1876 Law Abolishing Basque Fueros Under Alfonso XII
21 July 1876 Law
The text we have this time is a letter in which several articles from a legal law are kept. It deals with the matter of eliminating the Basque Fueros. It was written by the Spanish Courts and the king in force, Alfonso XII, in 1876, after the end of the 3rd Carlist War.
Context of the Carlist Wars
In the 1st Carlist War, Basque people supported Carlists in order to maintain the Fueros. As Carlists were defeated, some reforms were made in those Fueros. After the Glorious Revolution in 1868, Isabella II (the Queen) was expelled from the throne, and Amadeo of Savoy took her place. In that moment, a conflict started because some liberals appeared in favor of Carlism, not wanting to lose the fueros. So again, as in the 1st Carlist War, the conflict was between liberals and Carlists. This was the 3rd Carlist War.
Amadeo of Savoy did not manage to finish the war, as his reign was difficult. Soon, as the Liberals proclaimed the First Spanish Republic, Amadeo of Savoy decided to abdicate. The Republic could not finish with the war either. That is why the government intervened with the Restoration and succeeded. Carlists were again defeated.
The Restoration System
The system of the moment in which this law was written was called The Restoration. This was due to the fact that the Bourbon dynasty returned with the reign of Alfonso XII (son of the expelled Queen Isabella II). The principles of this system were mainly three:
- The king accepted the Constitution.
- It was the 1876 Constitution (moderate) that included the elimination of the Fueros.
- The presence of two dynastic parties that took the government in turns: the Moderates Party (the conservative one) directed by Cánovas del Castillo and the Liberal Party (the progressive one), whose leader was Sagasta.
All those facts managed to give stability to the country and created a general law for all the citizens.
Impact of the Law on Basque Territories
The most affected territories by this new law were the Basque ones, named as provinces when the Fueros were abolished. Due to the uniformity of the law, all the citizens had to take part in the defense of the country, so it can be said that the military service was compulsory. The number of Basque people contributing to the army depended on the population of each province.
Turning to the economic aspect, it is known that until that moment Basque people had been exempt from paying taxes because they were hidalgos (not forced to pay taxes). But with the changes of the constitution, they were obliged to pay taxes.
Conclusion and Concession
In conclusion, the elimination of Fueros was a kind of punishment for Basques for being involved again in a war in favor of Carlism. The law that included that punishment managed to bring an end to the last Carlist War.
In order to soften the impact of that, the government gave the Basque people, in exchange, the Economic Concert: a law that allowed them a certain autonomy. With that law, they were assured that their taxes were going to be invested in their own institutions.