Spain’s 19th Century Upheaval: From Absolutism to Liberalism
Crisis of the Old Regime (1808-1837)
Causes
Entry of revolutionary ideas from 1808 (previously censored). Hacendistic crisis weakening the absolutist state. Unthinkable measures by absolutism. Population explosion. Agricultural crisis. Mutiny with popular support against Godoy and Charles IV. Ferdinand VII becomes king but cedes the throne to Napoleon, who appoints Joseph I.
War of Independence (1808-1814)
National-popular uprising against invaders. Emergence of folk heroes, bandits, and political leaders. Use of guerrillas. Three-way conflict: invasion, exiled king, and intruder king. Three types of institutions: Old Regime, Joseph I’s state apparatus (French-style), and power born from the uprising.
Cortes of Cadiz (Liberal Bourgeois Revolution)
Anti-French rebellion leads to a revolutionary process. Revolutionary committees established, leading to the Central Board. Regency Cortes called. Survey on era’s problems: limitation of monarchy’s power, condemnation of manorial privileges. Courts composed of different political groups. Nobles suggest courts replace the king.
Work of the Cortes (Constitution of Cadiz 1812)
Spanish model of governance. Regulation of powers: National sovereignty (all citizens equal before the law, defense of property, freedom, and equality), Division of powers (legislative, executive, judicial), Elections and participation mechanisms (suffrage, electoral law, censitary vote for men over 25), Catholic religion, Military organization.
Practical Aspect of the Cortes of Cadiz
Significant legislative development. Basic principles of bourgeois liberal revolution taught: Liberty and property (freedom of trade, exploitation, industry, cancellation of internal customs, extinction of primogeniture), Confiscation (nationalization and sale of goods from afrancesados, Jesuits, Inquisition), Domains (elimination of monopolies, census, stately income; property rights respected if documented, disputes between peasants and lords).
Reaction and Revolution
Return of Fernando VII
Post-war, Ferdinand VII restores absolutism. Supported by absolutist anti-revolutionary groups (nobility, clergy, army, deputies who wrote the Manifesto of the Persians). Constitution of 1812 annulled in 1814. Considered the first coup of the contemporary age. Notable passivity of artists. Repression campaign against liberals: prohibition of meetings, exile, executions. Liberals enter a period of hiding and support Espoz y Mina.
Liberal Triennium (1820-1823)
Troop uprising in San Juan heads to America. Success due to the union of military and civilian liberal conspirators, a triumph owed more to the crisis of the Old Regime than Spanish revolutionary force. Radicalized the conflict between liberals and absolutists. Two currents within the Liberal Party: moderate doceañistas and radical Exaltados.
Opposition to the Triennium
Absolutists sought mechanisms against liberal forces: king’s legal attempts to stop reforms, appearance of realist groups (seed of the future Carlist party), uprising of the Royal Guard (1822), creation of the Regency of Urgel (absolutist government in exile), foreign intervention.
Significance of the Liberal Triennium
Completion of the unfinished agenda of the Cortes of Cadiz. First instance during the reign of Charles IV where clergy were not affected.
Ominous Decade
Fernando VII returns to absolute power. Absolutist reaction continues amidst the worsening crisis of the Old Regime. New age of punishment, but absolutists attempt reforms: administrative, financial, relaxation of hard absolutism, formation of the Commercial Code, birth of the stock exchange, collaboration with moderate liberals like Cea Bermúdez.
Transition to Constitutional Monarchy
Fernando VII annuls the Salic law, preventing a woman from ascending the throne, to secure it for his daughter Isabel. This triggers the Carlist rebellion in 1827. Liberals support Isabel’s claim. After the king’s death, fighting begins. Due to Isabel II’s minority, her mother Maria Christina serves as regent. In 1836, political failure leads to the rise of progressives (union of the bourgeoisie), marking the final appearance of the liberal state. Carlism is confined to certain areas with limited support. Clear difference between Carlists (rural) and urban dwellers (liberalism). Peace agreement signed with the Convention of Vergara in 1836.
Modern Times
The pace of modern times resulted from two changes: Liberal revolution (transition from absolute monarchy to parliamentary, from class-stratified society to market economy) and Industrial Revolution (shift from manufacture to factory). The difference between the three branches of power is a major theoretical advance in the search for guarantees for rights.