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185-674: The General Military Academy was founded under the reign of Alfonso XII , on February 20, 1882. The first training center was located in Alcázar de Toledo . The first head of the Academy was the General Méndez The Great . The Academy was dissolved on February 8th, 1893 by the then Minister of War, General López Domínguez. From then on the Armed Forces and Corps had their own separate training centers. In 1927, during

370-655: A pronunciamiento in Sagunto, which delivered the coup de grâce to the Republic and brought the Bourbon Restoration . The Constituent Cortes was called upon to write a federal constitution. The radicals preferred a unitary republic, with a much lesser role for the provinces, and once the republic had been declared the two parties turned against each other. Initially, the radicals were largely driven from power, joining those who had already been driven out by

555-450: A regime of exception ―. Some opposition newspapers were closed ―the republican ones almost disappeared― and the rest were subjected to the regime of prior censorship . A decree issued as soon as the government was formed established what the press could and could not publish, expressly prohibiting "direct or indirect attacks, nor by means of allegories, metaphors or drawings, on the monarchic-constitutional system" (although criticism of

740-674: A Cabinet session, Estanislao Figueras yelled: "Gentlemen, I can't stand this any more. I am going to be frank with you: I'm fed up with all of us!" So fed up that on 10 June he left his resignation letter in his office, went for a walk through the Parque del Buen Retiro and, without telling anyone, boarded the first train departing from the Atocha Station . He would only step down upon arriving in Paris . " The federal republic for Pi y Margall The procedure — there's no reason to hide it —

925-517: A Ministry-Regency was formed, presided over by Cánovas del Castillo, who during the pronunciamiento had remained "detained" in the civil government of Madrid together with other prominent Alfonsinos and where he had received the visit of General Primo de Rivera placing himself "unconditionally at his orders". "I have wished the Restoration in another way, but in view of the attitude of the Army and

1110-571: A battalion of infantry and various artillery and cavalry units, to march on the militiamen. The coup d'état failed as soon as it started, and the government dissolved the military units participating and the Permanent Committee of the Assembly. The writs were issued for Constituent Cortes elections on 10 May which resulted 343 seats for federal republicans and 31 for the rest of the political forces. The elections themselves developed in

1295-532: A ceremony in January the following year, where they make their pledge to the National Colour and receive ceremonial daggers. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years of study as cadets and their final year as commissioned second lieutenants, aside from the usual academic work in military and civil subjects, also involve specialty training in the combat arms of the Army in their respective combat training schools, and for

1480-471: A country... where there are more constitutional traditions". On the other hand, the ex-Queen seemed to assume the Canovist project that the restoration would only be possible with the support of all the liberal groups, without exclusions, unlike what had happened during her reign. She assured him in a letter: "Your idea is my idea and without this union of all the parties in the shadow of my son's flag, which

1665-782: A coup d'état and established a unified republic dominated by Francisco Serrano . The period was marked by three simultaneous civil wars: the Third Carlist War , the Cantonal Revolution , the Petroleum Revolution in Alcoy ; and by the Ten Years' War in Cuba . The gravest problems for the consolidation of the regime were the lack of true republicans, their division between federalists and unitarians, and

1850-596: A firm tone to the speech of the Archbishop of Valencia who had warned him that he was ascending "to the august throne of the Reccareds and the Ferdinands ": "My desire is to give peace, justice, true freedom to all, absolutely all Spaniards, because I am not coming to be king of a party but of the whole of Spain". Precisely on his role as constitutional monarch Cánovas commented privately: I am enthusiastic about

2035-471: A good Catholic, nor, as a man of the century, truly liberal". There is a broad historiographical consensus in considering that the Manifesto is a synthesis of the principles on which the political regime of the Restoration was to be based. According to Ramón Villares, "its content should be understood as the expression of the political pact reached by the different internal factions of Alfonsismo at

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2220-607: A great admiration for Francisco Franco , a soldier with a great reputation after the African campaigns and the foundation of the Tercio de Extranjeros with José Millán Astray . On January 4, 1928, by Royal Decree, Franco was named Director of the General Military Academy. Historian Eduardo González Calleja interpreted the designation of Franco as "a gesture of reconciliation with Africanists , achieved after

2405-664: A large part of the nobility and high clergy, and even by the princess of Asturias, favorable de cuore, in the opinion of the pontifical representative, to the Catholic cause". To the bishop of Salamanca, Alfonso XII said in a public reception: "I am a Catholic king but, nevertheless, I will do everything in my power so that in my dominions any religion can be practiced with freedom; besides it is useless to discuss this question because Europe has already decided on it". First Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic ( Spanish : República española ), historiographically referred to as

2590-463: A law on the right of assembly , also very restrictive ―it differentiated between legal and illegal parties―, confirmed "the authoritarian, almost dictatorial, component that moved much of the legislation and political action of the Canovism in this first stage". On the other hand, the law of December 16, 1876 established that the mayors of towns with more than 30,000 inhabitants would be appointed by

2775-553: A llegar, en sus justísimos desquites, hasta Murcia, y a no dejar en Murcia piedra sobre piedra. The Jumillan nation wishes to live in peace with all nearby nations, and particularly with the nation of Murcia, her neighbor; but should the nation of Murcia dare not to recognize its autonomy and violate its borders, Jumilla will fight back like the heroes of May 2 , and shall be victorious in her demands, ready to arrive at Murcia, in its most just retribution, itself and leave no stone standing upon another. There is, however, no record of such

2960-455: A manifesto, nor of any similar declaration, in the municipal archives; and the proceedings of the time seemed to be within normality. This has motivated several historians to deny the authenticity of the manifesto and even the very existence of the Jumilla canton, stating that its invention was merely a form of anti-republican propaganda. The most active – and known – of the cantons

3145-550: A motion declaring the town a Social Republic, and the next day many federalist deputies left the Cortes in protest. About a week later, on 9 July, Alcoy followed suit, when during a strike directed by local leaders of the First International , the police fired to the gathered workers who responded by taking up arms and gaining control of the city. These events became known as the Petroleum Revolution . Shortly after,

3330-749: A new coup, now supported by the Civil Governor of Madrid: a battalion of militiamen took positions along the Paseo del Prado , and four thousand more perfectly armed volunteers gathered near Independence Square under the pretext of passing review. Having heard from the plot, Pi i Margall mobilized the Civil Guard . For his part, after the Minister of War appointed Baltasar Hidalgo as the new Captain General for Madrid, he ordered Brigadier Carmona and

3515-403: A new president was elected. Figueras' fellow federalist and government minister Francisco Pi y Margall was elected on 11 June, but on his speech to the Assembly he declared he was at a complete loss and without a program. The main efforts of the new government focused on the drafting of the new Constitution and some social character-related bills: On 16 June a 25-member Committee was set up by

3700-518: A new starting point of the liberal regime in Spain". The almost eleven years of the reign were years of economic growth based on the continuation of the railway network, foreign investments, the mining boom and the growth of agricultural exports, especially wine, taking advantage of the great phylloxera plague that was devastating the French vineyards. The great beneficiaries of this economic boom were

3885-479: A quite unorthodox environment, and the resulting representation was ridiculous, as most factions in Spain did not participate: the Carlists were still waging war against the Republic, while the alfonsino monarchists of Antonio Cánovas del Castillo , the unitary republicans and even the incipient workers' organization close to the First International all called for abstention . The result was clearly favourable to

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4070-556: A rock and the proverbial hard place of the cantonal revolution. However, the effective Commander in Chief of the Republic rejected all calls, from both military and political instances, to exert repression on the cantonal uprisings, as he argued they were just following his very own doctrine. Thus, he was forced to resign on 18 July after just 37 days in office. He would later sorely describe his experience as premier: So many have my upsets with power been that I can no longer covet it. While in

4255-660: A strange telegram sent by the city's captain-general to the Minister of the Navy: "Saint Julian castle shows Turkish flag". Such "Turkish flag" was in fact the cantonal flag, the first red flag in Spanish history (the Ottoman Civil Ensign was a plain red flag, hence the captain-general's terminology). Gálvez's passionate speeches allowed him to gain control of the Navy ships docked in the city, which at that time were among

