The Death of the Spanish Empire

Spain. And from the title you can tell I sort of dont get first place at the end

Well, whats interesting is that France is not what kills me, its actually a bunch or really really annoying events!

However, here is the first chapter of the Fall of Spain-

Rise and Fall of Godoy and María Luisa. Part 1




The first coalition had been united for 2 years, in an attempt to destroy the Revolutionaries and their quest for the head of the Great lords of Europe. Already the fears that such a revolution would spread struck in the hearts of the Kings of Europe. However, the ruler of Spain had long ago given his power away. Charles IV had released too much to the favorite of his wife, Manuel de Godoy. Events later in the King's life would lead him to both regret, and attempt to fix, this mistake.

In 1795 Godoy was ready for peace, but an event in his own life would lead him to the conclusion that only a war with France would save his career, and his life. Godoy, who had always been in the favour of the Queen, María Luisa, who with Godoy had robbed Charles of his power. When a plot to murder the King and give Godoy and Luisa full power was discovered by Orlando Rato, Duke of Seville, Godoy immedaitly fell under Seville's power. Blackmail became both Rato's tool, and would later bring about his death. However, for the time Godoy was completely under his control, as one historian puts it,

When Seville's nose began to itch, Manuel was there to scratch it.

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And Seville wanted war. While troops in the North were busy readying and the Royal's attention was elsewhere, Rato had successfully expanded his influence in Andulcia. Godoy's fear of armed action against him if the scandal was ever found out led him to agree to Rato's demand for the war to continue. The major plan of Rato was to expand his influence beyond the Spanish boarders and into English held Gibralter, and he saw the best way of doing that was to go along with English war plans. He believed that the French armies would be to distracted in Prussia and Austria to take any notice of a pathetic army to their south. For the most part he was right.

Godoy ordered the main force, stationed in Madrid, to march north to the Pyranees. It was obvious that the joint Anglo-Spanish navies would dominate the seas, so there became only two real threats to the Spanish lands. One came in the form of the French in the south. While Godoy allowed for the war to continue, he refused to negotiate with the Calvanists in France, so the treck to the mountains by French troops was the closest and most obvious threat.

The other lay overseas, and Godoy would not recognize this untill after much of Spanish Florida and Texas had fallen to the French troops in Louisiana. In the north, Don Gregorio Garcia de la Cuesta, and eldery and well known Spanish general, was ordered to march up to defend the mountains. The English, wanting to launch an attack into Southern France to relieve their forces in Hannover, were denied the right by this headstrong general, who wrote to the King,

It is obvious that the English wish only to bulster their power in the Andulasian lands. We can not allow this, Spanish troops are more then able to defend the mountains here. The English would be but a distraction and I know from my experiences here that any attack across the mountains would be doomed to failure.

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Godoy, who baddly wanted a Spanish defeat to allow him to take more control from Luisa and to end the war with France, went along with the stubborn general's demands. The troops marched North to Gerona, to meet fresh troops and defend against any possibile French attack. At the same time, General Jose de Palafox y Melzi, was ordered by Charles IV, to develop a plan to attack the French. His loyalty to the crown drove him to create 3 seperate plans.




The most obvious was an attack over the mountains to attempt to take the Southern French provinces. The idea was one that General Cuesta would not go along with. The second was to disrupt french Colonial power, and then begin to eat away at French naval power. Melzi believed that if they could successfully blockade the French, the revolution would starve itself to death. His third option was to lead troops into Northern France to capture Belgium and Paris. Melzi was laughed at by both the English and Godoy for this outrageous idea.
"It would be impossible," one man said, "to free the Dutch without first freeing the French."

So, with a strong imperial power the Spanish set out for the second option. Meanwhile the fleets of Spain set sail to join the English in defeating the roaming French fleets, and troops were ordered to form up in Tampico. The first battle between Spanish and French in 1795 came at the Battle of Almeria. The French fleet was attempting to flee Nice and reach the straits of Gibralter and freedom. However a token English fleet stood in its way, and the Spanish were on the defensive. The French broke through the English and nearly made it out of the Bay of Almeria, before a fleet of 20 Battleships destroyed the fleeing French warships.

