Philip V. realized that the condition in which Spain had been left at the end of the wars that preceded his reign made it incumbent upon him to maintain peace and to further the country's recovery from a century and a half of constant warfare. He was inspired by the example of France under Colbert and Richelieu and his aim was by applying to Spain the lessons France had learned during the leadership of those men, to bring about a revival of Spain's previous greatness. He aspired to make Spain internally stronger than she had ever been, to enable her to humble England and to wrest from that great rival her ever increasing power in America. His task was extremely difficult, for it really meant a thorough reconstruction of the entire government. He found Spain in such a state of stagnation that it required extraordinary efforts to rouse in the country only a spark of the old spirit. He was the first sovereign since Philip II. who had a strong will and a strong personality and made his absolute power felt in every branch of the government. He had to create a new navy; he had to organize and train a new army; he had to reform the legislation, the finances, even the police of the country. So poor was Spain at that time in men of strong character and executive power, that he was obliged to employ foreigners in some of the most important places in the army and navy as well as in the council chamber.
Although during the latter half of his reign of forty six years his initiative and energy were paralyzed and he lapsed into the passive indifference which had characterized the attitude of some of his predecessors, his innovations and reforms were the means of stimulating inquiry into some of the evils, political and social, that Spain had suffered from. He ushered in a new life, which slowly penetrated to every corner of the kingdom and brought it into closer contact with the outside world for which it had hitherto had a curious contempt. However slow was the work of regeneration which he had inaugurated, it was sure to benefit the next generation which could never return to the old order of things.
The influence of this new life in the mother country was, of course, still slower in manifesting itself in her colonies. Cuba had still to rely upon her own resources, both in inaugurating internal improvements and in combatting external dangers. As both Great Britain and France were eagerly pursuing their plans to extend their colonial power in America, conflicts between these powers and the Spanish possessions in America were inevitable. Towards the end of the seventeenth century attempts to establish direct maritime intercourse between France and the Mississippi, and to colonize the southwest of the continent; which was under the patronage of Louis XIV. created no little anxiety in the old Spanish settlements of Florida and eventually had to lead to armed conflicts in which the West Indies, and especially Havana, as the metropolis of the Spanish island colonies, became involved.
As early as the year 1693 D. Andres de Pes had settled in Pensacola and three years later three hundred Spaniards from Vera Cruz and other parts had under the leadership of D. Andres d'Arriola taken formal possession of the harbor. Henceforth no foreign ship could enter without being challenged. This the valiant commander of the French expedition, d'Iberville, the pioneer founder of Louisiana, was to experience. He had sailed in October, 1698, with a company of Marines and some two hundred colonists, among them women and children. At Santo Domingo he took on board a seasoned veteran of the golden age of piracy, a man who in 1683 had made a fortune of eight million pesos by the capture of Vera Cruz, had been an associate of M. de Grammont, Lolonois, Morgan and other notables of the Brotherhood of the Coast, and as such was familiar with every spot along the Gulf of Mexico and the coasts of New Spain; it was Captain Laurent Grave or Graff, linguist, sailor and intrepid fighter. They arrived at the island St. Rose in January, 1699, cast anchor and applied for permission to enter the harbor of Pensacola. This being refused they sailed westward and settled in the country west of the Perdido River, which was later recognized by King Philip V., who was bent upon a conciliatory policy, as the boundary between Louisiana and Florida.
From that time, however, Pensacola was to know no peace, for the French cast ever a covetous eye upon that Spanish settlement. Nor did the authorities of Pensacola hesitate to harass the settlers to the west, resenting the appearance of any rival neighbor. Governor Ravolli made an expedition in 1700 against the French who had settled on Ship Island, but he himself was soon to experience that he was being surrounded by neighbors determined to show their hostility towards Spain by open or secret operations against the Spanish settlement in Florida. Governor James Moore of South Carolina, which bordered on Spanish Florida, undertook in the year 1702 an expedition against the old Spanish town of St. Augustine, in the defense of which a Cuban force was eventually to take part. The British succeeded in making their entry into the town and ravaging it; but they could not reduce the fort, which the garrison defended with desperate determination. The British sent to Jamaica for some heavy artillery. But in the meantime the Spanish viceroy had been informed of the attack and sent two war ships for the relief of the town. The governor of Cuba, too, dispatched five vessels with troops of infantry and militia, which sailed from the port of Havana under the command of Captain D. Esteban de Beroa, a Havanese of great enterprise and valor. When the Spanish fleet arrived near the harbor, Moore with his South Carolinians made a hasty retreat by land, leaving behind his vessels and stores of ammunition. The help which D. Esteban had lent the garrison of St. Augustine in this critical moment was highly appreciated by the King of Spain, who took notice of this valuable service in a cedula addressed to the Captain General of the island in 1703, in which he especially lauded the exploits of D. Esteban.
The administration of D. Diego de Cordova Lazo de Vega, Knight of the military order of Santiago and General of the Galleons, was profoundly affected by the political unrest of Europe, due to the controversies about the succession and by the conflicts with the French and the British in the newly settled continent, which began to darken the future of the Spanish possessions. Cordova had entered upon his office on the third of October, 1695, and was reported to have bought the governorship for fourteen thousand dollars. Some very important internal improvements were made during his time of office. The territory from the gateway of la Punta to la Tanaza and the hospital of San Francisco de Paula was organized into districts. He was like some of his predecessors much concerned with the religious life of the island and encouraged the building of churches and convents. One of the most important convents founded at this time was the third convent of the barefoot Carmelites, dedicated to Saint Teresa.
Realizing the need of greater garrisons for the protection of the people of Cuba from invasions, whether by foreign powers or by corsairs, the Spanish government sent over twelve companies of militia. So impressed was the governor with their general condition and their discipline, that he sent the king a special message referring to them. But he was too prudent to rest satisfied with this help from the government overseas; he raised and organized four more companies of infantry and cavalry, recruited from the population of Cuba itself, and this placed the island in a better state of defense than it had ever been before. He also granted a number of merchant mariners privateering privileges, which enabled them to cruise about and hunt down foreign pirates and smugglers. These men, among whom the Regidor of Trinidad, Juan Vasquez, distinguished himself by his valor, made numerous excursions in the neighborhood, retaliating upon the French colonies for the outrages of French corsairs, by invading them and capturing some of their vessels, not excepting the crew, and by carrying off their cattle. Cordova was also instrumental in promoting the tobacco culture of the island, by encouraging the employment of new mechanical contrivances.
When on the thirtieth of November, 1700, King Charles II. expired in Madrid, and was followed by Philip V., the first Spanish sovereign of the house of Bourbon, the Spanish Colonies in America paid no heed to the war of the succession which was carried on between King Philip and the Archduke of Austria. Without hesitation they recognized the former as their ruler and thanks to the wholesome influence exerted upon the population by Governor Cordova and the estimable Bishop Compostela, King Philip was formally and peacefully proclaimed in Cuba. Cordova's governorship was so highly appreciated by the royal government in Spain that he received for his services the title of Marquis de Valdo and was soon after promoted to the presidency of Panama. But he later returned to Spain and died in Madrid as Counsellor of State in the year 1720.
After the departure of Cordova in September, 1702, the government of the island was for a number of years once more of a rather interimistic nature, which greatly hampered the efforts