The Spanish First Republic and the Canovas System (1873-1897)

The Spanish First Republic (1873-1874)
And the abdication of King Amadeo I of Savoy, the Cortes Espanolas, with a large majority, voted for the proclamation of the Republic (February 1873).
The Republic's main problem from the start was that the proclamation was not the result of a cultural consensus, since most of the deputies in the Chamber were monarchists. The First Republic therefore had little possibility of success from the outset.
The greatest achievement of the organization was the new Constitution of the Federal Republic, which established a federal state. The central government would no longer collect all the powers; instead, it distributed legislative competencies among the federal government, the federated republics (fifteen were created), and the municipalities.
The republicans were themselves divided, and the most radical finally precipitated revolts and social uprisings, proclaiming the Cartagena Canton as independent. Cartagena was one of the few that maintained its national independence against the centralist unitary republic for six months, from 1873 to 1874. This sparked energetic repudiation of the unitary regime of the First Republic.
Other cantons included Extremadura, Coria, Cadiz, and Plasencia.
[The cantonalism system was one in which political division created almost independent states in the cantons. Each canton was an independent entity with all the attributions of a state.]
The Republic endured until the general Pavia coup d'etat in 1874, which dissolved the Cortes and handed executive power to General Serrano. This was the first attempt to stabilize a republican regime of a conservative character, based on the social support it could count on, and it paved the way for the restoration of the monarchy.

The Canovas System
Antonio Canovas del Castillo (1828-1897) was a conservative politician, monarchist, and religious. He sought parliamentary stability, admired the English system, and aimed to avoid the social unrest that had marked the preceding political system. He established what became known as the Canovas system.
Power alternated between two major political parties:
1. The Conservative Party, led by Canovas (conservative, bourgeois, and Catholic, with a non-democratic character that favored social immobility).
2. The Liberal Party, headed by Sagasta (democratic, secular, and social in character, inclined toward a reformism of a more democratic nature).
Both parties shared a common vision for the country, with several fundamental principles:
- The Monarchy defended the state.
- The state was centralized.
- Private property was defended.
- A constitution guaranteed the recognition of rights and freedoms, avoiding the anarchy (chaos) of the previous period.
Conservatives and Liberals reached an agreement, and the Army alternated between them through a peaceful turn of power (turno pacifico), controlling the political life of Spain. This situation was possible thanks to a electoral system that was manipulated: elections were corrupt, and authorities did not hesitate to falsify records and buy votes. This was made possible through practices such as falsified municipal lists and urban censuses, and all forms of coercion (imprisonment, threats, and intimidation) and caciquismo.