Reign of Isabel II (Spain)

We explain what the reign of Isabel II in Spain was like. Also, the Carlist war and the liberal governments.

What was the reign of Isabel II in Spain like?

The reign of Isabel II in Spain It began in 1833, when his father, King Ferdinand VII, died.. Elizabeth II acceded to the throne as a minor, and During the first years of his reign, his mother, María Cristina de Borbón (1833-1840), and General Baldomero Espartero (1840-1843) were regents.

The reign of Elizabeth II had several stages. It began with a civil war against the Carlists (supporters of the claimant to the throne Carlos María Isidro, brother of Fernando VII) and with the construction of a liberal State during the period of the regencies.

During the reign of Elizabeth II, liberals divided into moderates and progressives. The Liberal Union was also born in these years. These political trends They alternated in government under the monarchical regime, although during the coming of age of Elizabeth II the moderates predominated. In 1868a revolution against the moderate government It began the Democratic Sexennium (1868-1874) and forced the queen into exile.

See also: Spanish monarchy

The succession problem and the first Carlist war (1833-1839)

The succession to the throne after the death of Ferdinand VII

In October 1830, Isabel de Borbón, daughter of Fernando VII, was born. The king thus managed to have children with his fourth wife, María Cristina de Borbón. A few months before the birth, the king approved the Pragmatic Sanction by which the Salic Law of 1713, which excluded women from the throne, was abolished.

Carlos María Isidro, brother of Fernando VII and until that moment his successor, saw his path to the throne closed. Charles did not accept his niece's rights to the throne.

After learning of the death of Ferdinand VII in September 1833, Armed uprisings began in favor of the pretender Carlos. Began thus a long civil war, known as the first Carlist war, which lasted seven years.

The succession conflict also hid a confrontation between political factions:

• On the Elizabethan side The high hierarchies of the army, the Church and the State came together, and they were joined by the liberals, who saw in the defense of Isabel's dynastic rights the possibility of the triumph of their ideals.
• On the Carlist side All those who opposed the liberal revolution were grouped together: small rural nobles, part of the lower clergy and many peasants from certain areas of the country, greatly influenced by the sermons of their parish priests and for whom liberalism would cause an increase in taxes. These groups identified their interests with the ideals of absolutism that Carlos defended. The so-called “apostolics”, the most intransigent absolutists, were also grouped on this side.

The first Carlist war

The movement that supported the rights of Carlos de Borbón received the name “Carlism” and had a strong influence in Navarra, the Basque Country, the area north of the Ebro and the Maestrazgo (in the provinces of Castellón and Teruel). This geographical distribution in turn overlapped with a conflict between the countryside and the city, since the cities of Bilbao, Pamplona and San Sebastián were liberal throughout the entire conflict.

The ideological-political program of Carlism could be summarized in the motto “God, Country, Fueros, King”. Some elements of his political program were:

• Radical opposition to liberal reforms
• Defense of absolute monarchy
• Catholic traditionalism and defense of the interests of the Church
• Defense of the Basque-Navarrean charters, threatened by the egalitarian and centralist reforms of the liberals:
  • Own institutions of self-government and justice
  • Tax exemptions
  • Fifth Exemptions (Military Recruitment)

The first Carlist war had two great protagonists: the Carlist Tomás de Zumalacárregui, who died in the siege of Bilbao in 1835, and the liberal Baldomero Espartero. After a few first years of uncertain results, from 1837 onwards the Carlist defeats were continuous and Carlos ended up fleeing to France.

The war ended with the so-called Agreement or Embrace of Vergara (1839). This agreement was signed by Espartero and Rafael Maroto, main Carlist leader after the death of Zumalacárregui. In the agreement, the military ranks of those who had fought in the Carlist army were recognized and an ambiguous promise of respect for the Basque-Navarrean jurisdiction was made. In reality, some of the provincial privileges were maintained and others were eliminated.

See also: Restoration Crisis

The creation of the liberal State: the regencies of María Cristina y Espartero (1833-1843)

The regency of María Cristina and the Royal Statute

Given the minority of Isabel II, her mother, María Cristina de Borbón, assumed the regency to the death of Fernando VII in 1833. Although the regent did not identify with liberal ideology, liberal politicians were the only force capable of keeping her on the throne. Maria Cristina called Francisco Martínez de la Rosa, a moderate liberal, to form a government that would confront the Carlist insurrection.

Martinez de la Rosa undertook a series of moderate reforms. Among them, the Royal Statute stood out in 1834. The Royal Statute was a letter awardedgranted by the will of the regent (and not emanating from national sovereignty), in which some reforms were granted:

Bicameral Courts were established consisting of:

• The Chamber of Heroesmade up of the “Grands of Spain” and others appointed for life by the monarch.
• The Chamber of Attorneyselected through very restricted census suffrage (only men over thirty years of age who had an income greater than twelve thousand reales per year had the right to vote).

