The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-08-14
spain's stormy History. TadRar


 Spain has been second only to and the regularity with which wars and revolutions have stripped 1t of It's youth and ito territories and altered its form of government.
 The last great upheaval was that which resulted In three different forms of republic and military dictatorship. in the stormy years which preceded monarchy. with Alfonso JII as king.
 The founding of the Kingdom of Asturias dates back to the eighth cen- tury; that of Navarro to the ninth; respectively. in ioss and ios6. The last two were united in 1892
 Spain reached its greatest glory and power In the sixteenth century. The when the Bourbous succeeded them. The throne was given to Joseph Bona parte in 1908. and the Peninsular war kept the kingdom in a state of fer
 Charles ". weak and ignorant ruler. was responsible for Napoleon's accession and the Peninsular war. Ills ,oya wife, Maria Louise of Naples, was named Manuel Godoy, and she pre- vailed on Charles to make Godoy prime minister and generalissimo of guiled by Napoleon. by a promise of princlpallties for himself. to allow the French Army to march through Spain tS invade England's ally Portugal. people awoke to the situation. and the Peninsular war ensued.
 Charles abdicated at Napoleon's re- quest, and his son. Fernando. was absence a party of extremists met at Cadiz and adopted a new constitution, which was altogether. different from anything the ,S,a9ty country had nh had before. back from France. in 1914. but a revolution made him see things in an- other light in 1921.
 was short-lived. however, for in 1923 Fernando enlisted the help of French arms, and administered beating. to his own impetuous subjects. When wife and his infant daughter Isabel to preserve intact all the regal prero- gatives. Maria found this harder to do than to say. because the people; rallied to Don Carlos, who claimed the throne under the Salic law, and the queen regent found 1t difficult to maintain her position without their
 Then followed a long civil war, in which Don Carlos pretensions were disposed of, but the despotic leanings which supported her that Spain was plunged into a period of turbulence pronunciamentos and civil reVolts. which culminated with Prim and Ser rano's successful revolution of 1868. and the flight of Isabel to France.
 Then followed the period described above, in which Spain tried variety who was restored to the throne at the end of 1t all. was the only son of IsaDel. new moderate consU tution T Ice. have passed since then have been com 4 paratively tranquil. Alfonso XII iied at the age of 2S. and his widow, Maria until her son. the present king. reach ed his majority.
 The threatened secession of Cuba brought on the spanish American war left of her ancient Western empire. To the nation as a whole this was de- sirable freedom from an old burden, but the loss of the colonial markets dislocated certain manufacturing ln- terests. especially in Catalania. This accounts for the fact that the separat- ist tendency has always. always remainei
 Barcelona. the seat of the captain general of Catalania. Is the most i'm portant commercial and industrial town in Spain. tI has population
 Barcelonas place in the commercial history of Spain is one of pre- eminence. In the twelfth and thir- teenth centuries 1t was the rival of Venice and Genoa. To the merchants of this Spanish town the origin of the code of maritime laws. known as the Consolado del mar. Is usually attribut- ed and they were the first to employ marine insurance. The merchants of Barcelona could be found trading with all the Mediterranean ports. with the Netherlands and the Orient. With the RmancinattOn Of the. SnaniSh- American colonies a decline set In, but thia proved only temporary, and