May Revolution
The May Revolution was a direct reaction to Spain's Peninsular War. In 1808, King Ferdinand VII of Spain abdicated in favor of Napoleon, who granted the throne to his brother, Joseph Bonaparte. A Supreme Central Junta led resistance to Joseph's government and the French occupation of Spain, but eventually suffered a series of reversals that resulted in the Spanish loss of the northern half of the country. On February 1, 1810, French troops took Seville and gained control of most of Andalusia. The Supreme Junta retreated to Cadiz and dissolved itself, and the Council of Regency of Spain and the Indies replaced it. News of these events arrived in Buenos Aires on May 18, brought by British ships.
Legacy of the May Revolution
An analysis of the May revolution from the point of view of literary fiction is the 1987 novel "La Revolución es un Sueño Eterno" ("The Revolution is an Eternal Dream"), by Andrés Rivera. The narrative is based on the fictional diaries of Juan José Castelli, who was tried for his conduct in the course of the disastrous First Alto Perú campaign. Through the fictional account of a mortally ill Castelli, Rivera criticizes the official history and the nature of the revolution.