Spain’s Turbulent 19th Century: Absolutism, Liberalism, and the Carlist Wars
The Ominous Decade (1823-1833)
The liberal regime did not fall because of internal conflicts or divisions, but because of the actions of the Holy Alliance. Heeding the calls of Fernando VII, the Holy Alliance commissioned France (at the Congress of Verona in 1822) to intervene in Spain. In April 1823, about 100,000 troops (the Hundred Thousand Sons of St. Louis), under the Duke of Angoulême, broke into Spanish territory and restored Fernando VII as an absolute monarch.
Alarmed by the continuing turmoil in Spain, the restorative powers deemed it necessary to implement some moderate reforms, proclaim an amnesty to overcome the violence, and organize an effective administration to provide stability to the monarchy. Fernando VII did not agree to these requests and, as in 1814, launched a fierce crackdown on liberals, many of whom marched into exile to escape death or jail. The administration and the army were refined, and throughout the decade, supporters of liberal ideas were pursued. The execution of Mariana Pineda in 1831 for the crime of embroidering a liberal flag became emblematic of the repression under Fernando. “The Empecinado” and “Torrijos” were also executed.
The other major concern of the monarchy was, again, the economic problem. The difficulties of the Treasury, compounded by the permanent loss of the American colonies, forced tight control of public spending, as it was impossible to increase revenue without touching the fiscal privileges of the nobility. Since 1825, the king, beset by economic problems, sought the cooperation of the moderate sector of the financial and industrial bourgeoisie of Madrid and Barcelona: he granted a protective tariff for Catalan manufactures and appointed López Ballesteros, close to industrial interests, as Minister of Finance. This approach increased the distrust of the royalists and ultramontane sectors of the court, who were very unhappy with the king because, although he had restored the Inquisition, he was not acting forcefully enough against the liberals. In Catalonia in 1827, the Malcontents uprising sought greater power for the ultra-conservatives and advocated a return to traditional customs and privileges. In court, this sector, which enjoyed significant power in the circles of nobility and clergy, gathered around Carlos María Isidro, brother of the king and his likely successor, given that Fernando VII had no children.
The Dynastic Conflict
In 1830, the birth of the king’s daughter, Isabel, seemed to guarantee the Bourbon continuity. But this fact led to a serious conflict in the succession to the throne. The Salic Law, of French origin and introduced by Philip V in Spain, prevented women from accessing the throne. However, Fernando VII, influenced by his wife, María Cristina, repealed the law by means of the Pragmatic Sanction, which opened the way to the throne for his daughter and heiress. The most ultraconservative sector of the absolutists, called Carlists, refused to accept the new situation. In 1832, they lobbied strongly for the king, gravely ill, to reinstate the Salic Law, which would have benefited the king’s brother, Prince Carlos María Isidro, as a candidate for the throne.
These confrontations were not just a dispute about whether the legitimate monarch was the uncle or the niece, but a struggle to impose one model of society or another. Around Don Carlos were grouped the forces most partisan to the Ancien Régime and opposed to any form of liberalism. In contrast, María Cristina realized that if she wanted to save the throne for her daughter, she needed to seek support in the areas closest to liberalism. Appointed regent during the king’s illness, she formed a new government of a reformist character, decreed an amnesty that led to the return of 100,000 exiled liberals, and prepared to confront the Carlists.
In 1833, Fernando VII died, reaffirming in his will that his daughter, three years old, was the heir to the throne, and appointed Queen María Cristina as regent until Isabel came of age. That same day, Don Carlos proclaimed himself king, initiating an absolutist uprising in northern Spain and, soon after, in Catalonia. Thus began the First Carlist War.
Tensions Among Liberals
Tensions also existed among liberals, who were divided into two trends: the moderates, who supported limited reforms that would not harm the social elites (nobility and landowning bourgeoisie), and the exaltados, who raised the need for radical reforms favorable to the middle and lower classes. The exaltados took power after defeating a revolt of the Royal Guard in July 1822.