Industrial Revolution & Spanish Liberalism: 1808-1902

Posted on Mar 27, 2025 in History

Unit 3: The Industrial Revolution

How did the production of goods change?

The Driving Forces of Industrialization (Factors)

The Industrial Revolution started in Great Britain in the mid-18th century due to:

  • A political system in which the power of the monarchy had been limited and the bourgeoisie had a lot of influence.
  • Population growth that had led to a rise in demand and an abundance of labor for the new factories.
  • An abundance of coal, which became the main source of energy.
  • An extensive transport network of rivers and canals.
  • A colonial empire that provided easy access to raw materials and created a large market for exporting manufactured products.

The Development of Industry and the Growth of Trade

  • The textile and iron industries were the driving force of industrialization and used mechanization, steam power, and the factory system.
  • The use of minerals, such as iron and coal, became widespread.
  • A market economy was born, leading to the creation of a domestic market.


Population Growth and Urban Development

The Rise of Population

  • In 1750, Europe’s population experienced a demographic transition. This was due to the rise of food production and, later on, improvements in medicine and hygiene. As a result, the death rate gradually started to decline.
  • The reduction in mortality, especially child mortality, led to an increase in life expectancy, which was 38 years in the late 18th century and had reached 50 years by the end of the 19th century.

Urban Expansion

  • Industrialization transformed old cities into large metropolitan areas. City walls were demolished, new neighborhoods appeared, and new modes of transport were created, along with infrastructure and services.
  • This urban growth was due to the rural exodus. Agricultural workers, who had lost their land and work following the mechanization of agriculture and the concentration of land ownership, moved to the cities in search of jobs in factories.
  • There was strong social segregation in the new industrial cities: the bourgeoisie lived in elegant neighborhoods, and the working class lived in suburbs near industrial areas.

The Triumph of Capitalism

The Growth of Finance

  • Industrialization resulted in the development of finance.
  • The need for capital to form new companies led to the creation of public limited companies (joint-stock companies), in which capital is divided into shares of the profits. These are purchased by shareholders, who then receive a share of the profits (dividends).
  • Shares are sold on the stock exchange, which is governed by the law of supply and demand.

Protectionism and Free Trade

  • Great Britain was in favor of free trade (no state intervention in international trade).
  • European countries and the United States applied protectionist measures, including protectionist tariffs on imported goods in order to make them more expensive.

The New Class Society

Capitalism established a division between capital and labor. It organized society into two opposing groups or classes: the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.

The New Social Elite: The Bourgeoisie

  • In the new industrial world, the high bourgeoisie gradually replaced the aristocracy in social life.
  • Below them was the middle bourgeoisie, which consisted of professionals (lawyers, doctors, etc.), civil servants, and merchants.
  • The new bourgeoisie imposed its social values on the other classes.

Workers: The Labor Force

In the early days of industrialization, there were no labor laws to regulate working conditions or wages, or that would guarantee protection in the event of an accident, in which punishments and penalties were common. They could be dismissed whenever the employer wished.


New Social Movements

Workers’ Associations

  • The first workers to protest against industrialization were the Luddites, who engaged in the violent destruction of machinery, fearing job losses and unemployment.
  • The first organizations were relief societies, which acted as resistance groups and helped workers in the event of illness or unemployment. These societies organized the first strikes.
  • Trade unions. Their first tasks were to defend the right of association, to reduce the working day, to improve wages, and to regulate child labor.

The New Social Solutions

  • The utopian socialists – In the mid-19th century, some thinkers advocated the need for a revolution to end capitalism and build a new egalitarian society. These ideas gave rise to two major revolutionary movements: Marxism and anarchism.
  • The Catholic Church was concerned about the condition of the working classes and social inequality.

Unit 4: War and Liberal Revolution (1808-1814)

  • Firstly, Carlos IV was against the French Republic. But the French armies defeated the Spanish troops, and this led to a change of strategy, making an alliance with Napoleon against Great Britain.
  • With the Treaty of Fontainebleau (1807), French troops were allowed to pass through Spain and invade Portugal.
  • These French troops invaded Spain as well and forced Carlos IV and Ferdinand VII to give the Spanish crown to Napoleon’s brother Joseph I (1803-1813).


  • War of Independence
  • Irregular troops began guerrilla warfare, starting in Madrid on the 2nd of May.
  • Napoleon occupied most of Spain. Zaragoza and Girona resisted attack for several months. Cadiz wasn’t invaded because it was protected by the British Navy.
  • The British army commanded by General Wellington defeated the French. In 1813, they withdrew from Spain with the Treaty of Valençay and returned Ferdinand VII.

The Cádiz Cortes and the 1812 Constitution “La Pepa”

  • In Cádiz, which was free from French control, the local Junta was created, composed of patriots opposed to the occupation.
  • The Central Supreme Junta convened Cortes in Cádiz.
  • Representatives of the Juntas met in this city. The constitution adopted in 1812 established national sovereignty, the separation of powers, universal male suffrage, and broad individual freedoms, marking the end of the Ancien Régime and Absolute Monarchy.

Ferdinand VII: The Restoration of Absolutism (1814-1833)

  • Six years of absolutism. Ferdinand VII repealed the Constitution of 1812 and persecuted liberals.
  • Liberal Triennium. Colonel Riego forced Ferdinand VII and his troops to reinstate the Constitution of 1812. The king demanded help from the Holy Alliance (troops from European absolutist monarchs) and restored absolutism.


  • The ominous decade. Return to absolutism, economic and political problems. The American territories obtained their Independence. In 1830, Ferdinand VIII issued the Pragmatic Sanction, repealing the Salic Law in order to allow his daughter to become queen.

Carlists, Defenders of the Ancien Régime

  • On the death of Ferdinand VII in 1833, the absolutists refused to recognize his three-year-old daughter. They supported Ferdinand’s brother Carlos María Isidro.
  • After 6 years of war (1833-1839), the “Isabelinos” won.

Isabella II and the Building of the Liberal State (1833-1868)

  • The regency of María Cristina (1833-1840). Governed by the moderate liberals. The most important event, apart from the Carlist war, was the Confiscation (Desamortización) of Mendizábal.
  • The regency of Espartero (1839-1843). Espartero’s authoritarian ideas and his introduction of free trade measures favored the declaration of Queen Isabella as of age in 1843, when she was 13 years old.
  • The Moderate Decade (1843-1854). The authoritarian tendencies of political leaders caused another progressive military revolt.
  • The Progressive Biennium (1854-1856). Confiscation of the commons, the General Railway Law, and the Mining Act were their most important laws.
  • The system in decline (1856-1868). Isabella’s reign deteriorated as an economic crisis led to further social unrest and a new military revolt.


Six Years of Democracy (1868-1874)

  • The Glorious Revolution was an insurrection to overthrow Isabella II and establish a democratic system, including a new democratic Constitution and the need to find a new king for Spain.
  • The monarchy of Amadeo (1870-1873). He had strong opponents. There was a second Carlist war, and tired of the political situation and the country, Amadeo I abdicated and left the country.
  • The First Republic (1873-1874). The Republic had 4 presidents and a series of problems that made its proper establishment impossible.

The Bourbon Restoration (1874-1902)

  • A new system based on “turnismo,” in which two political parties shared the government (some years conservatives and some years liberals), was created (Canovist system).
  • In Catalonia and in the Basque Country, nationalist movements appeared.
  • By the end of the century, the system was in crisis, a crisis that became deeper when Spain lost its American and Asian colonies to the USA (1898).