December 19, 1819 Ferdinand VII is a rotten king! He had promised to govern according to a written constitution, but he’s a filthy liar! Once he was comfortable in his throne, he completely ignored his pledge and the public’s wishes. He even dissolved the Cortes (the parliament) because he wanted to rule alone! Why can’t I, along with other members of the middle class, have a say in government? Unlike the peasants, I’m educated and aware of political matters. I’m also a scholar and I own land. So how is it fair that I’m excluded from political processes?! I refuse to live like this. Recently, I’ve been hearing much talk about a possible insurrection. If something doesn’t happen soon, I swear I will take matters into my own hands.
Finally! The fool Ferdinand has cowered in the face of his own army and granted our demands. Even his own army had disliked him! When he was about to send them to suppress revolution in his Latin American colonies, the officers had revolted. In fear, Ferdinand had agreed to the provisions of our constitution. I now actually have a voice in government, and I plan to keep it that way. My family, friends, and colleagues had had a great celebration when justice had finally been served. Our revolution has been successful, and I hope that the colonies have the same good fortune.
Damn the so called “Holy Alliance” and the nosy Metternich! I swear I would butcher that pig to death if I ever meet him! Just because his precious little Italian city states had revolted doesn’t mean he should stick his nose in Spain’s affairs as well. After calling for the “Holy Alliance” to meet at the Congress of Troppau and the Congress of Laibach, Austrian troops were permitted to march into Naples and restore the absolute monarchy. But the pig wasn’t satisfied yet. He called for another meeting, the Congress of Verona, where Austria, Prussia, and Russia agreed to support French intervention in my country. Soon after in April, the abominable French army invaded and killed my fellow liberals with brutality. The unjust absolute monarchy has been restored, but the filthy French still remain. The only thing keeping me from thrashing them is the frightening thought of my five-year-old son growing up fatherless. In the meantime, I will try to stir up discontent, gain many brave supporters, and hopefully get aid from Britain, which was the only respectable nation of the “Holy Alliance” that balked at intervening in my country, in hope for another successful insurrection. The middle class does not deserve this tyranny!
Spain I feel is one of the most interesting revolutions that occurred at this time period. I feel the way that it ended was sorrowful for the liberals in the country. It makes sense now that they call it the age of Metternich. As seen with his actions it is shown that he is an extremely conservative man. He wanted to keep Europe's boundaries as they were. The invasion of Spain by France was interesting because they restored the original monarchy. This revolution ended extremely badly. If only the Spanish had the luck of the Belgians.
I felt this story perfectly captured the bittersweet feelings that the people held throughout this entire revolution. As a side note, I thought the way Mike split up the story as he did was clever, it was almost in chapters of the revolution. I found it interesting that one man, Metternich, was so influential, that he changed the fate of an entire country due to his own conservative views. The fact that this single man was so closed minded to change, that he literally changed Spain's entire future, and the lives of thousands of people there. I thought that this was really interesting, because it was so heartbreaking. The people of Spain thought that they had the entire revolution finished, and that they had won their rights, but it was all reversed. It kind of reminded me of the last second hail mary pass in football, and the opposing team scores and wins by one point over the underdog. Simply heartbreaking.
Well done, Mike. This reminded me of the first French Revolution and how there were liberals who wanted change and their own say in government and for a while it worked but in the end they went back to having an absolute ruler again. It's funny because this happens almost 25 years later. This happens so much in history, the same kind of events are repeating themselves in other areas in the world. Maybe here in Spain, if the liberals would have prepared a bit more, and knew everything that happened in France, they could have worked a little harder and a little differently and maybe they could have gotten what they wanted. Also, Metternich was one interesting guy, known for his extreme conservatism. I can only imagine how much the liberals hated him..
I don’t think the feelings of the Spanish citizens could have been captured more perfectly. I even FELT that hate within me! As I was reading I couldn’t help but feel that Ferdinand VII was similar to Napoleon…. They both assumed power of a nation promising something different, a government that wasn’t a tyranny as it had been. But of course, as soon as both became comfortable and knew they secured their positions by preying on the trust of the people, claimed to be absolute rulers, crushing all opposition.
Also, I was intrigued by your comment on his own army not liking him. I also found this to be the case in Russia; There were secret societies composed of army members, clandestine conspiracies and when Tsar Nicholas I had all the army regiments swear allegiance to him, the Moscow regiment refused and opposed the monarchy in the Decembrist Revolt. Just like in Russia, the monarchy would eventually crush and silence the opposition.