4440-606: A subsidiary way should the Army intervene, when the political work had already been developed". This is how Cánovas himself explained it to the former Queen Isabel and to Prince Alfonso in two letters of January 1874, written after the triumph of the Pavía coup d'état which some generals linked to the Moderate Party had wanted to take advantage of to " pronounce themselves" in favor of Prince Alfonso and whom Cánovas himself managed to dissuade, in which he told them that it

4625-546: A thousand parts, similar to the successors to the Cordoba Caliphate . The strangest ideas and the most dishevelled principles came from the provinces. Some said to be about to restore the old Crown of Aragon , as if the ways of modern Law were spells from the Middle Ages . Others wanted to form an independent Galicia under an English protectorate. Jaén was preparing to wage war against Granada . Salamanca

4810-412: Is a directly reporting agency of the Army general staff. The academic program consists of a structured core of subjects depending on the cadet's chosen specialty as a future Army officer, balanced between the arts and sciences. For Civil Guard cadets, additional training is focused on their law enforcement role. Regardless of major, all cadets graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree with assistance from

4995-534: Is not a person, it is a reign, it is a historical epoch, and what the country needs is another reign and another epoch different from the previous ones". The new King Alfonso XII arrived in Barcelona on Saturday, January 9, 1875, from Marseilles, where he had traveled from Paris on the 6th ―before leaving, he had met with the Spanish embassy staff, assuring them that his intention was "to be king of all Spaniards"―. General Martinez Campos ―the military man who had led

5180-415: Is not wasted". In order to win over "opinion", Cánovas encouraged the creation of Alfonsinos circles, which spread throughout the country, and of a related press —little by little they were buying newspapers both in the capital, where La Época stood out, and in the "provinces"—. As Manuel Suárez Cortina has pointed out, "it was soon fashionable to be Alfonsino: the clergy, the women of high society and

5365-466: Is the only savior of the country, each one preserving his political aspirations, there is no possible future and the ruin of Spain is inevitable". In fact, as Isabel Burdiel has pointed out, "his intervention was decisive in getting the moderates to accept the Canovist leadership". The original Canovist group was joined by former Unionists and even "repentant" former "revolutionaries" of 1868, such as Francisco Romero Robledo . All of them received

5550-553: Is usually considered the heart of this government, which had to face several problems already endemic to the Republic, such as the Third Carlist War, separatist insurrections (this time from Catalonia), military indiscipline, monarchic plots, etc. His government dissolved the National Assembly and summoned Constituent Cortes for 1 May. On 23 April Cristino Martos, Speaker of the old National Assembly, attempted

5735-497: The Bourbon monarchy with the proclamation of Alfonso XII as king. King Amadeo I abdicated from the Spanish throne on 11 February 1873. His decision was mainly due to the constant difficulties he had to face during his short tenure, as the Ten Years' War , the outbreak of the Third Carlist War , the opposition from alfonsino monarchists, which hoped for the Bourbon Restoration in the person of Alfonso , son of Isabella II ,

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5920-604: The Cantonal Rebellion swept across Spain with the federalist sentiment giving rise to several independent cantons. Uprisings were daily news in the south-eastern area of Valencia , Murcia and Andalusia . Some cantons were provincial in nature, like Valencia or Málaga , but most comprised just a city and its surroundings, like the more localised cantons of Alcoy , Cartagena , Seville , Cádiz , Almansa , Torrevieja , Castellón , Granada , Salamanca , Bailén , Andújar , Tarifa and Algeciras . Even smaller were

6105-466: The Captain General of Madrid , Manuel Pavía , pronounced against the federalist government and called on all parties except Federalists and Carlists to form a national government. The monarchists and Republicans refused, leaving the unitary Radicals and Constitutionalists as the only group willing to govern; again a narrow political base. General Francisco Serrano formed a new government and

6290-555: The First Spanish Republic ( Spanish : Primera República española ), was the political regime that existed in Spain from 11 February 1873 to 29 December 1874. The Republic's founding ensued after the abdication of King Amadeo on 10 February 1873. On the next day a republic was proclaimed by a parliamentary majority made up of radicals, republicans and democrats. The period was beset by tensions between federal republicans and unitarian republicans. The period also saw

6475-724: The First Vatican Council , thirty-nine visited the prince, and one of them, the prestigious Archbishop of Valladolid, Cardinal Juan Ignacio Moreno y Maisonave , prepared him to receive the Eucharist . Meanwhile in Madrid a Provisional Government had been established, presided over by General Serrano , who called elections to the Constituent Courts, which were the ones that elaborated and approved in June 1869

6660-667: The Marquis of Molins in the Navy, but also two significant politicians of the Sexenio , Francisco Romero Robledo , Minister of the Interior, and Adelardo López de Ayala , Minister of Overseas Territories, as well as a military man who represented the generals, the " septembrist " General Jovellar , who occupied the portfolio of War. His objective was to make "liberal, but conservative politics" and to avoid giving in to "democratic principles", but not to be dominated by "reaction", which

6845-496: The Moderate Party at all―: Excellency Mr. Antonio Cánovas del Castillo: Your Excellency, to whom I conferred my powers on August 22, 1873, informs me that by the valiant Army and heroic Spanish people I have been unanimously acclaimed to occupy the throne of my elders. No one like Your Excellency, to whom I owe and thank so much for your relevant services, as well as the Regency Ministry that you have appointed, using

7030-590: The Prince of Asturias, Alfonso , who was about to turn 11 years old. They established their residence in Paris in the "beautiful" Basilewsky Palace which the ex-queen renamed the Palace of Castile. Prince Alfonso was enrolled in the elite and private Stanislas School and his political education was under the guidance of his preceptor Guillermo Morphy . At the end of February 1870 the prince traveled to Rome to receive

7215-736: The Pronunciamiento de Sagunto of December 29, 1874, which put an end to the First Spanish Republic and ended with the death of King Alfonso on November 25, 1885, giving way to the Regency of his wife, María Cristina of Habsburg . During the reign, the political regime of the Restoration was created, which was based on the Spanish Constitution of 1876 , in force until 1923. It was a constitutional monarchy , but neither democratic nor parliamentary , "although far from

7400-575: The Provisional Civil Marriage Law of 1870 , stood out —thus reintroducing canonical marriage as obligatory—. In addition, the government ordered the closure of some Protestant temples, newspapers and schools, and tolerated the publication of insulting articles against non-Catholic beliefs. Contacts were also initiated to re-establish relations with the Holy See and archives, libraries and artistic objects were returned to

7585-534: The Sandhurst Manifesto because Cánovas had put his own thoughts into the prince's words, and its publication accelerated the preparations for the military coup. Valmaseda, who had been captain general of Cuba and during his mandate Martínez Campos had been its chief of staff, had the support of the Spanish-Cuban pressure group, interested in maintaining the status quo of the colony ―that is,

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7770-462: The first communion from Pius IX , but without achieving, as the ex-Queen intended, that the pope publicly recognize the Bourbon dynasty as the legitimate depositary of the rights to the Spanish throne and that he condemn the "revolutionary regime" established in Spain. What did happen was that of the forty-three members of the Spanish episcopate who were in Rome on the occasion of the celebration of

7955-472: The northern front , assuming the role of "soldier-king" that Cánovas had assigned him. In Peralta (Navarra) he appealed to the Carlists in favor of peace ("Before unfurling my flag in battle, I want to present myself to you with an olive branch in my hand"), but he also assured them that he was not going to "tolerate even a useless war like the one you wage against the rest of the nation" and "that they had no reason to continue it" ("if you took up arms moved by

8140-494: The operation of summer 1925 . Both Primo and Franco, and the majority of colonial soldiers that formed the teacher board wanted to train a kind of official not study-oriented, with a knightly concept of the profession and without any relationship with the social media at the time whatsoever". After the Second Republic was established and the military reforms were applied in June 1931 by the provisional Ministry of War,

8325-430: The pronunciamiento of Sagunto and who had just been named captain general of Catalonia―, boarded the frigate Navas de Tolosa that had brought him from Marseilles to greet him and then walked through the streets of Barcelona, being acclaimed by the crowd. In response to the welcoming speech of the mayor of the city, the Marquis of Sentmenat and Ciutadilla , the new king said that he considered "as one of my best glories

8510-527: The restoration of the Bourbon monarchy in the person of Don Alfonso de Borbón . There he proclaimed him as the new king of Spain. "It was the "event" that was expected in the flag rooms and in the aristocratic salons adorned with the fleur-de-lis ," commented Ramón Villares . Behind the pronunciamiento were the generals linked to the Moderate Party , headed by the Count of Valmaseda , who had not liked

