Spain’s Transformation: From Absolutism to Liberalism (1808-1840)
The French War and the Crisis of Absolutism in Spain
The French Invasion of 1808
The French invasion of 1808 accelerated the crisis of the political and administrative structure of absolutism in Spain.
The Outbreak of the Conflict
The war lasted 6 years.
- The Invasion: France and Spain signed the Treaty of Fontainebleau. Napoleon invaded Portugal, seeking to secure the blockade against the UK mainland. The real objective was to occupy Spain.
- The Mutiny of Aranjuez: Napoleon had won permission to cross Spain and attack Portugal from Charles IV. The outbreak of the Mutiny of Aranjuez caused the abdication of Charles IV in favor of his son Ferdinand, who reigned as Ferdinand VII.
- Abdications and the Statute of Bayonne: Charles IV retracted his abdication, but his son did not accept. Napoleon pressed for them to give up their rights. This transferred the crown of Spain to his brother Joseph I.
Collective Resistance and Collaboration
On May 2, 1808, the French tried to take away the last members of the royal family. The people of Madrid and some soldiers clashed with French troops. Catalan resistance to the occupation also began. The French armies suffered a series of initial defeats. The most important were in El Bruc and Bailén. In Girona, 50% of the civilian population died. A sector of Spaniards did not oppose French occupation: the afrancesados (pro-French) supported them.
The War
The first defeats in Spain infuriated Napoleon, who entered the peninsula in front of a large and experienced army. The inability of the Spanish army to sustain a war against the French led to the development of a war of attrition through guerrillas. The actions of the guerrillas weakened the enemy, but to win the war, the collaboration of the British army was necessary. The need for Napoleon to concentrate his soldiers’ efforts in the war against Russia favored the victory of the British and the Spanish in the Peninsula. Joseph I left Spain. In France, the Treaty of Valençay was signed, which put an end to the occupation and opened the doors to the return of Ferdinand VII.
The Cortes of Cadiz
The transformation of the absolutist state in Spain was made possible thanks to the Cortes, meeting in the city of Cadiz in 1810.
The Power Vacuum and the Formation of Juntas
Ecclesiastics, landowners, and educated sectors organized a local form of power called juntas, whose objective was to maintain order and organize resistance. With the creation of the Supreme Central Governing Board, the Provincial Councils were subordinate to the central power, in charge of governing the country and coordinating the defense of the territory.
Convening of the Cortes
The Central Board convened a meeting of the Cortes. The elections for deputies were by universal male suffrage. The deputies met together, which gave the meeting the character of a national assembly. The Cortes proclaimed national sovereignty.
The Constitution of 1812
The Cortes of Cadiz approved the first constitution in the history of Spain on March 19, 1812, Saint Joseph’s Day (known as La Pepa). The new constitution determined the division of powers and acknowledged the rights of the Catholic religion. The state took the form of a limited monarchy, providing broad powers to the Parliament and leaving the government and administration of the country in the hands of the king. Sovereignty resided in the nation.
The Restoration of Absolutism
Ferdinand VII abolished the Constitution of 1812 and the Cortes of Cadiz. Absolutism was restored, and the first liberal political period in Spain ended.
The Return of Ferdinand VII
Napoleon signed the Treaty of Valençay with Ferdinand VII, by which the monarch regained the crown. The monarch received a favorable ruling from Captain General Francisco Javier Elio and the support of a manifesto signed by 68 absolutist deputies, known as the Manifesto of the Persians. He decreed the abolition of the constitutional text and the Cortes of Cadiz. The most prominent liberals were arrested and imprisoned. The Tribunal of the Inquisition was re-established.
Attempts to Restore the Constitution of 1812
Some liberal Spaniards staged military uprisings, known as pronunciamientos, to force the king to accept the Constitution of 1812. General Luis Roberto Lacy organized an insurrection to achieve control of the Principality and proclaim the Constitution. The attempt failed, and he was executed.
The Liberal Triennium
The victory of the pronunciamientos allowed liberals to implement their program of reforms for the first time, during a period of 3 years. The restoration of the Constitution of 1812 was not sufficient to consolidate the new system. The division of the liberals and the determined action of the absolutists defeated liberalism, and Ferdinand VII restored absolutism.
