Ferdinand VII’s Reign: Absolutism, Liberal Triennium, and Decade
Ferdinand VII’s Absolutist Reign (1814-1820)
In 1814, Ferdinand VII returned to Spain, pressured to cancel the constitution and dissolve the Cortes with the Manifesto of Madrid. The ‘Persians’ document, signed by several deputies, requested the restoration of traditional institutions. Signatories were Spanish, but also opposed to liberalism, Godoy, and despotism, justified by Floridablanca. This coup led the king, on May 4, 1814, to issue a decree annulling the reforms of the Cortes of Cadiz and the 1812 constitution. The king restored the institutions of 1808: councils, the Inquisition, the feudal system, and his absolute monarchy with its privileges. Problems arose: governmental instability due to the camarilla’s financing, a crisis aggravated by the war of independence, and the emancipation of American colonies. Opposition resorted to secret societies and conspiracies, with military rebellions and pronunciamientos. The most important was the Riego revolt in January 1820, which initiated political change.
The Liberal Triennium (1820-1823)
Ferdinand signed a decree promising to swear to the 1812 constitution, attempting to implement reforms from Cadiz. The process had peculiarities: liberals split between moderates and radicals, and public opinion emerged. Government program: the need to implement reforms involving the state and the king. The Inquisition was abolished (1820), the feudal system was abolished, primogeniture was confiscated, church reform was initiated, the first General Regulation of Public Instruction was established, a Criminal Code was created, and the Spanish territory was divided. Armed militia: a national militia of armed citizens was created, joining urban classes, becoming an instrument to bring liberalism to workers. Division of liberalism: doceanistas were divided into moderates, historical leaders of liberalism, and the exalted, promoters of 1820. The first government until August ’22 was in the hands of moderates (Fco. Martínez de la Rosa). The exalted (Riego, Mendizabal) inaugurated urban liberal class movements. The government changed in 1822.
Public opinion: free speech allowed discussions on the government through patriotic societies, cafes, and the press. Opposition to the liberal regime: the king, supported by part of the army and old regime elites, faced his ministers and the Cortes. The clergy opposed reform measures, and the peasants opposed desamortización. Landowners, favoring private ownership, produced a counterrevolution. It was aborted by the municipality and the national militia. Rural guerrillas were organized, and in the Pyrenees, an absolutist government was formed, the Regency of Urgel. The Hundred Thousand Sons of St. Louis: the regime was overthrown by the intervention of France (the Hundred Thousand Sons of St. Louis), which entered Spain in April 1823. The government moved to Cadiz, taking the king, who was released and reinstated in October of that year.
The Absolutist Decade (1823-1833)
The restoration of the absolute monarchy reinstated the Inquisition and gradually evolved to a more moderate opposition. Absolutists suffered severe repression. As a liberal alternative, the national militia was created, and the body of royalist volunteers was created. Many liberals had to exile abroad. Several insurrection attempts ended in the shooting of liberals. More efficient institutions were created, such as a council of ministers and a ministry of development. The finance ministry presented the first state budget by Luis López Ballesteros, who carried out a moderate policy of economic liberalization. A faction of ultra-realists promoted movements and conspiracies against the more moderate ministers of Ferdinand VII. The most important was the revolt of the malcontents or aggrieved exalted realists in Catalonia. The Carlist issue arose after the succession to the throne of Ferdinand VII. They supported the king’s brother, Carlos, against the latter’s daughter, who, after the Pragmatic Sanction, could reign. The death of King Ferdinand VII started a civil war, the First Carlist War, between supporters of Carlos and Queen Maria Cristina and her daughter Isabel.