First Republic of Venezuela

American Confederation of Venezuela/States of Venezuela/United States of Venezuela
Confederación americana de Venezuela/Estados de Venezuela/Estados Unidos de Venezuela
Unrecognized state
1811–1812
Flag Coat of arms
The First Republic of Venezuela
Capital		Valencia
Languages		Spanish
Government		Republic
Triumvirate
•	1811–12	Cristóbal Mendoza, Juan Escalona, Baltazar Padrón
•	1812	Francisco Espejo, Fernando Rodriguez, Francisco J. Ustariz
•	1812	Francisco de Miranda
Historical era		Spanish American wars of independence
•	Venezuelan Declaration of Independence	5 July 1811
•	Capitulation	25 July 1812
Preceded by Succeeded by Captaincy General of Venezuela Supreme Junta Captaincy General of Venezuela Second Republic of Venezuela

The First Republic of Venezuela (Primera República de Venezuela in Spanish) was the first independent government of Venezuela, lasting from July 5, 1811, to July 25, 1812. The period of the First Republic began with the overthrow of the Spanish colonial authorities and the establishment of the Junta Suprema de Caracas on April 19, 1810, initiating the Venezuelan War of Independence, and ended with the surrender of the republican forces to the Spanish Captain Domingo de Monteverde. The congress of Venezuela declared the nation's independence on July 5, 1811, and later wrote a constitution for it. In doing so, Venezuela is notable for being the first Spanish American colony to declare its independence.

Several European events set the stage for Venezuela's declaration of independence. The Napoleonic Wars in Europe not only weakened Spain's imperial power, but also put Britain unofficially on the side of the independence movement. In May 1808, Napoleon asked for and received the abdication of Ferdinand VII and the confirmation of his father Charles IV's abdication a few months earlier. Napoleon then made his brother Joseph Bonaparte, King of Spain. That marked the beginning of Spain's own War of Independence from French hegemony and partial occupation, before the Spanish American wars of independence even began. The focal point of the Spanish political resistance was the Supreme Central Junta, which formed itself to govern in the name of Ferdinand, and which managed to get the loyalty of the many provincial and municipal juntas that had formed throughout Spain in the wake of the French invasion. Likewise, in Venezuela during 1809 and 1810 there were various attempts at establishing a junta, which took the form of both legal, public requests to the Captain General and secret plots to depose the authorities. The first major defeat that Napoleonic France suffered was at the Battle of Bailén, in Andalusia. (At this battle Pablo Morillo, future commander of the army that invaded New Granada and Venezuela; Emeterio Ureña, an anti-independence officer in Venezuela; and José de San Martín, the future Liberator of Argentina and Chile, fought side-by-side against the French General Pierre Dupont.) Despite this victory, the situation soon reversed itself and the French advanced into southern Spain and the Spanish government had to retreat to the island redout of Cádiz. In Cádiz, the Supreme Central Junta dissolved itself and set up a five-person Regency to handle the affairs of state until the Cortes Generales could be convened.