The liberal movement in Spain: from the Constitution of Cádiz to the broadsword of Pavía. Part II Monthly Strategy Report April 2017 Alejandro Vidal Crespo Director of Market Strategies Monthly Strategy Report. April 2017 The liberal movement in Spain: from the Constitution of Cádiz to the broadsword of Pavía. Part II We left off last month with the betrayal of Ferdinand VII who, with support from the Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis and the Duke of Angouleme, reinstated the old absolutist regime in 1823 and repealed all vestiges of liberalism in Spain. At the time, the key liberal leaders, including Mendizábal, left Spain for London in an effort to flee the reprisals of the absolutists who, for example, hanged Rafael de Riego, defender of Malaga, in Madrid’s Plaza de la Cebada. The liberals organised in London, where Mendizábal primarily engaged in business, remaining there until the Revolution of 1830, when France’s absolute monarchy was overthrown in favour of a parliamentary alternative, the July Monarchy, with Louis Philippe I on the throne. Like many other Spanish liberals, Mendizábal then moved to Paris, where he financed liberal uprisings in Spain, like that of the unsuccessful Espoz y Mina. He also took part in the Portuguese civil war, supporting and financing the cause of the liberals in favour of Queen Maria II of Portugal. First from London and later from Paris, Mendizábal supported and financed liberal movements wherever possible owing to his good relationship with British financiers. Meanwhile, the absolutist contingent in Spain was far from inactive. In 1830, Ferdinand VII was still childless and in failing health. If the King died without an heir, his brother, Carlos María Isidro, would ascend to the throne. But Ferdinand VII married for a fourth time, to his niece María Cristina de Borbón, and within a few months, in May 1830, he issued the Pragmatic Sanction repealing the Salic Law that prevented women from occupying the throne of Spain. Months later, on 10 October 1830, the couple welcomed a daughter, Isabel. The absolutist party was subsequently divided between the moderates, who sought a rapprochement with moderate liberals, and the ultra-absolutists, led by Carlos María Isidro himself. In 1832, when the King fell ill, the Carlists appeared before Maria Cristina demanding that the King (on his apparent deathbed) sign an annulment of the Pragmatic Sanction. While not of sound mind, the King signed, with the condition that it not take effect until after his death, a stipulation that the Carlists did not respect. But the King did not die. Against all odds, he recovered and reinstated his daughter, Isabel, as first in the line of succession, prompting his brother and his supporters, who refused to swear allegiance to the Princess of Asturias, to incite a rebellion. In response, the King removed the Carlists from the reformist absolutist government of Francisco Cea Bermúdez, and forced his brother into exile in Portugal. Soon after, on 29 September 1833 King Ferdinand VII died, and his two-year old daughter was proclaimed sovereign under the regency of Queen Maria Cristina. The Carlists, however, refused to recognise a female sovereign, leading to a civil uprising known as the Carlist War (1833-1840). The liberals supported the Queen’s cause and, in fact, repopulated the government in 1834. Mendizábal used his influence in London to obtain a series of loans to finance the war effort against the Carlists, in addition to gaining support from the liberal governments of France and Portugal. In turn, he was named Minister of Finance in 1835, and soon after, on 14 September 1835, Prime Minister, after opposing the previous Prime Minister (the Count of Toreno) and the regency itself for the narrow political manoeuvring of the government and the regency, which still failed to recognise such basic liberal principles as National Sovereignty. This is what separated the two liberal factions known as the moderados (who advocated for sovereignty shared with the King) and the exaltados. Mendizábal then focused on winning the war against the Carlists and, in need of financing, he implemented Monthly Strategy Report. April 2017 the measure that would cement his name in history: the Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizábal, whereby the government expropriated large tracts of land from monastic orders and sold them at auction. But the considerable size and cost of these properties meant they were only accessible to those with considerable fortunes—the well-heeled bourgeoisie and aristocrats—thereby preventing the development of a true middle class in many parts of Spain. The proceeds were used to pay the public debt and government loans, and in fact, payment at auction could be rendered by exchanging public debt securities for their nominal amount rather than their market value, which was substantially less given the precarious situation of the public coffers. This enabled many State creditors to be “bailed out” with the wealth of others through forced expropriations. The exaltados, led by Mendizábal, again prevailed in the elections of February 1836. However, the Regent Maria Cristina replaced him as Prime Minister with Francisco Javier de Istúriz, prompting a string of intrigues, revolts and riots that would culminate in the Mutiny of the Sergeants at La Granja. While visiting the palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso, in Segovia, the Regent and the Queen (now aged five) were held against their will by the Royal Guard, led by two sergeants, who forced the Regent to re-instate the Constitution of 1812. Evidently, the mutiny was led by the liberals, and likely by Mendizábal himself, but the ability of two non-commissioned officers and a handful of troops to reverse the constitutional order of the country indicates the extreme weakness of the State and the absolute decay of the power structures of an aging empire. After this latest revolutionary period, in 1837, with the consensus of the moderate and progressive liberals led by Mendizábal, a new Constitution was enacted, in which the more radical liberals accepted shared sovereignty, the veto power of the monarch, and the bicameral cortes, with the creation of a Senate appointed by the Crown from among a number of select candidates in each constituency. This new Constitution of 1837 made it possible to integrate lingering elements from the old regime while augmenting individual rights associated with freedom of the press and the popular election of mayors. As a matter of note, voting continued to be by census and included only men who paid more than 200 reales in taxes each year, in other words, less than 5% of the Spanish population. The period from 1836 to 1840 is marked by the war between the Carlists and the Isabelinos (those who defended the claim of Isabel II). Meanwhile, the political figure who would be the next protagonist of this story began to develop and take shape, General Baldomero Espartero, a war hero for his exemplary performance at the Battle of Luchana and as a commander of the Isabelino forces in general. Espartero, the general closest to the progressive liberals, would clash with other conservative military colleagues, like O’Donnell, Narváez, and Prim, and would be Prime Minister several times, in addition to Regent, that is, King in pectore of Spain. Spain would then enter an extremely unstable period, enacting another constitution in 1845, engaging in revolution in 1854 (known as La Vicalvarada), and finally forming the first republic. I invite you to conclude this fascinating historical (and somewhat hysterical) period next month..