The Spanish Restoration: Monarchy, Politics, and Society (1874-1923)
The Shift to Conservatism and the Rise of Alfonso XII
The First Spanish Republic experienced a clear conservative shift with the new government of Emilio Castelar, who had been moving away from the Federalists and their reformist agenda. Castelar suspended parliamentary sessions and ruled authoritatively, supporting the most conservative elements and giving wide powers to military commanders to maintain public order. In this situation, a significant section of the members of Parliament reached an agreement to raise a motion to censure the government, forcing Castelar’s resignation. The intention was to regain control of the government and return power to the initial ideas of the republican regime. On January 3, 1874, the Cortes Generales opened, and Castelar’s government was defeated. The formation of a leftist government was imminent, but General Manuel Pavía demanded the dissolution of the Republican Parliament. They resisted at first, but before the invasion of the Chamber by Pavía with Civil Guard forces, they left the Chamber. There was scarcely any resistance, which demonstrated the weakness of the Republic, as it hardly had any social base on which to support itself. Power passed to a coalition of Unionists and Progressives led by General Francisco Serrano, who attempted to stabilize a conservative republican regime. However, the social base had already opted for the *Alfonsino* solution: the return of the Bourbons in the figure of the son of Isabel II. On December 29, 1874, the military *pronunciamiento* of General Arsenio Martínez Campos at Sagunto proclaimed Alfonso XII King of Spain. On December 1, Prince Alfonso de Borbón had signed the Manifesto of Sandhurst, written by Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, which synthesized the agenda of the new *Alfonsino* monarchy: a conservative, Catholic regime that would ensure the functioning of the liberal political system and restore political stability and social order, based on the alternation of power between two major liberal parties.
Cánovas del Castillo and the New Political Model
Martínez Campos’s *pronunciamiento* meant the restoration of the monarchy in the person of Alfonso XII, the only son of Isabel II. The key political figure was Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, who advocated for the articulation of a new political model that would overcome some of the endemic problems of the preceding liberal period: the partisan and exclusionary nature of the Moderates, military interventionism in politics, and the proliferation of civil strife. To achieve his purpose, he proposed two aims: to develop a political system based on bipartisanship and to pacify the country by ending the war in Cuba and the Carlist conflict. The first step was the convening of elections for a Constituent Cortes, as the Constitution of 1869 had been terminated after the proclamation of the Republic. In these elections for the Constituent Cortes, the first elections were held by universal male suffrage, but later it would revert to census suffrage.
The Constitution of 1876
The Constitution of 1876 was a clear sign of doctrinaire liberalism, characterized by census suffrage and shared sovereignty between the Cortes and the King. It was markedly conservative in nature and inspired by the historical values of the monarchy, religion, and property. The monarchy was an institution of higher order, unquestionable, permanent, and independent of any political decision. It was a moderating power, thus establishing shared sovereignty and granting sweeping powers to the monarch. The Cortes were bicameral and were formed by the Senate and the Congress of Deputies (of an elective nature). The Constitution did not stipulate the type of vote, but a subsequent law established census suffrage, limited to the largest contributors. Half of the Senate was made up of senators by their own right and life senators, giving the King the option to appoint senators directly. It proclaimed the Catholic confessionality of the state but tolerated other beliefs as long as they were not publicly manifested. It had a neat (wide and complicated) declaration of rights, but its realization was left to ordinary laws that tended to restrict them further, especially the rights of the press, expression, association, and assembly.
Bipartisanship and the *Turnismo* System
Cánovas del Castillo introduced a system of government based on bipartisanship and the alternation in power of the two great dynastic parties: the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party. There would be a peaceful shift (*turnismo*) of parties that would ensure institutional stability through the participation in power of the two families. The army was subordinated to civil power. The army’s mission was to defend national independence and should not intervene in the disputes of the parties. Thus, *turnismo* eliminated the problem of *pronunciamientos* and the role of the military presence in parties and in Spanish political life, which had characterized the era of Isabel II.
The End of the Carlist and Cuban Wars
The regime’s stability was improved by the end of the Carlist and Cuban wars. The Bourbon Restoration deprived the Carlist cause of much of its hypothetical legitimacy, and certain Carlist figures ended up recognizing Alfonso XII. Charles VII crossed the French border into exile, and the war was terminated. The immediate consequence of the Carlist defeat was the final abolition of the *foral* regime. The end of the Carlist War allowed for an easier end to the Cuban insurrection. As a result of military action and negotiations with the insurgents, the Peace of Zanjón was signed. This included a broad amnesty, the abolition of slavery, and a promise of political and administrative reform. The delay or failure of these reforms would lead to the start of a new conflict in 1879 (the Little War) and the subsequent insurrection of 1895.
