Though it was already the nineteenth century, Lady Sophie's plan was not without merit.
Most importantly, the Spanish truly wanted to change the status quo. Isabella II and her mother, Maria Cristina, had spent years draining the confidence of every faction in Spain. Even the Church, which regarded Isabella as a puppet, had no hope left for her.
The unending civil wars had exhausted Spain's fortune, too. The Spanish would find it hard to resist an invader as they had once resisted the French.
Once, when faced with the strongest army in Europe, the unarmed Spanish had still fought bravely. After draining all the enemy's fighting spirit, they had struggled to drive them from their land.
There was the defiance of the mother and daughter from A Jar of Water, the noble righteousness of the marquis's family in The Executioner, and the unyielding spirit of The Third of May 1808. In the end, the Spanish had stood firm against the French blades with iron bones.
A Jar of Water was a celebrated work of patriotic education; The Executioner was by the French writer Balzac; and The Third of May 1808 was the masterwork of the Spanish patriotic painter Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes.
Yet the sacrifices of patriots and commoners had brought neither peace nor prosperity. The wars had continued, exploitation and destruction had only worsened, and the dragon slayers had become dragons themselves.
In his later years, the great patriotic painter Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes had been forced to flee to France to avoid being executed.
"Please, someone invade us (crossed out) save us. Anyone will do."
What state of mind could have led a Spaniard to write such a letter to the Frankfurt National Assembly?
Without a doubt, the Spanish Bourbon dynasty had run its