AHC: Lord Wellington assumes the Spanish throne

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?
 
I wonder what would happen with the Spanish colonies... Maybe he could negotiate some sort of autonomy for them, keeping them aligned with Spain. Perhaps a long shot.

In the interior, I don't see Wellington being a Tyrant, moving to create a sort of British style constitutional Monarchy
 
It's completely ASB and couldn't possibly happen. The Spanish wouldn't offer it, and Wellington would never accept it.

On the other hand, while Wellington wasn't the best at politics, there's no way he could be worse than Ferdinand VII. For one thing, he wouldn't engage in incest.
 
I could see some faction of junta or rebels trying to get him as king, but I can’t see Wellington, Britain or the general Spanish population accepting it.
 
Is he going to convert?
As the saying goes "Paris is worth a mass," otherwise any of his descendants would need to convert. I'm working under the assumption he was High Church - so it's not a massive jump from a theological or liturgical perspective. Politically is a different matter.

Yeah I think he might be able to find an accord with the colonies in the New World. So that Spain doesn't lose all of them.
 
Let's give the scenario a chance shall we.

In my mini-Tl; Wellesley encounters greater success in the Peninsular War, winning the support of the Spanish generals and through well publicised actions of compassion and mercy he gains a very large spread of popularity within the Spanish populace. In response to Wellesley's greater successes; Napoleon sends greater amounts of men and resources to support Joseph but he still launches his campaign in Russia. A major POD is that Ferdinand of Spain dies during his imprisonment, rumoured to an assassination; that this soon followed by the disappearance of his brothers Carl and Francisco trigger even more uprisings against the French regime in Spain; as the 'dead' royals become martyrs for the growing guerrilla forces. However Coalition forces are now paralysed with indecision and are unable to seize the advantage due to the infighting within the ranks of the Spanish junta as the are unable to agree upon who should take the reigns as regent or whether they should select a new monarch from the Bourbons dynasty or even take up a new dynasty entirely; ideas of republicanism are quickly disregarded by the conservative generals at the annoyance of the younger and more liberal junior officers.

At certain points the Coalition flirts with catastrophe as various Spanish generals make their case for why they should take the crown arguing on the basis of wealth, their family names, the number of troops in their personal armies. Tempers rise and a Spanish civil war is only narrowly averted by the request of Sir Arthur for an evening break and reconvening in the morning; letting hot tempers cool and nurse their bruised egos. It takes a month and a half of negotiations, bargaining, begging and implied threats but a eventually there is a conclusion. Taking example from the Portuguese who made a British general their Commander-in-Chief; recognising Sir Wellesley's military victories and keenly aware how deeply reliant the Spanish economy was upon British credit, They requested that Sir Wellesley take up the position of regent for the duration of their conflict with France and thus recognise him as the Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo; and tentatively agree that it should be a Cortes of All Spain that should decide on the matter crown not merely the army.

There's something of a lull in the conflict as the Parliament in London digests the news that one of their generals is now the Regent of the Spanish Empire with all the powers and responsibilities that such a title implies, at the same time Joseph Bonaparte escalates large scale liquidations of Napoleonic Spain to pay for mercenaries from Germany, Switzerland, and Italy in addition to requesting more conscripts from France to maintain some level of control over the country and planning a number of small counteroffensives to try and regain the initiative in the war. At the same time the Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo reorganises the Coalition forces, incorporating various guerrilla armies and private militias into the Spanish Army and managing the various egos and rivalries within the senior officers of the Army and the Navy.

Opinions?
 
Yeah I think he might be able to find an accord with the colonies in the New World. So that Spain doesn't lose all of them.
Wellington could be pretty out of touch, but he did eventually concede defeat on the 1832 Reform Act. I think he'd definitely be better than Ferdinand at knowing when to fold (not that that's hard). If the Mexicans offer him the crown and keep Mexico and Spain in personal union, as they did OTL to Ferdinand, he'd probably accept.
 
Joseph was winning the hearts of the Spanish populace iirc, not through his reforms mainly but because they are saving them from anarchy
 
I was considering an additional POD where due to his wife’s death in childbirth, he’s pressured by Whitehall into a marriage with prominent Spanish nobility and also converts to Catholicism. London does this as they really want favoured trading status with Spain and her colonies; opening them to
British trade and influence.

Wellington could be pretty out of touch, but he did eventually concede defeat on the 1832 Reform Act. I think he'd definitely be better than Ferdinand at knowing when to fold (not that that's hard). If the Mexicans offer him the crown and keep Mexico and Spain in personal union, as they did OTL to Ferdinand, he'd probably accept.
I mean Wellington could be out of touch but even an English Tory is would be considered almost an radical Liberal by ultra-Catholic Spain. I could see him embracing Spanish liberalism, and with Britain supporting Spain rather than the revolutionaries it’s not hard to imagine that a few of the wars go very differently.

A potential conclusion would be Mexico in a personal Union and has a permanent Regent appointed by the King of Spain with executive powers with possible veto over the legislature is possible. Bolivar without British support is a lot weaker; and if the Penninsular War ends earlier we could see Spanish regulars and warships sent over to the Americas to support native royalists. Wellington (probably advised by Peel or another Prime Minster) could offer similar offers to Central America, Gran Columbia, Peru and Argentina. I don't know if it'll last til the modern day or if it could win over the conservative absolutists in Spain but it's definitely a far brighter future for Spain and the Hispanic peoples as a whole
 
A tradition of Spanish grandees being educated at English schools would be an interesting result of this POD. "The battle fields of Morocco were won on the playing fields of Eton . . ."

