Under the Restoration in Spain from 1875-1902, King Alfonso XII ruled until his death in 1885. His wife Queen Maria Cristina then served as regent until 1902. Conservative leader Antonio Cánovas del Castillo established a stable two-party system alternating between the Conservative and Liberal parties. Elections were manipulated through various means to ensure the continued rule of the dynastic parties. Opposition republican, nationalist, and socialist movements struggled to gain power within this system. The loss of Spain's remaining colonies like Cuba and the Philippines to the United States in 1898 was a major blow that increased calls for reform and modernization in Spain.

1. SPAIN UNDER THE RESTORATION
(1875-1902)

2. - ALPHONSE XII´S REIGN(1875-1885)
- Mª CRISTINA OF HABSBURG´S REGENCY (1885-1902)
RESTORATION
(1875-1931)
- ALPHONSE XIII¨S REIGN (1902-1931)

3. CÁNOVAS DEL CASTILLO MARTÍNEZ CAMPOS RESTORING ALPHONSE XII´S PORTRAIT
Cánovas del Castillo, former moderate, planned a legal restoration of the Monarchy, but
General Martínez Campos led a pronunciamiento and proclaimed Alphonse of Bourbon
king in December 1874. In January 1875 Alphonse came back to Spain, was proclaimed
king by the Cortes and reigned as Alphonse XIII

4. CÁNOVAS´ MAIN OBJECTIVES
Cánovas wanted to avoid past mistakes:
-Preference of the monarch for the moderates,
which obliged the rest of the parties to conspire
and prepare pronunciamientos to access power.
- Constant intervention of the military in politics.
-Continuous changes of laws with every new
government.
- Permanent instability: civil wars and periodic
revolts
His goal was creating a stable political system, based on the following principles
- New Constitution
- Bipartisan political system
- Exclusion of the army from politics
- End of the 3rd Carlist War and the Ten Years´ War in Cuba

5. - Subordination of the military to civil power:
In 1875 a law established that the army´s mission
was to keep national independence without
intervening in politics. They received a high budget
and certain autonomy in exchange.
-The end of the wars contributed to the stability of
the system:
- End of the 3rd Carlist War in 1876: the pretender
Charles VII escaped and the fueros of the Basque
Provinces were definitively abolished, although
these provinces got certain financial autonomy in
1878.
- End of the Ten Years´War in Cuba, with the
signature of the Peace of Zanjón in 1878: amnesty
General Martínez Campos for the revolted, promise of abolition of the slavery
and administrative reforms, which were not
undertaken. In 1879 a new war started (Little War,
1879-80)

6. CONSTITUTION OF 1876
It had to be wide enough to avoid changing it every time
the government changed.
Main features:
-Ideology: conservative liberalism
-Census suffrage.
-Shared sovereignty between the monarch and the
Cortes
-Wide powers for the monarch: veto power, appoint
ministers, call and dissolve the Cortes without the
government´s consent.
-Two chambers: elective Congress and Senate chosen by
the monarch or the government.
-Confessional State, although all religions were allowed
(but they couldn´t make public demonstrations). The State
was responsible for the Catholic cult and clergy
- Wide range of rights (but limited by future laws).

7. DYNASTIC PARTIES
Pacific alternation between two
dynastic parties: the Conservative
Party and the Liberal Party. They
agreed on some basic principles:
-They renounced to conspiracy to
access power
-They accepted monarchy, the
Constitution, private property and a
centralized State
These parties only represented a
minority of the population.
ALTERNATION BETWEEN THE
DYNASTIC PARTIES

8. CONSERVATIVE PARTY
- Leader: Antonio Cánovas del Castillo
- Formed by former moderates, most of the members
of the Liberal Union and some carlist dissidents.
- Support: Big landowners, high bourgeoisie
- Conservative ideology: census suffrage, Catholic
CÁNOVAS DEL CASTILLO Church and social order
The conservatives ruled during the
following periods:
- 1875 to 1881
- 1884 to 1885
- 1890 to1892
- 1895 to1897, until Cánovas was
killed by an Italian anarchist.
From then on Francisco Silvela
became the leader of the
Conservative Party.
Cánovas ´s murder at Mondragón Spa

9. LIBERAL PARTY
-Leader: Práxedes Mateo Sagasta.
- Formed by former progressives, members of the
Liberal Union, democrats and some republicans.
- Support: middle and small landowners and well-off
middle bourgeoisie
-Ideology: universal male suffrage, social reforms and
less power to the Church.
They ruled during the following periods: SAGASTA
- 1881 to 1884.
- 1885 to1890 (“Long rule”)
- 1893 to1895
- 1897 to1899
The main reforms of the Restoration were done under liberal rule: universal male
suffrage for local elections(1882), Law of Associations(1887), abolition of slavery (1888),
trial by jury, new Civil Code (1889), military and finance reform, universal male suffrage
(1890).