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I have not yet been able to conquere the world! I just can not do it!


Rise and Fall of Godoy and María Luisa. Part 2




The war in Europe continued in the firey manner that the Napoleonic wars were fought. In one month of war Godoy had successfully avoided actually using troops, although he desperately sought for a way out. The most obvious he had tried twice, and failed giving his enemies even more strength.

Rato had informed a fellow noble, Count José de Patiño y Rosales, about his control, after Rosales had accidently stopped an assassination attempt on Rato's life. Gadoy was humiliated, now he had two enemies, and a second attempt on Rato's life, from an ultra-Republican Spaniard who was tricked into believing that by murdering the Duke he could help tip the scale towards surrendor to France.

Meanwhile the naval war continued to expand. The Armada de Espaniol set sail to guard the coast of Valencia, while the Armada de Atlantica was sent to destroy maruading French fleets off the coast of Portugual. The battles lasted only 4 weeks, and the French Atlantic fleet was defeated and tracked back down to the coast of France.

The fleet off the coast of Valencia then set sail for the French coast in the Med. The fleet was sent to blockade the fleet, and in combination with the English naval forces succesfully drove the French into port. The naval forces of the 1st Coalition dominated the seas.

February was the start of failures in the New World for the Spanish colonial war. French troops in Central northern America moved south east to attack the Spanish at Biloxi. Gov General Antonio Calvo was forced to flee the city to Mobile to govern Florida in the King's name. Farther West the natives in Arizona rose up to force the Spanish out of the province and destroy the settlement. Captain Manuel Isidoro Belzu retreated with the survivors to Tampico, and then south on his own to Mexico. He would later lead troops against the French, and found the second colony in Arizona.

The French fleet in the Atlantic sailed North, up the French coast. On 4 occasions the fleet smashed French attempts at braking the control of the seas. Over the next three months the French navies were completely destroyed by Spanish and English naval vessels in all seas except the English channel. And Spanish links between the New World and the Iberian lands gave the Spanish the upper hand in the colonial war, although it did not come out untill later.

In the America's, General Lauvera began a campaign of calling upon colonists to fight the French invaders. He however, underestimated the support for Republicans in the Spanish American provinces. Infact, while touring South America natives in Matagorda rose up and struck at the general and his small corp. The battle killed 10 Spaniards, and left 15 Natives dead. Lauvera held off the Natives long enough for the colonists to flee, while he himself returned to Tampico to guard the northern colonies from French control.



June began the first invasion of France by the Spanish troops. Don Gregorio Garcia de la Cuesta was still dead set against the action, however, Rato and his companions saw it as the most obvious way at distracting Spanish attention and Godoy believed it was the most obvious way to end the war. So Cuesta was ordered across the mountains to seige the province of Roussillon. The invasion was doomed to failure, it did not however fufill the objectives that both Rato and Godoy had hoped for, and proved to Cuesta that the offensive into France, with our without English support was doomed from the start.

The English had grown tired of fighting the European war. Cuesta, the greatest speaker against the English objectives, and in a letter to King Charles again showed his distress, this time from the French province of Roussillon.

It is a sad day when the Grande King of Spain allows himself to be ordered by the likes of the English! We have crossed the boarder, and what has it done? Send our forces into degredation, and our spirit into failure.

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So Charles and Godoy called off the invasion, much to Rato's distress Although the troops would not leave Roussillon untill after October 1796. And Godoy sought for peace. Rato threatened to reveal the scandal, however Godoy's public call for peace made it impossible to make any such threat a reality. So Rato remained silent for longer, and his last chance to free himself of the knowledge that would eventualy cause his death, was missed.