8695-457: The slave system ― and worried that the war in Cuba would not result in "a second Haiti , from which horrified humanity averts its eyes", as it was said in a manifesto of the Spanish nobility. Given the scarcity of the troops that Martínez Campos had assembled (some 1800 men), "since no other force was formally committed", the success of the pronunciamiento was due to the support given to him by

8880-524: The " september " general Joaquín Jovellar , commander in chief of the Army of the Center deployed to fight the Carlists . Jovellar sent a telegram to the Minister of War in which he told him "that a sentiment of elevated patriotism, inspired by the public good and the need to keep the Army united to confront the civil war and prevent the reproduction of anarchy, impelled him to accept the movement and place himself at its head". Martínez Campos also telegraphed

9065-404: The "hereditary and representative monarchy" in his person ("the only representative of the monarchical right in Spain") as "the only thing that already inspires confidence in Spain" since "the nation is now orphaned of all public right and indefinitely deprived of its liberties". The Manifesto concluded: "Whatever my own fate may be, I will not cease to be a good Spaniard, nor, like all my ancestors,

9250-454: The "proclamation of Peralta" had no echo among the Carlist ranks ―the war would still last another year― and before returning to the capital he passed through Logroño where he greeted the progressive general Baldomero Espartero , a symbol of openness to all the liberal families of the new monarchy. The King had already made this clear when, as soon as he arrived in Spain, he responded with

9435-407: The "revolutionaries of '68" from supporting the new monarchy, which would make it non-viable in the long run, and also because it would isolate it internationally —religious tolerance was the "way to convince Europe that the Restoration did not mean a reaction", Cánovas affirmed—. The king supported it without fail, in spite of the "systematic siege" to which he was subjected "by Moderate politicians,

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9620-584: The Alfonsino and the Carlist]". He then crossed the Spanish-French border. Almost at the same time, the captain general of Madrid, Fernando Primo de Rivera , another " septembrino " general who had initially shown himself loyal to the government, communicated to Sagasta that "I see myself in the sensitive necessity of manifesting to you that the garrison of Madrid is associated to the movement of

9805-414: The Army (in fact this group, with the count of Valmaseda , former captain general of Cuba to the front, will be behind the conspiracy that led to the pronunciamiento of Sagunto that made possible the restoration). With the establishment of the unitary Republic presided over by General Serrano —after the triumph of Pavia's coup d'état on January 2, 1874— the conspiratorial initiatives in favor of

9990-511: The Army of the Center, and that a new government is going to be constituted" —at that moment the troops had already occupied the strategic points of the capital and surrounded the headquarters of the Ministry of War where the cabinet was meeting—. The response of the president of the government was to hand over power to him. It was 11 o'clock at night on December 30, 1874. The pronunciamiento initiated in Sagunto had triumphed. On December 31

10175-636: The Army of the North deployed in the Basque Country and Navarre, the strongholds of Carlism. The project of Cánovas and Concha was to take advantage of the end of the war which would have meant the capture of Estella , the capital of the Carlist State —the first step had already been taken with the capture of Bilbao in May 1874—, to proclaim Prince Alfonso as King of Spain, but General Cocha died in

10360-479: The Bourbon restoration accelerated and multiplied. As Feliciano Montero has pointed out, "the problem for Cánovas was not so much to prevent military intervention as to control it and submit it to his broad restorationist, conciliatory, non-revanchist project". For this he counted on General Manuel Gutiérrez de la Concha e Irigoyen , a military man not linked to the Moderate Party, and who was in command of

10545-415: The Carlists and the cantonal revolution, the actual territory in which the short-lived Republic exerted undisputed authority did not extend much further than the province of Madrid itself and North-Western Spain, as cantonal uprisings took place as far north as Ávila . Due to the rapid pace of the events, and without time for the new Constitution to be passed by the Cortes, Pi i Margall found himself between

10730-628: The Catholic Church, fundamental rights and academic freedom. In the first, the government agreed to the reestablishment of the Concordat of 1851 —which meant the restitution of the budget for Worship and Clergy to cover the expenses of the Church— and the repeal of the laws of the Sexenio most fought against by Catholics, among which civil marriage , established for the first time in Spain by

10915-832: The Central Defense University and the University of Zaragoza . As all cadets are commissioned as lieutenants upon graduation, military and leadership education is nested with academic instruction. Military training and discipline fall under the purview of the Office of the Commandant of Cadets. Entering freshmen, or 4th class cadets, are referred to as New Cadets, and enter the academy on Reception Day (in September) to start off their military service training as future officers and are recognized as full cadets in

11100-400: The Church. In the decree regulating the press of January 29, 1875, the crime of insulting the Church was included. In the second area, that of fundamental rights, their exercise was very limited, such as the freedoms of expression, assembly and association ―hence the term "dictatorship of Cánovas" was used to refer to his first two years of government, since during that time he governed under

11285-401: The Civil Guard, alongside military instruction its cadets receive speciality training within its own institutions for law enforcement training in various specialties suited for potential graduates. 41°41′58″N 0°52′19″W  /  41.6994°N 0.8720°W  / 41.6994; -0.8720 Reign of Alfonso XII The reign of Alfonso XII of Spain began after the triumph of

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11470-433: The Cortes to study the draft Constitution of the Federal Republic of Spain , the redaction of which is mainly attributed to Emilio Castelar , with debate starting the following day. On 28 June Pi i Margall renewed the composition of his government, but due to the slow pace of the constitutional debates in the Cortes, events came crashing down on the government at a stunning pace. On 30 June the City Council of Seville passed

11655-427: The Cortes, and it shall be responsible to the same." In the same session, the first government of the Republic was elected. Federal republican Estanislao Figueras was elected the first "President of the Executive Power", an office incorporating the heads of State and Government. No "President of the Republic" was ever elected, as the Constitution creating such office was never enacted. In his speech, Figueras said that

11840-440: The Crown. On the other hand, among the supporters of the Bourbons, the idea was spreading that the restoration of the dynasty would only be possible if Isabella II abdicated in Prince Alfonso of Asturias. The queen initiated a series of consultations on the question, and except for the narrow group of close friends headed by Carlos Marfori and the neo-Catholic sectors ―who considered that Catholic unity could be endangered―, all

12025-452: The Government I have lost my calm, my illusions, my trust in fellow men which was the base of my character. For each grateful man, a hundred ungratefuls; for each disinterested and patriotic one, hundreds that wanted from politics nothing more than the satisfaction of their whims. I have received bad for good. The draft of the Federal Constitution of the First Republic of Spain developed at length into 117 articles organized under 17 titles. In

12210-406: The King. We have understood each other: he is frank, noble and loyal, and despite his youth, he carries in his soul the bitter experience of emigration. Those of us who were ministers with his mother can appreciate the difference. In this reign there will be no cliques or favoritism, and if the country knows how to elect a worthy Parliament, it will exercise its sovereignty without hindrance. The King

12395-418: The Minister of War and the President of the Government asking them to accept the new unique situation capable of "freeing the country from anarchy and civil war". The government presided by the constitutionalist Práxedes Mateo Sagasta was willing to face the "rebels" and on the night of the 30th he got in telegraphic contact with the president of the Executive Power of the Republic , General Serrano , who

12580-402: The Orovio decree "a barbarity" —so did the king— and tried to mediate, without success, with the university professors who refused to obey it and left the University. At the first opportunity, Cánovas dismissed Orovio and his replacement, the " septembrino " Cristóbal Martín de Herrera, immediately repealed Osorio's measures (although the professors would not recover their professorships until

12765-416: The Palace to which he invited the leaders of the Constitutional Party , including its leader Práxedes Mateo Sagasta , the last President of the Government during the Republic. Both Serrano and Sagasta were in favor of collaborating especially to "defeat the enemy of freedom", Carlism. In fact, on January 5, only a few days after the triumph of Martínez Campos's pronunciamiento, an editorial in La Iberia ,

12950-405: The Prussian prince, which would end up provoking the Franco-Prussian war and, after the French defeat in September 1870, the fall of the Second Empire . When the Republic was proclaimed in France , Isabella II, Prince Alfonso and the Infantas left Paris and went to live in Geneva, where they would reside until August 1871, when they returned to the French capital. The military man Tomás O'Ryan

