The Experience of Restoration from a transatlantic Perspective: a comparative Study of Political Survival in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and in the New Kingdom of Granada (1810-1820)

Authors

  • Daniel Gutiérrez Ardila Universidad Externado de Colombia
  • Matthijs Lok Universiteit van Amsterdam

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53351/ruhm.v7i15.467

Keywords:

Restoration, Revolution, Netherlands, New Kingdom of Granada, political survival

Abstract

In the present article, two historians compare the results of their respective researches to demonstrate the convenience of integrating the colonial perspective to the study of the early nineteenth century Restoration era. In order to do so, they adopt an unprecedented comparative approach which confronts the experiences lived during that period by an European kingdom with the difficulties that a Spanish American kingdom faced in the same period. The text also focuses on the strategies adopted by revolutionary leaders in the Netherlands and the New Kingdom of Granada in order to preserve their lives and influence after the return, respectively, of William I and Ferdinand VII. The central idea is to comprehensibly analyse the “politics of forgetting” and question whether the restored monarchies’ capability of integrating influential, reluctant subjects determined their subsequent failure or success. As it shall be shown, unlike in Europe, Spanish American Restorations were of very limited duration and, as opposed to the former -which usually tended to maintain the most relevant institutional transformations derived from the revolution and the Napoleonic regimes-, intended to erase the legacy of the insurgent governments. In addition, whereas European Restorations promoted the integration of the new society that emerged from the political clash with the Ancient Regime’s elite, in the Spanish overseas territories the aim was to purge offices of all those who were previously committed to the rebellion. In order to understand these differences regarding both duration and social orientation, the present article underlines the importance of considering previous revolutionary experiences where the political transformation process had more time to take roots and Restoration was moderated and willing to assimilate the revolutionary legacy. On the other side of the spectrum, in the Spanish American case -and also in Spain-, a period of swift political changes, independently of their transcendence, triggered intransigent and violent Restorations.

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Author Biographies

  • Daniel Gutiérrez Ardila, Universidad Externado de Colombia

    Daniel GUTIÉRREZ ARDILA es doctor en historia de la Universidad París 1 y docente investigador de la Universidad Externado de Colombia. Es autor de los libros Un Nuevo Reino: pactismo, geografía política y diplomacia durante el interregno en Nueva Granada, 1808-1816 (2010), El reconocimiento de Colombia, diplomacia y propaganda en la coyuntura de las Restauraciones, 1819-1831 (2012) y La Restauración en la Nueva Granada, 1816-1819 (2016). Ha editado, además, las actas de los Colegios Electorales y Constituyentes de Cundinamarca y Antioquia y los informes del espía de Colombia en la corte de Fernando VII.

  • Matthijs Lok, Universiteit van Amsterdam
    Matthijs LOK es catedrático de historia moderna europea del Departamento de Estudios Europeos de la Universidad de Amsterdam. Estudió historia europea en las universidades de Liverpool, Leiden y Yale y en 2009 obtuvo su doctorado en el Departamento de Historia de la Universidad de Amsterdam. Su especialidad es la historia comparada moderna europea en sus vertientes política, cultural e intelectual. Es autor del libro Windvanen. Napoleontische bestuurders in de Nederlandse en Franse Restauratie, 1813-1820 (2009). Lok ha dictado y publicado diversas conferencias acerca de tópicos muy variados, entre los que se destacan la memoria y el olvido, el conservatismo, la Ilustración y la Contrailustración, la historiografía, la administración civil y la formación del Estado, el nacionalismo y el discurso y la práctica de la moderación.

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Published

2018-12-29 — Updated on 2021-09-16

How to Cite

The Experience of Restoration from a transatlantic Perspective: a comparative Study of Political Survival in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and in the New Kingdom of Granada (1810-1820). (2021). Revista Universitaria De Historia Militar, 7(15). https://doi.org/10.53351/ruhm.v7i15.467

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