The Restoration Era in Spain: Politics and Colonial Impact
Item 11: The Restoration of Canovas System and Constitution 1873
Time of parties, regionalism, and nationalism. Most politicians accepted the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy under Alfonso XII.
In December 1874, G. Martinez Campos de Sagunto proclaimed Alfonso XII King of Spain. The Sandhurst Manifesto outlined the ideological principles of the new regime. Prime Minister Canovas created bipartisanship with the Conservative Party (Canovas) and the Liberal Party (Sagasta). This policy shift included caciquismo, typecasting, and rigging. The Constitution of 1876 terminated the Carlist War and established the Basque Country’s autonomous system, signed with the Peace of Zanjon.
Conservative government from 1875 to 1881 limited freedoms and liberties. From 1881 to 1883, a Liberal government was in place, and in 1885, Alfonso XII died. The regency of liberal Maria Christina of Austria lasted from 1886 to 1890, during which there were 90 terrorist attacks. Canovas was murdered in 1898.
The colonial question involved Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines.
Republican opposition to the system (Salmeron) and the labor movement (1881 Federation of Workers in the Spanish Region FTRE, 879 Socialist Workers Party, 1888 Indicato Español, and the UGT Union General de Trabajadores) emerged. Regionalist and nationalist movements in 1892 included the Coixet Union Bases de Manresa, which proclaimed the sovereignty of the Cortes of Catalonia. Vasquismo was represented by Sabino Arana, who founded the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) in 1895, along with Galician nationalism.
Colonial Empire Settlement: The loss of Cuba and the Philippines in 1898 marked the end of the Spanish colonial empire. The impact of the U.S. war resulted in the loss of Cuba and the Philippines.
In 1895, the Cuban revolutionary José Martí, along with Máximo Gómez and Antonio Maceo, led a revolt. Spain sent G. Martinez Campos, who resigned, and was replaced by G. Weyler without negotiations. In 1897, a new strategy was negotiated.
U.S. intervention was driven by economic interests, leading to the bombing of the U.S. battleship Maine in 1898, which declared war on Spain in the Hispano-American War (War of 100 Days).
The Philippine Independence Revolution broke out in 1896.
The war ended with Spain’s capitulation in August 1898. Spain signed the Treaty of Paris, under which the United States imposed conditions: Spain lost Cuba and ceded Puerto Rico to the United States, while Guam and the Philippines were ceded to the U.S. Spain retained only the Marianas, the Carolines, and Palau, which were sold to Germany.
Spain faced a loss of soldiers due to the unjust system of the fifth claista.
Consequences: The colonial economic loss included a loss of markets and capital, leading to the repatriation of American policies. Political clumsiness was criticized, and Regenerationism resurfaced as an alternative political system. A national consciousness crisis emerged, generating the ’98 generation.
Society and culture from 1875 to 1902 reflected a dual society: an agricultural interior and a few industrialized areas, particularly in Madrid.
The agricultural environment consisted of an agrarian oligarchy, lower middle class, middle owners, tenants, and the proletariat laborers.
The urban environment included steel production in the Basque Country and textile industries in Catalonia. The middle class feared climate influences and the church’s impact on working-class craftsmen and workers.
Education during the sexenio promoted mentalidad and academic freedom, but censorship was established after the restoration. Giner de los Rios founded the Free Institution of Education in 1876 (private, secular schools) that inherited the tenets of Krausismo. Most teaching was dominated by the Catholic Church, with only 50 schools in Spain.
There was a backwardness in science and research, reflecting a traditional and regressive mentality.