The Spanish-American War of 1898: a Spanish View by Jaime de
Ojeda The Napoleonic invasion of Spain, and the Peninsular war
that followed (1808-1814) completely destroyed the economic,
social, and political texture of Spain. The war against the
French invaders and the intensity of subsequent political strife
bred an unusual violence in Spanish politics. After the war
neither the old social order nor its culture would survive. The
immense void that it left in its aftermath, on both sides of the
Atlantic, in Spain and in Spanish America, started an agonized
search for a new identity during the entire 19th century, which
is the key to the political instability of the whole Spanish-
speaking world until today. Upon the return of King Fernando VII
to the throne in 1814, there ensued a bitter civil strife
between absolutists and "liberals," a term that originated in
Spain, used by partisans of freedom and democracy. In Spanish
America the liberals won and 16 new republics gained their
independence by 1824. Only Cuba