13135-474: The Republic "was like a rainbow of peace and harmony of all Spaniards of good will." The passage of these resolutions surprised and stunned most Spaniards, as the recently elected Cortes (now National Assembly) had a wide majority of monarchists. Ruiz Zorrilla spoke in these terms: "I protest and will keep doing so, even if I'm left on my own, against those representatives that having come to the Cortes as constitutional monarchists feel themselves authorized to make

13320-558: The Republic as the form of government, leaving its organization to the Constituent Cortes." In his speech for the proposal (to which he was a signatory, along with Figueras, Salmerón, and other opponents), Pi y Margall—himself a federalist—renounced for the moment to establish a federal republic, hoping the would-be-assembled Constituent Cortes to decide over the issue, and announced his acceptance of any other democratic decision. Then another republican, Emilio Castelar , took

13505-550: The Spanish Federal Republic on 9 March which was overcome by a series of telegraphic contacts between the government and the Catalan leaders. On 23 April a new coup attempt was set in motion; this time by a collusion of alfonsino monarchists, members of the old Liberal Union and monarchic sectors of the Army; but failed when several units refrained from supporting it at the last hour. Francisco Pi y Margall

13690-745: The Spanish Nation is the Democratic Federal Republic". The president, having carried out the Cortes' regulations for the definite approval of proposal of law, arranged to hold a nominal vote the next day. The resolution was passed 8 June by a favorable vote of 219 representatives and only 2 against, and the Federal Republic was thus declared. Most of the federalists in parliament supported a Swiss -like confederative model, with regions directly forming independent cantons. Spanish writer Benito Pérez Galdós , aged 21 at

13875-486: The Spanish-Cuban pressure group, the slave lobby headed by the Marquis of Manzanedo and of which the Queen Mother María Cristina de Borbón —owner of a sugar mill on the island— was a member, very worried about the project of abolition of the slavery and that had a wide network of Spanish-Ultramarine Circles in Spain and Spanish casinos in Cuba and that especially counted on important bonds in

14060-533: The University founded the following year the Institución Libre de Enseñanza , an educational organization ―a "counter-university"― that would exert an enormous influence on Spanish cultural and scientific life, especially during the first third of the 20th century. According to José Varela Ortega , "what happened reflected, in reality, the frictions between the two factions of Canovism, between

14245-471: The absolute confidence of King Alfonso XII, who in a conversation with the British ambassador Austen Henry Layard had expressed his desire to "introduce in Spain the constitutional system to which England owed its liberties and greatness". For this reason, Cánovas was pleased with the king whom he considered "frank, noble and loyal". The main obstacle that Cánovas del Castillo encountered did not come from

14430-548: The afternoon― and without having any knowledge of what was being prepared, since in a letter he had assured Isabella II that he would return to Sandhurst "after the Epiphany with you". The ex-Queen gave him the telegram from Cánovas (and from Primo de Rivera) that she had received early in the morning of the 31st ―although the Prince already knew what had happened because of an anonymous note written in French that he had received

14615-701: The arrival of the liberals to power in February 1881). Moreover, the Krausistas did not find any obstacle to start up the Institución Libre de Enseñanza and develop their activities. But, "the episode soured relations between the Government and the Radical and Constitutional politicians". Manuel Suárez Cortina , for his part, considers that Cánovas allowed the "Orovio decree" to facilitate

14800-636: The beginning of the Regency of María Cristina de Habsburgo , Cánovas would defend this policy in Parliament against the attacks launched against him by the Republican Nicolás Salmerón , one of the victims of the "Orovio decree", who described him as Torquemada . On that occasion Cánovas replied: What did Mr. Salmerón want? Did he want that when the country was engaged in civil war... that I should not also use that dictatorship to repress those events which seemed to me to compromise

14985-593: The best in the Spanish Navy. Under his command, the fleet wreaked havoc on the nearby Mediterranean shore, causing the Madrid government to declare him a pirate and set a bounty on his head. Back on land, he led an expedition towards Madrid that was defeated at Chinchilla . Two cantonal frigates, the Almansa and the Vitoria , set sail towards a "foreign power" (the Spanish city of Almería ) for fund-raising. As

15170-628: The bourgeoisie, and broad sectors of the Army spread the Restoration ideal in a particularly effective way. As the English ambassador had pointed out, The Ladies Revolution , the presence of middle and upper class women, and the work of the tertulias and salons were fundamental in the diffusion and triumph of the Alfonsino movement". Among the supporters of the Canovist project —some historians, such as Manuel Espadas Burgos , consider it decisive—,

15355-399: The center was closed. Azaña didn't trust the instructions provided at the center and believed its budget was huge in a moment in which military spending was trying to be cut. Conservative, anti-republican officials, thought the closure of the Academy was an attack to the very spirit of the Army, since the Academy was the only place in Spain in which soldiers of all kinds studied together. Franco

15540-642: The city would not pay, it was bombarded and taken by the cantonalists. General Contreras, commanding officer of the cantonal fleet, ordered the Marcha Real to be played as he unboarded. Afterwards, the deed would be repeated in Alicante , but on the trip back to Cartagena they were captured as pirates by the armoured frigates HMS Swiftsure and SMS Friedrich Karl , under the UK and German flags respectively. There were days in that summer in which we thought our Spain

15725-523: The classic recourse to the pronunciamiento —"I would not want the Restoration of the legitimate constitutional Monarchy to be due to a coup de force", he wrote to a friend—, although he did not leave aside at all the contacts with the military commanders, but rather that it should be the result of a broad movement of opinion. As Suárez Cortina has pointed out, "Cánovas understood that the monarchy could not come about only through military action, but that it had to mature through political action, and only in

15910-545: The conditions in Cannes, where he was residing at the time, with the former queen mother María Cristina, to whom Isabella II had delegated in September "the direction of the family affairs". Montpensier's strategy was reduced almost exclusively to seek the support of the high commands of the Army, especially that of General Serrano, and when he failed to achieve it, he resigned in January 1873, with which Isabella II recovered

16095-490: The constitutional monarchy, which gave rise to the second university question. In the circular that accompanied the decree addressed to the rectors of the universities and signed by Minister Orovio, the latter were invited "not to consent that in the chairs supported by the State they should explain against the Catholic dogma that is the social truth in our country" and it was also warned that any professor who "did not recognize

16280-445: The decision to turn the nation from monarchist to republican overnight." For most monarchists, though, the impossibility of restoring Isabella II as Queen, and the youth of the future Alfonso XII made the Republic the only, though transitory, viable course of action, particularly given the inevitable failure that awaited it. The first government of the Republic was formed of federalists and progressives who had been ministers during

16465-631: The difficult application of the peace of Zanjón which Martínez Campos had agreed with the Cuban insurgents―. Cánovas returned to power when Martínez Campos resigned due to the obstacles placed by the Cortes resulting from the Spanish general elections of 1879 to the colonial and military reforms he wanted to implement. For the liberal opposition, headed by Práxedes Mateo Sagasta , the conservative government had extended too long, and denounced it as "an authoritarianism bordering on dictatorship". The truth

16650-451: The direction of the Bourbon dynastic cause. As Carlos Dardé has pointed out, "the letter in which Cánovas was informed of his appointment ―signed by Isabel and by Alfonso, in accordance with the condition imposed by the politician from Malaga―... implied the explicit approval of the conduct followed by Cánovas in the revolutionary period". Cánovas opposed any revengeful policy and showed himself "resolved not to exclude". "I will not ask

16835-505: The end of 1874 to legitimize the Bourbon alternative and launch a program of action for the young prince... Its objective was to present both in Spain and abroad the general outlines of the political operation that was in the making". Although Cánovas did not want it to be the work of a military pronunciamiento , in the early morning hours of December 29, 1874, General Arsenio Martínez Campos pronounced himself in Sagunto in favor of

17020-595: The end of compulsory conscription, the regulation of child labor and the abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico. The government inherited a state of war, the so-called Third Carlist War , ongoing since 1872, and the Ten Years' War , ongoing since 1868, to which the Cantonal rebellion added up in 1873. The January 1874 coup of Pavía ousted the government, giving way to a praetorian republic under General Serrano . In December 1874, General Arsenio Martínez Campos staged

