The Restoration in Spain: Political Instability and Social Challenges
The Constitution of 1876
Courts were convened for constituent elections by universal suffrage. The electoral process was manipulated to ensure a large majority of government candidates. The Constitution of 1876 was inflexible in order to allow a stable governing party to accept the system. Its inspiration was doctrinaire and conservative. The declaration of rights and duties collected almost all the conquests of 1869. And it will be referred to the ordinary laws and these tended to restrict the rights of the press and expression.
Regarding the powers of the state, the constitution returned to the principle of shared sovereignty. The courts were bicameral, with a high chamber composed of three senators. Members of Congress were elected by direct vote, but the voting system was decided by the ruling party. Executive power was exercised by the crown through the ministers, who corresponded to the chambers. The king chose the head of government freely and was not accountable to the courts. The text maintained the judiciary and the unit code. The religious question was resolved by recognizing the country’s Catholic confessional and the guarantee of the maintenance of worship and clergy. In contrast, an ambiguous freedom of belief allowed other religions.
The Shooting of the System: The Political Revolution until 1885
The Conservative Party was led by Canovas himself. Its program was based on defending the social order of the monarchy and property. The conservatives began to abolish the privileges of the Basques, with the aim of achieving full legal uniformity and political censorship. They reestablished and made it a crime any attack on the monarchy. They closed newspapers, banned trade union meetings, and freedoms remained banned. A very restricted suffrage was established.
The Liberal Party was founded, under the leadership of Sagasta. Its members accepted the monarchy and the constitution. In 1881, Canovas resigned and made way for the first government of the Liberal Party. Sagasta took steps to end restrictions on freedom of expression: he limited the imprisonment of the press and returned their university teachers who had been repressed. But he did not dare to carry the reforms further. Soon there were riots and demonstrations. The government suppressed the popular protests and the coup process.
The Distortion of the System: Patronage and Electoral Corruption
In 1885, it was clear that the constitutional functioning experienced a clear adulteration. When an experienced party wore out its official conduct, the Crown suggested the appointment of a new government. The new president was always the party leader and received the decree of dissolution of the courts and the call for new elections. Then his newly appointed acting minister of the interior, who produced the results from the ballot box, adjudicating seats to supporters or opponents, as a function of what agreements were agreed with the opposition. There followed to manipulate elections through the extensive network of chiefs and authorities spread throughout the country. Since illiteracy and tight control, getting the agreed result was simple. The certainty that the election was useless caused progressive indifference to political life. The electoral distortion worked. But later it began to crumble, with the establishment of universal suffrage, the diffusion of the press, and the emergence of parties outside the turn.
The Regency of Maria Cristina (Wife of Afonso XII)
Alfonso XII died in 1885. His second wife, Maria Christina of Austria, remained as Regent. The need to ensure stability led to Canovas and Sagasta to establish an agreement, called the Pact of Pardo. They pledged to support the regency, to provide relief in the government when it lost its prestige and support in public opinion, and not to legislate on each other’s policies. Both parties complied with the agreement, which made it possible to overcome the test of the king’s death. The Pact of Pardo exacerbated political corruption and distorted the popular will.
The Political Developments between 1885 and 1895
In 1885 and 1890, the Liberal Party ruled, with Sagasta. Sagasta’s government launched a political agenda of greater openness. It reestablished academic freedom and broad freedom of expression. It reestablished freedom of association. Other laws that helped develop the constitution were the new civil code and the recovery of the old jury system. The most important reform was male suffrage. But its effects were cushioned by electoral manipulation.
In 1890 and 1892, the Conservatives ruled. The most significant was the passage of the Tariff Act of 1891, establishing a rigid protectionist policy. The Liberals returned to govern from 1892. The most prominent was the proposed reform of the administration and government of Cuba, which met with opposition that closed Indian interests.
The Regeneration and Political Revisionism. Characteristics of Political Life
Between 1902 and 1923, a permanent political crisis affected the Restoration. The causes of this instability were diverse. One must mention the personality of Alfonso XIII. He played an active role: he was involved in changes of government, participated in politics, and rode with the more conservative sector of the generalship. His attitude of supporting the dictatorship would be decisive for the final discredit. A second cause was the division of the parties of the turn, caused by the disappearance of the leaders and the struggle between the new policies. Neither liberals nor conservatives had clear leaders. The progressive weakening of caciquismo made manipulation less effective in agricultural areas. Allegations of forced voting limited Regenerationists in agricultural areas. The parliamentary division contributed to the emergence and growth of other political parties. In 1917, no party was able to form a government alone.
The Country’s Addiction Problems
During the reign, there were a number of problems. First, the increase in social struggles. Faced with worker demands, the government’s action was scarce, and positions between employers and workers became increasingly conflicting. Second, the reappearance of the religious question. Socialists and a significant sector of the Liberal Party claimed that its power was cut. Anti-clericalism was spreading in much of public opinion. Third, the so-called military problem. In the armed forces, official and material resources were lacking. A wounded military establishment and anti-military sectors faced a press that accused the military of defeat. The crystallization of the nationalist movement was seen as another problem. For conservative politicians, nationalism amounted to risks of disintegration of the motherland. One must mention the problem of Morocco. After the disaster, the possibility of rebuilding the empire there arose the hopes of the Spanish colonialists. In 1906, the Conference of Algeciras granted France and Spain a joint protectorate over northern Africa. In the following years, Spanish companies began to exploit the mineral wealth of the region.