Maria Cristina’s Regency and Espartero’s Rise: Spain’s Tumultuous Era
The Regency of Maria Cristina and Espartero
The regency of Maria Cristina was marked by civil war and confrontation between the generals whose wills and criteria dominated not only the life of the country but also the early development of the political parties. Francisco Cea Bermúdez, very close to the thesis of absolutism of the late Fernando VII, was the first President of the Council of Ministers. The absence of liberal conquests forced Cea out, and the arrival of Martinez de la Rosa, who persuaded the regent to enact the Royal Charter of 1834, a letter granting that meant a retreat from the Constitution of Cadiz. The failure of the Conservatives brought to power the Liberals in the summer of 1835. The leading figure of this period was Juan Alvarez Mendizabal, a politician and economist of great talent and prestige, who successfully stopped the liberal uprisings throughout the state and initiated economic and political reforms, the most important of them within the Spanish army and the public finances in the process of confiscation of property of the Catholic Church. Following the resignation of Mendizabal, beset by numerous conflicts, came the 1837 Constitution from the hands of Jose Maria Calatrava in an attempt to combine the spirit of the Constitution of Cadiz while satisfying the supporters of the ancien regime. The Carlist War generated serious economic and political problems. The fight against the army of the Carlist Thomas Zumalacárregui, up in arms since 1833, forced the Regent to deposit much of their confidence in the military Christines which achieved great popularity among the population. Of them, the general Espartero stressed, who was in charge of certifying the final victory in the Convention of Oñate. This situation, in which the military replaced the weak political parties, led to a permanent government crisis where the interests of the various military commands were imposing successive governments lacking authority. In 1840, Maria Cristina, conscious of his weakness, sought to reach an agreement with Espartero, but he continued to intrigue until September 1, when a liberal revolution broke out in Madrid. Maria Cristina was forced to leave the regency in the hands of Espartero and exile in France. On October 12th of 1840, with broad popular support, Espartero assumed the regency. However, the general failed to surround the liberal spirit that had brought him to power, preferring to entrust the most important and consequential positions to the comrades who had accompanied him in the Carlist War and the Battle of Ayacucho. In fact, the Regency served as a military dictatorship. For its part, the conservatives, represented by Leopoldo O’Donnell and Narvaez, did not cease in their pronouncements. In 1843, the political and economic deterioration reached colossal proportions, and the unpopularity of Espartero had grown so that even liberals who had supported him three years earlier, conspired against him. On June 11, 1843, the revolt of the moderates was also clothed in the men’s confidence Espartero as Joaquin Maria Lopez and Salustiano Olózaga, forcing the general to relinquish power and go into exile in London.
During the first stage of the reign, between 1814 and 1820, the king restored absolutism in the wake of the Bourbon restoration in France. The task that awaited Fernando was extremely complex. He would have needed some exceptionally capable ministers to bring order to a country devastated by years of war, but he only had a couple of statesmen of stature. The instability of the government was constant, and the failures to properly resolve the problems identified led to continuing ministerial changes. It was a period of persecution of the liberals, who, supported by the military, the bourgeoisie, and secret organizations like the Masons, attempted mutiny several times to restore the Constitution. Moreover, although Ferdinand had promised to respect the Francophiles, upon his arrival, he proceeded to banish all those who had held positions of any kind in the administration of Jose I. For the Royal Decree of August 1 of 1824, it prohibits forever in Spain and the Indies societies of Freemasons and other secret societies. During this time, the free press disappeared, the constitutional and municipal councils were closed, and the universities were closed. Union organization has been restored, and the property confiscated from the Church was returned. In January 1820, a revolt broke out among the expeditionary forces that were leaving for America to ensure the permanence of the settlements in the hands of Spain. Although this ruling, led by Rafael de Riego, was not as successful as necessary, the government was also unable to suppress it, and shortly thereafter, a series of rebellions began in Galicia and spread throughout Spain. Ferdinand VII was forced to swear allegiance to the Constitution in Madrid on March 10, 1820, with the historic phrase: “Let us go frankly, and I am the first, the constitutional path.” Thus began the Liberal Triennium or constitutional period. During the Triennium, measures were proposed against absolutism and to abolish the Inquisition and manors. However, though the king appeared to obey the constitutional system, he was secretly plotting to restore absolutism (Regency of Urgel; mutiny of the Royal Guard in July 1822, suffocated by the Urban Militia of Madrid). Finally, the French military intervention of the Hundred Thousand Sons of St. Louis, under the auspices of the Holy Alliance, restored the absolute monarchy in Spain (October 1823). All changes were removed from the Liberal Triennium; for example, the privileges of estates and primogeniture were restored, with the exception of the abolition of the Inquisition. Thus began his reign’s last season, the so-called Ominous Decade (1823-1833), which was a grueling repression of the liberals, accompanied by the closure of newspapers and universities, while absolutists were instigating uprisings by the clergy and advocates of infant Carlos, brother of Fernando, who was emerging as a successor. At the time, the virtual disappearance of the Spanish empire was consummated. In a process parallel to the Peninsula after the French invasion, the majority of the American territories (with the exception of Cuba and Puerto Rico) declared their independence and began a tortuous path to liberal republics (Santo Domingo was occupied by Haiti). Only the Caribbean islands, along with the Philippines, the Marianas, the Carolines, and Palau in the Pacific, remained under the dominion of Spain. In 1829, an expedition set out from Cuba with the intention to reconquer Mexico under Admiral Isidro Barradas. The company ended finally defeated by Mexican troops.