These cameras had very limited functions. The monarch maintained important powers:

• He could call and suspend Cortes whenever he wanted.
• Any law needed, in addition to the approval of the Chambers, the consent of the king (right of veto).

The division of the liberals

In a context of civil war against the Carlists, the insufficiency of Martínez de la Rosa's reforms led to Liberals will end up dividing into two groups: moderates and progressives..

What did progressive liberals defend?

The progressive liberals, who were the old “exalted” or “twenty-year-old” of the Liberal Triennium (1820-1823), maintained the following ideology until 1868:

• Limitation of the power of the Crown
• The expansion of the system of freedoms
• The defense of radical reforms, such as the confiscation of ecclesiastical assets and city councils
• The expansion of the electoral body (defense of a broader census vote)
• The popular election of mayors and councilors in the town councils
• Economic liberalism and reduction of tariff protection
• The constitution of an armed body, the National Militia, as guarantor of freedoms.

The progressives They concentrated their social support on the urban middle classes: artisans, shopkeepers, employees. Its main leaders were Baldomero Espartero, Juan Álvarez Mendizábal, Pascual Madoz, Salustiano Olózaga and Juan Prim.

Throughout the regency of María Cristina and the reign of Elizabeth II, the Progressives were only in power for brief periods: 1835-1843 and 1854-1856. The best embodiment of his program was the Constitution of 1837.

Around 1849 they suffered a split that gave birth to the Democratic Party.. This defended universal suffrage, state social assistance and broad freedom of association.

What did moderate liberals defend?

The moderate liberals, former “doceañistas” in the Liberal Triennium, proposed a much more conservative program:

• A strong authority, with the strengthening of the king's power and the restriction of freedoms
• The rejection of reforms that called into question their properties (they saw the “excess” of freedom as a danger, since they considered that it could be used by the popular classes). However, after the confiscations carried out by the progressives, they did not try to return their properties to the clergy or the city councils.
• Restricted census suffrage
• The designation of town councils by the central government
• The suppression of the National Militia.

This program was specified in the Constitution of 1845, the Law of City Councils of 1845 and the Electoral Law of 1846.

The social support of the moderates was in the upper classes of the country: landowners, large industrialists, financial and commercial bourgeoisie. Its main leaders were Francisco Martínez de la Rosa, the General Ramón María Narváez and Alejandro Mon.

The Constitution of 1837

In the context of the civil war, took place in 1836 the “Sergeant of the Farm”. The sergeants of the Royal Guard forced the queen regent, who was resting in the palace of La Granja (in Segovia), to suspend the Royal Statute and restore the Constitution of 1812.

María Cristina was forced to call a progressive governmentwith Mendizábal in the Ministry of Finance. Since the Constitution of 1812 was unacceptable to the moderates, a process of constitutional reform began who sought compromise with the moderates through a series of concessions.

The new constitutional text had the following characteristics:

• The principle of national sovereignty was established.
• The State was organized following the division of powers:
  • Bicameral courts: Congress of Deputies and Senate. All laws had to be approved by both houses. The Senate was appointed by the king, after the election of a short list by the electoral body.
  • Executive power rested with the king. Other powers of the monarch were:
    • The legislative initiative.
    • He unlimited veto.
    • The appointment of senators and ministers. The ministers had to achieve “double trust” (in addition to being appointed by the king, they had to be accepted by the Cortes).
    • In case of disagreement, the king could adopt the dissolution of the Cortes.
• Different individual rights and freedom of the press were included.
• Other religions were not prohibited. The State was committed to subsidizing the clergy that had been expropriated with the confiscations.

Furthermore, in 1837 an electoral law was approved that established male census voting. They had the right to vote:

• The largest taxpayers (minimum direct tax rate)
• Men of a certain intellectual level: members of the royal academies, public education professors, doctors, graduates, parish priests.

In total, there were about 240,000 men over 25 years old. Still, electoral fraud was the norm.

The fall of María Cristina and the failure of the Espartero regency

María Cristina's opposition to the Town Hall Law of 1840 (which sought to establish the election of mayors and councilors), linked to various problems linked to the private life of María Cristina, they forced her to resign and to leave the country. In his absence A new regent was appointed: General Espartero (1840-1843).

During the short regency of Espartero, the confiscation of ecclesiastical assets accelerated and the Basque and Navarrese privileges were cut..

The signing of a free trade trade agreement with England sparked large protests in Barcelonawhose cotton industry was harmed. The protests were harshly repressed, and the bombing of the city led to Espartero losing his popularity, even among progressives.

