Spain under the Restoration
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
The Restoration was the name given to the period that began in 29 December 1874 after the First Spanish Republic ended with the restoration of the throne to Alfonso XII afer a coup d'etat by Arsenio Martínez Campos, and ended on the 14 April 1931 with the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic.
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Introduction
After almost a whole century of political instability, with many civil wars, the aim of the Restoration was to create a new political system, which ensured stability by turnismo, this was the deliberate rotation of the Liberal and Conservative parties in the leadership of the country, so no sector of the bourguise felt isolated, but the low classes were kept away from politics. This was achieved by electoral fraud.
Initial Years (1874 - 1898)
The pronunciamiento by Arsenio Martínez Campos established Alfonso XII as King, marking the end of the First Spanish Republic. After this, the Constitution of 1876 was written and enforced during the whole restoration. This constitution established Spain as a bi-cameral constitutional monarchy, with a lower House (Congreso de Diputados), and an upper House (Senado). This constitution gave the King the power to name Senators, and to revoke laws if he wanted to, and he was also given the title of Commander-in-chief of the army. These years were marked by economic prosperity, Spain's economy was quite behind the ones of the other European countries, and during these years, the modernization of the country took place on a large scale, and on most fronts, production was increased, and national products increased due to extreme proteccionist measures. The two parties alternated in the government, the Liberal Party led by Práxedes Mateo Sagasta and the Conservative Party led by Canovas del Castillo. The caciques were used to manipulate election results, and because of this resentment to the system slowly built up during the years, and important nationalist movements in Catalonia and the Basque Country as well as syndicates started to be formed.
The Crisis of the System (1898 - 1923)
In 1898 Spain lost its two last colonies (Cuba and Puerto Rico) in the Spanish-American War. This was received as a disaster in Spain, and almost caused a coup d'etat led by Camilo Polavieja, in order to instaurate a military dictatorship. This was the start of the system's weakening, and gave oxygen to the opposition movements. The failed attempts to conquer Morroco caused great discontent at home, and ended up in a revolt in Barcelona, known as the Semana Tragica, in which the lower classes of Barcelona backed by the anarchists, communists and republicans, spontaneously revolted against what they considered the unjust methods of recruiting soldiers. The government declared the state of war, and sent the army to crush the revolt, causing hundreds of deaths, and the execution of Ferrer. The socialist syndicate UGT and the anarchist syndicate CNT suscribed a pact in 1917 which led to a general strike all across the country, which failed because the syndicates could not movilize the rural workers. The problems in Morroco worsened, as an of Morrocan natives attacked the Spanish army. They were taken by surprise, and due to the skill of the Morrocan leader, they were pushed back to Melilla and lost all the land they had conquered during the years. This defeat was due to improper planning, and was blamed on the top military officers, causing great discontent among the military, which felt misunderstood, because they had not been granted the proper means to fight the battle.
Primo de Rivera's Dictatorship (1923 - 1930)
The military discontent, the fear of anarchist terrorism or a proletarian revolution, and the rise of nationalisms ended up causing great agitation amongst the civilians and the military. On 13 September 1923, Miguel Primo de Rivera, Captain of Catalonia at that time, orchestrated a coup d'etat, after emitting a manifesto blaming the problems of Spain on the parlimentary system. Alfonso XIII backed the General, and named him Prime Minister. He proceeded to suspend the Constitution, and assume absolute powers as a dictator, abolishing all other parties. He created the Unión Patriótica Española which was meant to be the sole legal party. During this time, he greatly increased government spending in business and public services, which caused his government to go bankrupt. He lost the support of the military, and facing serious health problems, he tendered his resignation in January 1930.
The Final Years (1930 - 1931)
Berenguer tried to save the King's reputation for having backed Primo de Rivera, but this was not possible. He renounced on General Aznar, who called for elections on the 13 April 1931.The Republican and Socialist parties won in every mayor town and city. This caused Alfonso to abdicate the throne, after the army refused to defend him and the Second Spanish Republic to be established under a provisional government led by Niceto Alcalá-Zamora.
