Spain’s Constitutional Turmoil: 1814-1823
Cadiz Courts and the 1824 Constitution
3.1. Restoration of Absolutism (1814-1820)
Liberals were wary of the monarch’s willingness to accept the new constitutional order. Therefore, they arranged for him to travel straight to Madrid to swear to the Constitution and accept the new political framework. Fernando VII was afraid to confront those who had resisted the invader for six years and abide by its conditions. However, the absolutist nobility and clergy knew that the king’s return was their best chance to undo the work of Cadiz and return to the Old Regime. They quickly organized to demand the restoration of absolutism (shown by the Persians, a request to cancel the Constitution of Cadiz and restore absolutism) and mobilized the people to show their unconditional allegiance to the monarch. Security and the weakness of the liberals led Fernando VII to betray his promises. By Royal Decree on May 4, 1814, he annulled the constitution and laws of Cadiz and announced a return to absolutism. Key liberal leaders were immediately arrested or killed, while others fled into exile.
The monarchy proceeded to restore all the old institutions of the feudal regime and the Inquisition. It was a return to the Ancien Régime in an international context determined by Napoleon’s defeat and the restoration of the old order in Europe by the Congress of Vienna and the capacity of the Holy Alliance (1815). This alliance ensured the defense of absolutism and the right to intervene in any country to stop the advance of liberalism.
From 1815, Fernando VII and his government attempted an impossible goal: to rebuild a country shattered by war, with broken agriculture, paralyzed trade, bankrupt finances, and colonies fighting for independence, all while restoring the Old Regime. Their governments failed one after another. The high loss of life (between 255,000 and 375,000 dead) and the ruined peasantry and materials meant the stoppage of trade and manufacturing. The royal treasury went bankrupt due to the lack of economic resources, especially because the war in the American colonies required enormous military expenditures and prevented the arrival of new revenues (taxes, metals, etc.).
The events between 1808 and 1814 had changed the mindset of many social groups. The peasantry had stopped paying rent to mansions, and protests erupted over the attempt to reimpose old taxes. Freedom to manufacture and market had enabled the development of companies and businesses beyond the rigid union rules. Much of the urban bourgeoisie demanded a return to constitutional rule. Finally, the integration of guerrilla leaders into the military resulted in a liberal sector that supported reforms, leading to numerous pronouncements. Fernando VII’s governments were incapable of responding to problems, straightening the treasury, or addressing the independence movements in the colonies. Liberal military coups (Mina, Lacy, Porlier, Vidal…) and riots in cities and rural areas showed the unrest and the collapse of the absolute monarchy. Repression was the monarchy’s only response to the political and social demands.
4.2. The Liberal Triennium (1820-1823)
On January 1, 1820, Colonel Rafael del Riego, leading a company of soldiers stationed in Las Cabezas de San Juan (Seville) and awaiting orders to combat in the American colonies, rebelled and marched through Andalusia proclaiming the Constitution of 1812. The army’s passivity, the liberals’ action in major cities, and the peasants’ neutrality forced King Ferdinand VII to accept the Constitution on March 10. He immediately formed a new government, declared an amnesty, and called for elections to the Cortes.
The election results gave the most seats to liberal members, who quickly began an important piece of legislation. They restored many of Cadiz’s reforms, such as freedom of industry, the abolition of guilds, the abolition of feudal courts and primogeniture, and the sale of monastery lands. They established the decrease of the tithe and tax system reforms, the penal code, and the military. They also proposed the liberalization of trade and industry by removing barriers to the free movement of goods, thereby enhancing the development of the bourgeoisie. Finally, they started the political and administrative modernization of the country, according to the Cadiz model. Municipalities and county councils were formed and elected. The National Militia, an armed body of volunteers formed by the urban middle classes, was rebuilt to maintain order and defend the constitutional reforms.
All these reforms quickly aroused the opposition of the monarchy. Fernando VII had accepted the new system only because he was forced by circumstances. From the outset, he tried to shut down such laws by exercising his right of veto, as granted by the Constitution, and conspired against the government, seeking to regain power through the intervention of absolutist powers in Spain.
The new liberal measures of the Triennium led to discontent among the peasants. The judicial domains were abolished, but access to land was not facilitated. The former lords became the new owners, and tenant farmers could be evicted if they did not pay, losing their traditional rights. There was a substantial reduction of taxes and monetization of rents and tithes paid by agricultural products, forcing farmers to make money by selling their products. In a sufficiency economy, it was very hard to sell products cheaply and collect the money needed to pay further contributions. Thus, peasants, poor and defenseless before the new capitalist legislation, joined the anti-liberal agitation. The traditional nobility and the Church, hurt by the abolition of tithes and the sale of monastic property, led the revolt against the kingdom’s rulers. In 1822, absolutism rose in Catalonia, Navarre, Galicia, and Maestrazgo. Royalist volunteers reached 280,000 members and managed to dominate large areas of territory, establishing an absolutist regency in Seo de Urgel in 1823.