Isabel II Reign: Moderates, Progressives, and the Liberal Union
The Reign of Isabel II: A Period of Political Turmoil (1843-1868)
The Fall of Espartero and the Rise of the Moderates
In 1843, following new elections that left Regent Espartero without support, a coalition formed against him. The government commissioned the progressive Joaquin Maria Lopez to form a new government, but his program, which limited the powers of the regent, was rejected by Espartero, leading Lopez to resign. A widespread insurrection in the summer of 1843 saw liberals revolt against the tyranny of the general. They triumphed thanks to the support of moderates. The army, led by Narváez, went over to the insurgents, and on August 12, Espartero went into exile in London.
With a lack of alternatives, the deputies and senators voted to bring forward the age of majority of Isabel II. She was proclaimed Queen in November 1843, at the age of 13. The moderates, returned from exile, took up positions in the court, and Narváez became the strong man of the moment. A new insurrection in Barcelona was brutally suppressed by a then-young General Prim.
Following Lopez’s resignation in November, the progressive Salustiano Olózaga briefly held power but was ousted through a palace coup by the moderates, ending the progressive government. Since December 1843, the new head of government, González Bravo, launched a clearly regressive agenda. He ordered the dissolution of the militias, increased the size of the army to 100,000 men, and restored the Municipal Act of 1840. Detention orders were issued against major progressive leaders, and their clubs and newspapers were closed. The army crushed two military uprisings in Cartagena and Alicante, resulting in more than 200 executions.
On May 1, 1844, the Queen appointed General Narváez as chairman of the government, solidifying the start of the Moderate Decade.
The Moderate Decade (1844-1854)
The Moderate Decade, presided over by Narváez and, to a lesser extent, by Luis Bravo Murillo, began in 1844. Narváez controlled political life both as head of government and when he left to chair the cabinet. A skilled organizer, he was the architect of the Constitution of 1845 and several key legal reforms. He controlled the army and fought popular movements with extreme hardness.
The early Narváez government showed continuity with the political line taken by Gonzalez Bravo. Elections were called for a Constituent Assembly that approved a moderate constitution in 1845, which, in theory, was a reform of the 1837 constitution. The basic principles of the new Constitution were:
- Shared sovereignty between King and Parliament
- A very theoretical Bill of Rights
- The exclusivity of the Catholic religion
- Elimination of the limits on the powers of the King
- A Senate with members appointed for life by the Crown
- Municipalities and counties under the administration to be appointed
- Power of the Crown to dissolve Congress
- Suppression of the National Militia
Significant legislation and reforms were also enacted. In 1846, an electoral law based on census suffrage limited the vote to 99,000 people out of a population of about 12 million (compared to 635,000 voters in 1837). Since 1844, sales of disentailed goods were suspended, and unsold goods were returned to the Church. A Press Law restricted freedom of publishing, and censorship was reinstated. That same year, the Civil Guard was created to ensure order and property, especially in rural areas. It had 6,000 troops and was characterized by military discipline, barracks, and performance in pairs.
In 1851, a new Criminal Code was approved, and the foundations for the future Civil Code were laid. Following the French model and the Provincial Reform of Burgos in 1833, the power of civil and military governors was strengthened. Finally, in 1845, the tax system was reformed, eliminating the old tax system and merging the many existing taxes into four essential charges.
In 1851, a Concordat was signed with the Vatican under the leadership of Bravo Murillo, normalizing relations between the State and the Catholic Church. Rome accepted the sale of disentailed goods and the legitimacy of the Elizabethan monarchy. In return, the State reinstated the Church’s remaining property, provided a budget for worship and clergy, and reserved for the Church the monitoring of religious education, as well as surveillance and censorship in matters of doctrine. Ecclesiastical jurisdiction and state intervention in the appointment of the hierarchy were regulated.
