Royalist War
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The Royalist War was a armed conflict that took place in Spain during the last year and a half of the Liberal Triennium . It began in the spring of 1822—there is no agreement among historians about the exact moment of its beginning—with the extension of the actions and the number of royalist parties that had already been acting since the spring of 1821 with the purpose to reestablish the absolute power of king Ferdinand VII. They were confronted by the constitutional armies that defended the liberal regime established after the triumph of the Revolution of 1820. Its fundamental setting was Catalonia, Navarra and Basque Country and in the first phase the royalist forces were defeated and were forced to take refuge in France (or Portugal). The war took a definitive turn in favor of the royalists when on April 7, 1823, the invasion of the French army of the Cien Mil Hijos de San Luis began, which had the support of reorganized Spanish royalist troops. in France and of the royalist parties that had managed to survive the constitutionalist offensive. On September 30, 1823, King Ferdinand VII was "liberated" from his "captivity" and the next day he abolished the Constitution of 1812 and restored absolutism.
Royalist War | |||||||
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Part of The Trienio Liberal | |||||||
The French takeover of the Trocadero fort. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Kingdom of Spain Royalists forces Spanish absolutists Ultras/Apostolics (traditionalists) |
Junta Provisional Consultiva Liberals (constitucionals) forces Doceañista/Moderados (liberal conservatives) Exaltados (radical liberals) | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Joaquín Ibáñez Carlos de España Vicente Genaro Jerónimo Merino |
Miguel Ricardo de Álava Francisco Ballesteros Francisco Espoz Juan Martín Díez Rafael del Riego Vicente Sancho José María | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown | Unknown |
The civil war of 1822-1823 is considered by some authors to be the first civil war in the contemporary history of Spain, First Carlist War (1833-1840)— «characterized by the clash between revolution and counter-revolution.[note 1] The royalists took up the motto "Religion, King and Country", used during the War of the Convention and by a sector of the "patriots"—the "serviles" identified with the Ancient Regime—during the War of Independence.[2]
But not only the royalists resorted to religion to justify their potions and fight their enemies - they came to use the term Crusade to refer to the war they were fighting -, also the liberals.[3] The liberal newspaper El Universal said that the friars who had joined the royalist rebellion "have given the sad and scandalous testimony of their irreligion, their immorality, their hypocrisy, their ingratitude." In this sense, it is no coincidence that the constitutional authorities of Barcelona decided to transfer the image of the Virgin of Montserrat to the city to prevent it from falling into the hands of the royalists.[4]