17205-549: The entry of the moderates into the new order ―and into the new liberal-conservative party he wanted to lead―. With the same purpose ―"to give confidence to the moderate sectors and neutralize any attempt to put an end to the regime"― he also "sought the reestablishment of relations with the Vatican, restored the budget for worship and clergy [the economic endowment that the State gave to the Catholic Church] and reintroduced

17390-697: The established regime or taught against it" would be sanctioned. The first conflict provoked by Orovio's circular took place at the University of Santiago de Compostela , where professors Laureano Calderón (Pharmacy) and Augusto González de Linares (Medicine), both disciples of the Krausist Francisco Giner de los Ríos , were removed from their professorships and imprisoned in a military prison for explaining Darwinist doctrines. Calderón declared: "I have not been appointed professor to train catechumens of any religion or supporters of any political system, but to teach science". A wave of solidarity

17575-477: The establishment of the Republic, compulsory military service was removed and voluntary service set up with a daily salary of 1 peseta and one crust (loaf?) of bread. A Republican volunteers corps was also established with an enlistment salary of 50 pesetas and a daily salary of 2 pesetas and 1 crust of bread. The second Figueras government had to face the attempt of proclamation of the Estat Català inside

17760-480: The ex-Queen Isabella II, who, according to Cánovas, discussed it "at length". It was sent to several European newspapers, but not to any sovereign. Cánovas' objective was "that it is already understood that Spain has a king, capable of sceptre the power as soon as he is called", according to what he wrote to the ex-queen Isabella II. In the Manifesto Prince Alfonso offered the restoration of

17945-501: The ex-Queen appointed the moderate traditionalist Juan de la Pezuela, Count of Cheste , but he had to resign shortly afterwards, feeling disavowed by the letter sent to the ex-Queen in April 1869 by members of the leadership of the Moderate Party ―the party that had held power almost exclusively during her reign― in which they reproached her for continuing to be surrounded by the same people who were responsible for having caused her to lose

18130-421: The ex-Queen in Paris on August 8 and 14, he reiterated his idea that the restoration of Prince Alfonso should come as a result of a broad movement of opinion. On December 1, 1874, three days after Prince Alfonso had turned seventeen, Cánovas del Castillo took the initiative with the publication of what would be known as the Sandhurst Manifesto , carefully drafted by him and signed by the prince. Formally, it

18315-460: The exercise of power without endangering the system itself. Furthermore, if the "political game" was based on the peaceful " turn " in the access to power of the two great currents of liberalism, the military would be relegated to its specific sphere and civil society would regain the leading role. It was therefore necessary to demilitarize ( civilize ) political life and depoliticize the Army. In order to implement his political project, Cánovas had

18500-462: The federal republicans, which captured 343 of the 371 seats, but turnout was probably the lowest in Spanish history, with about 28% in Catalonia and 25% in Madrid. On 1 June 1873 the first session of the Constituent Cortes was opened and the presentation of resolutions began. The first one was debated on the seventh of June, written by seven representatives: "First Article. The form of government of

18685-521: The first article, the following is found: Composing the Spanish Nation the states of Andalucía Alta, Andalucía Baja, Aragón, Asturias, Baleares, Canarias, Castilla la Nueva, Castilla la Vieja, Cataluña, Cuba, Extremadura, Galicia, Murcia, Navarra, Puerto Rico, Valencia, Regiones Vascongadas. The states will be able to conserve the actual provinces and modify them, according to their territorial necessities. These states would have "complete economic-administrative autonomy and political autonomy compatible with

18870-419: The floor and said: Sirs, traditional monarchy died with Ferdinand VII ; parliamentary monarchy with the flight of Isabella II ; democratic monarchy with the abdication of don Amadeo of Savoy ; nobody has done away with it, it has died on its own; nobody brings the Republic, save all circumstances, a cabal of society, nature and history. Sirs, let us greet it like the sun rising with its own strength on

19055-494: The foundations of power had stimulated the reorganization of the sectors most inclined to liquidate the democratic experience. Thus, the Army, the Church and the middle and upper classes saw in the figure of Alfonso XII and the Restoration of the monarchy a new order, more adequate to the new international reality and the expectations of the conservative classes". Cánovas did not want the Bourbon restoration to take place by means of

19240-534: The freedoms, in addition to justifying the period of exception. The fundamental objective of the political project of Antonio Cánovas del Castillo ―who prided himself on "paying due tribute to prudence, to the spirit of compromise, to the law of reality"― was to achieve, at last, the consolidation and stability of the liberal State, on the basis of the Constitutional Monarchy defined in the Sandhurst Manifesto . And for this, Cánovas thought, it

19425-401: The government and its policies was admitted). The jury law was also suspended. Four years later, in 1879, a very restrictive printing law was promulgated on the initiative of the Minister of the Interior, Romero Robledo, in which it was considered a crime to "proclaim maxims contrary to the monarchical-constitutional system" or "to question the legitimacy of a general election". In June 1880

19610-580: The government until then: the Radical Democratic Party of Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla and the Constitutional Party of Práxedes Mateo Sagasta . There also was a small republican minority in the National Assembly, ideologically divided between federalism and centralism. One of them, Federal Democratic Republican Party member Francisco Pi y Margall moved the following proposal: "The National Assembly assumes powers and declares

19795-494: The greatness of other times, emblem of our ancient glories and the most brilliant and splendid flower of the Crown of two worlds". So many signatures were collected that the sheets were taken in wagons to the seat of government. The Holy See also pressed firmly for the reestablishment of Catholic unity, even threatening not to send a new nuncio. It had the support of the Spanish bishops —one of them proclaimed: "the immense majority of

19980-549: The guardianship over Prince Alfonso. The latter, as part of the "Cannes agreement" signed by Montpensier and María Cristina, had been sent in February 1872 to study at the renowned Royal and Imperial Teresian Academy of Vienna or Theresianum . During a visit he made with his mother to the castle that the Montpensier family had in Randan during Christmas 1872, he met their daughter, María de las Mercedes , twelve years old ―he

20165-682: The hope that from now on and as soon as Don Alfonso is in Spain, they will have in him a true leader and that under him they will serve the Motherland...". Although it took him a year to achieve his objective because of the opposition he encountered from the preceptor of Prince Guillermo Morphy , who wanted him to stay one more year at the Theresianum in Vienna so that he could finish his "moral and physical" training, in October 1874 Cánovas sent

20350-474: The immediate return of Queen Isabella II from her exile in Paris ―although Cánovas did consider it "essential" that the King's older sister Isabel de Borbón y Borbón , popularly known as La Chata , should return to Spain alone , since she was the next in line to the throne, while Alfonso XII had no descendants, and therefore held the title Princess of Asturias; and he also authorized the return of General Serrano ,

20535-585: The inauguration of a true freedom and that adding our efforts and with the protection of heaven, we can reach for Spain new days of prosperity and greatness. – Alfonso. Cánovas wrote to the king that he should return to Spain alone, in reference to his mother not accompanying him (nor the Duke of Montpensier ). In a later letter Cánovas explained to the former queen, "with a hardness that Isabella II had probably not heard from anyone", why he should remain in Paris: "V.M.

