Spain’s First Republic and the Revolutionary Six-Year Period: 1868-1874
Spain’s First Republic: 1873-1874
The First Spanish Republic lasted only 11 months, amid great political instability. It was proclaimed on February 11, 1873, by a large majority of votes. However, much of the House was monarchical, and the Republican vote was a strategy to gain time and organize the return of the Bourbons to the Spanish throne. At the same time, it demonstrated its international isolation.
Republicans were divided into Federalists and Unionists. Nevertheless, the Republic was received with enthusiasm by the masses. In Andalusia, there was an insurrection that sought to solve the problem of land distribution among the peasantry. Between the labor movement, demands for reduced working hours, increased wages, and the immediate implementation of the federal state became widespread. The Republic addressed fairly radical reforms: the abolition of taxes on consumption (which aggravated the deficit), the elimination of the draft, a reduction of the voting age, the separation of church and state, the regulation of child labor, the prohibition of slavery in Cuba and Puerto Rico, and a draft constitution of the Federal Republic. The first president, Estanislao Figueras, met with the Constituent Cortes. The Cortes, established in June 1873, then chose Pi i Margall, a supporter of federalism, as President of the Republic. Pi i Margall presented the draft constitution to the Cortes in July, which turned Spain into a Federal Republic of seventeen states. However, it could not be approved because the cantonal uprising forced the suspension of parliament. Pi i Margall had to resign.
Cantonalism was a complex phenomenon that mixed the autonomist aspirations prompted by intransigent federal Republicans with the aspirations of social revolution inspired by the new internationalist ideas of the anarchists. Pi i Margall was brought down and replaced by Nicolás Salmerón.
The Republic evolved into more conservative positions, a turn initiated by the new president, Nicolás Salmerón (July 18 to September 7, 1873), who was willing to end the cantonal resistance and initiated military action against the Cantonalist movement (22 cantons rose up). Following Salmerón’s resignation, the presidency of the Republic fell to Emilio Castelar (September 7, 1873, to January 3, 1874). Castelar practiced a policy of authority designed to ensure order and unity. He remained in power until January 2, 1874. On January 3, General Pavia’s coup d’état marked the end of the First Republic.
General Serrano’s Authoritarian Government: 1874
General Serrano started the fourth trial of this administration policy, assuming the executive power of the Republic under the constitutional order of 1869. Meanwhile, Cánovas prepared for the Bourbon restoration. The Manifesto of Sandhurst occurred on December 1, 1874, and on December 29, Martínez Campos pronounced in Sagunto in favor of Alfonso de Borbón.
Major Problems of the Revolutionary Six-Year Period
- The War in Cuba – The Long War: In October 1868, an armed insurrection broke out in Cuba, started by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes. The United States supported this movement. Attempts at reform failed to solve the independence movement, and it would have to wait until the Restoration to reach the Peace of Zanjón.
- The Carlist Problem: Since 1868, the Carlist ranks had attracted major sectors opposed to the revolution. After the elections of 1872, where the Carlists lost half of their members, the tendency towards war, defended by General Díaz de Rada, was imposed. Thus began the Third Carlist War. Its solution would come with the monarchy of Alfonso XII.
- The Cantonal Uprising: Started in Cartagena, it would not be put down until the end of the Republic in January 1874. It was a severe crisis for federalism, while it strengthened the prestige of the generals who distinguished themselves in its pacification.