Spanish History: Provisional Government to Restoration

The Provisional Government (1868-1870)

After the deposition of Isabella II, the Progressive Party and the Liberal Union formed a Provisional Government (1868-1870).

Key Decisions

• Call elections to Constituent Cortes: these Cortes wrote the Constitution of 1869, a democratic Constitution, with a wide declaration of rights, universal male suffrage and a Parliamentary Monarchy.
• The peseta was declared the official currency.
• Search for a new king: the progressive General Prim was in charge of looking for a new king for the country. After several candidates, Amadeus of Savoy was chosen. He arrived in Spain at the end of 1870.

This democratic period allowed the arrival of propagandists of the International Workingmen’s Association, and the first anarchist and Marxist groups were created in Spain.

Amadeus I of Savoy’s Reign (1871-1873)

Amadeus I had to face many problems: opposition from the moderates and partisans of the Bourbons, continuous disputes in the coalition government, war in Cuba, the 3rd Carlist War, and republican and workers' uprisings. In February 1873, he decided to abdicate. The deputies of the Cortes decided to proclaim the Republic as the only possible solution.

The First Republic (February 1873-December 1874)

Most of the deputies who voted for the Republic were not republicans, and this was one of the problems the republican government had to face. They had popular support in many cities and a wide program of reforms (including a project of a federal Constitution), but they had to face many problems:

Challenges Faced

• Permanent instability: there were four presidents of the Executive Power in 11 months: Figueras, Pi y Margall, Salmerón, and Castelar.
• Continuation of the 3rd Carlist War and the war in Cuba.
• Cantonalist insurrection: many cities declared their independence (cantons), trying to build a federal State from below. The republican government had to use force against its supporters, and people were disappointed with them. Only the canton of Cartagena survived until the beginning of 1874.
• The monarchists (Alfonsinos) started to prepare the restoration of the Bourbons.

In January 1874, General Pavía, the captain general of Madrid, dissolved the Cortes and gave the presidency to General Serrano. The Republic continued to exist officially, but this government was rather a conservative and authoritarian government; liberties were suspended, and repression against the republicans spread. The monarchists, headed by Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, tried to get Alphonse of Bourbon's comeback in a consented way, but on December 31, 1874, General Martínez Campos headed another pronunciamiento and proclaimed Alphonse of Bourbon as king of Spain in Sagunto. He reigned as Alphonse XII.