During the early years, a serious problem was the marriage of the Queen, who finally married her cousin Francis of Assisi. Another serious conflict was the Second Carlist War, which began in 1846 after the failed link between the Carlist pretender and his cousin Isabel. In 1848, as uprisings occurred throughout Europe, Narváez received full powers from Parliament, suspended the Constitution, and launched a harsh crackdown.
The crisis of the moderate party stemmed from Bravo Murillo’s (1851-1852) attempt to reform the Constitution. He introduced a reform bill that nearly meant the elimination of parliamentary life and a return to absolutism. Three weeks after submitting his project in December 1852, he had to resign, and several governments succeeded each other, each less effective. At the end of 1853, Sartorius was head of government, having dissolved Parliament and ruled dictatorially.
The Progressive Biennium (1854-1856)
This period began with the revolution of 1854. The initial pronouncement by General Leopoldo O’Donnell collapsed after a clash with government troops in Vicálvaro, known as the *Vicalvarada*. However, the public pronouncements in the Manzanares Manifesto, written by Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, promised strict adherence to the Constitution, changes in the Electoral and Printing Acts, tax reductions, and the restoration of the National Militia. Supported by Generals Serrano, Dulce, and San Miguel, as well as the population, the coup succeeded, and on July 26, Elizabeth II commissioned Espartero to form a government, with O’Donnell as Minister of War.
As first steps, the military coup recovered the Militia Act of 1822 and the Municipal Act of 1823, and convened the Constituent Cortes. In this election, a new political force emerged: the Liberal Union. It was a centrist party composed of the most moderate progressives and the most progressive moderates, such as Joaquín María López, Posada Herrera, Cánovas, and O’Donnell himself. The coalition of unionists and progressives came to dominate the chambers overwhelmingly. Democrats and Republicans opposed them, with Castelar and Pi i Margall as prominent figures.
In addition to the constitution that would replace the 1845 one (but never came into force), the main reforms were the Confiscation of Madoz in 1855, the Railways Act, and the Banking and Credit Societies Act of 1856.
The Constitution of 1856
The Constitution of 1856 reflected progressive thinking. It included national sovereignty, a detailed declaration of individual rights, freedom of the press and religion, limits on the powers of the Crown and the Government, elected municipalities and counties, the restoration of the National Militia, an elected Senate, and the extension of voting rights to 700,000 through census suffrage.
The General Confiscation Act of 1855
The General Confiscation Act was enacted on May 1, 1855, under Minister of Finance Pascual Madoz. It completed Mendizábal’s 1836 law by putting up for public auction all types of rural and urban properties belonging to the state, the Church, and vacant municipal properties. Part of the proceeds were used to launch the Railways Act of 1855. This led to significant progress in railway construction, from 200 km of roads in 1853 to over 5,000 km in 1866, and amassed large fortunes through speculation in the stock market with shares of railway companies. The Banking and Credit Societies Act of 1856 allowed the emergence of a modern financial market.
A key factor in the failure of the biennium was the continuing climate of social instability. In 1854, there was a cholera epidemic, the country experienced a rise in wheat prices due to the Crimean War, crop failures, tensions between employers and workers, and, especially, the government’s failure to fulfill the promises made at the beginning of the period. In Barcelona, a general strike took place in the summer of 1855 following the execution of labor leader José Barceló. In October, the government adopted a Labor Law that reduced child labor to”onl” 12 hours, permitted workers’ associations of no more than 500 members, and established mixed juries of employers and workers.
In the first months of 1856, violent riots took place in the Castilian countryside and major cities. The government lost the support of the Cortes, and in July, the Queen accepted Espartero’s resignation and ordered O’Donnell to form a new government. The Militia’s protest was harshly repressed by Serrano, who even bombed the newly built Congress of Deputies.
The Liberal Union Governments (1856-1868)
The Liberal Union dominated political life during this period. It included military figures like O’Donnell and Serrano, as well as members of the old parties, such as Alonso Martínez, Ríos Rosas, and Cánovas. While the stage saw true prosperity until 1863, the Liberal Union managed to exercise power without serious problems. However, the economic crisis then led the government to an increasingly intransigent attitude.
