The War of Independence in the Cantabrian Sea.
Authors: Raquelyn Moreno Garcia, Andy Cantero Moreno and Sergio Mollá García (Mutxamel, Alicante).
The Spanish War of Independence was a military conflict that took place between 1808 and 1814 and ended with the defeat of France. This war had antecedents dating back to the beginning of the geopolitical alliances between France and Spain, and the United Kingdom and Portugal, which gave rise to a series of minor conflicts. In 1807 the French army occupied Spanish territory as part of its maneuver to attack Portugal.
The French occupation led to the abdication of Charles IV, then king of Spain, and the replacement of Ferdinand VII, legitimate heir to the throne, by Joseph Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon. This, added to the economic losses generated by helping the occupiers, generated a revolt in March 1808 in Aranjuez, where the kings were.
A little more than two months later, the war officially began with the popular uprising of May 2, 1808. The people of Madrid rose up spontaneously against the French presence. It was harshly repressed by the French army, which responded to the mutinies and uprisings with shootings, scenes of which were immortalized by the artist Francisco de Goya. However, the example spread throughout the country and the population rose up against the invader in a popular resistance movement.
Finally, in the Battle of Vitoria, on June 21, 1813, French troops were expelled from Spain. On December 11 of that year, the authority of Ferdinand VII was restored with the Treaty of Valençay, which implicitly recognized Napoleon's defeat. The war ends on April 17, 1814 with Napoleon's abdication and his banishment. The country was devastated both materially and humanly. From a cultural point of view, it was the most important plunder suffered by Spain in its entire history.
This diorama, inspired by the film “The Gentleman of the Seas” (Raoul Walsh, 1951), represents a port in northern Spain taken by the French. In it, a small fortress defends the French ships that are anchored. A Spanish galleon will bombard them, trying to block the mouth of the port by sinking and thus leave Napoleon without the possibility of receiving supplies by sea.
Even so, the French Emperor never considered the navy as something important in the conflict, something that England or Spain did. He considered infantry, cavalry or especially artillery much more important. The lack of supplies when entering enemy lands ended up making him see the importance of the ships, as well as the mistake made in underestimating them.
#playmobil #aesclick #elmundoclick #collectors #playmobilexhibition #diorama