Spanish History Glossary: Politics, Economics, and Society

Key Political and Historical Terms in Spanish History

• Besiege: To surround a place in order to attack it.
• Bipartisan: Involving two political parties.
• Caciquismo: The undemocratic use of democratic power by local leaders.
• Cádiz Cortes: The first national assembly in Spain to claim sovereignty.
• Camarillismo: The influence of a group on the politics of a country for personal gain, often hidden from the general public.
• Canton: An independent division of a country.
• Carlism: A conservative political movement in Spain that supported Infante Carlos as king and defended absolutism.
• Carlist Wars: Civil wars fought in Spain between liberal supporters of Isabella II and Carlists.
• Census Suffrage: The right to vote given to only some people (restricted suffrage).
• Confessional State: A country that officially practices a particular religion.
• Fueros: Regional and local rights and privileges granted to a specific group of people.
• Guerrilla Warfare: A type of irregular war in which armed civilians attack a regular army.
• Junta: A local administrative body in 19th-century Spain.
• National Militia: An armed group of citizens that defended the Constitution and opposed absolutism in Spain.
• Pragmatic Sanction: A royal decree that has the force of law.
• Pronunciamiento: A military revolt.
• Regent: A person who administers a country because the monarch is minor, absent, or ill.
• Salic Law: A law that excludes women from the right to inherit the throne.
• Secular: Not religious.
• Spanish War of Independence: A military conflict (1807–1814) between Napoleon's Empire and Spain, Portugal, and Britain.
• Treaty of Paris (1898): An agreement signed in 1898 between the USA and Spain.
• Turno Pacífico: The peaceful alternation of power between political parties (in Restoration Spain).

Economic, Social, and Industrial Concepts

• Backwardness: Being behind others in development or progress.
• Barcelona Weavers Association: The first trade union in Spain.
• Blast Furnace: A type of large industrial oven used in metallurgy.
• Emigration: The act of leaving your home country to live in another.
• Industrial Colony: A community of workers near a factory, provided with housing and services.
• Ironworks: A factory where iron is produced or iron objects are made.
• Liberal Land Reform: A series of reforms that introduced capitalist forms of ownership and production.
• Ley Moyano: The first educational law in Spain, which introduced free compulsory education.
• Marxism: A social, political, and economic theory based on Karl Marx’s writings.
• Mining: The act or industry of extracting minerals, usually underground.
• Modernism: A 19th-century cultural movement that rejected tradition.
• Peseta: The official Spanish currency between 1869 and December 31, 2001.
• Private Sector: Businesses and industries that are not owned by the government.
• Rural Exodus: Population movement from the countryside to the city.
• Spanish General Worker’s Union (UGT): A major Spanish trade union, affiliated with the PSOE.
• Stock Exchange: A place or system where stocks are bought and sold.
• Trade Union: An organization that defends the rights of people who work in a particular industry.