Finally, a military uprising organized by moderates, joined by some progressives, precipitated the end of the Espartero regency. The new authorities accelerated the coronation of Isabel IIeven though he was only fourteen years old.

The effective reign of Elizabeth II

The moderate decade (1843-1854)

Elizabeth II acceded to the throne in November 1843due to an early age of majority. From the beginning showed his preference for moderates and left the Progressive Party out of the political game. Thus began a long period of moderate predominance.

The progressives opted in some cases for the retreat (they refused to participate in electoral consultations that were rigged) and in other cases by the preparation of military pronouncements, supported by popular insurrections.

In May 1844, a cabinet was formed, chaired by General Ramón María Narváez.the most prominent figure of the moderates. The main measures adopted during the moderate decade were:

• The creation in 1844 of the Civil Guardarmed force in charge of enforcing the law, mainly in rural areas. As a complementary measure, the National Militia was suppressed.
• The enactment of the Law of Town Councils of 1845which reinforced centralism by reserving the appointment of mayors to the government.
• The reform of the tax system in 1845, prepared by Alejandro Mon. A new, more rational, effective and modern tax system was established, which put an end to the complicated tax system of the Old Regime.
• The Electoral Law of 1846which set up an oligarchic regime. A very restricted suffrage was established, which limited the electoral body to 97,000 men over 25 years of age, which represented 0.8% of the total population.
• The Concordat of 1851an agreement with the Holy See by which the Pope recognized Elizabeth II as queen and accepted the loss of the ecclesiastical assets that had been confiscated. In exchange, the Spanish State agreed to subsidize the Church, give it control of education and entrust it with censorship work.
• The Constitution of 1845, of a moderate nature, which differed from the Constitution of 1837 in some aspects:
  • The shared sovereignty of the king and the Corteswhich took shape in a legislative power shared by both institutions and in the dominance of the Crown in the political process.
  • The confessional nature of the Stateby which the Catholic religion was declared the religion of the Spanish nation.
  • The reduction of individual rightsespecially freedom of expression.

The Progressive Biennium (1854-1856)

Narváez's power became increasingly dictatorial and caused growing discontent that led to a military pronouncement led by General Leopoldo O'Donnell in Vicálvaro. The movement became radicalized when the rebels published the Manzanares Manifesto, which allowed them to gain broad popular support and encouraged other generals to join the rebellion.

The triumph of the uprising brought about the end of the moderate decade and the formation of a government chaired by the progressive Baldomero Espartero. On the other hand, General O'Donnell created a new party, the Liberal Unionwhich sought to cover a center space between moderates and progressives, although it governed alongside the latter at the beginning of the Progressive Biennium.

During this short period The following measures stood out:

• The general confiscation of Madoz in 1855, that culminated the confiscation process with its extension to the assets of the municipalities.
• The convocation of Constituent Corteswho began the development of a new constitution, more progressive than that of 1845, which was never applied.
• The economic modernization of the countrywith measures such as the Railway Law of 1855.

The return of the moderates and the government of the Liberal Union (1856-1863)

The growing social unrest caused the rupture between Espartero (progressive) and O'Donnell (leader of the Liberal Union). O'Donnel was appointed Prime Minister in July 1856 and began a process of reviewing the work of the Progressive Biennium that led to the return of Narváez and the moderates to power in October 1856.

After a two-year period of moderate rule (1856-1858), O'Donnell and the Liberal Union returned to power in 1858. This era was marked by economic euphoria (which included the railroad “boom”) and foreign interventionism.: the war in Morocco (1859-1860), the failed attempt to recover Santo Domingo, the expedition to Mexico or the war against Peru and Chile. These military activities did not give the practical results that were expected.

The last stage of the moderates and the exile of Isabel II (1863-1868)

Narváez's return to power in 1863 marked the beginning of the terminal period of the Moderate Party.. The political instability and authoritarian orientation of the moderate governments coincided with a period in which the economic boom came to an end, especially after the economic crisis of 1866.

Attempts at insurrection, such as the San Gil mutiny in Madrid in 1866, were harshly repressed. Narváez's growing authoritarianism led to the signing of the Ostend Pact: unionists, progressives and republicans allied to overthrow Isabel II and end the moderate regime. This pact finally led to the “Glorious Revolution” of 1868 that forced Isabel II into exile and inaugurated the Democratic Sexennium (1868-1874).

References

• Carr, R. et al. (2022). Spain. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/
• Castells, I. & Moliner, A. (2000). Crisis of the Old Regime and Liberal Revolution in Spain (1789-1845). Ariel.
• Comellas, J.L. (2020). Elizabeth II. A queen and a reign. Ariel.
• Moral Roncal, AM (2012). The Carlist Wars. Flint.