10. The king had an arbitration role and
had to be neutral.
When there was a political crisis,
the king called the leader of the
oposition party and gave him the
decree to dissolve the Cortes.
Then, the prime minister of the new
government called elections to get
enough number of deputies to have
majority in the Cortes.
Alfonso XII ruled from 1875 to his
death in 1885. His wife Mª Cristina of
Habsburg ruled as regent until 1902.

11. MANIPULATION OF THE ELECTIONS
ENCASILLADO, PUCHERAZO AND CACIQUES (local political bosses)

12. ENCASILLADO
The minister of the Gobernación
“prepared” the elections,
assigning the deputies to the
districts where they had to be
elected:
-He decided which candidates had
to be elected in every province.
- He sent orders to the governors
of every province, so that the
adequate candidates were chosen.
-The governors communicated
these orders to the caciques, who
were in charge of carrying them
out.
There were also some seats
reserved for the opposition
candidates.

13. PUCHERAZO (Electoral rigging)
All the tricks used to make the “selected”
candidates be elected.
Thugs hired by the caciques to threaten
the voters at the gates of polling stations
- Votes´ purchase
- Deads´“Resurrection”
- Ballot boxes´ change of place

14. Map of local political bosses
The caciques (local political bosses) were influential people, especially in rural areas,
who could solve people´s problems (give work, get rid of military service, give licenses).
They demanded the vote for the candidates they promoted in exchange for their favours.

15. During the Restoration, when there was a danger of distabilization, the Conservative
Party handed the power over the Liberal Party:
-Alphonse XII´s death in 1885: signature of El Pardo Pact to support the Regent and
guarantee the monarchy and foresee possible carlist or republican uprisings.
- Cánovas del Castillo´s murder in 1897: the liberals came back to the government
Mª Cristina swearing the Constitution as Regent

16. DYNASTIC PARTIES´ ALTERNATION
The regularity in the number of deputies of the ruling party can only be explained
through the election manipulation

17. OPPOSITION PARTIES
Out of the system:
REPUBLICANS ULTRA-CATHOLICS NATIONALISTS SOCIALISTS
- Posibilistas -Carlists (Carlos VII) -Catalanists: PSOE (Pablo
(Castelar) LLIGA Iglesias)
-National Catholic REGIONALISTA
-Progressives Party (Nocedal) (Prat de la Riba)
(Ruiz Zorrilla)
-Catholic Union - Basque Nationalists:
-Unitarians (Pidal) PNV (Sabino Arana)
(Salmerón)
-Federalists
(Pi y Margall)
At the beginning they were illegal. When the Law of Associations (1887) was approved
they could take part in the elections, but the electoral manipulation limited the number of
deputies they could get and they were not in conditions of creating problems to the
dynastic parties.

18. REPUBLICANS
They were divided after the Sexenio. Their support came from the cities, the petty
and middle bourgeoisie and industrial workers. With the development of labour
movement, they started losing popular support.
Partido Republicano Partido Republicano
Posibilista: Progresista Partido Republicano Partido Republicano
Centralista (1887) Federal
Castelar became more Ruiz Zorrilla didn´t reject
conservative and violence against the Led by Salmerón
convinced that Monarchy Led by Pi y Margall and
Monarchy and prepared supported by an important
could coexist with some several coups d´État (all
democratic principles. part of the workers.
failed)

19. CARLISTS
-After the defeat in the 3rd Carlist WAr,
Charles VII exiled.
- Some carlists, such as Cabrera,
accepted the Constitution of 1876 and
participated in the elections. Cándido
Nocedal became its leader
-Loredan Act (1886): update of the
carlist program: they continued to
defend religion, the fueros, Charles VII
legitimity and were against
democracy. But they didn´t defend the Carlos VII and Cándido Nocedal
Ancien Régime any more and
accepted the liberal and capìtalist
system.
-At the beginning of the 20th Century,
they created the Requeté, a
paramilitary group.
Ramón Nocedal

20. WORKERS´ASSOCIATIONS
A minority of the Spanish workers
followed Marxism:
- 1879: Foundation of PSOE by Pablo
Iglesias. Ideology: Marxism, workers
´defender and pro social revolution.
-1888: Creation of UGT, trade union also
founded by por Pablo Iglesias. They
declared themselves apoliticist
-1889: PSOE joined the 2nd Internationale.
Restaurant where the PSOE was created
-1890: first demonstration of the 1st May
and decision of participating in the
elections.
Pablo Iglesias

21. ANARCHISTS
-The majority of the Spanish workers became
anarchists. They got more support in Catalonia
and Andalusia.
- A minority used violence against politicians and
bourgeois (propaganda by the deed): terrorist
attacks strongly repressed by the authorities
Terrorist attack at the Liceo Terrorist attack during the
Barcelona, 1893 Corpus procession, 1896

22. Most of the anarchists preferred
anarcho- syndicalism. Main leaders:
Anselmo Lorenzo and Federico Urales.
Execution of anarchists
after the Montjuic trials
Anselmo Lorenzo Federico Urales

23. NATIONALISTS AND REGIONALISTS
CATALANISM
During the 1830´s: Renaixença: cultural movement to
recover Catalan language and culture, with no
political ambitions.
1882: Valentí Almirall, federalist
republican, created the
Centre Català, with the objective
of making the Catalan population
aware of the need for more
autonomy.

