Political and Social Instability in Spain (1854-1868)

Posted on Oct 22, 2024 in History

Narváez Government (1863-1868)

The Narváez government (1863-1868) was a moderate government with frequent use of force associated with a lack of support and legitimacy. This triggered a crisis in Isabel II’s reign and a sharp, widespread opposition. During this period, there was exhaustion and discontent after the death of O’Donnell and a return to the instability of Narváez’s earlier periods.

Economic and Social Crisis:

• In 1866, a crisis broke out due to a financial crisis caused by unprofitable railroad investments, the stock market collapse, and the bankruptcy of the Republic’s treasury. That same year, a crisis occurred in the Catalan textile industry due to the American Civil War.
• In 1868, a subsistence crisis arose due to poor wheat harvests and price increases.

Political Crisis:

• Student protests over the dismissal of Castelar in 1865 led to the Night of St. Daniel, which ended with harsh repression.
• The response to the Revolt of the Sergeants of San Gil Barracks (Villarejo), who demanded political reforms, was the execution of the soldiers involved.

Due to the decomposition and lack of legitimacy of power, a broad opposition was organized (Democrats, Liberals led by Prim and Serrano, Unionists, and Republicans). They signed the Ostende Pact (1866) in Belgium, which defined their revolutionary objectives:

1. Overthrow of Isabel II.
2. Formation of a Constituent Assembly by universal suffrage.
3. Establishment of a Liberal regime.

To achieve a general agreement, all parties had to compromise. The Democrats yielded on the form of government, which would be decided by the courts; the Progressives gained access to universal suffrage and the overthrow of Isabel II. In addition, the influence of political leaders in labor movements became increasingly present. By 1868, nobody except the most radical moderates defended Isabel II’s cause. The dictatorial attitude of the last heads of government (Narváez and González Bravo), subsistence crises, and the financial crisis heralded a revolutionary change.

Castilla-La Mancha under Isabel II

First Carlist War:

The Carlist uprising in Castilla-La Mancha (CLM) did not have much success. Guerrilla groups were formed, sometimes acting as bandits. Their leaders, such as Orejas or El Policia del Corral, were cruel and bloodthirsty. They did not take a single city but became strong in the mountainous areas of Castilla-La Mancha, reactivating when domestic shipments of Don Carlos passed through CLM. Socially, the Carlist clergy, many farmers, artisans, and gentry supported the cause. But overall, the region was controlled by liberals.

As in most of Spain, the Convention of Vergara ended the First Carlist War.

The New Provincial Division of Javier de Burgos:

The new administrative division of Javier de Burgos (1833) structured Spain into several regions, lacking administrative weight, and 49 provinces, the real key to the establishment of the liberal state. The provinces were at an intermediate point between the state and the municipalities. At the head of each province was the Civil Governor, the state’s representative in the province, with broad powers of all kinds.

La Mancha, which received the name of Castilla La Nueva, was composed of the provinces of Madrid, Toledo, Cuenca, and Ciudad Real. Albacete was linked to Murcia, also the region’s name. The criterion was also imposed that the province should have the name of its capital (except for the Basque Country and Navarra). Thus, the province of La Mancha disappeared, and Ciudad Real was born, not without controversy, as Almagro and Chinchilla were vying with Ciudad Real and Albacete, respectively. Subsequently:

• In 1836, Villena ceased to belong to Albacete and became part of Alicante.
• Villarrobledo ceased to be a town and became a city of Albacete.
• Requena and Utiel passed from Cuenca to Valencia.

At a lower administrative level, judicial districts were created with a municipality at the head, holding the rank of head of the judicial district, housing courts, notaries, and property registration. The division of the Administration of Justice left Castilla La Mancha divided into two hearings: the Hearing of Albacete, which depended on Murcia, Albacete, and Cuenca; and the Hearing of Madrid, which depended on Guadalajara, Toledo, and Madrid.

Development of the Liberal Political System during the Reign of Queen Isabel II:

During the Carlist War, early political activities were revealed in CLM, including progressive movements aimed at overthrowing the monarchy. The coup of the sergeants of La Granja (1837) was echoed and supported in Ciudad Real and Albacete, channeled through the Constitutional Boards. In successive periods of progressive power (Espartero’s biennium), the attitude of Castilla-La Mancha was one of remarkable retreat and conformity, provided it was under the control of local elites (politicians, nobles, soldiers, and officials, in collaboration with the army and the National Militia). The initial republicanism in our region came from the hand of the Albacete newspaper El Defensor del Pueblo, and from 1849, the emergence of the Democratic Party served to mobilize social discontent with liberalism and conservatism, which, together with the Liberal Union, marked the final years of the Elizabethan monarchy.

