Olivares' Union of Arms (Unión de Armas)

Timeline

1. 1625–1626Madrid, Spanish court · MadridThe Thirty Years' War and the war against the Dutch made it impossible for Castile's finances alone to sustain all fronts. Olivares designed the Union of Arms: to raise roughly 140,000 reserve troops proportionally across the composite monarchy, with each kingdom and territory providing men and bearing military costs according to quotas, binding the separate 'kingdoms' into a single war machine. In 1626 the plan was submitted to the Castilian Cortes and other estates for discussion.
2. 1626–1632Barcelona, Principality of Catalonia · BarcelonaThe king and Olivares personally or through envoys lobbied the Cortes of Aragon, Catalonia, and others. Catalonia refused to provide and maintain troops according to court quotas, citing the military service and taxation procedures guaranteed by its Constitutions. Portugal and some Italian territories were likewise wary of Castilianization. The plan failed to obtain full approval in law from the key territories, leaving only garrisons, requisitions, and negotiating stalemates.
3. 1635–1640Catalonia, Portugal, and other territories · Iberian PeninsulaThe outbreak of war with France in 1635 led the court to turn unconsented levies into fact: stationing troops in Catalonia, requisitioning provisions and recruits, and intensifying fiscal demands on Portugal. The Union of Arms slid from a Cortes-negotiated plan to administrative coercion, directly striking local privileges and urban livelihoods and accumulating fuel for the dual rebellion of 1640.
4. 1640–1643Barcelona and Lisbon · CataloniaIn June 1640 the 'Reapers' War' broke out in Catalonia; in December Portuguese nobles staged a coup enthroning John IV of Bragança. Both rebellions pointed to the Union of Arms and its forced levies as the root of constitutional violations. Olivares was dismissed and exiled in early 1643, and the reform path toward unified military-fiscal administration collapsed with him; the Spanish composite monarchy failed to complete its transformation into an integrated fiscal-military state.