The Bourbon Restoration in Spain: 1874-1902
Introduction
The Restoration of the Bourbon dynasty to the throne of Spain marked the end of the First Republic. Shaken by the Third Carlist War, the Cuban insurrection of 1868, and the Cantonalist revolt, the First Republic was incapable of organizing a stable political project. The driver of the new regime was Antonio Cánovas del Castillo. He organized a liberal monarchical system, although not democratic, whose foundations were established and consolidated during the reign of Alfonso XII (1875-1885) and the regency of Maria Cristina (1885-1902).
The Regime Restoration
In December 1874, General Martínez Campos proclaimed Alfonso XII King of Spain through a military coup. Thus, the Bourbon dynasty was restored six years after Elizabeth II had been overthrown.
The restoration of the monarchy had arisen during the six years of revolution when Antonio Cánovas del Castillo took over the Alfonsino Party and received, in 1873, full powers from Elizabeth II in preparation for the return to the throne of her son.
His project was to build on widespread political unrest to gain support for the Alfonsine cause, both from the conservative ranks and from the Republicans. The Restoration was claimed by a large segment of public opinion. A military coup was not in his plans.
Cánovas regarded the monarchy and the British parliamentary system as models and had advised a British education for Prince Alfonso, who was sent to the military academy at Sandhurst after the military takeover of 1874.
Alfonso XII proclaimed a manifesto drafted by Cánovas, which stated that the monarchy was the only way to end the crisis of the revolutionary period and pointed out the basic lines of what was to be the system of the Restoration.
The new regime was quickly recognized by foreign powers, including the Holy See, traditionally linked to the Carlists.
The entry of Alfonso XII into Spain, as seen from the table on January 15, 1875, in Madrid, began a long period of political stability based on a political system governed by the conservative values of order, property, and monarchy, wisely combined with the formal aspects and institutional developments of the liberal state, as reflected in the final paragraph of the Manifesto of Sandhurst.
Characteristics and Operation of the System
Antonio Cánovas stated the ideological principles and laid the institutional and legal bases of the system, removing the dangers that had caused the failure of the Elizabethan regime. To this end, he proposed setting aside the army from political power, pacifying the country, and ensuring political stability by integrating the different liberal conceptions into a joint project based on the monarchy. This was reflected in the organization of a party system, following the British model, and the adoption of a constitution flexible enough to enable it to adapt to the programs of both parties.
Military Pacification
To build the new system, it was necessary to pacify the country. In 1876, he won the end of the Third Carlist War that, since 1872, had been fought in the Basque Country, Navarra, and Catalonia.
In 1878, he signed the Peace of Zanjón, which ended the Cuban insurrection of 1868, the Ten Years’ War.
Bipartisanship
Political parties loyal to the Crown, called dynastic parties, were the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party. These two parties took turns in power through the mechanisms inherent in a parliamentary system.
The Conservative Party, led by Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, was the heir of conservatism and unionism.
The Liberal Party, led by Práxedes Mateo Sagasta, belonged to the progressives and radical democrats.
The ideological and political differences between the two parties were minimal: liberals were more concerned about social reform and education, and conservatives were more authoritarian and defenders of order and established values. In fact, the creation of the Liberal Party in 1876 was due to the needs of the system devised by Cánovas.
The Constitution of 1876
In the early months of the Restoration, Cánovas concentrated all powers. But to legitimize the parliamentary monarchy, a Constitution was required to regulate and ensure the new political regime. So, he called an election with universal male suffrage to form a constituent Cortes to draft and approve a new constitution.
In fact, the manipulation of elections by the Conservative government allowed a constitution that favored their interests while incorporating some aspects of 1869, primarily regarding the recognition of rights and freedoms.
The 1876 Constitution provided that:
- Sovereignty was shared between the Courts and the Crown, Section 18. (Modest)
- The king was inviolable. He held executive power, working through the government, whose president he appointed and dismissed. He also had legislative initiative, with veto power over Parliament. (Modest)
- Courts were bicameral, with a Senate that guaranteed elitist control of the legislature by privileged minorities, Article 19. (Modest)
- The rights and freedoms of individuals were recognized, but their regulation was left to subsequent legislation, leaving ample room for interpretation by the government, which could also be suspended in exceptional circumstances, Article 13. (Progressive)
- Catholicism was recognized as the official religion, under pressure from the Vatican and church hierarchies, but admitting tolerance towards other religions. In return, they allowed the Church to exercise control of education and teaching and, therefore, participate in shaping the values and mentality of the era, Article 11. (Modest)
Regarding the electoral process and the type of vote, the Constitution was silent, referring to a later election law. Universal male suffrage was not used again until 1890, thanks to a Liberal Party electoral law.
This and other uncertainties, such as the vague recognition of rights and freedoms, allowed the constitution to accommodate the different political liberals, who were all that were part of the political game of Restoration, leaving out the system to Democrats, Republicans, Carlists, and nationalists.
Turnismo and Electoral Fraud
The system devised by Antonio Cánovas based its operation on the peaceful shift of the two dynastic parties. That is, the two political parties loyal to the Crown agreed on access to government without resorting to military uprisings. This avoided the danger that the monarchy would be identified with one party and also ensured the continuity of the regime since it moved away from power the anti-monarchy political trends.
To ensure the turn, they resorted to electoral fraud, as we read in the fragment of Benito Pérez Galdós, a leading author of Spanish realism: “… The result of this vote fraud…” The text deals with electoral fraud. Thus, the political system used truly undemocratic procedures.
The local bosses were a key part of the system; they were used by parties to ensure the delivery of the majority needed to govern, irrespective of the electorate. They resorted to vote buying or coercion.
The mechanism of the turn was as follows: Regularly, in an agreed form, the king instructed the formation of a new government to the party that had to govern, as shown in the text. From the Ministry of the Interior, they made the box or lists of members who should get elected in each district, always reserving some seats for the dynastic opposition. All this is reflected in the text, as the Ministry of the Interior is tasked with making minorities and majorities: “…elections are made by the Minister of the Interior, and from that factory also emerge minority votes…” “…The government makes with the same zeal he put into the construction of the majority…” The box was handed to the provincial governors to impose in the province and municipalities through the local chief. This would manipulate voter registration, coerce votes, and, if that was not enough, change the records of the results, rigging.
The lists of members included members of the gentry and the aristocracy, who formed an oligarchy that monopolized political-administrative positions and seats in the Cortes. In this way, they could control all the levers of power, exercised for the benefit of the ruling class they represented.
Voter fraud was a common practice of both parties throughout the period of the Restoration, even when universal male suffrage was introduced in 1890. Only in the most important urban centers, where political opposition was stronger, did it become more difficult to control the cacique of universal male suffrage.
This system was strengthened because it favored political stability. By eliminating the opposition, it reduced the risk of radicalization, which would have altered the established social order and class interests that stood in the scheme: aristocracy and landowners, financial bourgeoisie, and colonial army and Church. In fact, neither the middle classes nor the working classes felt represented by the system, so they distanced themselves from political affairs.