Finally, as everyone else mentioned, Metternich was the conservative mastermind behind European affairs. He was truly the director or puppeteer. From calling the Holy Alliance into session, permitting foreign troops to intervene and suppress revolt, and in some cases, for example Greece, even influencing (telling) rulers what to do, it was evident this super-conservative was not going to let anything break the status quo. He held true to the belief that because he was done with revolutions and revolts, Europe was too. Yeah, its great or whatever to hold true to your beliefs but his actions led to the oppression of the citizens in lands across Europe and the brutal, senseless death of thousands.
To comment on this post, I would first like to bring up a quote which I found very interesting in Mike’s story.
“In the meantime, I will try to stir up discontent, gain many brave supporters, and hopefully get aid from Britain, which was the only respectable nation of the “Holy Alliance” that balked at intervening in my country, in hope for another successful insurrection”.
In this quote Mike mentioned that Britain was the most respectable country in the Holy Alliance and that it actually did not want to hinder Spain’s independence, but through my research I found that Britain actually wanted to exploit the South American revolutions to break the old Spanish trading monopoly with its colonies and gain access to Latin American trade. George Canning, the new foreign minister of Britain was much more interested in the fate of British commerce and trade than Castlereagh had been. Thus, Canning sought to prevent the politics of European reaction from being expended to Spain’s colonies in Latin America, which were then in revolt as discussed in many posts on out blog. As I said before, he intended to exploit these Latin American colonies for trade purposes and he supported the American Monroe Doctrine in 1823, which prohibited further colonization and European intervention in the Americas. Britain soon recognized the Spanish colonies as independent states and because of its involvement in Latin America, rather than in Spain it dominated commercial interests in Latin America through the rest of the century.
As we can see here the sneaky British did not intervene in Spain itself, during its revolution, but they went after the hurt Spanish trade and turned it to their advantage. So much for being “the only respectable nation”. I believe there is no truly respectable nation in Europe because is made up of a bunch of greedy countries all vying for power.
It’s amazing how quickly a nation can rise up to become a government for the people and immediately have it stripped from them. The French really just liked to ruin everyone back then. It was always a competition for land and in the process of taking Spain, their government was taken away as well. I studied the Age of Metternich briefly and it could never be more apparent as to why exactly this time period was known as this. Metternich had such an impact on all of Europe because of his conservatism and dominance of Austria in the German Confederation. This was all due to the reaction that the Congress of Vienna took to restore Europe to what it was formerly. This was soon brought to an end when nationalism rose to overwhelming heights. This also reminded me of the French Revolution in many ways. There were more promises made then were actually carried out to completion and done for the betterment of the people.
Mike, good job with this entry. I was able to easily grasp the feelings of a spanish citizen in that era. The rule of Ferdinand VII reminded me a lot of Charles X, as i had studies France. Both of them came to power for the people, yet they failed to hold their interests in mind. Ferdinand ruled with an iron fish as an absolutist bully, and Charles took away rights that were granted to all men at birth. The comparison between the mind set of these people and the lower estates of pre-revolutionary France are very similar. Both were fed up with the lack of a voice and a schmuck of a ruler thus calling for a revolution. I find it funny how often history repeats itself. The way you captured the feelings of the people is what i tried to do with my French podcast. The similarities are plentiful.
I also saw some simmalarities between Ferdinand and Charles it seems that they both sold out as soon as they got a taste of power it went to their heads and they no longer cared about the people who put them in power. Ferdinand was the main who would crush his people if they rose against him and exerted his will on everyone.
Mike I definitely found your journal to be very informative with that said I'd like to mention that the French in your journal seemed to very ruthless as they held no true concern with the Spainish people especially that of the middle class. In your journal I found it fascinating that even though one may have been a land owner as well as a scholar, and still not be able to partake in political affairs. Sad however the outcome as the Spanish believed Ferdinand would end his attempt to control Spain and were just met with more disapointment as the Holy Alliance was formed. Ultimately capturing the on-going struggle between conservatism and liberalism during the time.