After a short O’Donnell government, Elizabeth II, in October, ordered the formation of a new cabinet under General Narváez. He halted the confiscation, annulled all provisions regarding freedom of the press and those that opposed the Concordat, and restored the consumption tax. 1856 and 1857 were years of poor harvests, and protests were harshly suppressed. In legal matters, important financial legislation was developed, the currency in circulation was multiplied, and the policy of public works and railway construction continued. In 1857, the first population census was conducted, and the Public Education Act, commonly known as the Moyano Law, was approved.
In July 1858, the Queen urged O’Donnell to form a government, beginning his”long government” which, while more open than Narváez’s, was equally authoritarian. Another leading figure was Posada Herrera, the”Great Elector” who, from the Ministry of the Interior, ensured his party’s majority in Parliament. Until 1863, there was political stability. It was a golden period for speculation and railway construction, the emergence and growth of credit companies and banks, a new expansion of the Catalan textile industry, and the emergence of the first blast furnaces in Vizcaya and Asturias.
Only two problems were noted: first, in 1869, the Count of Montemolín attempted a coup in San Carlos de la Rápita and was arrested. In June 1861, a peasant uprising in Loja was put down with the usual harshness.
Foreign Policy
Throughout the 19th century, Spain had lacked a clear foreign policy, leading to dependence on London and Paris, to the point of seeing interference from both powers in the case of the marriages of Elizabeth II and her sister Luisa Fernanda between 1845 and 1846. However, the Liberal Union government developed an active and aggressive foreign policy to highlight patriotic consciousness and divert attention from internal problems.
The operations included:
- The Spanish-French expedition to Indochina (1858-1863)
- The war against Morocco (1859-1860), which ended with the victories of Castillejos and Wad-Ras, and a peace treaty signed through British mediation
- The intervention in Mexico in 1862, which ended with the Spanish withdrawal
- The reinstatement of Santo Domingo in 1861
- The Pacific War in 1866
The Final Crisis of the Reign (1863-1868)
The Liberal Union decomposed due to the absence of policy objectives and the wear and tear produced by the exercise of power. Military figures like Prim and politicians like Sagasta openly aligned with the opposition to the system.
The first signs of crisis appeared in 1864 when railway construction began to slow down due to a shortage of foreign investment, falling prices, and a lack of cotton. In 1866, a Europe-wide stock market crash led to the ruin of many small investors. Adding to this was a climate of political discontent. In 1864, the academic climate began to rarefy. Some Krausist teachers, such as Sanz del Río, defended cautionary ideas or openness. In October 1864, the Minister of Development, Alcalá Galiano, issued a royal order prohibiting the dissemination from the chairs of ideas contrary to the Catholic religion, the monarchy, or the Constitution.
Castelar and others protested from the press against the cuts to academic freedom. However, when part of the national heritage was sold to cover the deficit, and the Queen was compensated with 25% of the sales, Castelar published an article criticizing the legality of the operation. The government ordered a dossier on Castelar and his expulsion by Rector Montalbán. He refused and resigned. Students sought permission for a farewell serenade.
On June 22, 1868, the uprising of the San Gil barracks occurred, where 1,200 gunners rioted and attempted to gain control of Madrid. The base was taken by assault, resulting in 60 deaths, to which 66 executions must be added. Another attempt by Narváez was crushed in Gerona, and Prim was exiled after the failure of the pronouncement of Villarejo de Salvanes. Narváez suspended the Cortes, closed all critical newspapers, and persecuted anyone who criticized the government.
In 1868, progressive Democrats and Republicans signed the Pact of Ostend. O’Donnell died in 1867, and Narváez died in 1868. When Serrano and the Liberal Union itself joined the pact, it was clear that it was the end of the Elizabethan monarchy. This would occur in September 1868 after the Glorious Revolution.