Analysis of the Spanish Constitution of 1876
This legislative text is a primary source, a selection of articles from the 1876 constitution. It was written during the Restoration by Alfonso XII (the King of Spain) and the Cortes on June 1876. It was published in Madrid and destined for the nation.
Firstly, I am going to analyze the main ideas of the text to understand it properly. This constitution was moderate, but also had progressive ideas since it was a compromise between the politicians who believed that the 1869 constitution was still valid and the ones that wanted to restore the 1845 constitution. In addition, there are some moderate features in this text: some powers were again shared because sovereignty and legislative power resided with the Cortes and the King (art. 18) and laws must be executed by the King (art. 50).
The Cortes were formed by two co-legislative bodies (art. 19): On the one hand, the Senate, which approved/disapproved the laws, and was made up of different kinds of senators: the ones in their own right (military and high nobility), the ones appointed by the crown, and the electives (chosen by corporations as universities, “Sociedades de Amigos del País”…) (art. 20). On the other hand, the House of Representatives, which makes laws and members are chosen by elections, a method determined by the law (art. 28). Catholicism was again the religion of the State but every other religion could be practiced in private (art. 11). It is also claimed that only one fuero is admitted. So, everybody is under the same law (art. 75).
However, it kept some progressive ideas. It accepted a list of rights for every Spaniard: freedom of expression and association, liberty to gather (reunirse) peacefully… (art. 13). This article was inspired by the 1869 Constitution. However, the government could quit all these rights if it considered them a risk.
Secondly, I am going to contextualize the text to understand how we reached it. In 1866 Spain suffered economically and politically. That year the moderate government finished, the Oscende Pact was done to expel Isabel II, and moderates, progressives, and republicans joined with the Liberal Union. In addition, Spain was taking part in many conflicts that caused agricultural, financial, and industrial crises. An accumulation of problems caused “La Gloriosa” revolt, which removed Isabel II from the throne (1868). There was a lack of power, so Prim was chosen as the provisional head of government. The society was divided, each one wanted different things so, they wrote a constitution in 1869 and they started looking for a new king. The constitution of 1869 accepted free religion which didn’t represent most of the Spaniards. There were many problems and republicans and workers went against the government. So finally, Amadeo was the King of Spain, who came from the Royal House of Italy. But he resigned and the First Spanish Republic started.
They were a lot of heads of state during the republic, but it ended quite early, and due to the coup d’état of Martinez Campos, Alfonso XII was the new king. These years are known as the Democratic Sexennium (1869-1874), where there were a lot of political movements and also the 3rd Carlist War. When Spain didn’t have a king, Carlists proposed Carlos VII as the king, but they lost, and Alfonso XII was elected. The failure of the Democratic Sexennium triggered the Restoration during the following years.
The government of Alfonso XII started with the idea of the Restoration, which was developed by Canovas (conservative). He wanted to bring stability to Spain so he did many reforms: he placed the army under the King, removing their power for stopping pronunciamientos and riots, as there had been plenty of them in the past. He also made progressives and moderates reach pacts and parties come to power in a democratic way. The Liberal Conservative party was created too to create a Bipartidism. Moreover, the fueros were abolished.
During Alfonso’s government, the 1876 Constitution was released in which an attempt to represent every Spanish citizen was made. So this constitution was very important in his government. It was directed by Canovas and among the laws of it, it was remarkable the one which claimed that despite the official religion being Catholicism, any other could be practiced in private. This law was based on the Cadiz Constitution (1712) and was needed since in the Constitution written during the Sexennium (1869) it was sanctioned a free religion country, which did not represent most of the Spaniards, as they were Catholic.
As a consequence of the new regime, after the death of Alfonso XII in 1885, his widow, wife Maria Cristina of Habsburg, was the regent and took Sagasta (liberal) as Prime Minister. At that time the Prado Pact agreed in which both liberal (Sagasta) and conservative (Canovas) parties accepted that they would take turns in the government (Bipartidism), which will make the system corrupt. Moreover, the suffrage at the beginning was exclusive but in 1890 the universal male suffrage was accepted, which allowed all males to vote. The voting system was corrupted by three main methods: Pucherazo, Caciquism, and Encasillado. Even though the government was corrupted the economy went properly until the 1898 disaster, when, after the death of Canovas (the head of the Bipartidism), Spain entered and lost a war against America. And Spain signed the Paris Peace Treaty in which it lost the colonies of Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Filipinas. This caused the dragging of the economy of the country.
In conclusion, this constitution was very important and worked very well during the period of Alfonso XII, it was the longest-lived constitution in Spanish history. It defined a political regime that would survive for many years, and, as Cánovas wanted, without military uprisings or revolutions. When Alfonso XII died, Mª Cristina of Habsburg was the regent and the system remained because they had an economic agreement. This political stability allowed for a period of economic growth and modernization, but its system marginalized workers and low classes. However, the regime was based on corruption and clientelism, a brake to modernization and progress. So, these contradictions caused strong criticism. The situation got worse due to the 1898 disaster, when after the death of Canovas, Spain entered and lost against America and it lost its last colonies: Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines (Paris Peace Treaty). The constitution was in force until the dictatorship of Primo Rivera that finished with the Restoration in 1923.