Spanish Revolution of 1820

The 1820 revolutions erupted across Europe, notably in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Greece. It was regarded as a revolutionary uprising. The establishment of constitutional monarchies was the primary goal of the revolutions in Spain, Portugal, and Italy. Greece's revolution aimed to gain independence from the Ottoman Empire.

The 1820 revolutions were the first major threat to Europe's conservative order, which had been created following Napoleon I's defeat in 1815. Even though most failed, they reflected the growing strength of the liberal-nationalist movement, which would finally overthrow the conservative system. Following 1815, there was a period of relative calm.

After years of unrest and war, most Europeans were relieved to see peace and order restored. However, a disgruntled liberal-nationalist minority formed secret societies bent on subverting the current regime. The Carbonari was the most important instrument in the 1820 upheavals.

Let’s have a look at the details.

What Caused the Spanish Revolution of 1820

Following 1815, there was a period of relative calm. After years of unrest and war, most Europeans were relieved to see peace and order restored. However, a disgruntled liberal-nationalist minority formed secret societies bent on subverting the current regime. The Carbonari was the most important, instrumental in the 1820 revolutions. From 1800 through 1831, the Carbonari were an informational network of secret revolutionary clubs active in Italy.

The Italian Carbonari may have influenced other revolutionary parties in France, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Brazil, and Uruguay. Their ideals were frequently patriotic and liberal but lacked a defined political platform. The main goal was to end tyranny and establish democratic governments.

Other groups in northern Italy, such as the Adelfia and Filadelfia, were related with the Adelfia. Giuseppe Mazinni, Giuseppe Garibaldi, Marquis de Lafayette, Lord Byron, Gabriele Rosseti, and Louise Auguste Blanqui were all members of the Carbonari.

Spanish Revolution: Start and End

Revolution in Spain

The revolution in Spain began when King Ferdinand VII adopted a reactionary policy. The reactionary policy was intended to restore the status quo of the past. Furthermore, King Ferdinand VII's steadfast effort to restore Spanish sovereignty over rebellious American colonies cost lives and money, and it appeared hopeless.

On January 1, 1820, liberal officers of a regiment staged a revolt and marched on Madrid, where they had originally embarked for South America, to seek a constitution. The king's indecisiveness and incompetence aided the insurrection. However, the king may have intervened because of the lack of popular support.

In March of the next year, the insurgents entered Madrid, Spain. By force, King Ferdinand VII established a constitution. However, he appealed to conservative forces for assistance in overturning it.

The emergence of another revolution scared many individuals, even those in positions of power. Their replies, though, were mixed. Alexander I, Tsar of Russia, or Emperor of Russia, advocated for joint intervention by the Quintuple Alliance, a group of great nations formed after the Napoleonic Wars to maintain the country's peace.

However, Lord Castlereagh, the British Foreign Secretary, refused to take his offer any further. According to Lord Castlereagh, the Alliance had no right to intervene in the revolution until it posed a threat to neighbouring powers.

On the other hand, France was undecided on whether to intervene. The Austrian Chancellor, Prince Clemens von Metternich, opposed the revolution and the intervention. Prince Metternich indicated that he did not want Britain to be separated from the Alliance. Spain was too far away to pose a threat to Austria.

Because of criticism from various leaders, Alexander I temporarily withdrew his proposal.

Revolution in Italy

Metternich's stance swiftly altered when the Spanish example prompted replication in Italy. The Carbonari, a group of liberal army officers, rose against Ferdinand I, the reactionary king of the Two Sicilies, in July 1820, seeking a constitution. This uprising was also successful due to the king's incompetence and cowardice, who, fearing for his life, promised a constitution on July 13, 1820.

The new government received some backing from landowners who were moderate liberals, but they were soon disturbed by Carbonari's radical demands, and feuding between the two sides erupted. An insurrection in Sicily, which had long hated Naples' control and desired autonomy, further distracted the revolutionary regime. The government of Naples decided to crush the Sicilians, further weakening the revolt.

However, it was Austrian intervention, not domestic strife, that halted the revolution. Metternich couldn't ignore the revolution in Naples the way he could ignore the one in Spain because it challenged one of Austria's international cornerstones, its supremacy in Italy. A liberal Naples would undoubtedly reject Austrian tutelage, and its success would encourage imitation throughout Italy. The Austrian army might have easily put down the revolution, but there were international issues.

Castlereagh had no problems with Austrian action but stressed that it must be done unilaterally, not in the name of the alliance, which he couldn't support in Italy any more than he could in Spain. France, an ancient adversary of Austria for control in Italy, backed the revolutionary administration as a way to counter Austrian power in Naples with its own.

The tsar agreed that the revolution had to be put down, but he refused to give Austria free rein, maintaining that it could only intervene in the alliance's name and under its supervision. He demanded a meeting of the powers to lay out the parameters under which intervention could be carried out. He also requested that, before the intervention, dialogue with Naples be attempted to avoid the necessity for intervention, maybe through an agreement to adopt a more conservative constitution.

Metternich consented to a summit at Troppau in October 1820 because Russia, with its immense military force, could make Austrian intervention impossible if it chose. Metternich signed the Troppau Protocol, which declared the alliance's general right to act against the revolution, at the tsar's request and at the risk of alienating Castlereagh. After gaining the tsar's consent to intervene, he used a series of ingenious moves at a subsequent session in Laibach in early 1821 to divert the tsar's other requests.

