Rousseau on Spain

Jean Jacques Rousseau woul have viewed Spain in a positive light for the most part. However, he was opposed to one person wielding all of the power in governement and was more for rights of the individual as opposed to the rights of the whole. Although he opposed vesting so much power into one person he still would have appreciated the way that the citizens were treated and the way the nation was run.

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During the time we are currently studying, Spain was exploring overseas and colonizing the new world. Their economy was flourishing and their colonies were yielding much wealth in the form of Sugar cane and Gold. Although their colonies were for the most part successful, the natives still posed problems for the Spanish explorers. Especially their South American colonies were the local Mestizos were evolting and posing problems.

France on Spain

France would have been very unhappy with what France recieved from the Congress of Vienna. France would have been disappointed in the ceding of French controlled land back to Spain and the fact that France got next to nothing out of Vienna. They would have also been unhappy about the fact that they had to pay a vast amount of indemnation and that Spain benefited way more out of the Congress of Vienna than they did.

Spain on France

Spain would have been very in favor of what happened to France at the Congress of Vienna for various reasons. They would have been for the restoraion of their own borders and regaining control of their own country. They would also have been in favor of having their monarchy restored and the sanctions on France and the rules set up to limit their powers. Overall, Spain would have been in favor of most of the happenings to France at the Congress of Vienna.

Spain's Thoughts on Vienna

Spain would have been both for and against the measures agreed upon at the congress of Vienna. They would have been for the fact that their borders were being restored and that they were no longer under the control of France. They would have also been for the restoration of the monarchy. However, they would not have been very much in favor of the fact that they recieved no additional rights/territories/wealth as a result of the Congress.

Spain On Austria

Spain did not really have much power during the Congress of Vienna and were angry towards the other countries for that. Austria would also not intervene in the problems between France and Spain in which Spain did not succeed. Spain did not think highly of Metternich and Austria during this time

Austria On Spain

Austria would have seen Spain as a weakening empire, with very little influence anymore. They wanted Spain to go independent and to rebuild themselves after Napoleons invasion. Spains economy was cripppled and they needed to rebuild and strengthen themselves. Austria would not really regard Spain as a power anymore though.

Napoleonic era

Napoleon went to spain to attempt to become king of spain. When he tried this a great revolt happened in 1808. The revolts were lead by catholics, monarchists, and patriots. Then when the french armies occupied madrid the revolters fled from the city. The events that happened in Spain gave a warning that resistance to france's imperialism was growing.Britain remained in war with france and helped the revolters in Spain. As a result the continental system was organized. Napoleon's plan was a failure.

Congress of Vienna's Effect on Spain

Spain was not involved in the Congress of Vienna. They were not considered to have aided in the fight against Napoleon's invasion. The Spanish people were not taken over by Napoleon because they successfully led a revolt against him when he had tried to take Spain over. Therefore, Spain was not included in negotiations to gain land.

Social Impact

Spain was greatly changed through their overseas exploration. Although they had withdrawn from European affairs, they did not relinquish their control of colonies in the Americas. Controlling areas primarily in South America, Spain controlled much of the sugar and gold trade. The native people were usually forced under a kind of enslavement by the ruling Spanish. However, often times natives and the ruling Spanish would intermarry, producing Mestizo children. Two new social classes were created by the Spanish conquest of the Americas. One was the aformentioned Mestizos and the other was the higher level Creoles, who were people of purely Spanish descent born in America.

Spanish Mercantalism

Spain prospered under the new form of economy called mercantalism. They also did well due to their strong alliance with France due to their relationship in the monarchy. Spain's colonies also helped strengthen spains economy with the slave trade and the gold and silver mined in their colonies. Mercantalism was one of the ideas spread by the enlightenment thinker Adam Smith, and became widely used all over Europe