20720-494: The king, that is, by the government, and that the municipal budgets had to have the approval of the civil governor of each province, appointed by the government. In the third area, that of academic freedom , the Orovio Decree , signed by the reactionary Minister of Public Works Manuel Orovio Echagüe and promulgated in February 1875, prohibited university professors from teaching ideas contrary to Catholic orthodoxy and

20905-548: The lack of popular support. Subversion in the army, a series of local cantonalist risings, instability in Barcelona , failed anti-federalist coups, calls for revolution by the International Workingmen's Association , the lack of any broad political legitimacy, and personal in-fighting among the republican leadership all further weakened the republic. The Republic effectively ended on 3 January 1874, when

21090-623: The last president of the Executive Power of the Republic―. General Martínez Campos himself threatened with a second pronunciamiento if Catholic unity was not recognized and the Constitution of 1845 was not reestablished. Only the personal intervention of the king and the promise to send him to Cuba managed to dissuade him, although other generals, such as the Count of Cheste and the Count of Valmaseda , continued to press for

21275-473: The left, but from the Moderate Party ―"the reactionary section of the Alfonsino party", as the English ambassador Layard called it― which wanted to return to the situation prior to the Glorious Revolution of 1868 , as if nothing had happened since then. Although the ultimate goal pursued by Cánovas was to divide them and attract them to his project, at the beginning he made concessions to

21460-502: The life of the nation would not be suspended for a single moment; there would be no fear of deep conflicts arising between the provinces; it would be the easiest, fastest, safest way and the less exposed to contrariety... " —Francisco Pi y Margall After Figueras' flight to France, the power vacuum created was tempting general Manuel Sodas into starting a pronunciamiento when a Civil Guard colonel, José de la Iglesia, showed up at Congress and declared that nobody would leave until

21645-506: The many republican insurrections and the division among his own supporters. The Spanish Cortes , which were assembled in a joint and permanent session of both the Congress of Deputies and the Senate , declared themselves the National Assembly while waiting for any final notice from the King. The overwhelming majority was with the monarchists from the two dynastic parties that had exercised

21830-451: The military for conspiratorial purposes. The journalist Ángel Fernández de los Ríos was also banished, in spite of having been a friend of Cánovas. The Liberal-Conservative Party governed between 1875 and 1881 with Antonio Cánovas del Castillo as president of the executive except for two brief periods when the politician from Malaga resigned for tactical reasons. The first was between September and December 1875 when Cánovas handed over

22015-495: The moderates and the first measures agreed by the new government meant a revision of what had been done during the Sexenio , besides building a very negative image of the period and especially of the first year of the First Spanish Republic , described by the traditionalist Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo as "times of apocalyptic desolation". Cánovas' harmony with the moderates was especially evident in three areas: relations with

22200-508: The moderates to sabotage the presumed openness of Canovism towards the unionists and the constitutionalists , as well as to affirm their intransigent positions in defense of Catholic unity . Cánovas, in spite of his efforts to reach a de facto agreement with the Krausists so as not to make the punishment effective, would have been forced to accept for the time being this situation so contrary to his projects". In fact, Cánovas considered

22385-474: The monarchic faith, see in me the legitimate representative of a dynasty that was loyal to you until its passing fall. If it was religious faith that put arms in your hands, in me you already have a Catholic king like his ancestors. I am indeed also, and will be, a constitutional king, but you, who have such great love for your venerated liberties, can you harbor the evil desire to deprive the other Spaniards of their legitimate and already accustomed liberties?"). But

22570-407: The monarchy. Four ministers, in particular, had served with King Amadeo: Echegaray (Finance), Becerra (War), Fernández de Córdoba (Navy) and Berenguer (Infrastructure). At the beginning, they were plagued by a terrible economic situation, with a 546M peseta budgetary deficit , 153M in debts requiring immediate payment and only 32M available to fulfill them. The Artillery Corps had been dissolved in

22755-465: The most prominent spokesman for " Alfonsism ". The ex-queen Isabella II had abdicated in June 1870 without having appointed anyone to assume the guardianship of Prince Alfonso (so it was she who continued to hold it) and also to direct the process of his restoration. A year and a half later, in January 1872, that position was occupied by her brother-in-law, the Duke of Montpensier, after having negotiated

22940-579: The most virulent moment of the Carlist and Cuban wars, for which there were not enough soldiers or armament, nor money to feed or purchase them. Besides, Spain was going through a deep economic crisis matching the Panic of 1873 and which was exacerbated by the political instability. In previous years, unemployment had risen steeply amongst field and industrial workers, and proletarian organizations responded with strikes , demonstrations , protest rallies and

23125-410: The name of Alfonsists as supporters of Alfonso , the son of the former Queen Isabel , and were organised by Cánovas del Castillo . This period of the Republic lasted until Brigadier Arsenio Martínez Campos pronounced for Alfonso in Sagunto on 29 December 1874 and the rest of the army refused to act against him. The government collapsed, leading to the end of the republic and the restoration of

23310-545: The nation wants the Roman Catholic apostolic religion alone! alone! "— and of a broad sector of the population, especially those linked to the moderates and the Carlists, for whom this question was non-negotiable. A lady of Madrid's high society threatened to "make Don Carlos king" if the king and the government tolerated "missionaries and Protestant propaganda in Spain". But Cánovas flatly refused to reestablish Catholic unity because he considered that it would prevent

23495-597: The new Constitution that established a "democratic" Monarchy . The Regency was assumed by General Serrano while General Prim occupied the presidency of the government and was in charge of touring the European Courts to find a candidate for the Spanish Crown. To lead the Elizabethan cause in the interior of Spain and to work for her restoration to the throne, which she did not believe was far off,

23680-525: The new monarchy, while the Moderate Party continued to defend to the hilt the return to the situation prior to 1868, the small group of Cánovas maintained an "expectant" position, but when that failed and, above all, when in February 1873 the Republic was proclaimed, the Canovist group decidedly joined the defense of the cause of Prince Alfonso , whom Cánovas had known since he was a child and with whom he sympathized. From that date onwards he became

23865-602: The newspaper of the constitutionalists, had said that the Constitutional Party, "the most genuine representation of the September Revolution ", "maintains the defense of the Spanish Constitution of 1869 , but shows itself ready to collaborate with the new regime to defeat Carlism and put an end to the Cuban insurrection ". In a speech delivered a year later before the Cortes, Alfonso XII recognized

24050-523: The night before while attending the performance of an operetta at the Théâtre de la Gaîté ―, but Prince Alfonso took five days to reply ―according to Seco Serrano, because "he preferred to wait until the new situation was confirmed"―. The telegram, whose content would be published in the Gaceta de Madrid on January 6, read as follows ―the allusion that his reign would be one of "true freedom" did not please

24235-439: The nobility and the high bourgeoisie, increasingly intertwined by matrimonial, personal and economic ties, thus constituting the "power bloc" of the Restoration, intimately connected with the political elite, fully identified with their interests. At the opposite extreme, in a society that remained agrarian (two thirds of the working population belonged to the primary sector) and in which the middle classes made up only 5 to 10% of

24420-525: The nucleus around which the Conservative Party of the Restoration would be formed―. Cánovas indicated in a letter to the ex-Queen how convenient it would be for his dynasty "to be represented by a new prince, well educated and totally alien to the complicated contemporary events". I have come to abdicate freely and spontaneously, without any kind of coercion or violence, driven solely by My love for Spain and its fortune and independence, from

24605-469: The obligatory nature of canonical marriage ". According to Carlos Seco Serrano , Orovio's presence in the government ―and his controversial decree― was due to "the fact that the civil war had not yet been defeated, demanded, in any case, the adoption of political measures that could suppose a more or less homologous "gesture" with the monarchic and religious concept that animated the Carlist camp ―in order to disarm it ideologically "―. Eleven years later, at

24790-537: The occupation of abandoned lands. On 23 February the newly elected Speaker of the National Assembly, radical Cristino Marcos , plotted a failed coup d'etat in which the Civil Guard occupied the Ministry of Governance and the National Militia surrounded the Congress of Deputies , in order to establish a unitary republic. This prompted the first remodeling of the government in which the progressives were ousted and replaced with federalists. Twelve days after

24975-504: The offer to join his government when they learned that they were going to form part of it known as " septembrinos " and when Cánovas confirmed to them that he did not intend to reestablish the Constitution of 1845 . One of the most prominent moderates, Claudio Moyano , told him that he considered collaboration impossible "given the path I presume you intend to follow". A few days after his entry into Madrid, Alfonso XII marched to

25160-497: The one who comes [to our side] what he has been; it will be enough for me to know what he intends to be. If we ever succeed in placing Prince Alfonso on the throne, we will make use of all that is usable in the movement that overthrew Queen Isabella. To insist on re-establishing what happened would be a serious fault and its disastrous consequences would be felt first by the Monarchy and by us", wrote Cánovas. "For Cánovas conciliation

25345-467: The others, a part of the moderates and all the unionists who had not joined the "revolution", were in favor of abdication. The Marquis of Molins expressed his wish that the coming prince would bring "more hopes than memories". Among the supporters of the abdication there was also a small group of deputies of the Constituent Courts self-defined as "liberal-conservative opposition" led by the former Unionist Antonio Cánovas del Castillo ―which would be

25530-459: The party exclusivism of the Elizabethan era ". "It was defined as liberal by its supporters and as oligarchic by its critics, particularly the regenerationists . Its theoretical foundations are to be found in the principles of doctrinaire liberalism ", Ramón Villares has pointed out. According to Carlos Dardé, it was "a brief reign ―just under eleven years― but an important one. At its end,

