Understanding the Restoration Era in Spain: Key Events and Impacts
ITEM-5: The Scheme of the Restoration, Characteristics, and System Performance of Canovas
Introduction:
The Restoration of the Bourbon dynasty on the throne of Spain marked the end of the First Republic, which, shaken by the Third Carlist War, the Cuban insurrection of 1868, and the Cantonalist revolt, was incapable of organizing a stable political project. The new regime was organized by Antonio Canovas’ liberal monarchical system, which, although not democratic, had its foundations established and consolidated during the reign of Alfonso XII (1875-1885) and the regency of Maria Cristina (1885-1902).
The Constitution of 1876
In the early months of the Restoration, Canovas concentrated all powers. However, to legitimize the parliamentary monarchy, a constitution was required to regulate and ensure the new political regime. Thus, an election was called with universal male suffrage to form a constituent Cortes to draft and approve a new constitution.
In fact, the manipulation of elections by the Conservative government allowed for a constitution that favored their interests while incorporating some aspects of 1869, primarily regarding the recognition of rights and freedoms.
The 1876 Constitution provided that:
- The sovereignty was shared between the Courts and the Crown (Section 18). It was a modest beginning.
- The king was inviolable. The executive worked through the government, whose president was appointed and dismissed, and had legislative initiative, with veto power over Parliament. It was a modest beginning.
- The Courts were bicameral, with a Senate that guaranteed elitist control of the legislature by privileged minorities (Article 19). It was a modest beginning.
- It recognized the rights and freedoms of individuals, but their regulation was left to subsequent legislation, leaving ample room for interpretation by the government, which could also suspend them in exceptional circumstances (Article 13). It was a progressive principle.
- Catholicism was recognized as the official religion, under pressure from the Vatican and church hierarchies, but tolerance towards other religions was admitted. In return, the Church was allowed to exercise control over education and teaching, thus participating in shaping the values and mentality of the time (Article 11). It was a modest beginning.
This and other uncertainties, such as the vague recognition of rights and freedoms, allowed the constitution to accommodate the different political liberals, who were all part of the political game of Restoration, leaving out Democrats, Republicans, Chartists, and nationalists.
3. Turnismo and Electoral Fraud
The system devised by Antonio Canovas was based on the peaceful shift of the two dynastic parties. That is, the two political parties loyal to the Crown agreed on access to government without resorting to military uprisings. This avoided the danger of the monarchy being identified with one party and ensured the continuity of the regime by moving away from power anti-monarchy political trends.
The local bosses were a key part of the system, used by parties to ensure the delivery of the majority needed to govern, irrespective of the electorate. This involved vote buying or coercion.
The mechanism of turn was as follows: regularly, in an agreed manner, the king instructed the formation of a new government from the party that was to govern, as shown in the text. From the Ministry of Interior, lists of members who should be elected in each district were made, always reserving some seats for the dynastic opposition. All this is reflected in the text as the Ministry of Interior is tasked to manage minorities and majorities. … elections are made by the Minister of the Interior, and from that factory, minority votes also emerge… The government makes with the same zeal he put into the construction of the majority… The box is handed to the provincial governors to impose in the province and municipalities through the local chief. This manipulated voter registration, coerced votes, and if that was not enough, changed the records of the results, leading to electoral fraud.
The lists of members included members of the gentry and the aristocracy, forming an oligarchy that monopolized political-administrative positions and seats in the Cortes. In this way, they could control all the levers of power, exercised for the benefit of the ruling class they represented.
Voter fraud was a common practice of both turnante parties throughout the Restoration period, even after universal male suffrage was introduced in 1890. Only in the most important urban centers, where political opposition was stronger, did it become more difficult to control the caciques of universal male suffrage.
This system was strengthened because it favored political stability. By eliminating the opposition, it reduced the risk of radicalization, which would have altered the established social order and class interests: aristocracy and landowners, financial bourgeoisie, and the colonial army and Church. In fact, neither the middle classes nor the working classes felt represented by the system, distancing themselves from political affairs.
ITEM-6: Colonial War and Crisis of 1898
Introduction:
During the regency of Maria Cristina (1885-1902), as we read in the preamble to the Treaty of Paris… HM the Queen Regent of Spain… Spain experienced a deep crisis that triggered the independence wars in Cuba (1895-1898) and the Philippines (1896-1898). The origin of the conflict was the inadequate colonial policy pursued by the dynastic parties, which blocked economic and administrative reform, and U.S. expansionist interests. The loss of the last remnants of the empire created serious repercussions that went beyond military and economic levels and continued into the twentieth century.
