19th Century Spain: Instability, Restoration, and Decline
19th Century Liberal Revolution in Spain
The 19th-century liberal revolution was an unstable process in Spain. The Spanish liberal character was marked by the army’s significant power in politics, with figures like Espartero and Serrano. Political parties frequently used the army for military uprisings and revolts to gain power. The Moderates and Progressives were exclusivist, ensuring power for a new liberal social elite whose primary concern was property rather than liberty. Land laborers and workers
Read MoreCatalan Language: Origins and Linguistic Evolution
Pre-Roman and Roman Influences
- Substrate: Pre-Roman linguistic elements that influenced Latin and were conserved in Catalan.
- Superstrate: Linguistic elements incorporated into the Catalan language after the Roman period.
- Adstrate: Influence of two or more languages due to border contact.
Indo-European Peoples
Indo-European peoples who spoke different languages:
- Sorotaptes: Words like “sostre” (ceiling), “clenxa” (hair parting), “galta” (cheek).
- Celts: “Balma” (cave), “banya” (horn), “blat” (wheat), “camÔ
Ferdinand VII’s Reign and the Revolutionary Six Years in Spain
The Reign of Ferdinand VII
The Absolutist Six Years (1814-1820)
A group of deputies delivered to the king a document called the Manifesto of the Persians, which defended absolutism and attacked the legislation of the Cortes of Cadiz. Shortly after, the king overrode the Constitution and laws of the Court of Cadiz and threatened anyone who tried to restore them. The liberal revolution had been stopped.
The Liberal Triennium and the Intervention of the Holy Alliance (1820-1823)
The poor state of public
Read MoreSpanish Political Evolution: 19th Century Constitutions & Ideologies
Constitution of 1812
- National sovereignty
- Separation of powers
- Constitutional monarchy
- Leading rights recognized
- Official recognition of the Catholic religion
Constitution of 1837
- National sovereignty
- *Consagrates* the division of powers: executive, legislative, and judiciary
- Catholicism
- Censitary suffrage
- The National Militia
Constitution of 1869
- Constitutional monarchy
- National sovereignty
- Universal male suffrage
- Broad recognition of rights
- Separation of powers
- Freedom of religion
Constitution of 1845
- The tendency
Spain’s Transformation: From Isolation to Modernization
Spain’s Path to International Integration
Since then, Spain gradually integrated into various international agencies: the World Health Organization, UNESCO, and the International Labour Organization. More decisive still were the two agreements in 1953:
- Agreements with the United States: These involved mutual defense and military assistance, leading to the installation of four military bases. Spain received economic aid in exchange.
- The new Concordat with the Vatican.
The year 1955 marked the end of
Read MoreSpain’s Economic Boom and Social Transformation in the 1960s
International Context: The Prosperity of the Sixties
In the 1960s, overcoming the shortcomings of the postwar era, a period of prosperity known as the “economic miracle” occurred. Japan acted as an economic locomotive, as did Germany in Europe. These years were a time of great transformations in culture and mentality, the era of the Beatles, hippies, miniskirts, and the French May ’68. Spain could not live outside these moments, despite the regime.
Stabilization and Economic Growth
If Spain wanted
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