Liberal-Conservative Party (Spain)

The Liberal-Conservative Party (Partido Liberal-Conservador) was a Spanish political party founded in 1876 by Antonio Cánovas del Castillo. Its other names include Partido Conservador, Partido Canovista, Partido Silvelista, Partido Maurista and Partido Dadista.

History

Foundation

Castillo called it liberal due to the state system which it defended, always complying with the Spanish Constitution of 1876 that Cánovas had drafted and the purest tradition of Spain and Europe since the 1830s. The Conservative tag was for the type of ideas which, when thinking of questions of state, then dominated in Spain.

The political formation of Spain by Antonio Cánovas del Castillo at the request of Alfonso XII of Spain, who assumed the crown after the failure of the First Spanish Republic. The Liberal-Conservative Party brought together a varied group of people, from the supporters of Isabel II of Spain prior to the Republic to the members of the Liberal Union he had formed. Its existence was linked to Cánovas himself and on his death in 1897 it was kept going by Francisco Silvela.

In 1885 the party signed the Pact of El Pardo with the Partido Liberal of Sagasta, in which the parties agreed to alternate (turno) in power after the death of Alfonso XII of Spain. The pact was guaranteed by the caciquiles networks right across Spain in both parties and was intended to keep out of power radical socialist, anarchist or republican parties that wished to destroy the monarchy.

Party leaders

• 1876-1897 Antonio Cánovas del Castillo
• 1897-1905 Francisco Silvela
• 1905-1913 Antonio Maura
• 1913-1921 Eduardo Dato e Iradier
• 1921-1923 Vacant
• 1923-1930 Vacant (dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera);
• 1930-1931 Juan de la Cierva y Peñafiel

See also

• Liberal Party (Spanish Restoration)