1. The Colonial Wars:
Cuba, the world’s leading exporter of sugar and also a producer of coffee and tobacco, was exploited by Spain, which monopolized the colonial market to its advantage and against the interests of the islanders. This situation encouraged the birth of separatist sentiment among the Cuban planters, as political independence was seen as the only path to economic independence. Throughout the second half of the nineteenth century, the U.S. increased its interest in the island, being the largest recipient of sugar exports and investing capital in modernizing the sugar production process. Thus, it offered support to the sectors of independence, aiming to link the island to its economic market.
After the Zanjón Peace (1878), the repressive policy of the Spanish authorities towards demands for autonomy favored the outbreak of several insurrections between 1879 and 1885. It was not until 1895 that the final war of independence began, led by José Martí, who organized guerrillas, as we see in the image, causing serious damage to the Spanish army, which also suffered more casualties from epidemics and climate than from the war itself, as shown in the graph.
Neither attempts to pacify conducted by military Arsenio Martinez Campos nor the crudeness of the methods of his successor, Valeriano Weyler, who we see in the picture, aimed to exterminate the revolutionaries at the cost of compromising Cuban wealth, solved the conflict. In 1897, after the death of Canovas, the new government sent Sagasta Ramon Blanco, who declared independence and a political amnesty. However, these measures came too late, as the U.S. had already decided to intervene.
Almost simultaneously, a revolt erupted in the Philippines, an archipelago forgotten by the Spanish government, with its natural resources exploited and a significant presence of religious orders opposing independence movements. The uprising, led by José Rizal and followed by the Katipunan secret society, was severely repressed, culminating in the execution of their leader.
When negotiations allowed for the insurgency to be dominated in December 1897, the U.S. intervened, agreeing with the rebels to attack the Spanish fleet.
2. The U.S. Intervention
The U.S. military intervention must be understood in the context of its expansionist policy and economic interests, which were threatened by war. The U.S. government pressured Spain to quickly resolve the conflict and even proposed, in March 1898, the purchase of Cuba. Both this proposal and diplomatic mediation to prevent American intervention failed.
The U.S. pretext for declaring war against Spain was the accidental bombing of the American cruiser Maine, as we see in the picture, a battleship in Havana Bay, at anchor in Havana harbor. The Spanish government, supported by a bellicose patriotism campaign launched by the press, began a war for which it was unprepared, as reflected in the fragment written by Pi i Maragall, which captures the prevailing sentiment on this issue.
The superiority of U.S. forces led to two naval disasters for Spain. On one hand, the Cavite (Philippines) Pacific Fleet was destroyed. Shortly thereafter, the fleet in Santiago de Cuba was also destroyed, followed by the American landing in Puerto Rico.
The conflict ended in December 1898 with the Treaty of Paris, a peace treaty between Spain and the United States, as we see a fragment of it in the document, in which Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam were ceded to the United States. The cession of Puerto Rico and Guam appears in Article 2: “Spain cedes to the United States the island of Puerto Rico…”And the island of Guam…” And the assignment of the Philippines can be seen in Article 3: “Spain cedes to the United States the archipelago known as the Philippine Islands…” Cuba, although formally independent, came under American control. Cuba was independent but controlled by the USA, as reflected in the first article: “Spain relinquishes all claim of sovereignty over and title to Cuba…”
The loss of the Spanish empire was completed with the sale to Germany (1899) of the rest of the Marianas, the islands of the Carolinas, and Palau, confirming the colonial redistribution process being conducted by the great powers. Spain remained a small country with no international significance, whose vast empire and fabulous wealth were reduced to just a few enclaves in Africa.
3. The Impact of the Crisis of 1898
In Spain, economic losses altered finances, the Treasury, and prices, with price increases affecting the poorest sectors of society. They also endured the human toll of the conflict, as the affluent were freed from military service by payment in cash.
While it did not generate an immediate political crisis, the disaster contributed to the disintegration of the colonial regime of the Restoration.
Finally, the loss of empire caused a significant cultural crisis, evidenced by the Generation of ’98, and the emergence of a critical consciousness that, from an intellectual perspective, required a deep political, economic, and ideological regeneration of Spanish life. It questioned not only the foundations of the Restoration but even the very identity of Spain.
The loss of the remnants of colonial rule did not produce a deep economic crisis nor major political changes. First, despite the human and material losses caused by the war, the repatriation of capital at the end of the conflict provided an economic recovery to Spain, especially in industry. Second, no one took responsibility for the defeat, intensifying the distrust of the army against the civilian authorities, who were blamed for the disaster.
The crisis of values and questioning of the Restoration system had begun before 1898, but only in intellectual circles.
The current of thought that questioned the values and political system of the end of the century was Spanish Regenerationism. Its leading figure was Joaquin Costa, who characterized the political situation in Spain and denounced the lack of culture, the decline of the Spanish oligarchy, and backwardness. To overcome the crisis, it was necessary to mobilize the middle classes led by a leader (the iron surgeon).