Spain in the 19th CenturyLO: To explain the important events that occurred in 19th

Century Spain

Match the important/Event person event to the description:

1812 Constitution A. A system of government where the Monarch has almost total power

Ferdinand VII B. The Carlists preferred replacement for Ferdinand VII

The Ancien Regime C. King who refused to accept the 1812 Constitution

Queen Isabella D. A document that created a new form of government for Spain: A Constitutional Monarchy

Carlos (Brother of Ferdinand VII)

E. A period when there was no Monarch at the head of the government

The First Republic F. She was made Monarch when her father Ferdinand VII died. This caused The Carlist Wars

19th Century Timeline

• Using a new side of paper, turn the page horizontally and draw a line across

• Put 1800 at the left-hand end and 1902 at the right-hand end.

• Put 1850 in the middle.• You are going to use this timeline to mark on the important events and periods of 19th Century Spanish History

1808-1902• During The Peninsula War of Independence (1808 to 1814) a

new constitution was written by the leaders of The Spanish Government who were leading the resistance from Cadiz: The 1812 Constitution. It abolished The Ancien Regime and set up a Constitutional Monarchy.

• But, in 1814 after The French had been defeated the Spanish King Ferdinand VII returned to Spain. He rejected the 1812 Constitution and re-established “The Ancien Regime.”

• Over the next 20 years Military Uprisings and protests meant that some reforms were made to “The Ancien Regime”but it still gave very little freedom to the people

• When Ferdinand died in 1833 he named his daughter Isabella as his hier. This made many people angry as it was illegal for a daughter to become Monarch. These people were generally conservative (The Nobility and Catholics). They wanted Ferdinand’s brother Carlos to be King. This led to “The Carlist Wars” between supporters of Isabella and Carlos (1833-1860). The Carlists eventually lost.

• Over the next 40 years limited reforms were made to the Constitution but they were not sufficient and Isabella became so unpopular that in 1868 she abandoned Spain.

• After 2 years she was replaced by Amadeus of Savoy who agreed to a Constitutional Monarchy that gave the people much more rights. However, lots of people opposed him (Carlists, the Church and people who wanted a republic) so he abdicated after 3 years

• A Republic (The First Republic) was declared in 1873 but there was much argueing about how it should function.

• In Alfonso XII Isabela’s son was pronounced King after just 11 months of being a republic in a process known as the Restoration. After his death in 1885, his second wife, María Cristina de Austria, was the regent until 1902.

• The political system of The Restoration was based on 2 pillars:

-A new moderate constitution written by Cánovas in 1876. It had a wide Bill of Rights; a shared sovereignity between the king and the Cortes; and a restricted suffrage.

-The “turnismo”: 2 liberal parties(Conservative party of Cánovas, and Liberal party of Sagasta) rotated in goverment, although this forced them to falsify the elections through rigging(“pucherazo”) and the “caciques” from towns and villages.

• The problems of the Restoration:-Many parties were excluded from

turnismo: carlists, republicans, democrats,…

-Nationalism in Catalonia and the Basque Country.

-The workers’ movement: socialism(foundation of PSOE in 1879 and UGT in 1888); anarchism (foundation of FTRE in 1881), which became very radical and agressive(assassination of Cánovas in 1897).

-The disaster of 1898: in The Philippines and in Cuba Independence movements were supported by USA and after a short war the Spanish army was defeated by the Americans. Spain lost these territories plus Puerto Rico and other archipielagos in the Pacific. This meant for Spain an economic failure and a deep ideological and moral crisis as well.

Summary of “El turnismo”

Draw a diagram that summarises “El Turnismo.”

2. ALFONSO XIII’S REIGN(1902-1931)

• The new king, Alfonso XIII, was able to maintain the political system from 1902 to 1917.

• The “turnismo” now had 2 new leaders who tried to implement social improvements and to finish with the “caciquismo”: Antonio Maura in the conservative party; Canalejas in the liberal party.

