Spain and Portugal 1837 CE

What is happening in Spain and Portugal in 1837CE

The Napoleonic Wars were a disaster for Spain, with huge French and Allied armies marching across the land and bitter guerilla warfare engulfing large parts of the Peninsula. At the end of the war, the restored king, Ferdinand VII, abolished a liberal constitution and imposed the old authoritarian monarchy. Since then coups, counter-coups and, on occasion, civil war have characterized Spanish politics. These years have also seen the loss of most of Spain’s empire in South and Central America.

Portugal was an ally of Britain’s throughout the Napoleonic Wars, and as a result experienced much devastation from French armies. In 1807 the British navy whisked the court and royal family away to the Portuguese colony of Brazil, to keep them from falling into the hands of the French. They did not return for several years after the war.

Since the wars, the country has experienced instability and civil war, not helped by the absence of the king and royal family in Brazil. After the royal family had returned, Brazil became independent from Portugal under a separate branch of the Portuguese royal family (1822).

Next map, Spain and Portugal in 1871