May 25, 1808

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Mon May 25, 2009 5:49 am

On May 25, 1808, Asturias declared war on Napoleon. The french governor was forced to leave Xixon, and over a period of weeks the rest of the Spanish provinces joined Asturias in opposing the French invaders.

mofusu · Post by **mofusu** » Mon May 25, 2009 7:36 am

Bob, thanks for remembering that occasion. In Asturies, hardly anyone remembers (especially politicians).

Saludín.

Post by **Art** » Wed May 27, 2009 2:29 am

Does anyone view this as the second birth of Spain? It's interesting that both this and the Reconquest had their origins in Asturias.

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¿Alguien lo considera como el segundo nacimiento de España? Es interesante que tanto en este caso como la Reconquista tuvieron sus orígenes en Asturias.

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Wed May 27, 2009 2:46 am

Don't forget the Asturian miner's strike of 1934. and that Asturias was the last holdout against the Romans long ago. Our ancestors were hard people and, apparently, quite independent. Some even suicided rather than submit to the Romans (traditional methods plus yew - tejo or texu -) poison).

In the case of the 1808 events, Spain held out for a while, but was eventually overwhelmed by the ability of the French to provide a far larger army (drawn from other, already subjugated nations to a large extent).