Spain’s Revolutionary Six-Year Period: 1868-1874
The revolutionary six-year period is a stage of further political instability in Spain in the nineteenth century, which takes a series of important events. In September 1868, the outbreak of the so-called “Glorious Revolution”, another of the military coups of the time, which is reached by exhaustion and the unpopularity of the moderates and the monarchy of Isabel II, for the economic and industrial crisis, the crisis of livelihoods, and Isabel II’s alliance with the moderates. This impairment was present in the Ostend Pact. Popular support came when he organized local and provincial boards, and volunteers called “Libertad”. The “Glorious Revolution” begins with a military uprising in Cadiz, and Prim was rising up on Malaga, Almeria, and Cartagena. In many cities, Juntas were established. The slogans were universal suffrage, the abolition of the fifth, and elections to the Cortes Constituyentes. When the few troops loyal to the government were defeated on the bridge of Alcolea, the government had to resign. Elizabeth II left for exile in France on September 29, 1868. During the first weeks, power rested with the Junta. But, later, signatories of the Pact of Ostend formed a provisional government, with Prim and Serrano, who launched a reform program (dissolving the boards, appointing new councils and deputies, etc.). It unleashed a controversy between supporters of the monarchy and the republic. The results were mostly supporters of the democratic monarchy, and supporters of the Republic made up the Federal Republican Party. The courts made the 1869 Constitution, including the regulation of fundamental rights and civil liberties, and recognition of national sovereignty. The monarchy was established as a form of state, and a radical division of powers was established. The constitution approved the freedom of worship. The center of power lay in Parliament, formed by the Congress of Deputies elected by universal suffrage, and the Senate by popular vote. The constitution included a commitment to regulate the situation of overseas colonies, as well as the provincial and municipal governments, the Treasury, and the Army. After the constitution was approved, Serrano was elected regent, and Prim went on to run the government. Its purpose was to stabilize the system, undertake the legislative development of the Constitution, and find a candidate for the throne of Spain. The two major candidates were the Prussian, Leopold, which led to the Franco-Prussian War, and Amadeo. The reign of Amadeo I meant the failure of the democratic monarchy in Spain, as he never managed to become popular, and also due to the absence of Prim (assassinated by an anarchist), who had brought him to Spain. It was disrupted by political, social, and even a Carlist insurrection. Finally, the disintegration of the coalition government led to the abdication of the King, and his return to Italy. That day, the Senate and the Congress, gathered in the National Assembly, proclaimed the Republic as a form of government.
The First Spanish Republic: 1873-1874
The first president of the First Republic (1873-1874) was Figueras, one of the more moderate leaders of republicanism. His presidency was marked by the outbreak of riots everywhere, the federal state was bankrupt, and the precarious situation of the agrarian sector. Republicans were divided between unionists and federalists on the one hand, and between conservative and radical Republicans on the other. Figueras left office in Spain and was replaced by Francisco Pi y Margall, a lover of federalism. Pi took command, and the federal republic was proclaimed. These joined the Third Carlist War, with recognition as king of D. Carlos VII. The third president, Nicolás Salmerón y Alonso, also a supporter of federalism, could not cope with the domestic situation, now exacerbated by a revolt that threatened Cuba’s independence from Spain. The Republic sank when Castelar came to power. He reinforced the power of the state, called the Army, and applied the death penalty. During the short life of the Republic, a Constitution was written in 1873 that never took effect, even if processing was completed. It confirmed the separation of powers and began a lengthy statement of rights. The Republic lurched to the right, and Castelar ruled authoritatively, supporting the most conservatives. Figueras, Pi, and Salmeron wanted to return to government control and give in to the left, so on January 3, 1874, the Courts opened, and the Castelar Government was defeated by 120 votes to 100. To prevent the formation of a center-left government, Pavia forcibly dissolved the Assembly. It scarcely had strength, and power passed to a coalition of unionists and progressives under Serrano’s command, which suspended the 1869 Constitution, dissolved the Cortes, and tried to stabilize a conservative republican regime.
The Bourbon Restoration
The Bourbon restoration was accomplished in 1874, when Martinez Campos at Sagunto proclaimed King Alfonso XII of Spain. Previously, Elizabeth II had abdicated in favor of her son, and on December 1, 1874, Prince Alfonso had signed the Manifesto of Sandhurst, drafted by Canovas, who defended the social order but would ensure the functioning of the liberal political system.