he promised to abide by their principles. Just so, he abandoned those principles when it became apparent that he could win the loyalty of the Church and conservatives.
After the Quasi-Revolution had progressed and his brother had become the rallying cry for the conservatives, however, Ferdinand needed new supporters. Indeed, many conservatives began openly to whisper of forcing the abdication of Ferdinand once the Liberals were crushed, and installing the young, dashing Carlos on the throne. In the context of Ferdinand’s many changes in political orientation, his reaction to this new circumstance should appear unsurprising, but it nevertheless determined the outcome of the Quasi-Revolution.
Over the course of 1821, the divide between the liberals and radicals had grown more manifest. Perhaps the only thing to which the two sides could agree was to quash an attempt by the delegates from the Americas to forward a settlement which would satisfy their demands for greater autonomy and equality. And that agreement appeared in jeopardy in 1822 as the liberals began to look to the Americans for support against the radicals, who argued that the success of Carlos’ “reactionary” forces stemmed from inadequate reforms. Meanwhile, moderates began to look to Carlos’ forces with some longing: one observer hoped they would deliver Spain from the grips of “Masons, Carbonari, and heretics.”
Thus, Ferdinand summoned the leaders of the Provisional Government to Auranjuez with a proposal. He would commit himself to the Constitution of 1812, if the Liberals would agree to a Declaration of Right, listing certain exclusions to that document….Essentially, the Declaration inserted into the Constitution of 1812 some protection for the Church and for the nobility, while maintaining the political settlement. These protections did not amount to anything like the former fueros maintained by the Bourbon court, but simply gave the Church and the nobles pride of place in the new regime. The Declaration thus offered the Liberals the chance to maintain the economic and political reforms they cherished, with a chance for social stability. They agreed. Ferdinand dismissed the most extreme of the exaltados and confirmed Liberal ministers in their place.
…When Carlos heard that of Ferdinand’s public acceptance of the Constitution and of the Declaration, he found his position fundamentally altered. He was now leading a rebellion, not a Reconquista. But his troops and backers would not be discouraged; they demanded action. Ferdinand’s consent, they said, was simply an indication of the desperation of his imprisonment….
…Ferdinand’s insistence on sending an army to meet the forces led by his brother seems to betoken something of his personal desires. Perhaps the thought of his brother usurping his throne evoked a constancy of purpose that simply ruling his country had not. In any case, the decision to seek a final confrontation between the Liberals and Reactionary forces would prove fateful….
The Act of Settlement
...It goes without saying that Carlos’ forces were demoralized when they confronted the Liberal Army on the plain near the city of Sigüenza: the Ejército del rey was opposing a force, personally attended by King Ferdinand himself. Hardly what Carlos’ initial supporters had bargained for. Carlos himself attempt to order his army to lay down their arms and surrender, but the Sons of Saint Louis, who by now formed the majority of his force, would hear nothing of it. Carlos was found chained to his tent after the Liberal forces routed the last vestiges of opposition….
_______________________________
Notes:
[1] This is of course where the POD begins to introduce major changes in Spain. OTL Morillo kept asking for more troops. The beginning of the Liberal Trenio in 1820 meant that Ferdinand didn’t send anything, except orders to negotiate a truce with Bolivar—which Bolivar later broke. TTL Morillo’s victories convince Ferdinand to send more troops sooner. Not perhaps the most rational moves—to send troops after they are most need to an area already pacified—but Ferdinand is not exactly a statesman par excellence. On the other hand, it will give Morillo much needed manpower to put toward his pacification efforts.
[2] This is the primary result of the differing dispositions of troops due to the reinforcements sent to Morillo. The most loyal troops have been sent to America, leaving all the garrisons in Anadalucia disposed to join the Cadiz Mutiny. OTL Major Rafael Riego led the mutiny because O’Donojú and Quiroga were too cautious (or so say my paltry sources). TTL O’Donojú and Quiroga take the plunge because their troops are not keen on the idea of being shipped to the war. Additionally, the army was soon opposed by government troops. The main effect of the Mutiny was to set off a cascade of declarations from various provinces in support to the Constitution of 1812. TTL the army is able to move as one and thus the dynamics of the protests in favor of the Constitution will also change. It should also be noted that OTL it was with Juan O’Donojú that Augustín de Iturbide negotiated the Treaty of Córdoba, by which Mexico gained its independence from Spain under the terms of the Plan of Iguala.
[3] According to my scant sources, Carlos was threatened by radicals during the Liberal Trenio OTL. I don’t think this incident too out of place, plus it’s a key part of my plans for TTL’s version of the Liberal Trenio.
[4] OTL Ferdinand took on oath to support the Constitution on March 7. TTL he refuses so the conspirators keep him “sequestered while he mourns the death of his sister in law” and rule in his name. They are between a rock and a hard place though because they cannot win the support of the entire country without the King’s word and they risk international intervention if they seem to be committing an outright coup.
[5] OTL elections were held under the Constitution, which led to a bit too much liberality in the eyes of the elite. TTL things aren’t that clear so the elections aren’t held…which actually leads to the kind of violence the elites fear. Chilpancingo is a town near Iguala, since butterflies will mean the meeting between Iturbide and Guerrero take place at a slightly different place.
[6] OTL France waited until the Congress of Verona gave them official license to act. TTL they act a bit sooner, because the Quasi-Revolution appears revolutionary at the outset. They are also acting to counter-balance Metternich’s move into Naples. This will have larger impact on the Congress of Verona two years later.
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