Venezuelan War of Independence
The establishment of the Supreme Caracas Junta following the forced deposition of Vicente Emparan as Captain General of the Captaincy General of Venezuela on April 19, 1810, marked the beginnings of the war. On July 5, 1811, seven of the ten provinces of the Captaincy General of Venezuela declared their independence in the Venezuelan Declaration of Independence. The First Republic of Venezuela was lost in 1812 following the 1812 Caracas earthquake and the Battle of La Victoria (1812). Simón Bolívar led an "Admirable Campaign" to retake Venezuela, establishing the Second Republic of Venezuela in 1813; but this too did not last, falling to a combination of a local uprising and Spanish royalist reconquest. Only as part of Bolívar's campaign to liberate New Granada in 1819-20 did Venezuela achieve a lasting independence from Spain (initially as part of Gran Colombia).
Barcelona, Venezuela
The return of Francisco de Miranda to Venezuela ultimately led to the Declaration of Independence on 5 July 1811, which was quickly followed by a Civil War between those provinces who remained loyal to Spain, and the Cadiz Cortes, and those that sought complete independence. In 1811, during the Venezuelan Independence War, "La Casa Fuerte" (), a building near the centre of town, located on the Avenida 5 de Julio set the scene for the period. Built on the ruins of the old "Convento de San Francisco", to house the administrative government of the area, but turned into a fortification by Republican defenders to protect the city from the attacks of the Spanish authorities. On 17 April 1817, the house was taken and destroyed by royalist forces, who killed all 1600 people barricaded inside.