Queen Cristina’s Regency: Carlist Uprising & Liberal Reforms
Queen Cristina’s Regency (1833-1840)
The Carlist uprising and subsequent war forced Queen Cristina to trust her husband’s opponents, facilitating the introduction of reforms into the political system. The alliance between the queen regent and the Liberals was an agreement of convenience, as it was the only force capable of maintaining the rights to the throne of Princess Elizabeth. Over the years, the link between the liberal movement and the advocacy of Princess Elizabeth was reinforced.
Royal Charter of 1834
The Royal Charter of 1834 contributed to a closer adherence to the Elizabethan liberal cause and showed that Queen Cristina was willing to support a shift to the liberals. The Royal Charter, combining tradition with new ideas, was granted by the Queen Regent with the intention of relinquishing some of her royal powers and regulating its content. This included a reform of the Cortes, which became an assembly to advise the Crown. The Cortes were formed by an upper and lower chamber.
The upper chamber, called Cámara de Próceres, was composed of the grandees of Spain and the archbishops. The 118 elected members were required to be over 30 years old and have a real annual personal income exceeding 12,000 reales. The Royal Charter did not fulfill the expectations of the most exalted and radical liberals. During the war years, Spanish liberalism diverged into two distinct trends: the moderates and the progressives.
Moderate Liberals
The Moderate Liberals formed a right-wing sector. Their ideological proposals included:
- Maintaining public order and security.
- Rejecting revolutionary subversion.
- Conjugating tradition and moderate progress.
- Defending strong authority.
- Opposing democracy and universal suffrage.
- Improving relations with the Catholic Church.
Progressive Liberals
The Progressive Liberals composed the left wing of liberalism. Their proposals were:
- Extending the number of people entitled to vote to facilitate the participation of individuals from the middle class in political decisions.
- Implementing deeper and faster reforms intended to expand democracy and freedoms.
- Aversion and mistrust of the Catholic clergy.
The progressive liberal government only held power for short periods between 1835-43, as well as 1854-56.
Constitution of 1837
By 1835, the government seemed unable to defeat the Carlists, and protests by liberal extremists multiplied. These extremists were responsible for organizing and encouraging continuous street riots in many cities. In Barcelona, Zaragoza, and Murcia, popular revolts were violently anticlerical. With Juan Alvarez at the head of the new government, ecclesiastical confiscation was undertaken, guilds were abolished, full freedoms of production and trade were introduced, the strength of the national militia was reinforced, 50,000 men were conscripted for the army, and the number of people entitled to vote was expanded. Over the months, street disturbances diminished. In 1836, a group of army officers revolted in La Granja de San Ildefonso and forced the queen regent to suspend the current status and restore the Constitution of 1812.
Work began on a new constitution, presented as a revision of the Constitution of Cadiz, but differing from it in many ways. It was a synthesis between the principles of national sovereignty and a bicameral parliamentary system, introducing shared powers, keeping important powers in the hands of the king, and establishing religious freedom. The constitution was completed with a vote and limited male suffrage.