Spanish War of Independence: Conflict and Revolution

The Spanish War of Independence

The Spanish War of Independence began on 2 May 1808 when the people of Madrid rose up against the French occupation. During this war, two important processes took place simultaneously: the war itself and a political revolution.

The War

At first, the Spanish forces won some victories, such as the Battle of Bailén, but soon the French occupation was almost complete. Some areas, such as Zaragoza and Girona, resisted for a time but were finally conquered. Cádiz was the only city that did not fall.

The French were finally defeated in 1813, thanks to support from British forces and to groups of Spanish citizens who carried out guerrilla attacks on the French forces.

The Political Revolution

During the war, two separate governments coexisted in Spain:

• Joseph Bonaparte (King Joseph I) was the head of the French government in Spain. He imposed the Bayonne Constitution and was supported by some Spanish citizens called afrancesados, but most Spanish people rejected his authority.
• The Central Council represented the absent Fernando VII in the areas not occupied by the French. It coordinated local and provincial councils that had been elected. For the first time, Spanish people had their own elected representatives. In response to French advances, the Central Council refuged in Cádiz. It was substituted by the Cortes.

The Cortes of Cádiz (1812)

In 1812, the Cortes of Cádiz approved the first Spanish constitution, which established:

• Constitutional monarchy as the form of government.
• Popular sovereignty with limited male suffrage.
• Catholicism as the state religion.
• The separation of powers into three branches: executive (monarch), legislative (monarch and Cortes), and judicial (courts of justice).
• Guaranteed rights and freedoms, including equality under the law, the right to privacy, freedom of the press, and the prohibition of torture.