Spain under the Restoration
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The Restoration was the name given to the period that began in December 29, 1874 after the First Spanish Republic ended with the restoration of Alfonso XII to the throne after a coup d'etat by Martinez Campos, and ended on April 14, 1931 with the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic.
After almost a whole century of political instability and many civil wars, the aim of the Restoration was to create a new political system, which ensured stability by the practice of turnismo. This was the deliberate rotation of the Liberal and Conservative parties in the government, so no sector of the bourgeoisie felt isolated, and excluded all other parties from the system. This was achieved by electoral fraud.
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[edit] Reign of Alfonso XII and Regency of María Cristina (1875 - 1898)
The pronunciamiento by Martinez Campos established Alfonso XII as King, marking the end of the First Spanish Republic. After this, the Constitution of 1876 was written and enforced during the whole restoration. This constitution established Spain as a bi-cameral constitutional monarchy, with a lower House (Congreso de Diputados), and an upper House (Senado). This constitution gave the King the power to name Senators, and to revoke laws if he wanted to, and he was also given the title of Commander-in-chief of the army.
These years were marked by economic prosperity. Spain's economy was quite behind those of the other European countries, and during these years, the modernization of the country took place on a large scale. On most fronts, production was increased, and national products increased due to extreme protectionist measures.
The two parties alternated in the government, the Liberal Party led by Sagasta and the Conservative Party led by Canovas del Castillo. The caciques, local powerful men, were used to manipulate election results and because of this, resentment to the system slowly built up over time, and important nationalist movements in Catalonia and the Basque Country, as well as unions, started to form.
[edit] Reign of Alfonso XIII and Crisis of the System (1898 - 1923)
In 1898 Spain lost its two last colonies (Cuba and Puerto Rico) in the Spanish-American War. This was received as a disaster in Spain, and almost caused a coup d'état led by Camilo Polavieja, in order to institute a military dictatorship. This was the start of the system's weakening, and gave oxygen to the opposition movements. Spain had had an empire, and vast territories in America, buy finally after centuries they were all lost, the Spanish people realized Spain was no longer an empire, this caused a crisis in society.
The failed attempts to conquer Morocco caused great discontent at home, and ended up in a revolt in Barcelona, known as the Semana Tragica, in which the lower classes of Barcelona backed by the anarchists, communists and republicans, revolted against what they considered the unjust methods of recruiting soldiers. The government declared the state of war, and sent the army to crush the revolt, causing hundreds of deaths, and the execution of Francisco Ferrer. The socialist union UGT and the anarchist union CNT decided to initiate a general strike across the country, which failed because the unions could only mobilize urban workers.
The problems in Morocco worsened, as an army of natives attacked the Spanish army. They were taken by surprise, and due to the skill of the Moroccan chieftain Abd-Al-Krim, they were pushed back to Melilla and lost almost all the land in the region. This defeat was due to improper planning, and was blamed on the top military officers, causing great discontent among the military, which felt misunderstood, because they had not been granted the proper means to fight the battle.
[edit] Primo de Rivera's Dictatorship (1923 - 1930)
The military discontent, the fear of anarchist terrorism or a proletarian revolution, and the rise of nationalisms ended up causing great agitation amongst the civilians and the military. On September 13, 1923, Miguel Primo de Rivera, Captain General of Catalonia at that time, orchestrated a coup d'état, after emitting a manifesto blaming the problems of Spain on the parliamentary system. Alfonso XIII backed the General, and named him Prime Minister. He proceeded to suspend the Constitution, and assume absolute powers as a dictator, abolishing all other parties. He created the Unión Patriótica Española which was meant to be the sole legal party. During this time, he greatly increased government spending in business and public services, which caused his government to go bankrupt. He lost the support of the military, and faced serious health problems. Opposition to his regime was so great that Alfonso XIII stopped supporting him and forced him to resign in January 1930.
[edit] The Final Years (1930 - 1931)
Alfonso XIII, in an attempt to return gradually to the previous system and restore his prestige, called on general Dámaso Berenguer to form a government. This failed utterly, as the King was considered a supporter of the dictatorship, and more and more political forces called for the establishment of a republic. Berenguer resigned and the King gave the government to admiral Aznar. Aznar called for local elections on April 13, 1931 in order to satisfy the democrats and republicans, to replace the dictatorship's local governments and to gradually re-introduce the restoration.
Although the monarchists had not lost all their support, the republican and socialist parties won a major victory. Street riots ensued, calling for the removal of the monarchy. The army declared that they would not defend the King and he fled Spain. The Second Spanish Republic was immediately established under a provisional government led by Niceto Alcalá-Zamora.
