19th Century Spain: From War to Restoration
1. The Spanish War of Independence (1808-1814)
The end of the reign of Carlos IV: When the French Revolution broke out and Louis XVI was executed, Spain, like other European monarchies, declared war on France. Spain was defeated and signed the Treaties of San Ildefonso in 1796 and 1800. These treaties made Spain and France allies against the British Empire. In 1805, the Anglo-Portuguese alliance was reinforced by the defeat of Spain and France in the naval Battle of Trafalgar. Napoleon wanted to occupy Portugal to weaken the British position. Manuel Godoy, Carlos IV’s prime minister, signed the Treaty of Fontainebleau (1807) with France, allowing French troops to cross Spain on their way to Portugal. However, the French army occupied several Spanish cities. This, along with general discontent, led to the Mutiny of Aranjuez in March 1808. Godoy was deposed, and Carlos IV abdicated in favor of his son, Fernando VII. Taking advantage of the crisis in the Spanish monarchy, Napoleon called an assembly in Bayonne, where Fernando VII abdicated in favor of Napoleon’s brother, Joseph Bonaparte.
The War of Independence: Many Spaniards considered Joseph, who became José I, illegitimate. This led to a popular uprising on May 2nd, 1808, in Madrid, followed by uprisings across Spain, marking the beginning of the Spanish War of Independence. The population divided into afrancesados, who recognized José I, and fernandinos, loyal to Fernando VII. It was a long, bitter conflict. The French army was better equipped, but the Spanish guerrillas attacked them continuously. The war had three stages:
- Up to late 1808: After the Madrid uprising, the French sieged Zaragoza and Girona but were defeated at Bailén.
- Late 1808 to 1812: Napoleon’s troops occupied nearly the entire Peninsula.
- 1812 to 1814: France declined militarily. Spanish and British troops, led by the Duke of Wellington, defeated the French, who withdrew. Fernando VII returned to the throne.
2. The Parliament of Cadiz
The Spanish War of Independence had major political consequences. In pro-Fernando areas, local governments (juntas) organized resistance against Joseph Bonaparte. Later, the Junta Central Suprema was formed. In 1810, it called a Constituent Parliament (Cortes Constituyentes) in Cádiz, the only unoccupied city. Many deputies, unable to attend due to the war, were replaced by local substitutes. The Parliament had three main groups: liberals favoring political reform, conservatives supporting absolutism, and deputies representing the American colonies.
Parliamentary legislation: The legislation from the Parliament of Cádiz greatly influenced later Spanish history:
- It produced the Constitution of 1812, Spain’s first.
- It passed reforms ending the Old Regime: freedom of the press, abolition of torture and the Inquisition, suppression of noble estates and guilds, and equality of all citizens before the law.
The Constitution of Cádiz: Approved on March 19th, 1812, it reflected liberal principles:
- It recognized national sovereignty: power belonged to the nation, exercised through its representatives.
- It established a moderate hereditary monarchy, where the king approved laws.
- It adopted the separation of powers:
- Legislative power: held by the king and a single-chamber parliament. Deputies were elected via universal male suffrage, but candidates needed a certain wealth.
- Executive power: held by the king, who appointed ministers, managed foreign relations, declared war, and signed peace treaties.
- Judicial power: held by courts of justice.
- It established Catholicism as the sole religion of Spain.
The Constitution also established important rights: equality before the law, the right of ownership, and freedom of the press. The war hindered its application, but its spirit and main features became a key reference in later Spanish history.
3. The Restoration of the Old Regime
The liberals in power (1820-1823): In 1820, Colonel Rafael del Riego led a successful liberal pronunciamiento that restored the Constitution of 1812. The king swore by the Constitution, freed imprisoned liberals, and called Parliament. The reforms of the Parliament of Cádiz were restored, initiating the three-year Trienio Liberal. It was marked by conflict between moderate and radical liberals: Moderates favored reforms acceptable to the elite and monarch, while radicals pushed for more extensive reforms and full application of the Constitution.