24. Memorial de Greuges
1885: Offenses´ Memorial (Memorial de
Agravios) written by Almirall and
presented to Alphonse XII, considered
to be the first document of political
Catalanism. They demanded autonomy
for Catalonia. Bases de Manresa
1891: creation of Unió Catalanista , by a group of
conservative people opposed to Almirall´s
proposals.
1892: Bases de Manresa: political program of
conservative Catalanism. They demanded a
confederate organization of Spain and internal
autonomy for Catalonia.

25. 1901: Creation of the Lliga
Regionalista, party which
represented the interest of the
Catalan commercial and
industrial bourgeoisie.
Conservative program, against
the corruption of the Restoration
and in favour of the political
autonomy of Catalonia
Enric Prat de la Riba Francesc Cambó The Lliga Regionalista broke the
dynastic alternation in Catalonia
and became hegemonic until
1923
Official newspaper of the Lliga Regionalista

26. BASQUE NATIONALISM
It appeared as a reaction against the
loss of the fueros after the 3rd Carlist
War, the arrival of immigrants and as a
defense of Basque language and
culture.
In 1894 Sabino Arana, former carlist,
created the PNV (Basque Nationalist
Party):
- Its motto was “God and old laws”.
- Anti-liberal and traditionalist program. -
They wanted to recover the fueros,
defended religion and purity of Basque Sabino Arana
“race” (racism).
At the beginning, the PNV was pro-
independence. Since 1901 they
moderated their ideology and oriented to
autonomy, partly to attract the support
of the high industrial bourgeoisie.
Sabino Arana invented the ikurriña (Basque flag)
and the term Euzkadi, which included the 3 Basque
Provinces and 4 departments of the South of France.

27. 1898 CRISIS: LOSS OF THE LAST COLONIES
As the government didn´t keep the promises
made in the Zanjón Peace (1878), a new war
started in Cuba in 1879 (Little War,
1879-1880).
Slavery was abolished in 1888, but in 1891 a
high tariff was established in Cuba for the
foreign products and the autonomy project
for the island wasn´t approved.
En 1893 José Martí created the Cuban
Revolutionary Party and joined other pro-
independence supporters (Maceo, Gómez).
José Martí
1895: Grito de Baire: general uprising in
Cuba, supported by the USA.

29. The conservative government sent general Martínez
Campos, who defended the idea of reaching an
agreement with the rebels. His strategy didn´t work
and the government sent general Weyler.
Weyler used repression and concentrated peasants
in camps so that they couldn´t give support to the
rebels (origin of concentration camps)
Valeriano Weyler

30. Weyler´s strategy didn´t work either: the Spaniards didn´t know the territory, most of
the army was formed by conscript soldiers and they were affected by tropical
diseases.

31. In 1876 another pro-independence uprising
started in the Philippines, after José Rizal´s
execution. The revolt was directed by the
Katipunan.
José Rizal
Katipunan Volunteers

32. In 1897 the liberal government led by
Sagasta tried to accelerate reforms in
Cuba (autonomy, universal suffrage,
tariff freedom), but it was too late.
The USA government was interested in
the independence of Cuba and they
looked for a casus belli against Spain:
accidental explosion and sinking of
battleship Maine at Havana port.
Battleship Maine´s sinking at
Havana port

33. Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst
manipulating the USA public opinion to go
to war against Spain.

34. The USA gave an ultimatum to Spain.
The Spanish government didn´t accept it
and they went to war, convinced that they
would be defeated.

35. - The Spanish float was destroyed in
the battles of Santiago (Cuba) and
Cavite (Filipinas).
- Peace of Paris (December 1898):
Independence of Cuba and Spain gave
the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Guam
to the USA
Reina Mercedes sinking in
Santiago de Cuba
En 1899 Spain sold the Mariana and Carolina
Islands and Palaos to Germany for 25 million
pesetas, due to the impossibility of defending
them.
Signature of the Peace of París, 1898

36. IMPACT OF THE LOSS OF THE COLONIES
Reduced political and economic impact
Bigger moral and ideological impact:
“1898 Disaster”:
-Pessimism of the “generation of ´98”
-Regenerationism: awareness of the need
for the modernization of Spain. Joaquín
Costa was the most important
regenerationist
Crítique of the Restoration system (“oligarquía y caciquismo”)
and bet for education and the modernization of the country. His
motto was “school and larder”
Joaquín Costa