Constitution Restoration: Alfonso XII to 1898 Crisis
Stages of the Constitution Restoration System
The Reign of Alfonso XII
The reign of Alfonso XII presented the nation with peace and the military and ideological consolidation of bipartisanship. This period saw:
- An end to operations on the Carlist front (deletion of the Basque forum).
- The end of the uprising in Cuba, with the signing of the Zanjón Peace (1878). This granted amnesty and promised political and administrative reforms, though these were not rushed.
- The resumption of the liberation movement with the Guerra Chiquita, which was easily suppressed, but the tension was maintained until the 1898 crisis.
- Ideological pacification, achieved through the 1876 Constitution, voting based on census, and the practice of despotism.
This centralized model introduced by Cánovas was the origin of its main problems: the crisis of 1898 and the birth and development of peripheral nationalism.
The Regency of Maria Cristina
Alfonso XII died in 1885, which created a risk to the continuity of the regime. Cánovas and Sagasta reached an agreement to ensure the alternation of parties, known as the Covenant of El Pardo.
This established solidarity between them, making common cause against any claim of assault on the state, from the left or the extreme right. The Covenant of El Pardo, which operated until 1898, guaranteed the stability of the regime and helped overcome the crises of the late century.
The result of this agreement was Sagasta’s access to power and the continuity of alternation in power between conservatives and liberals peacefully. With the rise of Sagasta, in what has been called the Long Parliament, and later turns, laws were passed that provided some democracy:
- Freedom of assembly and expression in 1881.
- The 1883 press law.
- Freedom of association in 1887.
- The most important law of Universal Suffrage in 1890.
This entailed the legalization of trade unions and political parties, the introduction of trial by jury, etc.
The shift of the two parties returned, but with shorter and therefore more unstable governments, succeeding Sagasta and Cánovas up to the age of Alfonso XIII (1902). The turn left out other parties that were shaped over this period as opposed to it: Republicans, socialists, nationalists.
Problems of the Regency
The year 1898 was the direct blast of the problem of Cuba and other colonies, the loss of the remnants of the Spanish empire, as well as the economic and financial crisis in the military, etc. It was a crisis of national consciousness.
Basque and Catalan Nationalism
These were reactions to the administrative and legal centralization undertaken by the governments of the Restoration. Their claims were translated into nationalist political parties of different types that undermined the system and even proposed self-government systems.
The Labor Movement
Until universal suffrage in 1890, the workers remained out of politics, skeptical of the reform proposals of the parties and accepted ideas of direct working-class struggle. Working performance was discussed between the union or by political means, peaceful or revolutionary action.
Criticism of the Restoration regime was followed by suggestions of regeneration. In the context of the colonial disaster of 1898, Regeneracionismo emerged as a movement of opinion.
The Crisis of 1898 and the Colonial Redistribution
In international relations, Cánovas had attempted a policy of modesty and “gathering” to avoid complications, to keep Spain neutral in conflicts between the powers and safeguard the remains of the empire: the Philippines and other Pacific islands, Cuba and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean, and some possessions in North Africa and the Gulf of Guinea. In addition, there were few economic resources and a port with little power.
However, the colonial economy, especially the Cuban one, was very beneficial to the metropolis (export agriculture, sugar cane, and snuff). In this context, 1898 and its events are presented with two aspects:
- The loss of our last colonial possessions in America, Asia, and Oceania.
- The impact that the loss of the colonies had in our internal politics and in our national consciousness.