Absolutism, Liberalism, and the Reign of Ferdinand VII
The Restoration of Absolutism (1814-1820)
After Napoleon’s defeat, Ferdinand VII returned to Spain in March 1814. While liberals hoped for his immediate return to Madrid and adherence to the Constitution, Ferdinand, influenced by absolutists, chose Valencia. Sixty-nine absolutist members issued the Manifesto of the Persians, demanding the annulment of all measures approved in Cadiz and a return to the Old Regime. Emboldened by the army’s support and popular enthusiasm, Ferdinand issued a decree on May 4, nullifying the Cortes of Cadiz’s work, thus initiating the absolutist stage. This involved restoring old institutions like feudal land tenure and the Inquisition, suppressing the free press, arresting or killing liberals, and forcing many into exile.
This return to the Old Regime occurred within a favorable international context. With Napoleon defeated, European powers focused on restoring absolutism. The Congress of Vienna reorganized the European map, and the Holy Alliance was formed to uphold absolutism, including the right to intervene in any country deviating from it.
Ferdinand VII’s government struggled with the severe economic crisis caused by war, devastated agriculture, falling prices, and huge public deficits, exacerbated by the American colonies’ fight for independence. Tax reform attempts failed due to resistance from privileged classes. The government’s inability to address these problems without dismantling the old social structure led to the collapse of the absolute monarchy.
Opposition began to form, led by the liberal bourgeoisie who desired a constitutional regime and supported by the peasantry, angered by the restoration of the seigneurial regime. This liberal minority, working through secret societies like Freemasonry, initiated conspiracies and military uprisings. Most failed due to lack of popular support, such as those led by Espoz y Mina in Pamplona, Porlier in La Coruña, and Lacy in Barcelona. However, on January 1, 1820, Colonel Rafael Riego y Núñez triumphed in Cabezas de San Juan (Seville), rallying troops assembled to embark for America to fight the liberation movement.
The Liberal Triennium (1820-1823)
Following Riego’s uprising, the Constitution of 1812 was reinstated, and Ferdinand VII was forced to swear allegiance in March. An amnesty was declared, allowing exiled liberals to return. The Cortes restored some of the Cadiz Cortes’ work (abolishing feudal lordships, primogeniture, guilds, implementing confiscations and tax reform, etc.). They aimed for a bourgeois revolution to dismantle feudalism and liberalize trade and industry. The National Militia, a volunteer armed corps from the urban middle classes, was created to defend the constitutional reforms. However, two main problems emerged:
- The king’s conspiratorial actions, including vetoing legislation and supporting absolutist volunteers, paralyzed the government. These volunteers, backed by the Church, operated in Catalonia, Navarra, and Galicia, forming an absolutist regency in Urgel in 1822.
- The liberals themselves split into two factions: moderates (former doceañistas) who advocated for reform without confronting the king or nobility, and extremists who wanted to accelerate reforms, supported by the National Militia and the press. The situation became turbulent and tense, with moderates governing until 1822, followed by the extremists.
The king sought help from the Holy Alliance. At the Congress of Verona in 1823, it was decided to intervene. A French army, the Hundred Thousand Sons of St. Louis, under the Duke of Angoulême, encountered little resistance. The Cortes took refuge in Cadiz but were defeated. Ferdinand VII was restored as an absolute monarch, and the French army occupied the country for five years.
The Ominous Decade (1823-1833)
Fierce repression against liberals resumed, forcing many into exile, mostly in Britain. The administration and army were purged. While Ferdinand didn’t restore the Inquisition, Faith Boards were created in some provinces, and a reign of terror swept the country. A new instrument of repression emerged: the police. Liberals continued attempting uprisings, but they failed, such as Torrijos’ execution in 1831.
The final loss of the American colonies in 1824 worsened the financial situation. Financial problems forced the king into timid reforms, resembling enlightened despotism, to attract cooperation from the financial and industrial bourgeoisie of Madrid and Barcelona. These reforms were opposed by traditional sectors of the court, nobility, and clergy. Absolutist uprisings occurred in Catalonia (the Agraviats, or Malcontents, who wanted to restore traditional privileges).
Traditionalists supported Don Carlos María Isidro, the king’s brother and heir presumptive, as Ferdinand had no children. However, in 1830, the king’s fourth wife, Maria Cristina, gave birth to a daughter, Isabel. This created a succession crisis, as the Salic Law, preventing female inheritance and implemented by Philip V, was in effect. Ferdinand VII, influenced by his wife, promulgated the Pragmatic Sanction, repealing the Salic Law. Two sides formed at court: Carlos’ supporters (absolutists) who rejected the Pragmatic Sanction and intrigued to reinstate the Salic Law, and the liberals who supported Isabel. Maria Cristina, appointed regent due to Ferdinand’s illness, leaned towards the liberals, initiating reforms and decreeing an amnesty, allowing 10,000 exiles to return. Ferdinand VII died in 1833, leaving his three-year-old daughter Isabel as heir. Don Carlos refused to accept this and proclaimed himself king, thus beginning the First Carlist War.