The Progressive Biennium (1854-1856) and a Return to Conservatism (1856-1868)

The Progressive Biennium is the name given to the short period between July 1854 and July 1856, during which the Progressive Party tried to reform the political system of Isabel II’s reign, dominated by the Moderate Party since 1843, delving into the characteristics of the liberal regime after the collapse of the moderate governments in the previous decade. The background to this second period of Isabel II’s reign was the authoritarianism of Bravo Murillo and the European revolutions of 1848. Under the influence of these revolutions, there was a new progressive uprising led by O’Donnell and Domingo Dulce against Álvaro in 1854. Parallel to the progressive and moderate political developments, the Manifesto of Manzanares was developed, led by Cánovas del Castillo, demanding compliance with the Constitution, reform of the Electoral Law, restoration of the National Militia, recovery of autonomy for municipalities, and elimination of political factions.

Government Action:

• From the beginning, the principles of the 1837 Constitution were retrieved, and a new one was being prepared for 1856, but it never reached enactment.
• Economy: An ambitious plan was developed that met the interests of the urban and middle-class bourgeoisie. In addition, the Madoz Disentailment Act was carried out, affecting municipal property, state property, the clergy, and military orders, eliminating communal land to reduce the Republic’s debt, create small landowners, and partially finance the construction of the railroad. The negative consequences for the villagers were the low incomes because they were using the communal lands of the municipalities to survive and the inability to acquire the land when it became private property. In Castilla La Mancha, this disentailment expropriated or seriously impacted municipal property, as Toledo was the fourth province in the country with the most disentailment, followed by Guadalajara.
• Enactment of the new Railways Act (1855), which provided wide benefits and privileges to those who invested in railway construction, as it proved to be an essential means of transport for the industrialization process that was taking place in Spain. With this law, foreign investors, especially from France and the United Kingdom, invested capital in the construction of railroads, also boosting the activity of banks. More than 4,500 km of track were built. This law resulted in the absorption of capital that could have gone to industrialization.
• Finally, laws were introduced to liberalize corporations and banks, allowing the expansion of the financial system for industrial development.

Governance Problems:

Despite these measures, the biennium failed socially due to cholera epidemics, labor unrest, and rising prices. The people were agitated, and in this scenario, the labor movement and trade unionism took their first steps in Barcelona. In 1855, the first general strike took place. The following year, the Labor Law was dismissed, and violence was latent. In addition, Carlist uprisings occurred. A government crisis took place due to disagreements between Espartero (Prime Minister) and O’Donnell (Minister of War). This crisis ended with Espartero’s resignation and his replacement by O’Donnell, who opted for force to quell the uprisings. The Progressive Biennium had failed.

Liberal Union and Moderate Governments:

In 1856, the Liberal Union of O’Donnell returned to power, bringing some stability for five years (1858-1863). This was a party that emerged during the biennium and in reaction to the moderates.

A government was formed headed by O’Donnell, who was aware that development and wealth creation were not only the way for a new Spain but also the best antidote to social unrest.

The railroad began its real expansion in the early 1860s, and the metal industry benefited from O’Donnell’s naval construction policy to provide the country with a fleet capable of dealing with those of the leading world powers. Other reforms of interest were the first census (1857) and the Moyano Public Instruction Law, which structured an education system that would continue until the 20th century. Thus, it was the golden age of the railroad, the growth of banks, the expansion of the Catalan textile industry, and the birth of the Altos Hornos de Vizcaya.

O’Donnell initiated an active foreign policy to promote popular patriotism, diverting attention from internal problems and satisfying the most active sectors of the army. During this period, there were interventions in Morocco (Wad-Ras), Cochinchina, Mexico, Chile, and Peru.

These years were only occasionally disturbed by outbreaks of republicanism and manifestations of social discontent, such as the peasant revolt of Loja (1861) and the new Carlist uprising led by Count Montemolín, which was easily stifled. Defections within the Liberal Union and the wear and tear caused by its long tenure in power forced O’Donnell’s resignation on February 27, 1863. O’Donnell’s fall gave way back to the moderates, who alternated in power with the Unionists until the fall of Isabel II in 1868.