Spain (Cherry, Plum, and Chrysanthemum)

Spain (Spanish: España), officially the Spanish State (Spanish: Estado Español), is a country located in Southwestern Europe, on the Iberian Peninsula. Its mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar; to the north and north east by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the northwest and west by the Atlantic Ocean and Portugal.

Spanish territory also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the African coast, and two autonomous cities in North Africa, Ceuta and Melilla, that border Morocco plus Alborán island, the Chafarinas islands (Islas Chafarinas), Alhucemas island and Perejil (Parsley island). Furthermore, the town of Llívia is a Spanish exclave situated inside French territory. With an area of 505,992 square kilometres (195,365 sq mi), it's the second largest country in Western Europe and the European Union and the fifth largest country in Europe.

Glorious Revolution (1868)
The unpopularity of Queen Isabella II among the liberals, the progressives, and the members of the Unión Liberal. for her continual vacillation between liberal and conservative quarters. An opposition to her government had developed that crossed party lines. Leopoldo O'Donnell's death in 1867 caused the Unión Liberal to unravel. Many of its supporters crossed party lines and joined the growing movement to overthrow Isabella in favor of a more effective regime.

In September 1868 naval forces under admiral Juan Bautista Topete mutinied in Cadiz. Generals Juan Prim and Francisco Serrano denounced the government and much of the army defected to the revolutionary generals on their arrival in Spain. In 1868, Queen Isabella crossed into France and retired from Spanish politics to Paris. She lived there in exile until her death in 1904.

Spain under the Hohenzollerns (1870-1918)
However, the coalition of liberals, moderates, and republicans were now faced with the incredible task of finding a new monarch that would suit them better than Isabella. General Serrano was elected regent, and Prim became president of the council and was made a marshal. The Cortes initially rejected the notion of a republic; Serrano was named regent. A truly liberal constitution was written and successfully promulgated by the Cortes in 1869.

After a difficult search for a suitable king that acceptable for all political spheres in Spain, Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, a Prussian prince from the Swabian branch of the House of Hohenzollern, was selected by the Cortes in 1870. Leopold’s ascension to the Spanish throne was met a strong opposition from France that feared the installation of a relative of the Prussian king would result in the expansion of Prussian influence and the encirclement of France (which later proved to be true). However, Minister-President of Prussia, Otto von Bismarck, who wanted to drag the French into war with Prussia was able to convince Leopold to approve his candidacy. Unable to tolerate this matter, France then declared war to Prussia in July 1870, resulted to the Franco-Prussian War.

Early years of Leopold's reign on Spain were marked by the period of instability and uprisings both within Spain or the colonies. Just five days before his landing on the Spanish soil, Juan Prim, his main political backer, was shot by unknown assassins on December 28, 1870 and died two days later on December 30. After his coronation on January 2, 1871 as Leopoldo I of Spain, the new king now faced immediately with the incredible task of bringing the disparate political ideologies of Spain to one table. The country was plagued by internecine strife, not merely between Spaniards but within Spanish parties.