First Republic in Spain (Meaning and Explanation)

We explain what the First Republic was in Spain. Also, its place in the Democratic Sexennium and its abrupt end.

The First Republic implemented profound reforms but lasted less than two years.

What was the First Republic in Spain?

The First Republic It was the government regime that was proclaimed in Spain on February 11, 1873, after the abdication of King Amadeo I. (from the House of Savoy). Its existence was brief because, before completing two years of its proclamation, A military pronouncement put an end to the republic and began the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy on December 29, 1874.

The First Republic receives this name because It was the first republican experience in Spanish history. The next republican experience, known as the Second Republic, took place between 1931 and 1939.

The First Republic was marked by political instability and It was the final stage of the Democratic Sexennium (1868-1874)a six-year period that began with the revolution of September 1868 (also called the “Glorious Revolution”) that dethroned Queen Elizabeth II, drafted a new Constitution, and established a democratic government with a king appointed by the Cortes (Amadeo I) . The parliamentary monarchy lasted until the king's abdication and the proclamation of the republic.

The Democratic Sexennium (1868-1874)

The stages of the Democratic Sexennium

The Democratic Sexennium was a six-year period in the history of Spain. It is usually divided into stages:

The “Glorious Revolution” of September 1868which overthrew Queen Isabel II of Spain and inaugurated the Democratic Sexennium.
The provisional governmentwho ruled between September 1868 and January 1871, under whose authority the Constituent Cortes drafted the Constitution of 1869 and named Amadeo of Savoy as king of a parliamentary monarchy.
The parliamentary monarchywhich began with the enthronement of Amadeo I on January 2, 1871 and ended with the abdication of the king amid a climate of political instability on February 11, 1873.
The First Republicproclaimed after the abdication of Amadeo I, on February 11, 1873, and completed after the Sagunto pronouncement of December 29, 1874, which restored the Bourbon monarchy.

The “Glorious Revolution” (1868)

The revolution triumphed thanks to the pact signed between the liberal opposition parties.

In the mid-19th century, in Spain there were at least four liberal-based parties that represented different tendencies: the Moderate Party, the Progressive Party, the Liberal Union and the Democratic Party.

The dictatorial practices of Ramón María Narváez and Luis González BravoModerate Party politicians who served as presidents of the Council of Ministers In the last years of the reign of Elizabeth II, they caused the unpopularity of the moderate regime and the queenwho had always supported them.

The economic crisis that began in 1866 increased the discontent of the population. Finally, the death of Narváez in April 1868 left the Moderate Party, which had held power in Spain in recent years, leaderless.

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Simultaneously, the death in 1867 of Leopoldo O'Donnell, founder of the Liberal Union party, led to a rapprochement between this party, now headed by General Francisco Serrano, and the Progressive Party, with the purpose of ending the reign of Isabel II. Furthermore, the progressives, led by General Juan Prim, and the Democrats (of the Democratic Party), supporters of universal suffrage, had signed the so-called Pact of Ostend, by which they committed to the objective of overthrowing Isabel II. In March 1868, the Liberal Union joined the pact.

Finally, the uprising broke out in September 1868. Initiated as a military statement in Cádiz by the unionist admiral Juan Bautista Topete, it was quickly joined by popular uprisings in various areas of the country. Elizabeth II fled to France. The revolution, which progressives called the “Glorious Revolution,” triumphed in Spain with great ease.

The provisional government (1868-1871)

The provisional government established by the “Glorious Revolution” promoted a new constitution.

When the “Glorious Revolution” occurred in Spain in 1868, a provisional government was established chaired by Serrano (of the Liberal Union), with General Prim (from the Progressive Party) in the Ministry of War. The cabinet was made up of unionists, progressives and democrats.

The new government called elections to the Constituent Cortes by universal suffrage. The progressives, who formed a coalition with the Liberal Union and the monarchical sectors of the Democratic Party (differentiated from the Republican sector), won in elections that were somewhat cleaner than normal at that time. In this way, they printed their ideology on the new constitution that was approved the following year.

The Constitution of 1869

The constitution drafted and approved in 1869 was the most radically liberal of all the Spanish constitutions of the 19th century. That is why it is usually called Democratic Constitution of 1869.

These are the main characteristics of the Constitution of 1869:

Affirms the principle of national sovereignty (sovereignty resides in the Spanish nation and not in the king).
Establishes universal suffrage Direct for men over twenty-five years of age.
Establishes monarchy (sometimes called “democratic monarchy”) as a form of government, with a serious limitation of the king's powers.
It recognizes that executive power resides in the king but remains in the hands of the Council of Ministers.
Deposits legislative power in bicameral Cortes. Both chambers (the Congress and the Senate) are elected by the electoral body.
Reserve judicial power to the Courts.
Includes a comprehensive bill of rights (for example, the rights of assembly and association are recognized for the first time).
Provides freedom of religious worship.

The democratic monarchy: Amadeo I (1871-1873)

Amadeus of Savoy belonged to a dynasty that had a reputation for being liberal.

After the Constitution of 1869 was approved, which established the monarchy as a form of governmentGeneral Serrano was named regent and General Prim became president of a new cabinet.

