19th Century Spain: People and Pivotal Moments
Key Figures and Events in 19th Century Spain
1820: A military takeover of the troops, who were to embark for America to fight the insurgents, led by Riego, forced King Ferdinand VII, unable to control the rebels, to swear allegiance to the Constitution of 1812. Thus began another brief period in the history of Spain, the Constitutional Triennium.
1823: In this year, a French army entered Spain to reinstate Ferdinand VII as absolute monarch. Without much resistance, these troops swept the country, defeated the supporters of liberalism, ending the Liberal Triennium, and restored the absolute power of Fernando. The Constitution of 1812 was definitively suspended and never again in force.
1868: In September of that year, a military uprising started in Cadiz and led by a group of disgruntled generals, would lead to the “September Revolution” or “Gloriosa”, which drove Queen Elizabeth II from Spain. It opened a new phase in the history of Spain, the Democratic Sexenio, during which innovative policies were tested.
Key Figures
MENDIZÁBAL (1790-1853): A Cadiz merchant with liberal ideas. He collaborated with Riego in his speech. Very committed to the exalted and progressive liberalism, he was forced into exile in 1823. After the death of Fernando VII, he returned to Spain in 1835 and was appointed Prime Minister by the Regent Maria Cristina. He proceeded to the confiscation of Church property to improve the situation of the Treasury and to finance the war against the Carlists. He resigned, and in 1836 he was Minister of Finance, beginning the confiscation of assets of the secular clergy. He would briefly be Finance Minister again in 1843, but the fall of Espartero sent him into exile again.
Amadeo I (1845-1890): An Italian prince, son of King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, who was elected King of Spain in 1870. As the 1869 Constitution created a constitutional monarchy and had expelled the Bourbons, they had to find a King in the European courts, which led to Amadeo’s selection. He arrived in Spain in December 1870 and was a true constitutional monarch, but failed to win the sympathy of the population. The severity of problems and great difficulties led him to abdicate the throne and leave Spain in February 1873, after which the First Republic was proclaimed.
ESPARTERO (1793-1879): A Spanish soldier and politician. Of liberal progressive leanings, he fought against the absolutists in the First Carlist War. He ably fostered divisions between Carlists and controlled Rafael Maroto, attracting him to the peace talks that ended with the Convention of Vergara (July 31, 1839), which ended the war. This political success exalted him (being from humble origins, he received a number of titles of nobility: Príncipe de Vergara, Duque de la Victoria) and was appointed regent of the kingdom during the minority of Isabel II (1840-1843). Attacked by the moderates, he was forced into exile in England. Prime Minister on several occasions (1837, 1840-1841, 1854-1856), he became so popular that in 1869 he was even offered the Crown of Spain.
Madoz (1806-1870): A politician and writer. From a very young age, he was a soldier in the progressive liberalism movement, leading to his exile after the return of absolutism under Fernando VII. After holding several public positions, in 1855 he was appointed Minister of Finance and later that year enacted the Confiscation Act, which put up for sale municipal property and the church property that remained unsold. He was the author of a monumental historical, statistical, and geographical dictionary of Spain and its overseas possessions of 16 volumes (1845 to 1850), a work central to the knowledge of Spain at the time.
O’DONNELL: A Spanish political and military figure, and government president (1856, 1858-1863, 1865-1866). Most of his degrees and diplomas were received for merit in war. He directed the delivery of Vicálvaro in 1854. During the Two Progressive Years, Espartero shared power with him, though their views did not align. He created his own party, the Liberal Union, involving moderates and progressives. From 1856 until his death, he alternated with Narvaez as prime minister and Minister of War.
Pi y Margall (1824-1901): A politician and writer, advocate of federalism as a form of social and political organization of Spain and a guarantee of freedom. During the First Republic, he was Minister of the Interior and later second President of the Republic, but the cantonal uprising in the summer of 1873 made him quit after a few weeks in office. During the Restoration, he was a Member of Parliament. Influenced by socialism, he wrote several political and historical works, including The Nationalities (1876), which systematized federal principles.