25715-403: The politicians of Moderate origin and those of September origin; and, ultimately, it was one more episode in the offensive of the Moderate Party against Canovism". Feliciano Montero has subscribed to Varela Ortega's interpretation of the episode insofar as it would indeed form part of "the moderate-Canovist struggle for the definition of the new regime. The Orovio decree... would be a maneuver of

25900-589: The population, there were millions of poor day laborers in the southern half of the country. The Glorious Revolution of September 1868 put an end to the reign of Isabella II and initiated the Sexenio Democrático . The queen , who was in San Sebastian , had to leave Spain and go into exile in France, under the protection of Emperor Napoleon III . She was accompanied by her daughters and

26085-421: The powers that I conferred on you and today confirm, can interpret my feelings of gratitude and love for the nation, ratifying the opinions consigned in the manifesto of December 1st last and affirming my loyalty to fulfill them and my very lively desires that the solemn act of my entrance into my beloved homeland be a pledge of peace, of union and of forgetting the past discords, and, as a consequence of all this,

26270-471: The presidency of the government to General Jovellar so that the responsibility of calling general elections by universal suffrage would fall on someone else, since he was against this procedure. The other brief period was from March to December 1879, when General Martínez Campos replaced Cánovas at the head of the executive because the latter did not want to preside over an electoral process twice in succession ―and also because he did not want to take charge of

26455-517: The pressures she received. She abdicated the Crown to her twelve-year-old son Alfonso on June 20, 1870 in a "hasty and improvised" act, according to Isabel Burdiel , or "with extraordinary solemnity", according to Carlos Seco Serrano , held in the Palace of Castile . The reason she did so then was because the Prussian prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen had shown his willingness to accept

26640-548: The prince, with his agreement ―although Alfonso would have preferred to go to a university in order to have a better knowledge of government affairs as a future constitutional king― and his mother, to the British Royal Military Academy of Sandhurst because, as he explained in a letter, "D. Alfonso has already been too long in Austria for it not to be convenient as soon as possible... to transfer him to

26825-456: The proposal made to him by the president of the Spanish government, General Prim , to occupy the throne of Spain. But the immediate cause was the threat of Napoleon III that if he did not abdicate he would have to leave Paris. The French emperor was opposed to the candidacy of the Duke of Montpensier because he was a member of the House of Orleans and above all he was opposed to the candidacy of

27010-494: The provinces respond to this acclamation with enthusiasm. We beg you to inform your august son, whose whereabouts are unknown at this moment, and we heartily congratulate you for this triumph achieved without struggle or bloodshed. The Ministry-Regency assumed power on behalf of the king until he arrived in Spain from Paris, where he was spending the New Year with his mother and sisters ―he had arrived from London on December 30 in

27195-519: The provinces. One way or another could have, without any doubt, produced the same constitution and it would not have been, in my opinion, neither patriotic nor political, to ensnare the proclamation of the Republic due to intransigence over this point. Even though the "bottom to top" procedure was more logical and proper of a Federation, the other, "top to bottom" was more likely for an already-formed nation like ours, and less dangerous in its implementation. There would be no cessation of continuity in power;

27380-538: The reign of Alfonso XIII, and under the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera , the center was reestablished in Zaragoza. Primo de Rivera came to the conclusion that one of the reasons of the dissents between the Armed Forces on the promotion system based on seniority or merits of war was based on the lack of an academy in which all four Army Corps were trained together. After the Alhucemas landing , Primo de Rivera developed

27565-402: The return of the ex-Queen Isabella II to Spain. The moderates mounted an impressive opinion campaign demanding the return to the prohibition of non-Catholic worship. They demanded to return "to Spain its fortunate Catholic unity [because], possessing the only truth in religion, it was absurd for a Catholic nation to grant equal respect and rights to an error as to the [Catholic] truth, symbol of

27750-475: The revolution of 1868 or by the Carlist War . The first republican attempt in the history of Spain was a short experience, characterized by profound political and social instability and violence. The Republic was governed by four distinct presidents— Estanislao Figueras , Francesc Pi i Margall , Nicolás Salmerón , Emilio Castelar ; then, only eleven months after its proclamation, General Manuel Pavía led

27935-482: The royal authority that I exercised by the grace of God and the Constitution of the Spanish Monarchy promulgated in the year 1845 , and to abdicate also all My merely political rights, transmitting them with all those that correspond to the succession of the Crown of Spain to My beloved Son Don Alfonso, Prince of Asturias. Isabella II took a year to make up her mind and during that time she did not yield to

28120-467: The same frigate Navas de Tolosa that had brought him from Marseilles, and from there, after a brief stay in which again "the popular enthusiasm was reproduced", he went by train to Madrid where he arrived on the 14th. His entrance in the capital was "apotheosic", according to the chronicles of the time. However, Carlos Dardé has pointed out that "the Restoration, however, was far from arousing great enthusiasm. What several impartial observers emphasized most

28305-457: The second era were used. In 1942, 170 students started studying in the Academy. Francisco Hidalgo de Cisneros y Manso de Zúñiga was named Director of the Academy. Notable alumni are Juan Carlos I of Spain and his son Felipe VI of Spain , and future queen of Spain Leonor, Princess of Asturias (daughter of Felipe VI of Spain and Queen Letizia of Spain ). Just like so many military academies in

28490-406: The siege of Estella, which did not fall, thus frustrating the whole plan. On the other hand, Cánovas did not trust General Martínez Campos , who would finally lead the pronunciamiento of Sagunto , due to his links with the Moderate Party , whose project was not the same as the Canovist one, as would be demonstrated at the beginning of the Restoration. On the other hand, when Cánovas went to see

28675-404: The situation of Spain in all areas was much better than when it began. And, in spite of the uncertainty caused by the disappearance of the monarch ―especially because of the unknown succession― the improvement continued during the regency of María Cristina of Austria , during the minority of her posthumous son, Alfonso XIII . The foundations laid proved to be sufficiently solid. That reign had been

28860-400: The sky of our nation. After Castelar's powerful speech, amidst passionate applause, the Republic was declared with a resignation of the monarchists, with 258 votes in favour and only 32 against: "The National Assembly assumes all powers and declares the Republic as the form of government of Spain, leaving its organization to the Constituent Cortes. An Executive Power shall be elected directly by

29045-547: The spectator crazy and rendered the historic functions impossible. Days and nights went by without the Cortes deciding how the ministers should be appointed: if they would individually elected by a vote of each representative, or if it would be better to authorize Figueras or Pi to come up with a list of the new government. Each and every system was agreed on and later scrapped. It was a puerile game, which would have caused laughter if it had not been deeply sad. The situation reached such levels of surrealism that, while presiding over

29230-419: The support of the social and economic elites ―especially from the Catalan and Madrid business world, particularly those related to the colonies― which was decisive in the consolidation of the " Alfonsinos ". Manuel Suárez Cortina has pointed out that "the identification between revolution and democracy, the fear radiated by the Parisian Commune and the decisive fact that the Sexenio had not substantially altered

29415-411: The three demands of the moderates, in which he had the full backing of King Alfonso XII: the reestablishment of the Spanish Constitution of 1845 ―which had governed the Monarchy of Isabella II ―, the restitution of " Catholic unity " ―with the consequent prohibition of all non-Catholic worship and the Church's monopoly in the primordial social activities (birth, marriage, burial) and in education― and

29600-424: The time, wrote about the parliamentary atmosphere of the First Republic: The sessions of the Constituent (Cortes) attracted me, and most afternoons I spent in the press box, enjoying the spectacle of indescribable confusion cast by the fathers of the country. An endless individualism, the coming and going of opinions, from the most thought-out to the most extravagant, and the deadly spontaneity of most speakers, drove

29785-443: The title of Count of Barcelona : of this noble and industrious country that I love so much since I learned its history". This was followed by a solemn Te Deum in the cathedral and in the evening a gala performance at the Gran Teatro del Liceo . The king telegraphed to his mother: "My mother: the reception that Barcelona has given me exceeds my hopes, would exceed your wishes...". Late on Sunday, January 10, he left for Valencia in