The Conservative and Liberal Parties
Cánovas had been the main leader of the *Alfonsino* party, which had championed the Restoration. He formed the Liberal-Conservative Party, gathering the most conservative political groups, and it became known as the Conservative Party. The bipartisan nature of Cánovas’s project required another, more progressive party, which he himself proposed to Práxedes Mateo Sagasta to form. From progressive unionists and some moderate republicans, the Liberal-Fusionist Party was born, later known as the Liberal Party. The only requirement was to accept the *Alfonsino* monarchy and the alternation in power (it was known as a dynastic party). They essentially agreed ideologically, but they differed in a consensual manner and assumed two roles that complemented each other. Both defended the monarchy, the Constitution, private property, and the consolidation of the liberal state, unitary and centralist. Their social bases were the economic elite and the middle class. They were parties of notables. Conservatives were more prone to political immobilism, census suffrage, defense of the Church, and social order. The Liberals defended universal male suffrage, a more progressive outlook, and secularism. In practice, the performance of both did not differ in essence, as there was a tacit agreement never to enact a law that would force the other party to repeal it when it returned to power.
*Caciquismo* and Electoral Corruption
The alternation was intended to ensure institutional activity. The shift in power was ensured when the ruling party suffered a process of political erosion and lost the confidence of the Cortes. The monarch then called the head of the opposition party to form a government. The new head of government would call elections in order to obtain a sufficient number of deputies to form a parliamentary majority that would allow him to govern. The *turnismo* system was maintained through peaceful electoral corruption and the use of the influence and economic power of certain individuals over society. *Caciquismo* reached its peak in Andalusia, Galicia, and Castile. The adulteration of the vote was achieved by restoring census suffrage, more favorable treatment to rural districts compared to urban ones, and manipulation and electoral chicanery. The *caciques* were notable people, often wealthy landowners, who created jobs for laborers and had a great influence on local life, both socially and politically. They could be professionals of prestige, lawyers, or officials. With their influence, the *caciques* steered the direction of the vote, thanking electoral loyalty with favors and discriminating against those who did not respect their interests. The *caciques* continually manipulated the elections in accordance with the authorities. The set of traps is known as *pucherazo*. They did not hesitate to falsify the census, including dead people or preventing the living from voting, manipulating the tally sheets, buying votes, threatening the electorate with coercion of any kind, and even using violence to intimidate opponents. Between 1876 and 1898, the *turnismo* worked regularly. The first crisis of the system came as a result of the impact of the Disaster of 1898, which eroded the political standing of the dynastic parties. After the death of King Alfonso XII, an agreement was reached between Conservatives and Liberals (the Pact of El Pardo). Its purpose was to support the regency of María Cristina and ensure the continuity of the monarchy in the face of pressure from Carlists and Republicans.
The Deterioration of the System and the Rise of New Political Forces
The system deteriorated due to the personalistic nature of the parties, which depended heavily on the personality of their leaders. In the Liberal Party, figures like Antonio Maura emerged, which led to the emergence of factions and the disorganization of the party. As for the Conservatives, Francisco Silvela managed to unite the various factions after the death of Cánovas. During the Restoration, the Republicans, along with other parties, were relegated to the opposition and never obtained a sufficient number of deputies to form a government or be an influential parliamentary minority. The Republicans were sharply divided on several trends, which hampered the efficiency and electoral support of their political agenda. The fastest adaptation was that of Castelar, who evolved towards more moderate positions. Convinced that the Restoration would ensure social order, he believed that the monarchy could assume some democratic principles and considered the possibility of a Republican Party. Nicolás Salmerón did not rule out violent actions against the monarchy and founded the Progressive Republican Party. His insurrectionary practices caused a rupture with Salmerón and the creation of the Centralist Republican Party. Republicanism found more success with the Federal Republican Party, which retained Pi i Margall as its leader and had the important support of the popular classes. Universal male suffrage brought about a certain revival of Republicanism and stimulated the formation of electoral alliances, which comprised various Republican families except for the Possibilists. Republicanism lost some of its former social base and had to fight for the popular vote with the new workers’ movement, the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), founded in 1879 by Pablo Iglesias. In the late 19th century, Spain saw the rise of regionalist or nationalist movements. Groups of intellectuals, politicians, journalists, and businessmen began to propose, in certain regions, policies contrary to the uniformity and state centralism typical of Spanish liberalism.