December 19, 1819
ReplyDeleteFerdinand VII is a rotten king! He had promised to govern according to a written constitution, but he’s a filthy liar! Once he was comfortable in his throne, he completely ignored his pledge and the public’s wishes. He even dissolved the Cortes (the parliament) because he wanted to rule alone! Why can’t I, along with other members of the middle class, have a say in government? Unlike the peasants, I’m educated and aware of political matters. I’m also a scholar and I own land. So how is it fair that I’m excluded from political processes?! I refuse to live like this. Recently, I’ve been hearing much talk about a possible insurrection. If something doesn’t happen soon, I swear I will take matters into my own hands.
March 7, 1820
ReplyDeleteFinally! The fool Ferdinand has cowered in the face of his own army and granted our demands. Even his own army had disliked him! When he was about to send them to suppress revolution in his Latin American colonies, the officers had revolted. In fear, Ferdinand had agreed to the provisions of our constitution. I now actually have a voice in government, and I plan to keep it that way. My family, friends, and colleagues had had a great celebration when justice had finally been served. Our revolution has been successful, and I hope that the colonies have the same good fortune.
October 25, 1823
ReplyDeleteDamn the so called “Holy Alliance” and the nosy Metternich! I swear I would butcher that pig to death if I ever meet him! Just because his precious little Italian city states had revolted doesn’t mean he should stick his nose in Spain’s affairs as well. After calling for the “Holy Alliance” to meet at the Congress of Troppau and the Congress of Laibach, Austrian troops were permitted to march into Naples and restore the absolute monarchy. But the pig wasn’t satisfied yet. He called for another meeting, the Congress of Verona, where Austria, Prussia, and Russia agreed to support French intervention in my country. Soon after in April, the abominable French army invaded and killed my fellow liberals with brutality. The unjust absolute monarchy has been restored, but the filthy French still remain. The only thing keeping me from thrashing them is the frightening thought of my five-year-old son growing up fatherless. In the meantime, I will try to stir up discontent, gain many brave supporters, and hopefully get aid from Britain, which was the only respectable nation of the “Holy Alliance” that balked at intervening in my country, in hope for another successful insurrection. The middle class does not deserve this tyranny!
Spain I feel is one of the most interesting revolutions that occurred at this time period. I feel the way that it ended was sorrowful for the liberals in the country. It makes sense now that they call it the age of Metternich. As seen with his actions it is shown that he is an extremely conservative man. He wanted to keep Europe's boundaries as they were. The invasion of Spain by France was interesting because they restored the original monarchy. This revolution ended extremely badly. If only the Spanish had the luck of the Belgians.
ReplyDeleteI felt this story perfectly captured the bittersweet feelings that the people held throughout this entire revolution. As a side note, I thought the way Mike split up the story as he did was clever, it was almost in chapters of the revolution. I found it interesting that one man, Metternich, was so influential, that he changed the fate of an entire country due to his own conservative views. The fact that this single man was so closed minded to change, that he literally changed Spain's entire future, and the lives of thousands of people there. I thought that this was really interesting, because it was so heartbreaking. The people of Spain thought that they had the entire revolution finished, and that they had won their rights, but it was all reversed. It kind of reminded me of the last second hail mary pass in football, and the opposing team scores and wins by one point over the underdog. Simply heartbreaking.
ReplyDeleteWell done, Mike. This reminded me of the first French Revolution and how there were liberals who wanted change and their own say in government and for a while it worked but in the end they went back to having an absolute ruler again. It's funny because this happens almost 25 years later. This happens so much in history, the same kind of events are repeating themselves in other areas in the world. Maybe here in Spain, if the liberals would have prepared a bit more, and knew everything that happened in France, they could have worked a little harder and a little differently and maybe they could have gotten what they wanted. Also, Metternich was one interesting guy, known for his extreme conservatism. I can only imagine how much the liberals hated him..
ReplyDeleteMike!
ReplyDeleteI don’t think the feelings of the Spanish citizens could have been captured more perfectly. I even FELT that hate within me! As I was reading I couldn’t help but feel that Ferdinand VII was similar to Napoleon…. They both assumed power of a nation promising something different, a government that wasn’t a tyranny as it had been. But of course, as soon as both became comfortable and knew they secured their positions by preying on the trust of the people, claimed to be absolute rulers, crushing all opposition.