29970-465: The unanimous opinion of the country, I accept and assume the procedure; I cannot oppose it; it is my duty; the Restoration is a fact", declared Cánovas. They immediately sent a telegram to the ex-Queen Isabella II to communicate to "her august son" that he had been proclaimed King of Spain "without struggle or bloodshed": The Armies of the Center, of the North, garrisons of Madrid and provinces have proclaimed Don Alfonso XII King of Spain. Madrid and all

30155-451: The unity of force and command and the vigor that the Government needed in the face of the common enemy of all, which was the Carlist cause? Who is unaware that one of the causes of the Carlist war, a cause recognized by the whole world, were the more or less exaggerated attacks, many of them very true, which in all public places were directed against the religion professed by the immense majority of Spaniards? But Cánovas did not compromise with

30340-471: The village-based cantons of Camuñas (in Albacete) and Jumilla (in Murcia). The latter is said to have issued a manifesto stating: La nación jumillana desea vivir en paz con todas las naciones vecinas y, sobre todo, con la nación murciana, su vecina; pero si la nación murciana, su vecina, se atreve a desconocer su autonomía y a traspasar sus fronteras, Jumilla se defenderá, como los héroes del Dos de Mayo, y triunfará en la demanda, resuelta completamente

30525-430: The work done by the constitutionalists "before my accession to the throne to reorganize the country, giving it the means to dominate the Carlist civil war , the Cuban filibustering and internal anarchy ". However, the leader of the Radical Republican Party Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla maintained his rejection of the new regime and that same month of February he was expelled from Spain accused of maintaining contacts with

30710-428: The world, the General Military Academy is a medium-sized, highly residential baccalaureate college, with a full-time, five-year undergraduate program that emphasizes instruction in the arts, sciences, and professions with a graduate program, preparing men and women to take on the challenge of being officers of the Spanish Army and the Civil Guard. The academy is accredited by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport and

30895-410: Was a letter sent from the British Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , where Prince Alfonso had entered at the beginning of October at the initiative of Cánovas with the aim of enhancing his constitutional image, in response to the numerous congratulations he had received from Spain on the occasion of his 17th birthday. The letter-manifesto, although by Cánovas, passed through several hands, including

31080-431: Was afraid of the closing of its glorious university and the demise of its scientific prowess [...] The uprising came against the most federalist of all possible governments, and at the very moment the Assembly was preparing a draft Constitution, the worst defects of which came from the lack of time in the Committee and the surplus of impatience in the Government. — Emilio Castelar An even worse problem

31265-489: Was already represented by the Carlists, still at war . It also included a member of the Moderate Party , the Marquis of Orovio , who was at the head of the Ministry of Development. Cánovas did not offer any ministry to General Martínez Campos, nor to his main supporter, the Count of Valmaseda , both linked to the Moderate Party. He named the former captain general of Catalonia and the latter captain general of Cuba, thus distancing them from Madrid. Many moderates rejected

31450-418: Was appointed President of the Republic although it was a mere formality since the Cortes had been dissolved. Carlist forces managed to expand the territory under their control to the greatest extent in early 1874, though a series of defeats by the republic's northern army in the second half of the year might have led to the end of the war had it not been for bad weather. However the other monarchists had taken

31635-416: Was at the front for two weeks, his life being in grave danger on one occasion, and on his return to Madrid, where he made his entry on February 13, he made some gestures with the "September revolutionaries", such as the decoration he gave to Dr. Pedro González de Velasco ―a well-known leftist man―, the interview he held with General Serrano , the last Head of State of the Republic , or the banquet he gave in

31820-428: Was completely disbanded. The idea of legality was lost to a point any employee of [the Ministry of] War would assume full powers and notify the Cortes , and those charged with handing and fulfilling the law would disregard it, raising or booming against legality. It was not about, as in other instances, replacing an existent Ministry or a form of Government in the accepted way; it was about dividing our homeland in

32005-408: Was devastated, and after the end of the Civil War he restored the institution. However, he obeyed Azaña's commands at the time and closed the Academy. After the end of the Spanish Civil War and the reorganization of military studies in Spain, the General Military Academy was established again on September 27, 1940 by Minister of the Army José Enrique Varela . The old buildings used for training in

32190-418: Was essential not to repeat the mistake that led to the failure of the Monarchy of Isabella II : the exclusive linking of the Crown with one of the currents of liberalism ( moderantism ), which forced the other ( progressivism ) to resort to force (the pronunciamiento and juntismo ) in order to gain access to power. Thus, it had to be possible, Cánovas thought, for the various liberal factions to alternate in

32375-478: Was fifteen―, whom he would marry for love in 1878. What was to be a decisive step in the Alfonsine restoration took place on August 22, 1873 ―in the midst of the cantonal rebellion after the proclamation of the Federal Republic and only one month after the pretender Carlos VII had returned to Spain, thus giving a great impulse to the third Carlist war ― when Isabella II gave her full support to Cánovas, in spite of her antipathy towards him, and entrusted him with

32560-539: Was immediately unleashed by about forty university and high school professors, led by Francisco Giner de los Ríos, Gumersindo de Azcárate and Nicolás Salmerón , the latter a former president of the executive branch of the Republic , who were joined by prominent liberal and republican politicians and academics, including Emilio Castelar , who had already been the protagonist of the first university question of 1866. All of them were removed from their professorships or resigned from them. Many of these professors expelled from

32745-470: Was in Tudela —or in Miranda de Ebro —, leading the Army of the North that was going to launch a great offensive against the Carlists. But Serrano informed him that he had very few loyal forces willing to go to Madrid, once the decision of General Jovellar to support the pronunciamiento was known. In the last telegram —the exchange of messages had lasted an hour and a half— General Serrano told him: "Patriotism forbids me to have three governments in Spain [his,

32930-411: Was in charge of the prince's education. In December 1871 he would be replaced by Morphy as the prince's tutor. Once the option of Prince Hohenzollern was discarded, on November 16, 1870, the Cortes voted as King of Spain the new candidate proposed by General Prim: the second son of the King of Italy Victor Emmanuel II , Prince Amadeo of Savoy , who would reign under the title of Amadeo I . Regarding

33115-436: Was necessary to create "much opinion in favor of Alfonso" with "calm, serenity, patience, as well as perseverance and energy". In April he insisted again in another letter sent to the former queen that "what we must do is to prepare the opinion widely and then wait with patience and foresight for a surprise, an outburst of the opinion itself, a blow perhaps unthought of, which will have to be taken advantage of promptly so that it

33300-421: Was openly the reverse of the past: the result could be the same. The provinces had to be represented in the new Cortes, and if they had any concrete idea on the limits over the powers of the future states, they could take it to the Cortes and defend it there. As the delimitation of the powers of the provinces would have also determined that of the state, the delimitation of the central power would determine that of

33485-408: Was precisely the opposite, the indifference with which the majority of Spaniards welcomed both the fall of the previous institutions and the establishment of the new regime". As soon as he arrived in Madrid, Alfonso XII confirmed the government that Cánovas had formed in his name on December 31. He had taken care to integrate in it not only his supporters, such as Pedro Salaverría in the Treasury or

33670-425: Was that between January 1875 and January 1877 Cánovas del Castillo governed under a regime of exception , with very limited public liberties, which is why this period is also known as the "dictatorship of Cánovas". This regime of exception lasted beyond the promulgation of the Constitution in June 1876 , since it was only put to an end with the approval of the Law of January 1877, which regulated, albeit restrictively,

33855-411: Was the Canton of Cartagena , its autonomy declared on 12 July at the city naval base under the inspiration of the federalist congressman Antonio Gálvez Arce , known as Antonete . The Canton of Cartagena would live six months of constant wars, and even minted its own currency, the duro cantonal . The first deed of the Cartagenan cantonalists was the capture of the Saint Julian castle , which motivated

34040-419: Was the Third Carlist War , in which the rebels controlled most of the Basque Country , Navarre and Catalonia without opposition, and sent raid parties throughout the Peninsula. The Carlist pretender, Charles VII , had formed a rival government in Estella with his own ministers and was already minting currency, while the French connivance allowed him to receive external aid and fortify his defences. Between

34225-421: Was victory; revenge, his political and personal defeat", José Varela Ortega added. The queen also granted him full powers to take care of the prince's education, and Cánovas decided that it was time for him to begin his military training, and "stop being a schoolboy", with the aim of turning him into a "King-soldier" because as he said in a letter to the former queen Isabel "we must give all honest military men

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