The Troubled Monarchy, The First Carlist War

In 1831 Ferdinand named his infant daughter, Isabella, to succeed him. Ferdinand’s brother, Don Carlos de Borbon, disputed Isabella’s claim to the crown, arguing that a female’s succession was forbidden by the Salic Law. Ferdinand responded by completing the repeal of the Salic Law in Spain, a process initiated by his father, Charles IV. After Ferdinand died in 1833, Isabella was declared queen, with her mother, Maria Christina, as regent. A group of religious traditionalists and political reactionaries, called Carlists, insisted that Don Carlos should inherit the throne. Isabella’s succession was backed by the liberals, known as Christinos, who took their name from Isabella’s mother. The dynastic split soon erupted in a civil war between the Carlists and Christinos.

Carlist support came largely from the rural areas of northern Spain, especially the Basque regions and Catalonia, where the clergy’s influence was strong. Strongly Roman Catholic, the Carlist movement was also fiercely protective of traditional laws, known as fueros, which had long governed many aspects of life in the northern provinces. Spain’s more developed regions opposed the Carlists, as did Britain, France, and Portugal, all of which supported the Christinos. To preserve the liberals’ backing, Maria Christina granted a royal charter in 1834 that took the form of a constitution and granted a modest degree of political reform. The civil war thus pitted supporters of a constitutional monarchy against advocates of absolutist rule, represented by Don Carlos. After a long struggle, the Carlists were defeated in 1839. Don Carlos went into exile and Carlist forces were allowed to become part of Spain’s regular army. Despite this defeat, Carlist sentiment remained a potent political force in the Basque provinces.

Internal conflicts weakened the liberals, and their victory over the Carlists came slowly. Moderate liberals upheld the privileges of the crown and favored a narrow franchise based on wealth or education. Progressive liberals, like the moderates, supported a constitutional monarchy, but they wanted to expand the franchise and promote greater political participation. To the left of the progressives were the radical democrats, who demanded the establishment of a Spanish republic (a representative form of government based on the concept of popular sovereignty).

In 1836 a series of popular uprisings in southern Spain forced Maria Christina to reinstate the Cadiz constitution of 1812. One year later liberals accepted a moderate compromise, the constitution of 1837. In 1840 a progressive revolt led by General Baldomero Espartero ousted Maria Christina, who fled to France, and the Cortes made Espartero regent. But Espartero’s merciless suppression of political opponents triggered an uprising that drove him from power in 1843. Isabella, now 13 years old, was declared legally of age following Espartero’s overthrow, and she assumed the crown as Isabella II.