One man would soon come to the forefront of the Colonial problems that would later cause the fall of Spain. And thus we move our center of detail to the colonies in Argentina. Manuel Belgrano, an Argenitnian, soon found the Franco-Spanish war to his advantage. His first attempt at revolution would come in 1796. He followed Lauvera, and was responsible for the revolt against him in America. Death followed him, but success would not come untill after the turn of the century. The suprising and rather influential fact about Belgrano was that he also held a position in the Argentinian government under Spain. In 1794 he was apointed to an economic position, and through it became a champion of the people.

The distraction of Spanish efforts in the South culminated in the death of Tuevela, and the fall of Spanish Florida. While the naval forces successfully smashed French caribean naval positions and blockaded the Southern tip of French America, French troops expanded to the west and east. At the battle of the Rio Grande, the Spanish army raised in Tumpico was defeated and Tuevela was killed in battle. The French cavalry successfully outflanked the Spaniards and devestated the 1st colonial army. Tuevela's sword and body was sent back to Madrid, where Charles was said to have weeped for the loss of his friend. In a fit of revenge he called for troops to attack France once more, and Cuesta was given recruits from Navarre and Gerona, and ordered to cross the mountains once more.

Rise and Fall of Godoy and María Luisa. Part 3


While colonial ambitions over the 1st coalition were primarily forgotten under the threat of complete French dominance, Spain continued to complete Charles’ objectives at American domination. The first attempt at this had failed with the death of Tuevela, an inspiring if incapable, leader. Charles still dreamed of holding the empire of his fathers, however he realized the threat that the French were already posing. The French control of much of Florida was worrying, and only the disease and swamps had kept the troops out of the everglades. To secure the ability to turn the economic power of the colonies against France, Charles arranged with the Doge of Venice, an agreement to keep the two strong merchant states from competing.



From there Charles ordered the second attempt at ending the French control of Northern Texas and Florida. Charles ordered Sebastián de Nivelles to America. He was to be the new general in charge of the American theater. Nivelles was given the daunting task of putting together a force strong enough to do it. The heavy spending in Europe had left Tuevela unable to do that, so Nivelles would have to get around that. He did so by getting at Godoy. Nivelles was a cousin to Count José de Patiño y Rosales, and made this remark at one dinner,

To defeat the French in the land of Louis (as nivelles called Louisiana) one would have to have three things, the grace of the King, the Grace of God, and the graces of Manuel de Godoy, whom we call both King and God…

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Godoy was soon ‘convinced’ to give a large sum of money to Nivelles and with it he sailed to the Spanish Americas to raise an army. With him he brought a group of 200 Spanish cavalry, some of the best horse riders in all of Iberia, to complete an important job for him. The spirit of the French revolution had spread like a wildfire through the Spanish colonies. And with the failure of the Spaniards in Rio Grande, the idea that France offered liberty was overwhelming. Add to this that Manuel Belgrano was still supporting the revolution of Spanish troops, and Nivelles was handed a very difficult situation.

The Spanish authorities knew of Belgrano’s actions. However, they also knew that any attempt to stop him would be met with the people of the colonies. The fear of either an American style revolution, or a French style revolution, held most Spanish authorities back. Nivelles did not care. After 1 week in the Americas he had recruited the basic forces he would build upon. Former soldiers in Mexico flocked to join Nivelles in his quest to free Spanish America from the French. Nivelles led a night raid to capture the Argentine. After a brief discussion, Nivelles was able to get Belgrano to support his war, and to call for the Spaniards to fight the even more oppressive French.

200 rode out to find the man
who never hid, but was never found
untill they told of the land
of bloody sites and burning sound.

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(A line from the Poem- doscientos jinetes)

Rise and Fall of Godoy and María Luisa. Part 4







And so, armed with the support of the Mexican people, and accompanied by Belgrano, Nivelles marched to Tampico to raise an army. The people rallied around Belgrano, and so rallied around Nivelles. The tales of French atrocities in Florida drove many Spaniards into a frenzy. Soon an army matching that of the French was formed. And so the Army of Mexico marched off towards Matagorda to drive out the French. However, the French General, Pierre Robien, had prepared for such a move. By using French gold, and the promise of a free Mexico, Robien had inspired a group of natives to rise up and destroy the approaching Spaniards. So as the Spaniards left Tampico, they were first met with a force of natives. Their leader, later known to Spaniard troops as Un Armado, named so for the damage he sustained in this battle, organized a strike against Spanish troops. However, Armado did not expect Belgrano to be with them. He believed him to be a captive at first, and ordered a full assault on the marching Spaniards. The battle was bloody, and during the offensive, Armado engaged Nivelles in combat, and lost his hand.

