First Carlist War
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- Main article: Carlism
The First Carlist War was a civil war in Spain from 1833 to 1839.
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[edit] Historical background
At the beginning of the 18th century, King Philip V of Spain promulgated the Salic Law, which declared illegal the inheritance of the Spanish crown by women. His purpose was to thwart the Habsburgs' regaining the throne by way of the female dynastic line.
A century later, King Ferdinand VII of Spain had a great problem: he had no male descendant, but only two daughters, Isabella (later known as Isabella II of Spain) and Louise Ferdinand (grandmother of the later king Alfonso XIII of Spain). So he promulgated the Pragmática Sanción, to allow Isabella to become Queen after his death. Unfortunately, it would not end there as Carlos, the king's brother, would become king without the Pragmatic. So he and his followers (e.g., minister Calomarde) pressed Ferdinand to change his mind. But the ill Ferdinand kept his decision and when he died, 29th September 1833, Isabella became the legitimate queen. As she was only a child, someone had to assume the regency: her mother, María Cristina de Nápoles.
This could be just another story of family feuds; but at the beginning of the 19th century, the political situation in Spain was extremely problematic. During the war of independence against Napoleon, the Cortes met in Cádiz (1812) and elaborated the first Spanish constitution, probably the most modern and most liberal one in the world. After the war, when Ferdinand VII returned to Spain, he annulled the constitution in the Manifest of Valencia, and thus became an absolute king, governing by decrees and restoring the Spanish Inquisition, abolished by Joseph Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon.
Towards the end of his life, Ferdinand made some concessions to the liberals, giving them hopes of a liberal rule. But there was a strong absolutist party which did not want to lose its position. Its members knew that María Cristina and Isabella would make liberal reforms, so they looked for another candidate for the throne; and their natural choice, with the background of the Salic Law, was Ferdinand's brother Carlos.
[edit] Basque reasons for Carlist uprising
Meanwhile, there was a continued movement to try to suppress the Basque Fueros and to move the customs borders to the Pyrenees. Since the 1700s a new emergent class had an interest in weakening the powerful Basque nobles and their influence and commerce, including that extending throughout the world with the help of the Jesuit order. Also Biscay was successfully divided giving its own sea port to Castile through the newly created Santander province, split from Biscay, and there were considerable efforts made to bring the commerce from Bilbao to Santander.
The newly appointed Spanish courtiers supported some of the great powers against the Basques at least since the abolition of the Jesuit order and the Godoy regime. First they sided with the French Bourbons to suppress the Jesuits, with the formidable changes in America and the subsequent loss of Spanish influence. Then Godoy sided with the English against the Basques in the Convention War and immediately afterwards with the French of Napoleon also against the Basques. Obviously the English interest was to destroy, for as long as possible, Spanish commercial routes and power, which was mainly sustained by the Basque ports, commercial navy and companies (Compañía Guipuzcoana de Caracas). The Spaniards only helped in such a destructive effort, bringing the Spanish empire to total annihilation.
[edit] The contenders
The Church, a privileged class, was as ambiguous as ever, but many priests fought for Carlos.
The people of the Basque Provinces and Navarre sided with Carlos because of traditionalism and historical respect for the Catholic Church; ideologically, Carlos was clearly close to them. There have been many authors who believed that the Carlist cause in the Basque Country was a foralist cause. But this point of view is largely subjective, with the clear intention of creating indications of a Basque nationalism before the Arana brothers (an inspired and quite neutral version in "The Basque Nationalism", by Stanley G. Payne). Of course, the people though a traditionalist rule would respect the ancient Foral institutions better, and surely they were right. But to find the main reason for the massive mobilisation of the Basque Provinces and Navarre for the Carlist cause we must look to the tremendous influence of the Basque clergy in the society. Salvador de Madariaga, in his book "Memories of a Federalist" (Buenos Aires, 1967), accused the Basque clergy of being "the heart, the brain and the root of the intolerance and the hard line" of the Spanish Catholic Church; there are also other social and economic causes, which have not been properly studied. In fact, there are more narrative books about the Carlist War in the Basque Provinces than historical works. This means a "romantic" vision of the Basque people fighting for their rights against the foreign rule of Castile.
Meanwhile, in Catalonia and Aragón, the people saw the chance of recovering their foral rights, which were lost after the Spanish Succession War when Philip V defeated their armies that fought for Archduke Karl of Austria, the other candidate to the throne after the death of Charles II of Spain. It is quite ironic that the Catalans went to war to defend the Salic Law, promulgated by a King who they still hated.
On the other side, the liberals and moderates united to defend the "new order" represented by María Cristina and her daughter, Isabella. They controlled the institutions, almost the whole army and the cities; the Carlist movement was stronger in the country. They had the crucial support of United Kingdom, France and Portugal, support that was shown in the important credits to Cristina's treasure and the military help from British (British Legion, General Lacy Evans) (Westminster Legion) and Portuguese (a part of the regular army, General Baron Das Antas). The Liberals were strong enough to win the war in two months, but an inefficient government and the dispersion of the Carlist forces gave Carlos time to consolidate his forces and hold out for almost seven years in the northern and eastern provinces.
[edit] The war in the Northern Front
The war was long and hard, and the Carlist forces achieved important victories in the north under the direction of a brilliant general called Tomás de Zumalacárregui. Opposing his advisers, Carlos V decided to conquer a Bilbao defended by the British navy. With such an important city in his power, the Prussian or Russian Tsarist banks would give him credit to win the war: one of the most important problems for Carlos was a lack of funds. In the siege of Bilbao, Zumalacárregui was wounded in the leg by a stray bullet. The wound was not serious, but it did not heal properly, and finally General Zumalacárregui lost his life on June 25, 1835. Many historians believe the circumstances of his death were suspicious, and have pointed out that the general had many enemies in the Carlist court; however, nothing has been proven.
In the European theatre all the great powers backed the Isabeline army, as many British observers wrote in their reports. Meanwhile, in the east, Carlist general Ramón Cabrera held the initiative in the war, but his forces were too few to achieve a decisive victory over the liberal forces. In 1837 the Carlist effort culminated in the Royal Expedition, which reached the walls of Madrid, but subsequently retreated.
- From Stephens, Edward Bell (1837?). The Basque provinces: their political state, scenery, and inhabitants; with adventures amongst the Carlists and Christinos.
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[edit] The end of the war
After the death of Zumalacárregui, the liberals slowly regained the initiative but were not able to win the war until 1839. The war ended with the "Abrazo de Vergara" (the embrace in Vergara -Bergara in Basque-), 31st August 1839, between the liberal general Baldomero Espartero, Count of Luchana and the Carlist General Rafael Maroto. Some authors have written that General Maroto was a traitor who forced Carlos to accept the peace, but it is clear that the Carlists were too tired and the liberal government too consolidated to continue with the war. In the east, General Cabrera kept on fighting but he was alone and finally had to flee to France. However, Cabrera was considered a hero and returned for the Third Carlist War.
One of the best works on this subject is Alexander Gallardo, Britain and the First Carlist War, Norwood Editions, 1978
