100+ Free PAU History (Catalonia) Practice Questions

Explanation: The Treaty of Fontainebleau was signed in October 1807 between Manuel Godoy (representing Charles IV of Spain) and Napoleon Bonaparte. It authorized French armies to cross Spain to conquer Portugal, but Napoleon used this entry to occupy strategic Spanish cities, triggering the Crisis of the Ancien Régime and the Peninsular War. The Treaty of Valençay later restored Ferdinand VII, San Ildefonso allied Spain with Revolutionary France earlier, and Utrecht concluded the War of the Spanish Succession.

Explanation: The Aranjuez Mutiny of March 1808 was a popular riot orchestrated by supporters of Crown Prince Ferdinand against Chief Minister Manuel Godoy. The uprising forced the downfall and imprisonment of Godoy and compelled King Charles IV to abdicate in favor of his son, who became Ferdinand VII. Napoleon subsequently summoned both royals to Bayonne, where he forced both to renounce their rights to the crown in favor of Joseph Bonaparte.

Explanation: The Constitution of 1812 (promulgated on March 19, St. Joseph's Day, hence 'La Pepa') established national sovereignty, affirming that supreme power resides in the nation rather than the King. It created a constitutional monarchy with separation of powers, universal male suffrage (indirect), and freedom of the press. It retained Roman Catholicism as the exclusive state religion, avoiding religious abolition or federalism.

Explanation: In May 1814, encouraged by conservative deputies (Manifesto of the Persians) and absolutist military officers, Ferdinand VII issued the Valencia Decree. This decree declared the Constitution of 1812 and all acts of the Cádiz Cortes null and void 'as if they had never happened,' initiating the Sexenni Absolutista (1814–1820) and restoring absolute monarchy.

Explanation: On January 1, 1820, Colonel Rafael del Riego led an army expeditionary force stationed at Cabezas de San Juan (Seville) in a pronunciamiento demanding the restoration of the 1812 Constitution. The revolt spread across major cities, forcing Ferdinand VII in March 1820 to accept the liberal constitution with his famous phrase 'Let us walk frankly, and I the first, along the constitutional path,' launching the Trienni Liberal (1820–1823).

Explanation: In April 1823, acting under a mandate from the Holy Alliance (Congress of Verona), France sent an army of over 90,000 soldiers known as the 'Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis' (Cien Mil Hijos de San Luis) commanded by the Duke of Angoulême. They invaded Spain with little resistance, dismantled the liberal regime, released Ferdinand VII from liberal custody in Cádiz, and restored absolute monarchy.

Explanation: The Pragmatic Sanction of 1830 published a decree originally drafted by Charles IV in 1789 that abolished the Salic Law (which barred women from royal succession). By doing so, Ferdinand VII ensured that his newly born daughter Isabella (later Isabella II) would be his legal heir, bypassing his absolutist brother Infante Carlos María Isidro and directly triggering the Carlist dynastic conflict.

Explanation: Carlism rallied under the slogan 'Dios, Patria, Rey, Fueros' (God, Fatherland, King, Charters). It defended absolute monarchy under Infante Carlos, traditional Catholicism against liberal anti-clericalism, and the historical regional charters/privileges (fueros) of the Basque Country, Navarre, Aragon, and Catalonia against centralizing liberal state reforms.

Explanation: Enacted by Progressive Prime Minister Juan Álvarez Mendizábal in 1836 during the First Carlist War, this decree expropriated property owned by suppressed religious orders. The lands were sold at public auction to raise money for the liberal war effort against Carlism, reduce public debt, and create a class of landowners committed to the liberal regime.

Explanation: Promulgated under a Progressive government during the Regency of Maria Christina, the 1837 Constitution sought consensus. It contained progressive principles like national sovereignty (in the preamble) and fundamental rights, while granting Moderate concessions such as a bicameral Cortes (Congress and Senate) and executive royal powers including suspensive veto.