Construction and Consolidation of the Liberal State (1834-1874) PDF

**[Construction and consolidation of the Liberal State (1834-1874)]** Spain changed from moderate liberalism to democratic liberalism and experienced several political revolts in the middle of the 19^th^ century. These included the Carlist Wars, military revolts and demands for greater democracy/fr...

**[Construction and consolidation of the Liberal State (1834-1874)]** Spain changed from moderate liberalism to democratic liberalism and experienced several political revolts in the middle of the 19^th^ century. These included the Carlist Wars, military revolts and demands for greater democracy/freedom and it even became a republic. During this period a lot of changes happened: - Demography: population increased thanks to advances in medicine, nutrition and hygiene - Economy: measures were made in agriculture to change how property was distributed, and the industrialization happened - Society: the traditional estates system stopped existing, and the bourgeoisie and proletariats were developing. - Culture: there was freedom of expression that to liberalism. Newspapers, cultural centers and schools increased, reducing illiteracy. **[Triumph of Liberalism: Moderates, Progressives & Economic Laws]** [The period of regencies] When Fernando VII died in 1833 the crown was given to her daughter who was very young, as a result Spain had two regents: María Cristina and General Espartero. This period was between 1833 and 1843, and the foundation of the new liberal regime was laid. During María Cristina's regency (1833-1840) there were different ideologies in Spain. With the First Carlist War, a Conservative Government was stablished by Cea Bermúdez, but the liberalist and the army were unhappy and Martinez de la Rosa, who was a moderate, came to power while a new constitution was being written. Then, Mendizabal (progressive) reached power developing liberal reforms. However, the moderates protested and Isturiz was appointed President of the state. Lastly, thanks to the progressive conspiracy, Calatrava became Prime Minister with Mendizabal as Minister of Economy. The most important measure made in María Cristina's regency was the "desamortización", an **economic legislation that confiscated land and properties of the church so that they became public property, the objective was to use the money for the Carlist wars and to enrich the nation, Catholicism saw liberalism as enemies, and the Constitution of 1837 written by the progressive parliament and based in liberal principals: division of power, national sovereignty and citizen's rights. In the election of 1837, the moderates won, and they wrote the Law of Municipalities. In 1840 María Cristina renounced and left Spain. General Baldomero Espartero replaced her.** **In addition, when Fernando VII died there were two possible heirs: his brother the Infante Don Carlos and his daughter Isabel. Both represented two different political options: absolutism (Carlos) and moderate liberalism (Isabel). This started the First Carlist War (1833-1840) that Isabel's supporters won and ended with the Embrace of Vergara where Liberals represented by Espartero had to respect the Fueros and absolutists under General Maroto had to accept Isabel II as queen.** **After the Carlist War people believed that Espartero (1840-1843) would be able to guarantee the liberties established by the 1837 Constitution, as a result he became the Regent. He became the guardian of Isabel, he paid attention to the reorganization of the administration, taxes and finances and the creation of the National Mility. He also carried out a new ecclesiastical confiscation (desamortizaciones) and soon became a dictator and tried breaking the Fueros making a Law of Packs with Navarra and the Lae of 29^th^ October 1814 to try to reduce their power in Vizcaya, but it didn't work and in 1843 there was and uprising and Espartero was exiled to London** **[The reign of Isabel II (1843-1868)]** **Isabel II was made queen at 13 years old. A constitutional monarchy was established, and the absolutism of the Old Regime began disappearing because of the separation of powers. Although Spain was becoming liberalist, the monarchy still maintained a large portion of power: the courts had the judicial power, Isabel the executive power and the legislative power was shared with the parliament.** There were two different types of liberalism represented by different ideologies: the Moderate Party (moderates) and the Progressive Party (Progressives). They had different ideas on sovereignty, suffrage and religion. During Isabel's reign different measures were taken: division of Spain into provinces, establishment of the Civil Guard and the creation of the Ministry of Public Works. In her reign there were three phases: The "Moderate Decade" (1844-54), the Government was very conservative, it was based on the Constitution of 1845 which was approved by moderate parliament favored by the Queen and with Narvaez as President. The Constitution of 1873 and 1845 contained two basic characteristics of the liberal system: sovereignty wasn't only for the monarch, inequality before the law of the society divided into estates was stopped and the citizens' rights were recognized. A central financial system was created after the Bank of Spain was established in 1847, a new protective tax system was created for the Basque provinces, the main income were taxes on land; the national debt was finally fixed. The progressives were marginalized, and the Democratic Party was suppressed, a successful coup d'état led to the Bienio Progresista, and at the same time The Second Carlist War took place (1846-49), mainly in Catalonia. The Progressive Biennium began in 1854, when a group of progressive centrists took power by staging a coup d'état known as the "Vicalvarda". The Constitution of 1856 ("Non-nata") was written and it was progressive by it wasn't accepted. In economy a second Disentailment happened by Madoz's hand where common and waste lands, lands of the military order and the churches' land were sold to private owners. Industrial development and the building of railways was promoted and attempts at liberalization were made but the moderated took power again. During the crisis of moderatism (1856-68), the opposition was excluded from Parliament and the military, politicians and students were repressed. As a result, a coup d'état was planned abroad; progressives, democrats, republicans and unionists (led by O'Donnell) signed the Pact of Ostend (1866) where it was hoped that a workable consensus was achieved through compromise and economic development. O'Donnell governed during the railway expansion and the economic development of the 1850s; he stressed "road-building" a need coastal installations and development of the navy. In September 1868 a revolt started in Cadiz and the Revolution of 1868 started. Where Isabel II was exiled to France. **[The revolutionary Democratic Sexennium: democratic liberalism]** Between 1868 and 1874 Spain had a democratic liberal regime, but there was a lot of conflict: The Revolution of 1868, based on the Pact of Ostend, progressive General Juan Prim and General Serrano organized the Revolution of 1868 (the Glorious Revolution). Isabel II was exiled and the Revolutionary Sexino began. Politics were democratized and in 1869 a new Constitution was approved: national sovereignty, universal manhood suffrage, freedom of religion and extending the declaration of rights; in addition, monetary union was achieved with the creation of the peseta. The democratic monarchy under Amadeo I (1871-1873) was established with the Constitution of 1869, but they didn't want a Bourbon, so they selected Amadeo of Savoy, and he was supported by Prim. His reign was short and had a lot of instability; Prim was assassinated the day Amadeo arrived at Spain. He abdicated after a short time and the parliament declared the First Republic. During the 11 months of the First Republic (1873-1874) there were four presidents: Figueras, Pi y Margall, Salmerón and Castelar. None could fix the disagreement of the republicans about the quantity of federalism, the Third Carlist War (1872-76), Cantonalism and the Cuban independence. It was overthrown by a coup d'état led by General Pavía (1874), thanks to this Alfonso de Borbón returned to the throne and the Restoration of the monarchy started