Spanish rules rugby. Or maybe some rugby variant just becomes the main international sport, displacing soccer. After all, if both the peninsular and the Latin American upper classes are adopting something like rugby, that is huge demographic momentum. Rugby is like soccer in that is not equipment-heavy.

If you have an Anglo-Hispano upper class cultural sphere it could also mean that some kind of horseback sport could get a boost. The Hispanic upper classes and even middle classes were way into horsemanship.

Speaking of sport, probably not gonna see stands full of cockneys cheering on Highlander bullfighters in London, but we can always dream.

Such a tradition of Spanish Grandees being educated in English schools probably also means faster practical Catholic emancipation in England over the long run.

There would also be a strong pressure for some kind of nudge nudge wink wink rapprochement between high Anglicans and Roman Catholics. Maybe something like how the current Catholic Church treats the SSPX sorta. Recognizing the validity of their rites while decrying the errors in their theology and the irregularity of their organization (this could go both ways). In other words, Catholics would hold that it was sinful for a catholic bishop to declare his allegiance to King Henry VIII instead of to the Pope, but that he still remained a bishop and could still validly ordain people and so on.

If the rise of a Prussian-led Germany still happens, you could even get a broader Anglo-French-Hispanic convivencia among the upper classes.

North America would be interesting. Both Wellingtonian Mexico and Britain have claims on large swaths of land, whereas the US is thinking that destiny doesn't manifest itself, sometimes it needs a little nudge.

If the Anglo-Hispano semi cultural sphere things happens, along side the greater British mercantile presence in a broadly united and peaceful Latin American dominion, some OTL British immigration to the dominions probably gets diverted to Latin America. Italian immigration to the US later is also probably partly diverted. Conversely, in some British areas campesino imports may replace the OTL Indian or Chinese labor imports.
 
Last edited:
As the saying goes "Paris is worth a mass," otherwise any of his descendants would need to convert. I'm working under the assumption he was High Church - so it's not a massive jump from a theological or liturgical perspective. Politically is a different matter.

Yeah I think he might be able to find an accord with the colonies in the New World. So that Spain doesn't lose all of them.
I don't see it going well.
 
@John_Smith12 Two excellent posts. Still a stretch but you have really moved it into the realm of plausible.
Thank you for the kind words
A tradition of Spanish grandees being educated at English schools would be an interesting result of this POD. "The battle fields of Morocco were won on the playing fields of Eton . . ."

Spanish rules rugby. Or maybe some rugby variant just becomes the main international sport, displacing soccer. After all, if both the peninsular and the Latin American upper classes are adopting something like rugby, that is huge demographic momentum. Rugby is like soccer in that is not equipment-heavy.
I don't know if I'd say Eton but probably Greenwich or Sandhurst. I think we'd see a larger number of Hispanic students at British military academies the same way after the victories of Fredrick the Great you there was a vast increase of international students at Prussian military schools. Rugby Latin America would be fun to watch but I think the more important effects would likely be a more loyal officer corps amongst Hispanic military; less caudillos and juntas.
If you have an Anglo-Hispano upper class cultural sphere it could also mean that some kind of horseback support could get a boost. The Hispanic upper classes and even middle classes were way into horsemanship. Probably not gonna see stands full of cockneys cheering on Highlander bullfighters in London, but we can always dream.
Maybe more Ascots and Derbys in Latin world? Horse racing isn't my favourite sport but I wouldn't mind seeing it grow.
Such a tradition probably also means faster practical Catholic emancipation in England.
I don't know about that, but it would probably have interesting effects on Irish migratory patterns; you could probably see loyalist Catholics move to Latin America during the Potato famine (encouraged and patronised by Wellesley and a Protestant Ascendancy that wants them gone) where as the Fenians would turn dominate Boston.

If the rise of a Prussian-led Germany still happens, you could even get a broader Anglo-French-Hispanic convivencia among the upper classes.
Was Prussia inevitable? Probably not. But think that a resurgence Spain would see French actions in the West Med as more of a concern than Germany. Unless the French were willing to partition North Africa fairly between themselves and Spain.
North America would be interesting. Both Wellingtonian Mexico and Britain have claims on large swaths of land, whereas the US is thinking that destiny doesn't manifest itself, sometimes it needs a little nudge.
Yeah, if the War of 1812 occurs in this TL it could end up a two front war which would be an entirely different conflict. If Wellington can get Mexico to take part on the condition of retaking Louisiana territories and British financing we could see the Battle of New Orleans going very differently.
If the Anglo-Hispano semi cultural sphere things happens, along side the greater British mercantile presence in a broadly united and peaceful Latin American dominion, some OTL British immigration to the dominions probably gets diverted to Latin America. Italian immigration to the US later is also probably partly diverted. Conversely, in some British areas campesino imports may replace the OTL Indian or Chinese labor imports.
Probably the closest thing to a realistic case study would be Anglo influence in Argentina which led to Patagonia being predominantly Welsh, the Argentine economy being one of the top 10 prior to the great depression, and British trade being a core pillar of the economy. I don't think they'll be a cultural sphere like what you're envisioning but probably greater cultural mixing to some extent.
 
This has really helped me to map / plot out a potential TL, which means that I can get cracking. I suspect that ittl the social stratification of rugby union / football would be broadened here. Perhaps there is an earlier 6 nations except including Spain & not Italy. The other butterfly - I wonder about how ttls version of the Spanish - American war plays out.

Thanks for your excellent input @John_Smith12 & others.

Now to ensure my favourite rifleman makes an appearance.
 
Top