May Revolution
The mutiny of Aranjuez in 1808 led King Charles IV of Spain to abdicate in favor of his son, Ferdinand VII. Charles IV requested that Napoleon restore him to the throne; instead, Napoleon crowned his own brother, Joseph Bonaparte, as the new Spanish King. These events are known as the Abdications of Bayonne. Joseph's coronation was met with severe resistance in Spain, which started the Peninsular War, and the Supreme Central Junta took power in the name of the absent king. This also led to Spain switching allegiances from France to Britain. France eventually invaded Sevilla, and a Council of Regency based in Cadiz replaced the disbanded Supreme Central Junta.
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.