The Riego Insurgency and Restoration of the Constitution
On January 1, 1820, in Las Cabezas de San Juan, Colonel Riego raised arms against absolutism and proclaimed the Constitution of 1812. To save the crown, the king yielded and swore the Constitution.
Division of Liberalism
During the three years, the liberals were divided into two factions: the exaltados (radicals) and the doceañistas (moderate liberals). The king took advantage of this division to promote the restoration of absolutism.
The Regency of Urgell
The Regency of Urgell was formed, a provisional absolutist government. The farmers’ discontent with the new tax regime established by the liberals, especially the consumption tax, contributed to a widespread insurrection. The military actions to stop the absolutist reaction achieved some success, and the Regency of Urgell was forced to take refuge in France. The absolutist European powers, gathered in the Holy Alliance, sent troops to Spain to topple the liberal government. These troops, called the Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis, received help from the Royalist Volunteer army, and Ferdinand VII regained absolute power.
The Ominous Decade
The Holy Alliance helped Ferdinand VII to restore all his absolute power. There was a period of 10 years marked by repression, the return of an ultra-royalist absolutist policy, and the emergence of a new trend.
Liberal Insurrections
Liberals who were able to escape the absolutist police tried to restore the constitutional regime but failed. The military officer Torrijos attempted it, but he was shot. The failure of the insurrectionary strategy favored a formalized solution in favor of the daughter of Ferdinand VII, Isabel II.
The Revolt of the Malcontents
In 1827, there was an ultra-royalist armed insurrection in the Catalan countryside, known as the War of the Malcontents. They rebelled against Ferdinand VII when he published the manifesto of the Federation of Pure Royalists. The Malcontents considered the king responsible for the country’s problems. Ferdinand VII placed the Count of Spain at the head of the Principality, who controlled the territory through terror.
The Regency
The Regency lasted 10 years. It developed during the First Carlist War and urban unrest (bullangues). The Church’s seizure was approved. When Ferdinand VII died, Maria Christina, mother of Isabel II, reigned as regent.
From the Royal Statute to the Constitution of 1837
Maria Christina reached an agreement with the liberals. The liberals were aware of their limitations, and the more moderate ones offered the Royal Statute in exchange for support for the Elizabethan monarchy. Most progressives pushed to restore the Constitution of 1812 but did not achieve it. The revolt of the sergeants of La Granja forced the queen to accept the Constitution of 1812, but a discussion began about the need to adapt it to the new times. This resulted in the drafting of the Constitution of 1837, with many limitations in terms of freedoms.
The Regency of Espartero
Espartero was named regent. He was an enemy of the progressive sectors of the left. Moderates did not stop plotting against the regent. The military attempted a coup but failed. Espartero lost the popular support of the Catalan classes. Catalan republicanism was organized around Abdó Terradas and the newspaper El Republicano. Espartero could not cope with the coalition of moderates and progressives who were out of power.
The First Carlist War
With the birth of the daughter of Ferdinand VII, the Salic Law (which prevented women from reigning) was nullified. The brother of Ferdinand VII, Charles, claimed his rights to the crown and won the ideological and financial support of the clergy and the rural gentry. The war had three phases:
- Publication of the Abrantes Manifesto and death of General Zumalacárregui.
- Failure of the Carlist expedition to Madrid.
- Division of the Carlists into two camps: Apostolic (who gave utmost importance to religion and were anti-liberal) and transaccionistas (supporters of an agreement with the liberals).
The war continued until the fall of Morella in May 1840.
The Bullangues
The bullangues were riots of social and political development in Barcelona and other cities. They began with the burning of different monasteries. General Bassa was in charge of establishing order in the city but was murdered. The same day, the Bonaplata factory was set on fire. The unrest was suddenly cut short by General Ramon de Meer. With the end of the war, the confrontation between moderates and progressives was revived, and Barcelona was bombed twice.
The Seizure of Mendizábal
The progressive minister Mendizábal pushed for a law of desamortización (disentailment) intended to solve the problem of the public finance deficit and obtain the resources necessary to win the war against Carlism, but it could not be solved.