Restoration and the Canovas System in Spain
The Restoration and Canovas System (1874-1923)
Item 10: The Scheme of Restoration and the Canovas System.
In 1874, the monarchy was restored in Spain in favor of Alfonso XII by the pronouncement of Martínez Campos. The new king arrived in 1875. Cánovas assumed the regency.
The Basis of the Canovas System
The coup was accepted by conservatives, who believed the monarchy would restore political stability. The new regime aimed to solve some problems of the preceding liberalism. A new Constitution was adopted in 1876, with a moderate character. It approved shared sovereignty between the Courts and the Crown, granting the King the right of veto and appointment of ministers. The legislative branch was organized into two chambers (Senate and Chamber of Deputies). It proclaimed the Catholic confessional state and a broad statement of rights.
The Canovas system rested on 3 pillars:
- The Crown: Its role was to act as arbiter in political life and ensure the rotation of power between political parties.
- The Political Parties: The Conservative Party and the Liberal Party resigned to using pronouncements as a means to enter the government.
- The Army: It was kept away from political life. To achieve this, the supremacy of civilian authority over the military was re-established, while giving the military freedom in its internal affairs.
However, that process was more apparent than real…
Conflicts and the End of the War
The Bourbon Restoration deprived the Carlists of their legitimacy. The reduced military effort of the liberal Carlist nuclei and the army, under the command of Field Marshal Martínez, forced the surrender of the Carlists in Catalonia, Aragon, and Valencia. The total surrender occurred in 1876, and consequently, the Foral regime was abolished, and troops were sent back to Cuba, ending the conflict.
In 1878, the Peace of Zanjón was signed, which included a broad amnesty and the abolition of slavery. However, the failure of these reforms would cause a new conflict in 1879.
Bipartisanship and the “Pacific Turn”
The politics of the Restoration was based on the Conservative-Liberal bipartisanship. Both parties defended the monarchy, the Constitution, private property, and a unitary and centralist liberal state. The social extraction of both parties was the middle class. The leader of the Conservative Party was Cánovas, and of the Liberal Party, Sagasta. The differences between both parties were minimal.
Both parties reached an agreement not to approve any law that would then have to be repealed by the other party when it returned to power. To ensure governance, a “Pacific Turn” was contemplated. Thus, as the government wore out and lost the confidence of the Courts, the King called the head of the opposition party to form a government. The new cabinet chief would call elections to form a parliamentary majority to exercise power stably.
Electoral fraud and despotic mechanisms ensured that the elections were favorable to the government that convened them.
Electoral Manipulation and Caciquismo
The adulteration of the vote was achieved through census suffrage, more favorable treatment to rural districts than to urban ones, and manipulation and control of the elections. This was exercised from the Minister of the Interior and the caciques. The ministers developed a list of candidates who should be elected. Provincial governors transmitted the list of candidates to mayors and caciques. A set of electoral traps helped to achieve this end, such as falsifying the census.
The caciques controlled certain electoral constituencies. Caciquismo was most evident in rural areas. They controlled the draft for the fifths and could solve or complicate bureaucratic hurdles. The injured parties in the “Pacific Turn” were the real opposition: Carlists, Socialists, Republicans, and Nationalists, who failed to obtain a sufficient number of deputies to form a government or exercise true opposition.
The Governments of the “Turn”
The “Turn” worked until 1898, when the crisis eroded the dynastic parties. In some cities, the opposition forces became hegemonic. However, the “Turn” survived until 1923. The fear of a possible destabilization of the political system after the King’s death (1885) urged Conservatives and Liberals to agree to the Pact of El Pardo, which gave way to a Liberal government whose reformist spirit ensured the continuity of the system.
Maria Cristina, the widow of Alfonso XII, oversaw the regency until 1902, when her son, Alfonso XIII, came of age. The new Liberal regime carried out a series of reforms: the abolition of slavery, the Law of Associations, and universal male suffrage.