During the liberal government, there were several absolutist coup attempts, supported by the king or other countries. In 1823, the Holy Alliance sent the Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis army to Spain, restoring Fernando VII as absolute monarch.
4. The Independence of Latin America
Independence movements in Spanish America: In the early 19th century, several factors contributed to independence movements in Spain’s American colonies:
- Creoles (descendants of Spaniards) and peninsular Spaniards formed the ruling elite. Creoles resented peninsular control of public administration, tax collection, and trade.
- Liberalism and nationalism spread, favoring emancipation. The independence of the United States and the French Revolution served as inspiration.
- Britain supported independence to trade freely with the colonies.
5. Isabel II and the Liberal State (1833-1868)
The ‘Moderate Decade’ (1844-1854): During Isabel II’s Moderate Decade (Decada Moderada), moderate governments, often led by Narváez, shared sovereignty between the monarch and parliament according to the 1845 constitution. Only a small minority of men could vote, and individual rights, like freedom of the press, were restricted. The state was centralized. New civil and penal codes and tax reforms unified laws and taxes. The government controlled provinces via provincial councils and civil governors, and appointed mayors in large cities. The ultraconservative policies led to the radicalization of progressives, who split into:
- Democrats, favoring universal male suffrage.
- Republicans, wanting to make Spain a republic.
In 1854, General Leopoldo O’Donnell led a pronunciamiento against the government, called La Vicalvarada, named after the place near Madrid where it started.
6. The Glorious Revolution and the First Republic (1868-1874)
The Glorious Revolution, 1868-1873: A severe crisis marked the final years of Isabel II’s reign and the queen grew increasingly unpopular:
• Progressives, republicans and democrats were excluded from government, and they rejected the government’s conservatism.
• The bourgeoisie and the military rejected the regime’s authoritarianism. • Economic problems led to rural and urban revolts.
In 1866, progressives, democrats and republicans signed the Pact of Ostend, in which they agreed to overthrow Isabel II and make Spain a democratic country. The Liberal Union joined the pact later on.
In 1868, Generals Francisco Serrano and Juan Prim led a pronunciamiento to depose Isabel II. The Glorious Revolution (La Gloriosa) was successful, and the queen was forced to leave Spain. This marked the beginning of a democratic period called the Sexenio Democrático. A provisional government was formed and presided by Serrano, who called elections for a Constituent Parliament. This parliament passed the democratic Constitution of 1869, which contained a declaration of rights and recognised universal male suffrage. The monarchy was maintained, and Spain’s democratic Parliament elected Amadeo of Savoy as a constitutional monarch in 1871. Amadeo’s election coincided with the assassination of his main backer, General Prim. Amadeo I faced problems on all sides, and as a foreigner, he was rejected by much of the population. In the face of opposition from monarchists, republicans and the Church, he abdicated in 1873.
The First Spanish Republic (1873-1874): The First Spanish Republic lasted from 1873 to 1874, under four different presidents. It faced numerous problems:
• The Cantonal Revolution. Cantonalism was a radical version of federalism proposing the transformation of Spain into a federal republic made up of separate states (or cantons). From July 1873, independent states were formed in Valencia, Cartagena and other regions.
• The Third Carlist War. Between 1872 and 1876, there was a new Carlist uprising, which received support in Navarre, the Basque Country and in some parts of Catalonia.
• Cuba. Between 1868 and 1878, Cuban rebels fought the first of three wars against Spanish rule.
These events created a situation of great political instability. There were two pronunciamientos in 1874; firstly, when Parliament was dissolved; and secondly, when General Martínez Campos restored the Bourbon Dynasty.
7. The Bourbon Restoration
Alfonso XII and the Bourbon Restoration: In 1874, Isabel II’s son, Alfonso became King Alfonso XII of Spain. The main political objective during the Bourbon Restoration was to establish stability after a long period of pronunciamientos and civil wars. The Constitution of 1876 established a constitutional monarchy, a Parliament based on limited suffrage, and a range of rights and liberties.
