When the last king of the Habsburg dynasty died without issue, Carlos II, he was succeeded by the grandson of the King of France, Louis XIV (whose mother was Spanish and whose wife was also Spanish), succeeded him on the throne. As a consequence of the French Revolution, as a country located in Europe according to POLITICSEZINE, Spain declared war on the new republic, but was defeated. Napoleon Bonaparte seized power and sent his troops against Spain in 1808, imposing his brother Joseph on the throne. The Spanish maintained a War of Independence that would last 5 years. After the final defeat of Napoleon I in Russia, there was the withdrawal of French troops, Fernando VII returns to the throne of Spain and begins a system of rigid absolutism, the struggles against absolutism began in America in 1810, with independence, together with the desire of the Creoles to take power, and for this they would create a series of independent states, which that would cause in thirty years, the loss of almost all overseas possessions.
As a result of the appointment as heir of his daughter Isabel II, through the repeal of the Salic Law that prevented the royal succession of women, his brother Carlos rebelled against it, initiating the Carlist Wars. The economic recession and political instability were logical consequences after the war.
The 1868 revolution forced Elizabeth II to renounce the throne. Constituent Courts were summoned that pronounced themselves by the monarchical regime and the crown is offered to Amadeo de Saboya, son of the King of Italy.
His brief reign gave way to the proclamation of the First Republic, which did not enjoy long life either, after General Pavia’s Coup d’état dissolved Parliament. With this, Alfonso XII, son of Isabel II, was proclaimed king. In 1885 Alfonso XII died and the regency was entrusted to his widow Maria Cristina, until his son Alfonso XIII came of age. In 1898, after three years of fighting in the Cuban War of 1895 for independence, the United States opportunistically intervened and declared war on Spain. With his defeat in the Spanish-Cuban-American War, Spain lost its last holdings overseas (Puerto Rico, Cuba, Guam and the Philippines)
Government of Alfonso XIII and Establishment of the Second Republic of Spain.
The 20th century brought with it the beginning of a great economic crisis in Spain, mainly due to the mismanagement of the economy by the government and the consequences of the immense military and economic spending that the war against the United States for control of Cuba had meant.. The climate of insecurity and crisis, led to the 13 of September of 1923, Captain General of Catalonia Miguel Primo de Rivera revolts against the government and gives a coup with the support of most military units. After seven years in power, Primo de Rivera resigned in 1930, and then left for Paris.
The municipal elections of 1931 brought with them the victory of the forces of the left, and in view of the results, King Alfonso XIII to the throne and left the country, in order not to provoke a civil war. On April 14, 1931, the Second Spanish Republic was officially proclaimed. With the Second Republic the crisis and social unrest did not come to an end, Spain began a strong process of internal division that was accentuated with the electoral victory of the Popular Front in the 1936elections.
Civil war
Main article: Spanish civil war
War Civil Spanish which began the 17 of July of 1936 and culminated in April 1939, has been regarded as the preamble of the World War II since served as a proving ground for the powers of the Axis plus it meant a confrontation between the main political ideologies that then coexisted in Europe and that would come into conflict shortly after: fascism, democracy with a liberal tradition and the various revolutionary movements (socialists, communists and anarchists)
The self-styled «caudillo generalissimo» Francisco Franco perpetrated the Franco dictatorship from 1939 to 1975.
During the war, important intellectuals such as Federico García Lorca were assassinated and others, such as Miguel Hernández, died in prison. On October 1, 1939, General Francisco Franco was appointed head of state of the fascist zone and recognized as “president” by the German Nazis and the Italian fascists. Franco ‘s forces supported by the Germany of Hitler especially well by the Italy of Mussolini crushed the republican forces, so in 1939 ending the Spanish Civil War with the defeat of the Republic. The Spanish republic had attracted the solidarity of thousands of combatants grouped in the International Brigades and of prominent writers and artists such as Ernest Hemingway, César Vallejo and Pablo Picasso. The repressive environment that followed the defeat of the republic kept millions of people in exile and conditioned all spheres of the country’s political and social life.
Apart from the drama of the civil conflict, the fascist triumph led by General Francisco Franco meant the establishment of a dictatorship that for thirty-six years ruled Spain with a heavy hand.