Spain's 19th Century Crises: Cuba, Carlism, and Cantonal Revolts

Major Challenges of Spain's Sexenio Democrático

The Ten Years' War in Cuba (1868-1878)

In October 1868, an armed insurrection, launched by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes with the famous Grito de Yara, broke out in Cuba. The United States supported this movement, and President Grant repeatedly expressed his sympathy for the Cubans, while pressuring Spain to sell the island. Attempts to resolve the independence movement through reforms, seeking to abolish slavery and grant Cuba political autonomy, failed. Negotiations with the rebels, led by General Sweet, also proved unsuccessful, and the war intensified. Even attempts at appeasement failed, and it became a protracted war of attrition, which did not allow a definitive victory for either side.

The Third Carlist War (1872-1876)

Since 1868, Carlism regained new vigor and organized itself around Don Carlos, grandson of Carlos María Isidro, attracting significant sectors opposed to the revolution. After the elections of 1872, where the Carlists lost half of their seats, the tendency towards war, defended by General Díaz de Rada, prevailed over the position sustained by Nocedal, a supporter of political participation. This initiated the Third Carlist War in Valencia and the Maestrazgo, with immediate effects in Aragon and Catalonia, and increased virulence in Navarre and the Basque Country. With the proclamation of the Republic, the war intensified in the Basque region, Navarre, Catalonia, and the Maestrazgo. It was a problem whose solution, like that of Cuba, would eventually be faced by the monarchy of Alfonso XII.

The Cantonal Uprising (1873-1874)

The Cantonal Uprising, which began in June 1873 in Cartagena by staunch Republican federalists, swept through the Levant and Andalusia. In these regions, many local governments sought to establish autonomous federal states. The movement was joined by social upheaval with an anarchist character, which became particularly virulent in the city of Alcoy. Much of Spain was split into small states, where provincial, district, or local authorities managed their own affairs and, in some cases, organized their own armies. Given the seriousness of the situation, the Government of the Republic deployed the Army: General Martínez Campos suppressed the insurrection in Valencia, and General Pavía dominated Andalusia. The last rebel stronghold was Cartagena, whose canton, led by Antonete Gálvez and General Contreras, outlasted the Republic itself, until January 1874. The Cantonal Uprising contributed to the crisis of Pi i Maragall's federalism, while simultaneously bolstering the prestige of the generals who distinguished themselves in its pacification.