Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and exercises for History for Baccalaureate

The Cánovas Restoration System

The Spanish Restoration era saw the consolidation of a conservative party system under Antonio Cánovas del Castillo. This period was marked by a political agreement between Cánovas and Práxedes Mateo Sagasta, known as the Pact of El Pardo, which ensured a peaceful alternation of power between the Conservative Party (1875-1881) and the Liberal Party (1881-1890). This system, however, was plagued by electoral corruption, often referred to as caciquismo. Power was centralized in Madrid, controlled by an oligarchy, while provincial governors and local chiefs manipulated elections, leading to widespread rigging.

Reign of Alfonso XII and Key Events

The reign of Alfonso XII (1874-1885) was crucial for the consolidation...

Beer

Brewing Process

1. Malting
2. Mashing
3. Wort Separation
4. Wort Boiling
5. Fermentation

Beer Styles and Ingredients

• Older styles like ale and stout use top fermentation.
• The most common grain used for beer is barley.
• Hops are added during wort boiling for bitterness and aroma.
• The two main categories of wheat beer are Kristallweizen and Hefeweizen.
• Bitter is a type of beer usually hand-pumped in pubs.
• IPAs are known for their strong, hoppy character.
• Pale Lager is the most popular beer category.

Rum

Production and History

• The evaporation of spirit during aging is called Angel's Share.
• Rhum Industriel is made from molasses, a by-product of sugar refining.
• Brazil's national spirit is Cachaça, made from sugarcane juice.
• Rhum Agricole is made directly from sugarcane juice.

The Regime of the Restoration (1874-1902)

The political system of the Restoration is absolutely linked to the figure of Antonio Cánovas del Castillo. He favored keeping the old Bourbon and liberal anti-democratic system based on census suffrage. He defended the idea of shared sovereignty between the King and Parliament, at an intermediate point between the Old Regime and the democratic monarchy of 1869.

He was aware of the need for renewal:

• Alfonso XII was to replace the unpopular Isabel II. Cánovas got the Queen to relinquish her claim to the throne in 1870.
• There was a need to stop the ongoing military interventions.
• There was a need to create a two-party system based on two bourgeois parties that were taking turns in power: the Conservative

The Background: The First Two Cuban Wars

Taking advantage of the October Revolution of 1868, part of the native bourgeoisie, along with mestizos and freed slaves, staged an independence and abolitionist movement. One of its leaders, Carlos Manuel Céspedes, staged the uprising known as the Grito de Yara, initiating the First Cuban War or the Ten Years' War (1868-1878). After ten years of fighting between rebels and Spanish troops, the Peace of Zanjón was signed by General Martínez Campos. It offered an amnesty to captured rebels and promised more autonomy for the island. However, these promises were ultimately not met.

The Second Cuban War (1879), known as the Little War, was brief and had limited impact. Since then, Cuban trade became increasingly...

1. Victorian England (1837-1901)

The reign of Victoria I marked the peak of the British Empire's territorial expansion and industrial development. While the parliamentary monarchy remained, progress towards a democratic system was evident. Despite relative economic decline compared to emerging powers like Germany and the United States, Britain remained a major financial center due to the strength of the pound and the Bank of England. This financial dominance fueled British interest in imperialist expansion, trade, and control of shipping routes.

Opening Policies and Reforms

From the mid-19th century, British politics revolved around the Conservative and Liberal parties. Benjamin Disraeli, a Conservative Prime Minister, enacted an electoral...

The Fragility of Peace

The peace imposed split Europe between states in favor of preserving the principles of Versailles and those who wished to revise them in their favor.

Thus, the international situation was compromised by new challenges. The United States adopted an isolationist stance and did not ratify the agreements.

Germany, deeply humiliated, persisted in its claim for a review in its favor of the conditions imposed by the treaty.

Given the instability that the new situation would provide, the League of Nations (SDN) was created in Paris.

The League of Nations introduced a new conception of diplomacy as an open system of relations between states, but it did not fully convince France or Italy. Some operational problems soon began to manifest...

**Romanesque Art**

And Characteristics of the Upper Romanesque Art

Western medieval Europe was the first international art. Christianity and the island were created, and the eleventh and twelfth centuries developed. After the thirteenth century, Gothic art was rejected. Byzantine and Muslim influence will be. Its name comes from the Roman, in principle, the Romans had the forms and techniques have been times since the first and the other Romance languages.

At that point, the highest stability of feudalism and social hierarchy of the Church leadership in general and the theocentrism. Religion did the economic power of the Clergy and the only class to learn the art of using these low channels were illiterate. So was the Feudal and monastic art....

Industrialization in Basque Country

Industrialization in Basque Country would not have happened without concert's economic support. The Industrial Revolution slowly developed and began in the mid-19th century in Biscay. Industrialization in Basque country had huge social consequences. The most important was that instead of exporting men as before, the region began to exhibit an increase in demand for a labor force in its new factories. Industrialization process changed demographic terms, with substantial social, cultural, and political implications for the future.

1Following the last Carlist War, the preservation of Fueros persisted until 1876, when Cánovas del Castillo mandated provinces to contribute to the Treasury. Foral Councils were replaced...

Mikhail Gorbachev

In the late 1980s, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev implemented a series of changes in his country's social, economic, and foreign policies designed to improve the standard of living and enter a new era with the United States. The cumulative effect of his "new thinking" was to end the Cold War, the breakdown of the Soviet Empire, and the Soviet Union itself.

Mikhail Gorbachev became head of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1985.

Economic Challenges and Reforms

The Soviet economy in the mid-1980s faced serious challenges. Years of centralized controls had led to stagnation, and the Soviet economy was already straining to compete with the military buildup in the United States led by President Ronald Reagan. In response,...

The Spanish Restoration (1874-1931): Bourbon Monarchy

The end of the First Spanish Republic coincided with the Carlist Wars and uprisings. Cánovas del Castillo formed the Alfonsist party, aiming to restore the Bourbon monarchy with Alfonso XII. After Isabel II abdicated, Cánovas became Alfonso XII's tutor and sent him to England. The Sandhurst Manifesto declared Spain a constitutional monarchy, followed by the pronunciamiento of Sagunto in 1874. Alfonso XII became king in 1875.

Cánovas and the Canovite Settlement

As a deputy in the 1869 Cortes, Cánovas opposed the 1869 Constitution, finding the liberty of religious practice unacceptable, and he also opposed universal suffrage. He admired the English political system for its stability and lack...