• The most important problem during this period was the “Tragic Week”(Semana Trágica) in Barcelona(1909). It was motivated by the mobilization of soldiers to fight in Morocco because Spain was interested in establishing a protectorate in the North of this territory. This triggered strikes and riots that were repressed with great severity by the conservative government. Finally president Maura had to resign and the “turnismo” was broken.

• Problems grew from 1917 to 1923:

-The army demanded higher wages and promotion based on seniority and not on war merit.

-Catalonian politicians claimed a new constitution and the creation of a decentralized state.

-A general strike in 1917 supported by the trade unions and the left wing parties who protested against the high prices was harshly repressed by the government.

• So, between 1919 and 1923 several governments tried to solve the problems without any succes.

• The situation even got worse with more violent strikes and the so called “desastre de Annual”(Annual disaster) in 1921, where 10,000 Spanish sodiers died fighting against Morocan rebels.

• Then, the king accepted the coup d’état of general Miguel Primo de Rivera in 1923, who lead a period of dictatorship supported by the bourgeoisie, the church and the landowners.

• Primo de Rivera banned all political parties(except his own, Unión Patriótica), forbade strikes and closed the parliament to restore public order.

• He managed to defeat the Morocan rebels in Alhucemas(1925), and the war was over.

• But the economic crisis in 1929, and the opposition of the nationalists, the workers’ movement and the intellectuals forced him to resign in 1930.

• The discredit of the monarchy was very big because of the king’s support to the dictatorship. So, in the municipal elections on April 1931 the republican parties won in all the big cities and Alfonso XIII decided to leave the country.

3. THE SECOND REPUBLIC(1931-1936)

• The provisional government and the constitution of 1931: a provisional government called for constituent elections. The left wing parties won and imposed their ideology in this constitution.

• This constitution had an extensive bill of rights, popular sovereignty, the division of powers, the universal sufragge(male and female), the autonomy for the regions and the separation between the church and the state.

• Alcalá Zamora was elected as president of the Second Spanish Republic.

• The reformist biennium(31-33): The government was ruled by Azaña

and was formed by a coalition of socialists and republicans.

These were the most important reforms:

-The decentralization of the state: Catalonia got its autononomy in 1932. Other regions began to elaborate their projects to get it.

-Social reform: 40 hours work, raise of wages, social insurances.

-Agrarian reform: the “Ley de Bases de la Reforma Agraria”(1932) tried to distribute land among the poor peasants, but the process was very slow, and these peasants occupied the land with violence.

-Military reform: reduced the number of officials retiring them with a good salary to get the support of the army.

-The religious reform: divorce and civil marriage were allowed; priests weren´t paid by the state any more; teaching was forbiden to the religious orders.

-Educational reform: a free secular and compulsry education was implanted . 10,000 schools were built.

Some of these reforms provoked strikes and riots, forcing Azaña to resign in 1933. New elections were won by the centre-rigth wing parties.

• The conservative biennium(1933-35):

The “Partido Radical” of Lerroux and the CEDA of Gil Robles ruled in coalition. The paralization of the reforms led to the October Revolution in 1934, which was hardly repressed in Asturias and in Catalonia(the autonomous government proclaimed the independence).

New elections were held, and a coalition of the left-wing partieswon(“Frente Popular”).

• The Frente Popular government(feb-jun. 1936): an increasing political radicalization took place. In the left-wing parties the supporters of a social revolution gained weight. In the right-wing parties Falange raised with the aim of implement a fascist regime.

Falangistas, socialists, communists and anarchists fought in the streets, and riots and political murders were usual. In this situation the most conservative sectors decided to make a coup d’état to overthrow the republic.

4. THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR(1936-39)

• The military uprising began in Morocco on 17th July, and it spread on 18th in the rest of Spain.

• It succeded in the rural areas and it had the support from conservative sectors of the army, the church, the upper bourgeoisie, the monarchists and the carlists. Germany and Italy supported the rebels as well.

• The Republic had a great support in industrialized areas and cities, and it counted on the left-wing parties, the proletariat, the progressive sectors of the army and the lower bourgeoisie. The USSR and the International Brigades(over 40,000 volunteers) helped the Republic too.