Under a system of rotation of power, known as the turno pacífico, two parties alternated in government:
• The conservatives, led by Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, supported the Church and social order.
• The liberals, led by Práxedes Mateo Sagasta, favoured moderate social reforms. In 1890, for example, they established universal male suffrage.
This system brought stability to Spanish politics, but it was based on political manipulation. The king decided which party was going to rule, and the election results were then arranged accordingly:
• In rural areas, powerful individuals called caciques used intimidation and violence to force the local population to vote one way or another. This practice was known as caciquismo.
• In cities, where caciques had less power, election results were manipulated fraudulently. This type of election was known as a pucherazo.
In the long term, the arrangement between conservatives and liberals prevented new parties from participating in government. These groups included the socialists, led by Pablo Iglesias, and the Catalan, Basque and Galician nationalists. The anarchists were another growing movement.
8. The economy in 19th century Spain
An agrarian society: Throughout the 19th century, Spain remained a mainly agrarian society, and 70% of the population worked in agriculture. The main crops were grains, grapes and olives. Production of citrus fruits, legumes and crops for animals increased in the late 19th century. Liberal politicians took several measures to free agricultural land from the conditions of the Old Regime, and to promote the growth of private property and the commercialisation of farm production. Their key measure was desamortización. Land that could not be bought or sold (for example, because it was held by the Church) was expropriated by the state and sold to individuals. Two campaigns of desamortización were especially important:
• The first was promoted by the liberal politician Juan Álvarez Mendizábal in 1836-1837, when the state expropriated lands belonging to the Church.
• The second was promoted by Pascual Madoz (1855), when the state also sold lands held by town halls and other institutions.
Many bourgeois families bought land in this way. The new landowners improved farming techniques, and made use of machines such as the mechanical thresher: Consequently, agricultural production increased. However, most peasants could not afford to buy land, and they continued in poverty as day labourers.
Was there an Industrial Revolution in 19th-century Spain?: Some parts of Europe (like Britain or Germany) became industrial powers in the 19th century, but this was not the case in Spain. Industrialisation developed slowly, and only in certain regions, for the following reasons:
• Energy sources were limited: -Coal was scarce and of poor quality, and its extraction was expensive. – Spain had iron deposits, but these were only exploited in the north. – Moreover, part of Spain’s iron production was exported, especially to Britain.
• Transport infrastructures were deficient, partly as a consequence of Spain’s mountainous and irregular relief. It was difficult to build railways in mountainous areas.
• Capital was scarce in Spain. As a result, most investors in Spanish industry were foreign businessmen.
• The domestic market was not very well developed in Spain, which had a less prosperous bourgeoisie than in many parts of northern Europe.
Industry, the railway and finance: Although Spain remained mainly rural, important industries developed in some areas while there were also significant innovations in transport, banking and finance:
• The cotton textile industry. This was especially important in Catalonia. It grew thanks to the investment of income from farming and trade, and the rapid mechanisation of production.
• The iron and steel industry. The first blast furnaces were built in Málaga in the 1820s. However, the Andalusian iron and steel industry could not compete with the Basque Country and Asturias from the mid-19th century. The industry developed greatly around Bilbao from around 1870 onwards. The Altos Hornos de Vizcaya (founded in 1902) became one of Spain’s biggest companies.
• Transport. The first Spanish railway opened in 1848 and ran between Barcelona and Mataró. The railway law of 1855 promoted railway construction. Over the following decade the railway network expanded rapidly, helped by state support, technical advances and foreign investment, especially from France.
• Banking. The Spanish Bank of San Fernando was formed in 1829. its main function was to lend money to the government. In 1856, it became the Bank of Spain. The following year it was granted a monopoly on printing money.
• The Spanish Stock Exchange (Bolsa de Comercio) was created in 1831, so that company shares could be bought and sold.