Isabel II's Reign and the Second Industrial Revolution

Spain: The Reign of Isabel II (1833-1868)

The reign of Isabel II marked the end of absolutism in Spain and the establishment of a liberal and constitutional monarchy.

Characteristics of the Reign

The reign had 8 characteristics:

1. When Isabel II was a child, 2 regents governed in her place:
   • Mª Cristina (her mother)
   • Espartero (army officer)
2. The royal power was limited by the constitution.
3. Isabel had the support of 2 liberal political parties:
   • The moderate party: who defended a stronger monarchy.
   • The progressive party: who wanted to limit royal power.
4. New constitutions were proposed and limited suffrage was established.
5. The military participated in politics, forming part of the government and staging revolts to obtain more power.
6. Different Carlist wars broke out: these wars were military conflicts between supporters of Isabel II and the supporters of Carlos Mª Isidro (The Carlists believed that Carlos was the legitimate heir to the Spanish throne).
7. The existence of political problems caused by:
   • Electoral fraud.
   • The appearance of new political parties:
     • Democratic party: demanded universal suffrage.
     • Republican party: demanded a republic.
8. The existence of economic problems:
   • Discontent among the peasants over poor working conditions.
   • Isabel II's government expropriated land from the nobility, the church and local governments. This helped to the state's debts, but had negative consequences for small peasants.

The Second Industrial Revolution and Capitalism

(1870-1914)

The most important innovations and changes were:

New Sources of Finance

• The appearance of joint-stock companies.
• The importance of the bank.
• The importance of the stock exchange.

New Business Structures

• Cartels: horizontal associations of different companies working in the same industry, which made collective decisions about production and prices.
• Trusts: vertical associations of different companies working in different industries, which used their size to control the market.
• Holding: large financial companies that obtained profits by buying and holding shares in other companies.

New Technological Advances

• Dynamite
• Stainless steel
• Artificial fibres

New Sources of Energy

• Electricity
• Oil

New Industries

• The chemical industry
• The automobile industry: Henry Ford began the mass production of cars with the model "T".

Consequences

• The organization of work changed and the assembly line developed.
• The birth of the consumer society.
• Economic crises and cycles.