A failed industrial revolution
Spain, A failed industrial revolution?
By the 1850s, Spain’s population was near 12,500,000 people; of which more than two thirds still worked and lived in the countryside. Meanwhile, the most powerful European countries like England or Germany were undergoing a series of political, economic and social changes known as the Industrial Revolution. This was propelled by their liberal ideas, engaged investors and ever-growing market. It created a new era in history, urban areas started to develop and products were no longer made with the antiquated domestic system but with the new mass production method. But, how did this movement affect Spain? A revolution is a sudden and complete change in political organization and in the way people live. Therefore, I believe Spain’s attempt of Industrial Revolution was a failure, for we took more than one hundred years just to be considered an emerging industrial power. Yet, it was a succesful development; a slow and progressive transformation, a transition from an illiterate and closed-minded society to a country whose citizens had a voice and wanted to be heard.
There are several reasons that made Spain unable to adapt properly to this new movement, starting by a perennial political instability caused by wars and different idologies. At the beggining of the 19th century, Napoleon marched into Spain with the excuse of temporaly positioning his troops there in order to attack Portugal. Instead, he forced Carlos IV (the king) to abdicate and put his brother Joseph in the throne. The spaniards didn’t agree with this decision and started the Peninsular with help of the British to regain control, which went on from 1808 to 1814. During this conflict, enlighted ideas were implanted such us fair trade or the abolishment of the Inquisition, and in 1812, the First Spanish Constitution was created in Cádiz. After the victory of the Iberian troops, monarchy was restored again with Fernando VII as a king. Unluckily, he ignored
By the 1850s, Spain’s population was near 12,500,000 people; of which more than two thirds still worked and lived in the countryside. Meanwhile, the most powerful European countries like England or Germany were undergoing a series of political, economic and social changes known as the Industrial Revolution. This was propelled by their liberal ideas, engaged investors and ever-growing market. It created a new era in history, urban areas started to develop and products were no longer made with the antiquated domestic system but with the new mass production method. But, how did this movement affect Spain? A revolution is a sudden and complete change in political organization and in the way people live. Therefore, I believe Spain’s attempt of Industrial Revolution was a failure, for we took more than one hundred years just to be considered an emerging industrial power. Yet, it was a succesful development; a slow and progressive transformation, a transition from an illiterate and closed-minded society to a country whose citizens had a voice and wanted to be heard.
There are several reasons that made Spain unable to adapt properly to this new movement, starting by a perennial political instability caused by wars and different idologies. At the beggining of the 19th century, Napoleon marched into Spain with the excuse of temporaly positioning his troops there in order to attack Portugal. Instead, he forced Carlos IV (the king) to abdicate and put his brother Joseph in the throne. The spaniards didn’t agree with this decision and started the Peninsular with help of the British to regain control, which went on from 1808 to 1814. During this conflict, enlighted ideas were implanted such us fair trade or the abolishment of the Inquisition, and in 1812, the First Spanish Constitution was created in Cádiz. After the victory of the Iberian troops, monarchy was restored again with Fernando VII as a king. Unluckily, he ignored