A Creole officer in the Spanish royalist army, his decision to join the movement for independence from Spain and to proclaim the Plan of Iguala was significant, as many other royalist officers followed his lead. With the defeat of the Spanish forces (1821) Iturbide managed to have himself proclaimed by his soldiers as Emperor Agustín I, and persuaded (1822) a hostile Congress to ratify the proclamation. On his accession he revoked the Plan of Iguala, refused to carry out his promised social reforms, and instituted a dictatorial government. A revolution led by Santa Anna and Guadalupe Victoria overthrew the empire after 11 months. Iturbide left for Europe but when he returned in 1824 he was arrested, tried by the Congress of Tamaulipas, and executed.