Also, I was intrigued by your comment on his own army not liking him. I also found this to be the case in Russia; There were secret societies composed of army members, clandestine conspiracies and when Tsar Nicholas I had all the army regiments swear allegiance to him, the Moscow regiment refused and opposed the monarchy in the Decembrist Revolt. Just like in Russia, the monarchy would eventually crush and silence the opposition.
Finally, as everyone else mentioned, Metternich was the conservative mastermind behind European affairs. He was truly the director or puppeteer. From calling the Holy Alliance into session, permitting foreign troops to intervene and suppress revolt, and in some cases, for example Greece, even influencing (telling) rulers what to do, it was evident this super-conservative was not going to let anything break the status quo. He held true to the belief that because he was done with revolutions and revolts, Europe was too. Yeah, its great or whatever to hold true to your beliefs but his actions led to the oppression of the citizens in lands across Europe and the brutal, senseless death of thousands.
To comment on this post, I would first like to bring up a quote which I found very interesting in Mike’s story.
ReplyDelete“In the meantime, I will try to stir up discontent, gain many brave supporters, and hopefully get aid from Britain, which was the only respectable nation of the “Holy Alliance” that balked at intervening in my country, in hope for another successful insurrection”.
In this quote Mike mentioned that Britain was the most respectable country in the Holy Alliance and that it actually did not want to hinder Spain’s independence, but through my research I found that Britain actually wanted to exploit the South American revolutions to break the old Spanish trading monopoly with its colonies and gain access to Latin American trade. George Canning, the new foreign minister of Britain was much more interested in the fate of British commerce and trade than Castlereagh had been. Thus, Canning sought to prevent the politics of European reaction from being expended to Spain’s colonies in Latin America, which were then in revolt as discussed in many posts on out blog. As I said before, he intended to exploit these Latin American colonies for trade purposes and he supported the American Monroe Doctrine in 1823, which prohibited further colonization and European intervention in the Americas. Britain soon recognized the Spanish colonies as independent states and because of its involvement in Latin America, rather than in Spain it dominated commercial interests in Latin America through the rest of the century.
As we can see here the sneaky British did not intervene in Spain itself, during its revolution, but they went after the hurt Spanish trade and turned it to their advantage. So much for being “the only respectable nation”. I believe there is no truly respectable nation in Europe because is made up of a bunch of greedy countries all vying for power.
It’s amazing how quickly a nation can rise up to become a government for the people and immediately have it stripped from them. The French really just liked to ruin everyone back then. It was always a competition for land and in the process of taking Spain, their government was taken away as well. I studied the Age of Metternich briefly and it could never be more apparent as to why exactly this time period was known as this. Metternich had such an impact on all of Europe because of his conservatism and dominance of Austria in the German Confederation. This was all due to the reaction that the Congress of Vienna took to restore Europe to what it was formerly. This was soon brought to an end when nationalism rose to overwhelming heights. This also reminded me of the French Revolution in many ways. There were more promises made then were actually carried out to completion and done for the betterment of the people.
ReplyDeleteMike, good job with this entry. I was able to easily grasp the feelings of a spanish citizen in that era. The rule of Ferdinand VII reminded me a lot of Charles X, as i had studies France. Both of them came to power for the people, yet they failed to hold their interests in mind. Ferdinand ruled with an iron fish as an absolutist bully, and Charles took away rights that were granted to all men at birth. The comparison between the mind set of these people and the lower estates of pre-revolutionary France are very similar. Both were fed up with the lack of a voice and a schmuck of a ruler thus calling for a revolution. I find it funny how often history repeats itself. The way you captured the feelings of the people is what i tried to do with my French podcast. The similarities are plentiful.
ReplyDeleteI also saw some simmalarities between Ferdinand and Charles it seems that they both sold out as soon as they got a taste of power it went to their heads and they no longer cared about the people who put them in power. Ferdinand was the main who would crush his people if they rose against him and exerted his will on everyone.
ReplyDeleteMike I definitely found your journal to be very informative with that said I'd like to mention that the French in your journal seemed to very ruthless as they held no true concern with the Spainish people especially that of the middle class. In your journal I found it fascinating that even though one may have been a land owner as well as a scholar, and still not be able to partake in political affairs. Sad however the outcome as the Spanish believed Ferdinand would end his attempt to control Spain and were just met with more disapointment as the Holy Alliance was formed. Ultimately capturing the on-going struggle between conservatism and liberalism during the time.
ReplyDelete