The Bourbons Take the Spanish Throne
A French prince inherits Spain, and its American empire keeps shrinking through the 18th and 19th centuries
Quick facts
- Bourbon dynasty begins
- 1700, Philip V
- American independence wars
- 1810s-1820s (Bolivar, San Martin)
- Last major colonies lost
- Cuba, Puerto Rico, Philippines (1898)
- Cause of final loss
- Spanish-American War
What happened
The death of the childless Habsburg king Charles II in 1700 triggered the War of the Spanish Succession, which ended with a French Bourbon prince, Philip V, on the Spanish throne, a dynasty that has ruled Spain, with interruptions, ever since. The 18th century saw administrative modernization under the Bourbon Reforms, but the empire's American territories broke away in a wave of independence wars led by figures including Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin in the 1810s and 1820s. Spain's last remaining major colonies, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines, were lost in 1898 when the United States defeated Spain in the Spanish-American War.
Why it matters
The 18th and 19th centuries transformed Spain from a global empire into a mid-sized European power that had lost nearly all its overseas territory, a decline whose full detail, including the Peninsular War against Napoleon still to come and the specific independence wars, is documented in the Spanish Empire timeline.
How we know
The Bourbon succession, the independence wars in the Americas, and the 1898 Spanish-American War are documented extensively in Spanish, American, and Latin American historical records of the period.
Sources
- National Army Museum (UK). Peninsular War · Reputable sourcenam.ac.uk · The domain "nam.ac.uk" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- World History Encyclopedia. Taifa · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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Related timelines
- The Spanish Empire → · See the Spanish Empire timeline for the War of the Spanish Succession, the Bourbon Reforms, the independence wars, and the Spanish-American War in full detail.