page_title: Spain–United Kingdom relations
section_title: Carlist Wars
hierarchical_section_title: Spain–United Kingdom relations / History / Carlist Wars
caption_attribution_description: Español: Retrato del infante de España Carlos María Isidro de Borbón (1788-1855), que fue hijo del rey Carlos IV de España y hermano de Fernando VII. Y a la muerte de este ultimo, disputó el trono de España a su sobrina, Isabel II, en el enfrentamiento conocido como la Primera Guerra Carlista, que finalizó en 1839 con el Abrazo de Vergara.
context_page_description: Spain–United Kingdom relations, also called Spanish-British relations, are the bilateral international relations between Spain and United Kingdom.
context_section_description: During the Carlist Wars that raged off and on 1833 to 1876, Spain was wracked by civil r]], as a result of a power struggle between the royal heir, Isabella and Carlists, led by the pretender, Don Carlos, her uncle.  Fearing a resurgent theocratic Spain, the possible re-emergence of long-silent pretenders to the British throne, a new Spanish monarch that might refuse to accept the independence of Spain's lost Latin American colonies, and domestic secessionism (particularly amongst Irish Catholics), Britain steadfastly supported Isabella who was a liberal instead of the Carlist pretenders who were reactionaries.
  In 1835, Britain instigated the foundation of the Quadruple Alliance, between Britain Spain, France, and Portugal, which supported Queen Isabella's reign.  The Duke of Wellington advocated nonintervention, in the expectation that with limited material support from its allies the Spanish government could win the First Carlist War (1833-40). In Spain, British Commissioner Edward Granville Eliot stressed London's desire for peace without British or French involvement. He facilitated a convention to humanize the treatment of prisoners of war. Wellington's policy helped stabilize Portugal and improved British relations with other powers.
  During the First Carlist War, Britain subsidised the Spanish armed forces, just as it had done during the Peninsular War.  This was vital to the Spanish war economy, as, since the Napoleonic Wars, the Spanish armed forces had been poorly funded, a legacy of the loss of the majority of Spain's colonial empire.  Furthermore, the UK provided a large direct military contribution; the 10,000-strong British Legion, led by George de Lacy Evans, saw action in Navarre and contributed greatly to the suppression of the revolt.
caption: Don Carlos, the first Carlist Pretender.
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