• The militar deve-lopment of the war:

-July 1936-March 1937: the “nacionales” led by Franco tried to take Madrid, but after the battles of Jarama and Guadalajara they changed plans. Western Andalousia, Extremadura and the Basque Country were conquered.

-March 1937-March 1938: the rebels, after conquered Asturias and Cantabria tried to divide the republican territories into two parts. The republicans launched the Ebro offensive to stop their advance, but finally Franco co arrived on the Mediterranean coast in Vinaroz..

-March 1938-April 1939: the nacionales conquered Catalonia and the republican government surrendered 1st April 1939.

• Politics during the war:-The Republic: a social revolution

took place. The government was ruled by the socialist Largo Caballero, and since 1937 by the comunist Negrín. This government was weakened by the division and the constant fights between the anarchists and the radical comunist(first the revolution, afterwards winning the war) against the comunists and the socialits(first winning the war, later the revolution).

-The Nacionales: they abolished all the repu-blican reforms. Franco was the leader and there was only one po-litical partyallowed(FET y de las JONS).

• The consequences of the war:-380,000 people died, and 350,000

had to leave the country;-Destuction of factories, transports,

buildings and farmland;-A dictatorship of 36 years;-This war was the precedent of the

WW2.

5. FRANCO’S DICTATORSHIP(1939-75)

• We can distinguish two periods:-1939-1959: the basis of the new

regime were implemented. • Domestic policy: the dictatorship

used autarchy. • Foreign policy: Spain was isolated.

-1960-1975: great economic development, great demographic growth and an improvement in the Spaniards’ living standards. The interior and exterior opposition grew.

• The ideological basis of the regime: -Antiparliamentarism and

antiliberalism: these ideas were picked up from fascism.

-Anticomunism: comunism was the most radical ideology against “Franquismo”.

-National-catholicism: the church legitimated the regime and the state gave it a lot of privileges.

-Spanish traditionalism: Franco wnted to emulate the Austrias’ Age.

-Unity of Spain: Franco banned the autonomous regions.

-Militarism.

• Social and political support:-The political supports of Francoism

were the Falange, the army, the catholics and the monarchical sectors.

-The social supports were the land owners, the factory managers, the financial statements and the rich peasants of the north and the center of Spain. Later on the middle classes and part of the proletariat supported the regime because of the improvement of the economy.

• The political evolution: -1939-1959: the authoritarian regime

was imposed between 1939 and 1942. Franco became the head of the state and the chief of the army. There was just one political organization allowed: the National Movement, formed by FET de las JONS and the Vertical Trade Union.

In 1942 the organic democracy was established: it was only a facade for the regime before the allies.

The Law of Succession(1947) became Spain into a kingdom, but franco could chose the successor.

The opposition to the regime: a republican government in exile, and Don Juan with part of the monarchical supporters from Estoril were the most important opponents abroad.

In Spain a guerrilla called “maquis”; the basque and catalonian nationalists; and a few communists, anrchists and socialists starred the oppsition.

The foreign policy: Spain was neutral during the WW2, although Franco held meetings with Hitler and Mussilini and in 1941 decided to send the “Blue Division” to the USSR to fight against communism.

After the war Spain was isolated: it wasn’t admited to the UNO. But due to the cold war, since 1947 the Western block approached to Franco, and in 1950 the UNO cacelled the international isolation, and in 1953 USA was allowed to set up military bases in Spain in exchange of economic aid.

Finally, Spain was admitted to the UNO in 1955.

In 1956 Morocco got the independence from Spain and France.

• 1959-1975: the ideological basis were the same. The governments were ruled by technocrats belonged to the Opus Dei, whose main target was the economic growth and then, social stability. In 1969 Franco appointed Juan Carlos de Borbón as his succdessor.

The opposition grew: the trade unions UGT and CCOO and university students starred several strikes; PSOE, PCE and nationalist parties; the terrorist groups ETA and GRAPO; even the church distanced itself from Franco. The answer of the regime was repression.

Foreign policy: in 1962 Spain claimed to join the EEC; in 1968 Franco gave the independence to Equatorial Guinea; in 1975 Morocco invaded the Western Sahara taking advantage of the dictator’s death.