The Spanish Restoration: 1875-1923

Posted on Dec 7, 2024 in History

The pronouncement of Martinez Campos accelerated the accession to the throne of Alfonso XII and thus the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy. The crisis of 1902 began in the reign of Alfonso XIII and finally ended with the proclamation of the Second Republic.

1. Introduction

The architect of the return of the Bourbons to the Spanish crown was Canovas del Castillo, since he paved the way by obtaining the abdication of Queen Isabella II in favor of her son Alfonso and drafted a manifesto in favor of it. However, the pronouncement of Martinez Campos at Sagunto ended that plan and accelerated the accession to the throne of Alfonso XII. Among the population, there was a strong desire for order, which facilitated the restoration of the monarchy.

2. General Features

  • The evolution of the Restoration is divided into three periods:
    • The reign of Alfonso XII (1875-1885)
    • The regency of Maria Cristina (1885-1902)
    • Alfonso XIII’s reign (1902-1923)
  • The bases were the 1876 Constitution, the alternation in power of the two major parties, and *caciquismo*.
  • The government faced two problems:
    • Republican opposition, workers, and nationalists.
    • The Carlist and colonial wars.
  • The Restoration was a historical period characterized by constitutional stability, the separation of the military from political life, being replaced by true politicians, and economic growth. However, it saw the mastery of an oligarchy that distorted the electoral system and left large sections of society on the margins of political life.

3. Political Foundations

  • Goals. The main aim of Canovas del Castillo was to restore the monarchy. To do so, he should not only get Alfonso XII to the throne, but he should also be able to maintain his position without complications. He thus matured a system that included all the bourgeois parties in order to avoid pronouncements and excluded the lower classes to avoid a revolution from within.
  • Ideology. Canovas was a moderate. A manifesto through Sandhurst (1874) showed Canovas’s political program of conservative ideology. It emphasizes three principles:
    • The government should be guided by the constitutional monarchy and parliament.
    • Bourgeois liberalism must end with the *Ancien Régime* and the courts to adapt to the times.
    • Identifies the reign of Alfonso XII with Catholicism because of tradition.

4. The 1876 Constitution

In 1875, Canovas was serving as minister. He immediately launched the constitutional process by convening a Constituent Parliament election by popular vote and appointed the Commission of Notables to write a draft constitution.

The new Constitution was promulgated in May 1876 and lasted 47 years. It is a Constitution that seeks to be valid for any government. The main articles are:

  • Form of government. Constitutional monarchy.
  • Shared sovereignty between the King and the Cortes.
  • The King has executive power and agrees with the courts on legislative power.
  • Procedural rights are possible by later legislation.
  • Rights. Free expression, assembly, and association.
  • Bicameral Cortes, formed by Congress and the Senate.
  • Adopting a confessional state.
  • The appointment of deputies by electoral boards and in a manner determined by a subsequent law.

Conservatism had a great influence on this constitution. As for real authority, it included: the absolute veto, the legislative initiative, the ability to summon, suspend and dissolve the Cortes, and the appointment of a third of the Senate staff.

5. The Political Shift

Once the Constitution was promulgated, the presence of two large dynastic parties was lacking to provide peaceful alternatives in the exercise of power. Canovas had the support of the liberal Sagasta. All other political groups were excluded from the system.

These dynastic parties were:

  • The Conservative Party, led by Canovas. Its ideology was based on doctrinaire liberalism. His government action destroyed Carlism, approved the Electoral Act of 1878, and momentarily put an end to the war in Cuba. It passed the law of the Press (1879) and tried to end privilege.
  • The Liberal Party, led by Sagasta. It maintained a progressive liberalism. His government action highlights the Associations Act passed in 1887. In addition to universal male suffrage in 1890 and the new Civil Code of 1899. We note the revival of the war in Cuba (1895-1898) due to the failure of the Peace of Zanjón.

These parties were parliamentary groupings without laws to regulate them. The ideological differences were minimal, so Sagasta and Canovas got along very well with them, and also with the Kings. First with Alfonso XII, and secondly, with Maria Cristina, with whom they reached a verbal agreement after the death of her husband in 1885. Through this agreement, known as the Pact of Pardo, they agreed to maintain the monarchy and alternation. This made the alternate function accurately.

6. Despotism and Electoral Fraud

Caciquismo acquired full force, especially after the proclamation of universal male suffrage.

To ensure the alternation, they resorted to voter fraud. The mechanism of operation was as follows: when the government wore out, the king commissioned a new government to another party, that called elections to have a parliament in its favor. From the Ministry of the Interior, a list of deputies to be elected in each district was made. They formed an oligarchy that monopolized the seats in Parliament and political positions, thus controlling all levers of power. The “box” was given to the governors so that they imposed it in their respective provinces through the local chief. The chiefs ensured the election of deputies in the list provided by the government.

Fraud marginalized the opposition, which favored the interests of the class that supported the regime.

7. Conclusions

The Restoration was a time of stability. It is characterized by the prominence of society. However, there was a rise in movements outside the system that ended it.