19th Century Spanish Political Factions and Their Ideologies
Political Groupings in 19th Century Spain
The nineteenth-century political parties were not as we conceive them today. They were not compact and homogeneous groups with a well-defined ideology. Instead, these groups revolved more around notable civil or military personalities. Rather than organized parties, they were currents of opinion or cliques linked by personal relationships or financial interests.
The Moderates
The Moderates defined themselves as people of order. They were a heterogeneous group composed of landowners, merchants, and conservative intellectuals, along with remnants of the old nobility, high clergy, and the military high command. They defended the right to property as security for the order to be preserved and restricted suffrage based on the wealth of the voters. Freedom was conceived as an individual good, but focused only on the principles of authority and social order. Consequently, they distrusted mass participation in politics, believing it should be left to the propertied and enlightened minority. They also upheld the principle of shared sovereignty between the Cortes and the Crown, which granted the Crown broad powers to intervene in political life (e.g., appointing ministers, dissolving Parliament, vetoing laws). The Moderates were also supporters of limiting individual rights. They defended the denominational status of the state and granted the Catholic Church great social influence.
The Liberals
The Liberals were seen as defenders of freedom and primarily comprised the middle and petty bourgeoisie, middle-rank army officers, and the urban popular classes. They upheld the principle of national sovereignty and the predominance of the Cortes, rejecting the intervention of the Crown in political life, to which they solely attributed a moderating role. They were in favor of strengthening local authorities (e.g., freely elected municipalities, the National Militia) and advocated for comprehensive individual and collective rights. While they maintained the census-vote principle, they also favored the expansion of the electorate. They defended the need for land reform to end entailed property and advocated limiting the social influence of the Church. In 1854, the Liberal Union was formed, a split from the Moderate Party, drawing its members from the most conservative wing of Progressivism, and serving as a centrist choice between the two traditional parties.
Democrats and Republicans
In 1849, a split within the Progressive Party gave rise to the Democratic Party. This party advocated for popular sovereignty and universal male suffrage, the existence of a single elective chamber, the expansion of public freedoms, and the recognition of collective rights. They supported freedom of the press, the National Militia, the election of local councils, and administrative involvement in public education and social welfare tasks. While recognizing the social predominance of the Catholic Church, they also advocated for freedom of worship for all religions. Their strength was among the urban working classes and lower ranks of the military. The declining prestige of the monarchy of Isabel II contributed to the strengthening of Republicanism, which defended the republic as the only truly democratic system, allowing for the election of all public offices, including the presidency.