Cánovas System & the Loss of the Spanish Colonies
The Bourbon Restoration and the Cánovas System
ITEM 5: Plan of the Restoration and the Cánovas System. Summary:
The reign of Alfonso XII, and thus the restoration of the monarchy, began after the coup of Martínez Campos in favor of the son of Elizabeth II, and through the Manifest of Sandhurst. This ended the First Spanish Republic.
The reign began in 1874. Upon his death in 1885, his son, Alfonso XIII, inherited the crown. As he was not yet of age, his mother, Maria Cristina of Hapsburg, was proclaimed regent. Once of age, in 1902, Alfonso XIII took the reins of the monarchical model until 1931.
The Restoration began with the pronouncement of Martínez Campos at Sagunto and the Sandhurst Manifesto for the son of Isabel II, Alfonso XII. Cánovas (the new head of government) did not approve of the beginning of the monarchy in this manner, but he took advantage of it, leading to Alfonso being crowned king.
- The monarchy reinstated parliament: the head of state was the king, imposing a certain division of powers.
- The bourgeois revolution was consolidated, as during the 50 years of the Restoration, there were no significant political changes in government.
- There was a large predominance of civility against militarism.
Antonio Cánovas del Castillo organized this system. He was a statesman from the Liberal Union and established the system based on two constituent pillars:
- Internal – History and customs of Spain, Catholicism.
- External – All constitutions. Cánovas did not want to break with the internal constitutions.
The political model of the Restoration was embodied in a constitution published in 1876. It consisted of a pact between the monarchy and political forces. Its features included:
- Shared sovereignty between the king and the courts.
- A bicameral system: Congress of Deputies and Senate.
- It was confessional, without freedom of religion.
- It maintained a list of Rights and Freedoms as general principles.
Political Parties of the Era
This is when parties in favor of the dynasty, which agreed with the regime, were formed:
- Conservative Party, led by Cánovas.
- Liberal Party, directed by Sagasta. It was supported by the bourgeoisie and middle classes.
As for the choice of one of the two parties, they opted for bipartisanship; both parties took turns in power.
The Fall of Colonial Rule and the Crisis of 1898
Spain created a very extensive colonial empire across all continents in the 16th and 17th centuries. It had possessions in America, North Africa, and elsewhere. In the 18th century, territorial issues began to arise, with some losses, but these were minimal compared to the imperialism occurring in other countries.
In the 19th century, the great Spanish colonial empire began to decline, and emancipation movements emerged as the American continent began to become independent.
During the *Six Years’ War*, there was a long revolutionary war in Cuba that began in 1868 and ended in 1878, concluding with the so-called Peace of Zanjón. Cubans revolted for the following reasons:
- The Peace of Zanjón was not fulfilled by the Spanish.
- The economy: Cuba’s economy depended on selling sugar and tobacco, primarily to the United States.
- The United States wanted to begin its colonial empire and had economic interests in Cuba. A sense of patriotism emerged in Cuba, leading to a refusal to belong to the Spanish colonial empire.
All this led to war between Spain and Cuba over Cuban independence. A great figure of this movement was José Martí. The crown sent Martínez Campos to negotiate and crush the rebellion. Cánovas was assassinated in Spain, and there was a change of government. Martínez Campos was replaced by Valeriano Weyler, who applied a very tough policy, dividing the island of Cuba into two parts and creating concentration camps. The United States made an offer to Spain to buy the island, but it was rejected. The problems for Spain were diverse: an old fleet, far from its ports. As a result, an agreement was made in Paris where the U.S. indemnified Spain with 20 million dollars. This had economic and moral consequences for Spain.