Metternich obtained unqualified support for intervention at Laibach with no conditions attached—no mediation or constitution. The Austrian army could finally proceed south. Austria destroyed the Neapolitan army at Rieti in March 1821, and the revolutionary regime was quickly put down.

Meanwhile, another revolt was brewing in the Kingdom of Sardinia (or Piedmont-Sardinia) and the Austrian province of Lombardy. A plot was hatched in these areas to push the Austrians out and establish a constitutional Kingdom of Northern Italy. The Lombardy conspiracy was put to rest when its leaders were arrested in October 1820. Still, liberal army officers in Piedmont rose up in revolt on March 10, 1821, demanding the monarch lead them against Austria. The monarch declined, the powers at Laibach condemned the uprising, and loyal Piedmontese forces, aided by an Austrian detachment, swiftly put down the insurgents.

Revolution in Greece

Though the Italian revolution failed, the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire, which lasted from 1821 to 1830, was a success. Most of Greece had been under Ottoman domination for several decades before Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. Throughout history, the Greeks have attempted numerous uprisings to obtain independence from the Ottoman Empire. The Filiki Eteria, a secret society, was created in 1814 with the goal of liberating Greece. The Filiki Eteria planned rebellions in the Peloponnese, the Danubian Principalities, Constantinople, and its environs.

By late 1821, Ottoman officials had discovered their intentions for a revolution meant to take place on the 25th of March. As a result, the revolutionary movement began earlier. The first of these revolts broke out in the Danubian Principalities on March 6th, but the Ottomans promptly put it down.

These events compelled the Greeks in the Peloponnese to act, and on March 17th, the Greeks declared war against the Ottomans. This declaration began a wave of revolts against the Ottoman Empire by other subjugated states. The revolution was launched on March 25th, and by the end of the month, the Peloponnese was openly revolting against the Turks.

The Greeks, led by Theodoros Kolokotronis, had taken Tripolitsa by October 1821. Crete, Macedonia, and Central Greece revolt swiftly followed the Peloponnesian insurrection.

All of them were silenced. However, in the Aegean Water, the Greek fleet began to win important fights against the Ottoman navy, preventing the Ottomans from sending reinforcements by sea.

Regardless of their common opponent, tensions between Greek factions continued to increase, resulting in two civil wars in quick succession. The Ottoman Sultan took advantage of this and began discussing an alliance with Egypt's Mehmet Ali. Mehmet agreed to send his son Ibrahim Pasha to Greece with an army to quash the insurrection in exchange for territory. In February 1825, Ibrahim arrived in the Peloponnese region and was immediately successful. Most of the Peloponnese was under Egyptian control by the end of 1825, with the city of Missolonghi falling to the Egyptians in April 1826 after a year of siege by the Turks.

Ibrahim was beaten in Mani after that, but he successfully defeated most of the Peloponnese revolts, allowing Athens to be recaptured. The Russian Empire, the United Kingdom, the Kingdom of France, and a number of other European powers later aided the Greeks. Their vassals, the Eyalets of Egypt, Algeria, Tripolitania, and the Beylik of Tunis, assisted the Ottomans.

The Greek War of Independence ignited the Russo-Turkish War of 1828-1829. In response to Russia's participation in the Battle of Navarino, the Sultan blocked the Dardanelles to Russian ships and cancelled the Akkerman Convention.

The Treaty of Adrianople brought an end to the 1829 Russo-Turkish War. The London Conference was the penultimate step towards gaining Greek independence, and the Treaty of Constantinople determined the new state's final borders. It crowned Prince Otto of Bavaria as Greece's first king. On March 25th, the Greek state commemorates the Greek Revolution as a national holiday.

The End of the Spanish Revolution of 1820  

The focus has now shifted to Spain. Though the liberals retained control of the king after an attempted royalist coup in 1822, a rival absolutist government near the French border declared itself a regency for the king and appealed to the powers for help. Britain remained averse to participation, but the tsar was a staunch supporter, encouraging France to intervene on the alliance's behalf. Metternich sought a compromise, fearful that interference would force Britain out of the alliance yet afraid to upset the tsar.

On the other hand, the French rejected both his compromise and the powers' mandate, believing that unilateral intervention would gain them more reputation. In April 1823, France declared war on Spain and invaded it. They effortlessly crushed all opposition and re-established Ferdinand's throne.

Spanish Revolution Summary 

The Enlightenment ideas were proven permanent during the Revolutions of 1820 and 1830. The concept of independence, nationalism and protection against corrupt authority were all easily accepted by the people because they felt natural, as they should be. However, many concerns, like working-class issues and income inequalities, remained unsolved due to the revolutions. Establishing a state of equality and equilibrium would need many more revolutions, or perhaps fewer, in some countries. Regrettably, achieving these objectives will take even a pair of world-first conflicts.

In this article, we have learnt about the Spanish revolution of 1820, what caused the Spanish revolution of 1820 and also the Spanish revolution results. Let us have a look at the frequently asked questions.

Conclusion

Thus we learned about income inequality, which remained unsolved due to the revolution, and many people faced economic crises in the 1820s.