Bourbon Restoration in Spain: A New Political System
The Period of the Bourbon Restoration
A New Political System
Spaniards’ conservative groups welcomed the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty. Cánovas wanted a new political model that overcame some of the endemic problems of precedent liberalism: the partisan character, the military intervention in politics, and the proliferation of civil strife. To achieve that, he drafted a constitution that articulated a political system based on bipartisanship and pacified the country by ending the war in Cuba and the Carlist conflict.
The first measure of political importance was the announcement of elections for a Constituent Assembly, with universal suffrage, although it should be back later to vote censatari.
Constitution of 1876
The Constitution of 1876 was drafted in 1876 and is a clear doctrine of liberalism, characterized by censatari suffrage and sovereignty shared between the courts and the king. It had a conservative character and was clearly inspired by the traditional historical values of the monarchy, religion, and property.
The constitutional text believed the monarchy was an institution above, permanent, and outside any political decision. The monarch was a moderator who had exercised power as an arbiter in political life and ensured good understanding between the political parties.
The courts were bicameral, consisting of the Senate and Congress. The constitution did not establish the kind of vote, but a law of 1878 established the censatari vote, limited to the largest contributors. In 1890, universal male suffrage was adopted.
It also advocated for the confessionality of the Catholic State, although it tolerated other beliefs that did not always make it a public demonstration. The new constitutional text bought the rights to the statement.
Bipartisanship and Peaceful Turn
Cánovas introduced a system of government based on bipartisanship and the alternation of power between the two major parties, Conservative and Liberal, who renounced statements as a mechanism to access government.
The peaceful political scene was deleted from the Restoration of ongoing military pronouncements and the role of the army in Spanish political life. The army, which was one of the main pillars of the regime, was subordinate to civilian authority.
The End of War
The stability of the system was favored by the end of the Cuban and Carlist wars. In Catalonia, there were some victories. In February 1876, the pretender Charles crossed the French border in the direction of exile, and the war was considered finished around the peninsula. The immediate consequence of the Carlist defeat was the abolition of the autonomous regime. But in 1878, he stipulated a system that gave some cheap concert fiscal autonomy to the Basque provinces.
The completion of the Carlist War allowed for an easier end to the Cuban insurrection (Ten Years’ War, 1868-1878). In 1878, the Peace of Zanjón was signed (broad amnesty, the abolition of slavery, and the promise of political and administrative reforms). The delay caused by the non-compliance with these reforms led, in 1879, to a new conflict (Guerra Chiquita) and the subsequent uprising of 1895.