The option of a Bourbon king was then discarded in favor of the memory of the reign of Elizabeth II and the search for a suitable candidate for the crown began among the European royal families. Finally, the Cortes elected Amadeo of Savoy as the new king.son of Victor Emmanuel II, king of the newly unified Italy and belonging to a dynasty with a reputation for being liberal.

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On the same day of Amadeo's arrival in Spain, December 30, 1870, General Prim was assassinated. The progressive general was the new king's main support, so his absence weakened the new monarch's position.

Amadeo I began his reign on January 2, 1871, when he swore by the Constitution, and immediately encountered a wide rejection front. In opposition to the king there were various groups facing each other:

The Carliststraditionalist and anti-liberal sectors active in the Basque Country and Navarra.
The Alfonsinossupporters of the return of the Bourbons in the figure of Alfonso, son of Isabel II.
The Republicansa group from the Democratic Party that demanded more radical political, economic and social reforms and stood out for its strong anticlericalism.

Meanwhile, the alliance formed by unionists, progressives and democrats, which had approved the Constitution and brought Amadeo I to the throne, began to crack. The two years that Amadeo I's reign lasted were characterized by enormous political instability, with increasingly pronounced differences between the parties that had participated in the 1868 revolution.

Powerless in the face of the situation, Amadeo I abdicated on February 11, 1873 and returned to Italy. With no other alternative, it became unthinkable to start a new search for a king among the European dynasties, so The Cortes proclaimed the Republic that same day.

The proclamation of the First Republic

The Republic was proclaimed by the Cortes, in which there was not a majority of republicans. Republican ideas had little social support and were opposed by the most powerful social groups in the country.: the upper bourgeoisie, the landowners, the high command of the army and the ecclesiastical hierarchy.

The few Spanish republicans belonged to the urban middle classes, while the working classes chose to give their support to the incipient anarchist labor movement. The weakness of the republican regime caused enormous political instability. Four presidents of the Republic succeeded one another in the short period of one year: Estanislao Figueras, Francisco Pi y Margall, Nicolás Salmerón and Emilio Castelar.

In this context of instability, Republican governments undertook a series of radical reforms which, in some cases, turned against the republican regime itself. These were the main measures adopted:

The elimination of the consumption tax. The abolition of this indirect tax, demanded by the popular classes, worsened the Treasury deficit.
The elimination of the fifths (compulsory military service). This measure, also popular, led to the weakening of the republican State in the face of the Carlist insurrection.
Lowering the voting age at 21 years old.
The separation of Church and State. The State stopped subsidizing the Church.
The regulation of child labor. It was prohibited to employ children under ten years of age in factories and mines.
The abolition of slavery in Cuba and Puerto Rico.
The constitutional project to establish a federal Republic.

The challenges to the First Republic

The reformist program of the First Republic was attempted to be carried out in a totally adverse context. The Republican governments had to face a fourfold war challenge:

The new Carlist civil war. Carlos VII, grandson of Carlos María Isidro de Borbón, led a new Carlist insurrection in the Basque Country and Navarre. Taking advantage of the general chaos, the Carlists (who had already carried out insurrections since 1833) came to establish a government in Estella, Navarra, in 1873.
The cantonal uprisings. The most extreme federal republicans began to proclaim cantons (that is, small, almost independent regional states) in Valencia, Murcia and Andalusia, which represented an uprising against the republican government in Madrid. The army managed to suppress the insurrection. The resistance of canton of Cartagena, in Murcia, made it the symbol of this movement, in which republican-federal and anarchist ideas intermingled. The canton of Cartagena finally surrendered in January 1874.
The Cuban War. In 1868, an anticolonial insurrection began on the Caribbean island that led to what Cubans call the “Long War” or “Big War.” Only ten years after its beginning, the Spanish authorities achieved the capitulation of the insurgents with the signing of the Peace of Zanjón in 1878.
The Alfonsine military conspiracies. Among the commanders of the Spanish army, the idea of monarchical restoration and the return of the Bourbons began to prevail in the figure of Isabel II's son, Alfonso. Soon the conspiracies for a military pronouncement began.

The coup of General Pavía and the road to the Restoration

The Pavia coup established a dictatorship that paved the way for the Bourbon Restoration.

On January 3, 1874, General Manuel Pavía led a military coup. The Republican Cortes were dissolved and a government presided over by General Serrano was established, which suspended the Constitution and the rights and freedoms that had been enshrined by the Republic.

The republican regime was nominally maintained for another year, but The Serrano dictatorship was a simple step towards the restoration of the Bourbons, which the Alfonsinos had been planning with their leader, Antonio Cánovas del Castillo.

The restoration was precipitated by a military coup led by General Arsenio Martínez Campos on December 29, 1874. Isabel II's son was proclaimed king of Spain with the name Alfonso XII. Thus ended the experience of the First Republic and began the Restoration period.

References

Carr, R. et al. (2022). Spain. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/
Martí Gilabert, F. (2017). The First Spanish Republic (1873-1874). Rialp.
Vilches, J. (2023). The First Spanish Republic (1873-1874). From utopia to chaos. Espasa.
Santamarta, J. (2022). This was not in my First Republic history book. Lunch