|
Post by La Rouge Beret on Jun 26, 2022 22:35:13 GMT
As it says on the tin in one of the many Napoleonic war books that I have read over the years, in one of these mighty tomes there was a small paragraph about the possibility of the Spanish throne being offered to Lord Wellington. As events unfolded, no offer was made and he later on became British Prime Minister.
With all of this in mind, what if an offer is made to Lord Wellington to assume the Spanish throne and he accepts. How does he change Spanish history & how does him vacating the British political scene impact upon British politics?
|
|
|
Post by Max Sinister on Jun 27, 2022 4:13:18 GMT
Wow. And here I would have thought that this wouldn't be a smart move in a time when they objected to Napoleon being the illegitimate ruler.
|
|
|
Post by La Rouge Beret on Jun 27, 2022 10:30:47 GMT
Here's a response from the other site, that I'm sharing here due to it's well thought out nature & to add some constructive fuel. Likewise, having thought on this some more, I think a regency is more likely.
|
|
stevep
Fleet admiral
Posts: 24,835
Likes: 13,224
|
Post by stevep on Jun 28, 2022 12:37:36 GMT
An interesting idea but even with the suggested sudden death of the actual Bourbon heirs. Wellington found the Spanish nobility extremely frustrating in their infighting, arrogance and incompetence and while he might take a role of military commander/regent if offered I can't see that evolving into an offer of the crown to him or him being that inclined to accept it.
One other big issue was that Spain was deeply religious and Catholic. As such they would insist on any new monarch being Catholic and while Wellington was born in Ireland he was from an ardent Protestant Anglo-Irish family I think he would be deeply unwilling to do that even if the offer was made. While many Spanish welcomed the aid from Britain there seems to have been continuing mistrust of the protestant heretics - despite a lot of the ordinary manpower in the British army being Irish Catholics.
Plus he would see Spain, despite technically still having a huge and potentially wealthy empire, as a declining power well past its peak whereas Britain was emerging as the 1st industrial, naval and financial power, especially once Napoleon was defeated. - Can't see him even considering anything like that before Napoleon's fall as without that nothing would be secure.
|
|