Reign of Isabel II of Spain: 1843-1868
**Item 12.1 (third): Isabel II (1843-1868): The True Kingdom**
General Espartero (who had assumed the regency in 1840) resigned due to a lack of support for his political and military policies. General Narvaez defeated him in Torrejón de Ardoz in the summer of 1843. Espartero was exiled to England. The progressives refused to return to Maria Cristina, and the courts decided to advance the age of majority of Isabel II when she was 13 years old. Narvaez became the strongman of the time.
Moderate Decade (1844-1854)
The crown strongly supported the moderates. Narvaez halted the confiscation of Church property and returned unsold properties to the Church. Another objective of Narvaez was to avoid public disorder. In 1844, the Civil Guard was created to combat banditry and ensure public order, especially in rural areas. In addition, the council law in 1845 strengthened the central power because the government reserved the appointment of mayors. The government agreed to the marriage of the Queen (age 16) with her cousin, Francis of Assisi. The wedding of the queen was a national and international issue, which caused several diplomatic conflicts.
Narvaez prompted the drafting of a new constitution, adopted in 1845. It was more moderate, did not recognize national sovereignty, and proclaimed the Catholic unity of Spain. The national militia was disbanded. During the years 1847-1850, Narvaez leaned toward dictatorship. In 1848, as in all of Europe, there were popular uprisings. Political corruption characterized this period.
In 1851, another moderate, Bravo Murillo, replaced Narvaez. He signed the 1851 Concordat with the Vatican, which favored the Church, especially in education. Bravo Murillo drove the rail and road network and the professionalism of civil servants. In 1852, he decided to submit a new draft constitution (which never entered into force) that practically meant a return to the Old Regime. After three brief moderate governments, characterized by corruption, in 1854 the rebel General O’Donnell in Vicálvaro, Madrid (Vicalvarada). In the Manifesto of Manzanares (drafted by Canovas del Castillo), required changes to liberalism (representative government, lower taxes, printing and new electoral laws, a new national militia). Upon winning the pronouncement, Elizabeth II decided to request that Espartero form a government.
The Progressive Biennium (1854-1856)
Espartero (progressive) and O’Donnell (creator of the Liberal Union, which brought together members of both conservatism and progressivism) were the main politicians. He carried out a further confiscation of Church and municipal property (Madoz Law), which caused the rupture of relations with the Holy See and new Carlist uprisings. A key to the failure of the biennium was the continuing climate of social instability. The rivalry between Espartero and O’Donnell rose after the bread riots, triggered by the rising price of wheat. During the biennium, the 1856 constitution, more democratic than previous ones, never entered into force: national sovereignty, freedom of the press, increased restrictions on royal power, etc.
Hegemony of the Liberal Union (1856-1863)
Between 1856 and 1863, O’Donnell’s Liberal Union party was hegemonic. O’Donnell himself, who had encouraged the coup of 1854, ended the progressive tendency of the government and attracted quite a few moderates. O’Donnell had the support of the queen, and the period of hegemony of the Liberal Union began. Prim was the leader of the progressive party. Democrats and Carlists stood outside the system. Democrats were almost all Republicans, and they wanted the introduction of universal suffrage and respect for human rights. The constitution of 1845 was restored.
In foreign policy, during the so-called long government (1858-1863), O’Donnell conducted wars of prestige (Morocco, Timbuktu, Mexico, and Santo Domingo) that reported little benefit to Spain. During a brief rule of Narvaez, the Education Act of Claudio Moyano was adopted. The progressives were disappointed with the regime. The moderates were less liberal. The Queen was not conducive to liberalism and only had the support of Narvaez. Many military uprisings (of which Prim’s was the most important) endangered the Elizabethan regime.
In 1866, Democrats and progressives came to the Covenant of Ostend. In it, they undertook to overthrow Elizabeth and to elect an assembly by universal male suffrage that would decide what should be the form of government. Soon after Narvaez died in 1868, the Glorious Revolution broke out, which ended the reign of Elizabeth II.