Armado was then wounded once more when Belgrano fired at him, the shot did not cause much physical damage, however Armado fled the field, and with him went his troops. Over 1 thousand native troops had died, to the Spaniards 40. By October the Spaniards had reached Matagorda, and Nivelles sent word to His Majesty of the success, however Robien had fled to avoid combat. Instead Robien turned to take and destroy trade posts in the province of Concho, and left Nivelles with only two options. Attack or wait. Instead of sending to Godoy for orders, Nivelles advanced into French America, and the war would remain out of Texas for many years. Meanwhile the fleets of Spain continued to enforce the blockade of France, and destroyed two attempts at braking it near Galicia.

In Spain the offensive into Rousillon had just failed, and Rato was slowly growing in power. Godoy still looked for a way out of the war that would leave him with an intact Spain, and Charles sat aloof. Only the Queen took an active hand in Spanish interests. She began a series of cloak and dagger moves to destroy her enemies, namely Rato and Rosales. The way she believed she could do this would be to control the one thing that gave them their highest power, the trade with Venice and the Americas. Through Godoy she was able to influence the funding of Merchants, which began to be directed towards Africa and Eastern Europe. Spain did not feel the difference, however the merchants did. The “Merchant Revolt” actually began in Portugual, and then spread to Spain. In Lisbon, a sudden drop in goods coming from Africa and Brazil due to Franco-English conflicts, led to economic decline. When the king attempted to enforce new mercantile laws, the Merchants refused to sell their goods. Though this hurt the Merchants, it stunned Portugual, and the king was forced to back down. In Spain the same event would occur, but for different reasons.




Luisa believed that she could control the merchants, and this move from West to East caused a public outcry against the new laws. Known as the “Eastern Acts” the laws were both a failure to the economy, and were not followed by most. The lack of full support by the growing Merchant class left Godoy with many economic problems, and against the protest of Luisa, he backed down from the laws and Charles rescinded them. Luisa was outraged, and threatened to use all her means to remove Godoy from power, which is exactly what Rato and Rosales did not want. By bringing her into their blackmail plot, they gained nearly complete control over Spain. Huge resource trading was done, giving a new wave of economic boost to the South. Meanwhile Charles continued to act the enlightened monarch he did not know how to be.

Back in the Americas the expansion into French America was suddenly put on hold. Robien had fled to Florida, and from there boarded transports. Nivelles, thinking the French were fleeing to the Caribbean islands, where the Spanish navy was supreme, paid no notice of it. However, Robien was not heading for Haiti, but for Mexico. Landing in the Province of Rio Grande, Robien ordered a defensive position to be formed. Miscommunication led to mismanagement, and failure. Robien was not prepared for Nivelles troops, and in July, after French troops burnt Talahassee to the ground, Robien and his forces were trapped and destroyed by Nivelles in Rio Grande. Now only Spain had an army in Mexico, and the French troops in Florida found themselves alone and outnumbered.



So the war in the America’s was nearly won, and Charles began phase two of his war, invading the French mainland once more. In July of 1796, Charles sent an order to Godoy, calling for the invasion of France. Godoy was ecstatic; he had one last chance to vie for peace, if Cuesta fell, he could call of Charles to ask for peace, especially with the war in America going as it was. So, again against Cuesta’s wishes, he was ordered to advance.

The French army awaits me on the other side, may God have mercy on me for what I must do to my men…

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Last letter from General Cuesta to King Carlos IV of Spain, dated July 15th , 1796.