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 Europe after the Congress of Vienna 485 great discontent among the colonists. When Napoleon placed his brother on the throne of Spain the Latin- Americans 1 saw their commerce still further threatened. Encouraged by the success of the North American colonies in gaining their independence from England, the Spanish-Americans revolted. 862. Revolt of the Spanish Colonies (isio-iszs). Beginning in 1810, Mexico, New Granada (now Colombia), Venezuela, Peru, Buenos Aires, and Chile, while they still professed to be loyal to Ferdinand VII, took their government into their own hands, drove out the former Spanish agents, and finally rejected Spanish rule altogether. At first the revolts were put down with great cruelty, but in 1817, under the leadership of Bolivar, Vene- zuela won its independence, and during the following five years the Spaniards lost New Granada, Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Mexico, and lastly (1825) Upper Peru, which was renamed Bolivia after its liberator. 863. Revolution in Spain (iszo). Ever since his restoration Ferdinand VII had been sending thousands of men to die of fever and wounds in the vain attempt to subdue the insurgents. At last, in January, 1820, the soldiers who were waiting in Cadiz to be sent to America, well aware of the sufferings of the regi- ments which had preceded them, were easily aroused to revolt. The revolution spread to Madrid, where a mob surrounded the palace (March 9) and forced the king to take the oath to the constitution of 1812 ( 860). /f- 864. Interference of France in Spain. The representatives of the Great Powers Russia, Austria, Prussia, France, and England met at Verona in 1822 to discuss what should be done about the Spanish crisis. England refused to interfere in any way, for it was not to her advantage to assist Ferdinand to regain his power and perhaps recover the Spanish- American colonies. She did not wish to lose the profitable trade which was opened up to her by the new South American states. It was finally left to Louis XVIII to send an army across the Pyrenees. The French 1 South and Central America and Mexico are often spoken of as Latin- America, because their inhabitants speak Spanish or Portuguese, which are languages derived from Latin.