Catalan Nationalism
The region that pioneered the development of a regionalist movement was Catalonia, where throughout the 19th century there had been greater economic growth than in any other Spanish region. This had led to the birth of an influential middle class of industrialists. This new group made the defense of protectionism a unifying element. It coincided with a remarkable revival of Catalan culture and the expansion of the use of its language, Catalan. A movement known as the *Renaixença* was born, whose aim was the recovery of the Catalan language and identity. Catalanism emerged from the conjunction of economic and cultural *Renaixença*. In the 1880s, Catalan political development took several streams. One of them was based on traditionalism, with Bishop Josep Torras i Bages as its outstanding representative. Another, of a progressive nature, with grassroots and federalist principles, was encouraged by Valentí Almirall. He founded the *Centre Català*, which began to defend the autonomy of Catalonia. An important step in the development of Catalanism was the Bases of Manresa, a document that sought to achieve a Catalan state, with consideration of Catalonia as an autonomous entity within Spain. Regionalism went on to become truly nationalist. The *Lliga Regionalista* was founded by Enric Prat de la Riba and Francesc Cambó. The new party aimed to participate actively in politics and to have representatives who would defend Catalan interests.
Basque Nationalism
In the origins of Basque nationalism, we must consider the reaction to the loss of a substantial part of the *fueros* after the defeat of the Carlists, but also the development in defense of the Basque language. Its great promoter was Sabino Arana, who believed that the survival of Basque culture was in great danger due to the arrival of immigrants from other regions. Arana seized proposals from various sectors, especially the petty bourgeoisie, and founded the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV). Arana popularized a new name for his homeland, *Euskadi*, a flag, and the slogan”God and Old Law” The movement was imbued with a great feeling and defense of Catholic tradition, intended to promote the Basque language and customs, and advocated for the racial purity of the Basque people, so it acquired a xenophobic sense.
Andalusian Regionalism
The apostle of Andalusianism, Blas Infante, a notary by profession, was heir to the Republican and Federalist movements of the 19th century. He participated in the first regionalist meeting held in Ronda, Andalusia, which laid the foundations for Andalusian particularism and proposed autonomy. During the Second Republic, he addressed the drafting of a draft Statute of Autonomy, which achieved little popular support. It was not until the end of the Franco regime that Andalusianism found popular support to defend autonomy.
Anarchism and Socialism
Since the establishment of the Restoration regime in 1874, labor organizations faced harsh repression and were forced into hiding. The rise of the Liberal government brought greater permissiveness, and workers’ associations were again legalized. The Federation of Workers of the Spanish Region had its greatest establishment among laborers in Andalusia and workers in Catalonia, and it developed industrial action demands. Disagreements within the organization and the continuing repression of workers and peasants favored that a sector of anarchism opted for direct action aimed at attacking the pillars of capitalism: the state, the bourgeoisie, and the Church. The biggest events of social violence were attacks against key figures in political life (Cánovas and Martínez Campos), bombs at the Liceu in Barcelona, and against the Corpus Christi procession. Anarchism was accused of being behind the Black Hand, a secret association acting in Andalusia in the late 19th century. Anarchist riots were followed by repression, causing a spiral of violence based on a dynamic of action/repression/action. The key moment was the Montjuïc trials, in which five anarchists were condemned and executed. The proliferation of attacks deepened the division within anarchism, raising the social revolution as a method, and advocating for the need to establish trade union organizations. This new anarcho-syndicalist trend began to bear fruit with the establishment of the *Confederación Nacional del Trabajo* (CNT).
The PSOE and the UGT
A group of workers in Madrid, including Pablo Iglesias, founded the PSOE in 1879. The party was defined as having a Marxist orientation, clearly workerist, and a supporter of social revolution. It also had a reform program that included the right of association, assembly, and demonstration, universal suffrage, reduction of working hours, prohibition of child labor, and other social measures. The party grew slowly in Spain, but it soon took root in Madrid, the Basque Country, Asturias, and Málaga. It had a difficult development in areas dominated by anarcho-syndicalism, such as Catalonia, and in farming areas. In 1888, the *Unión General de Trabajadores* (UGT) was founded. The UGT was organized in trade unions in each locality and always practiced a very prudent policy, resorting to strikes only as a last resort.
Conclusion
The Restoration has been valued as a long period of institutional stability, peaceful coexistence, and respect for freedom. Other historians present it as a dummy political regime, based theoretically on the liberal principles of constitutionalism and parliamentary representation but, in practice, these were distorted. *Turnismo* was the result of a prior agreement between the dynastic parties about which of them should rule at any given time. Thus, the political system was rebuilt on three undemocratic pillars: a limited constitution that established the monarchy as the basis of the political system, which was only open to the two dynastic parties, and the alternation of power, which was ensured by the *caciques*. All these fraudulent practices led to disappointment for much of the population. This political apathy is explained by the lack of representation of the dynastic parties, voter distrust in the honesty of elections, and the opposition’s lack of interest in participating in the electoral process.