Key Political and Economic Texts of 19th Century Spain
Confiscation of Mendizabal
Value: 12.1.2
This economic-political document addresses economic and social issues. It is contextualized within the liberal reforms that were consolidated during the Regency of Maria Cristina, during the minority of Isabel II, who could not govern. It is a decree from Mendizabal to the Queen. The exposition Mendizabal makes in the text clearly states three purposes or objectives:
- Improve public finances.
- Contribute to the overall economic development of Spain.
- Contribute to the strengthening of the liberal political system in Spain.
The text argues three key ideas: the preamble, the property will be expropriated, and state protection of certain goods. Ecclesiastical confiscation is known as the package adopted by the liberal state in the 19th century to release lands accumulated by the Catholic Church. The state agreed to compensate the church by paying for the expenses of worship and the clergy.
Manifesto of the Persians
Value: 11.3
This political text is dated 1814, coinciding with the return of Ferdinand VII from France after the Spanish War of Independence. We can consider it to have collective authorship, as it is a manifesto that a group of ordinary members of the Cortes of Cadiz, elected after the promulgation of the Constitution of 1812, addressed to the Spanish monarch. This group of deputies had absolutist ideology and are known as “Persians” due to the allusion to the Persian kings at the beginning of the writing. The recipient of the text is the king, and its aim is to convince the king to abolish the Constitution and restore absolutism. It is a primary and direct source, undoubtedly important for the study of the reign of Ferdinand VII.
The text itself is nothing but an attempt to theoretically justify the absolute monarchy, broadly identifying it with enlightened despotism, ultimately asking for its restoration to the detriment of the liberal regime emanating from the Constitution of 1812.
The historical problem is the restoration of the absolutist monarchy of Ferdinand VII, after the defeat of Napoleon, and the abolition of the 1812 Constitution and ordinary legislation in a European international context returning to the Old Regime.
Napoleon Addresses the Spanish People
Value: 11.1
This is a political manifesto. It is contextualized during the time of the meeting in Bayonne between Napoleon, Charles IV, and Ferdinand VII. It is, therefore, the time before the War of Independence. The origin of this text is in France, and the recipient is the Spanish people.
It is a manifesto to the Spanish people, where Napoleon states his plans for the country. One of the main ideas is that Napoleon wants to reform the country, as indicated in paragraphs 3 and 4 of the text. Another main idea is that Napoleon did not want the crown for himself but for his brother, Joseph Bonaparte. The last main point is that Napoleon wants to appear as a savior for the good of the nation.
Ferdinand VII Reestablishes Absolutism (1814)
Value: 11.3
This is a political document because the author, Ferdinand VII, argues for a series of political reforms in defense of absolutism and rejects the work of the Cortes of Cadiz.
The text was made after the end of the War of Independence in the context of the restoration of absolutism, not only in Spain but also in post-Napoleonic Europe, as discussed in the Congress of Vienna. This is when the liberal work of the Cortes de Cádiz was suspended.
The author of the document was Ferdinand VII (edited by one of his supporters) and it is targeted to the Spanish people. Ferdinand VII was King of Spain after the Mutiny of Aranjuez in 1808 and after his return from exile in France in 1812. He was characterized as the last absolute monarch of Spain.
The main idea is the set of ideas that advocate for absolutism as a form of power. Secondary ideas include, firstly, the grounds that absolutism is necessary for the development of the kingdom. Secondly, the rejection of the work done by the Cortes of Cadiz, considered by the author to be harmful and detrimental to the nation.