Question

When ____ took control of Spain in 1808, it represented a break in the direct line of royal authority in Spain and in the Americas. This broken link will open a space in which new Enlightenment ideals will emerge for the first time in Spain and in the colonies. As an example of this, we see the drafting of a constitution in 1812.

Answer 1

The correct answer is France.

Step-by-step explanation:

With the excuse of sending reinforcement troops to the French Army occupying Portugal, Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1840) invaded Spain in February 1808. Only four months after the initial invasion, France forces had already taken Pamplona, Barcelona, and Madrid causing King Charles IV of Spain to give up his throne. Napoleon took advantage and his brother, Joseph, was proclaimed king of Spain. Until 1813, thanks to the intervention of British expeditionary Arthur Wellesley (later named Duke of Wellington) and small irregular Spanish bands called the guerrillas, the Iberian Peninsula was liberated.

As a result of the french invasion in the Iberian Peninsula, french philosophical movements such as en Enlightenment was spread over Spain, and later on, over its colonies.