When Britian set up it's colony on the Australian continent in 1788, it was merely meant as a penal colony, but Alessandro Malaspina, a officer in the Spanish Navy in 1793, reported that Britain was using it's colony for commercial reasons and to seek out resources after taking part in a expedition to Sydney.
Specifically, he believed that the convicts were 'the means and not the object of the enterprise' and believed that Britain was mustering an army of two or three thousand 'castaway bandits' for use in a assault on Spanish colonies in the Pacific.
With this fear in mind, the Spanish military, with the approval of King Carlos IV after it was proposed by deputy commander Jose de Bustamante y Guerra, began drawing up plans to invade and conquer the colony.
Their plan was to lay siege on Sydney with a fleet of 100 boats, built in Uruguay with the goal of forcing a British surrender and expulsion from the continent. Among the weapons to be used was heated ammunition that could set fire to ships and buildings on impact.
With King Carlos' approval, Guerra was sent to Uruguay to begin building the ships, but the invasion never took place.
But what if the plan went ahead and Spain attempted to invade Australia in the 1790s?
Specifically, he believed that the convicts were 'the means and not the object of the enterprise' and believed that Britain was mustering an army of two or three thousand 'castaway bandits' for use in a assault on Spanish colonies in the Pacific.
With this fear in mind, the Spanish military, with the approval of King Carlos IV after it was proposed by deputy commander Jose de Bustamante y Guerra, began drawing up plans to invade and conquer the colony.
Their plan was to lay siege on Sydney with a fleet of 100 boats, built in Uruguay with the goal of forcing a British surrender and expulsion from the continent. Among the weapons to be used was heated ammunition that could set fire to ships and buildings on impact.
With King Carlos' approval, Guerra was sent to Uruguay to begin building the ships, but the invasion never took place.
But what if the plan went ahead and Spain attempted to invade Australia in the 1790s?