Editing History of Spain (section)

== Reign of Ferdinand VII (1813–1833) ==
===Aftermath of the Napoleonic wars===
{{Main|History of Spain (1810–73)}}
The Napoleonic wars had severe negative effects on Spain's long-term economic development. The Peninsular war ravaged towns and countryside alike, and the demographic impact was the worst of any Spanish war, with a sharp decline in population in many areas caused by casualties, outmigration, and disruption of family life. The marauding armies seized farmers' crops, and more importantly, farmers lost much of their livestock, their main capital asset. Severe poverty became widespread, reducing market demand, while the disruption of local and international trade, and the shortages of critical inputs, seriously hurt industry and services. The loss of a vast colonial empire reduced Spain's overall wealth, and by 1820 it had become one of Europe's poorest and least-developed societies; three-fourths of the people were illiterate. There was little industry beyond the production of textiles in Catalonia. Natural resources, such as coal and iron, were available for exploitation, but the transportation system was rudimentary, with few canals or navigable rivers, and road travel was slow and expensive. British railroad builders were pessimistic and did not invest. Eventually a small railway system was built, radiating from Madrid and bypassing the natural resources. The government relied on high tariffs, especially on grain, which further slowed economic development. For example, eastern Spain was unable to import inexpensive Italian wheat, and had to rely on expensive homegrown products carted in over poor roads. The export market collapsed apart from some agricultural products. Catalonia had some industry, but Castile remained the political and cultural center, and was not interested in promoting industry.<ref name="PradosSantiago-Caballero">{{cite web|first1=Carlos|last1=Santiago-Caballero|first2=Leandro|last2=Prados de la Escosura|title=The Napoleonic Wars: A Watershed in Spanish History?|url=http://www.ehes.org/EHES_130.pdf|website=EHES Working Papers in Economic History No. 1|publisher=European Historical Economics Society|access-date=29 April 2018|page=1|date=April 2018|archive-date=29 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180429222635/http://www.ehes.org/EHES_130.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Although the ''juntas'', that had forced the French to leave Spain, had sworn by the liberal [[Constitution of 1812]], [[Ferdinand VII of Spain|Ferdinand VII]] had the support of conservatives and he rejected it.<ref>{{cite book|first=David R.|last=Ringrose|title=Spain, Europe, and the 'Spanish Miracle', 1700–1900|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=iZUGYOoIiscC|page=325}}|year=1998|publisher=Cambridge U.P.|page=325|isbn=978-0521646307}}</ref> He ruled in the authoritarian fashion of his forebears.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Esdaile|first=Charles J.|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/906840302|title=Spain in the liberal age : from Constitution to Civil War, 1808–1939|date=2000|publisher=Blackwell Publishers|isbn=0-631-14988-0|oclc=906840302}}</ref>

The government, nearly bankrupt, was unable to pay its soldiers. There were few settlers or soldiers in Florida, so it was sold to the United States for $5&nbsp;million. In 1820, an expedition intended for the colonies revolted in [[Cadiz]]. When armies throughout Spain pronounced themselves in sympathy with the revolters, led by [[Rafael del Riego]], Ferdinand was forced to accept the liberal Constitution of 1812. This was the start of the second bourgeois revolution in Spain, the ''trienio liberal'' which lasted from 1820 to 1823.<ref name="John Michael Francis 2006 905"/> Ferdinand was placed under effective house arrest for the duration of the liberal experiment.

=== ''Trienio liberal'' (1820–23) ===
{{Main|Trienio liberal}}
The tumultuous three years of liberal rule that followed (1820–23) were marked by various absolutist conspiracies. The liberal government was viewed with hostility by the [[Congress of Verona]] in 1822, and France was authorized to intervene. France crushed the liberal government with massive force in the so-called "[[Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis]]" expedition, and Ferdinand was restored as absolute monarch in 1823. In Spain proper, this marked the end of the second Spanish bourgeois revolution.

=== "Ominous Decade" (1823–1833) ===
{{Main|Ominous Decade}}
[[File:Fusilamiento de Torrijos (Gisbert).jpg|thumb|[[Execution of Torrijos and his Companions on the Beach at Málaga|Execution of Torrijos and his men]] in 1831. Ferdinand VII took [[Ominous Decade|repressive measures]] against the liberal forces in his country.]]
[[File:Bataille de la première guerre carliste 1833-1840.jpg|thumb|Battle of the First Carlist War, by [[Francisco de Paula Van Halen]]]]
In Spain, the failure of the second bourgeois revolution was followed by uneasy peace for the next decade. Having borne only a female heir presumptive, it appeared that Ferdinand would be succeeded by his brother, [[Infante Carlos, Count of Molina|Infante Carlos]]. While Ferdinand aligned with the conservatives, fearing another national insurrection, he did not view Carlos's reactionary policies as a viable option. Ferdinand – resisting the wishes of his brother – decreed the [[Pragmatic Sanction of 1830]], enabling his daughter Isabella to become Queen. Carlos, who made known his intent to resist the sanction, fled to Portugal.