The contemporary age2

2. The Contemporary Age

3. Isabel II
• She ruled from 1833 to 1868.
• She wasn´t popular with any of the political parties.
• Her government was dominated by two military politicians:
Ramón María Narváez and Leopold O´Donnell.
• When they died, the government became to weak to continue.
• General Juan Prim sent the Queen into exile* and started looking
for a new monarch to take over.
• *Exile: being banished from your native country.

4. 1870-1873: King Amadeo I de Saboya
• It took two years to find someone to accept the throne.
• The Italian Duke of Aosta, Amaedo, eventually accepted under
pressure from his father.
• His reign started badly when his main supporter General Prim was
assassinated.
• It was an extremely unstable period.
• He had to deal with violent conflicts between different political parties,
the Cuban revolution, rebellions by the Carlists in the Basque and
Catalan regions, Republican uprisings and problems with the army.
• Unable to cope, he returned to Italy in early 1873.

5. 1873-1874: First Republic
• On 11 February 1873, Spain became a republic, but the political and
social instability continued.
• The republic lasted only 11 months with 4 presidents during this time.
• 3 simultaneous civil wars also broke out in Spain that year.
• On 3 January 1874, General Manuel Pavia mounted a coup d´etat* which
ked to the end of the republic.
• The political parties were unable to work together and the support for
Alfonso, Isabel II´s son grew.
• General Martínez Campos restored the monarchy and Alfonso XII became
the new King of Spain.
• * Coup d´etat: a sudden and decisive actions in politics, especially one
resulting in a change in government illegally or by force.

6. The Restoration: 1875-1923
• During Alfonso XII`s reign, there were minor conflicts, but
there was less violence than in previous years.
• 1875-1885: King Alfonso XII
• Alfonso XII ruled as a constitutional monarch (not an absolute one) under the
Constitution of 1876. Although he was young and inexperienced, he was a very
popular king.
• Under his reign, there was a new political system: the turno pacífico. Only two
political parties were permitted: the Liberals and the Consevatives. These parties
took turns to hold power. The parties that were excluded from this system opposed
it.
• In this new system of alternating power, there were 2 key political figures:
• Antonio Cánovas del Castillo who was Prime Minister 6 times and leader of the
conservatives.
• Práxedes Mateo Sagasta who was Prime Minister 8 times and leader of the Liberals.

7. Characteristics of this period:
• Pros
• After a century of instability, Spain was stable again.
• It was a period of economic prosperity and modernization.
• There was peace and prosperity in Cuba and Puerto Rico.
• Cons
• The only way to guarantee the system would work was through electoral fraud: the
King chose the government and the result of the election was decided in advance.
• Basque and Catalan nationalism grew in protest against the unfair system.
Did you know?
Despite Alfonso´s popularity, there were
two attempts to assassinate him. He died
of tuberculosis at the age of 27.

8. From Alfonso XII to the Second Republic
• Alfonso XII´s early death left his son, Alfonso, as heir
to the throne. His mother María Cristina, ruled as
regent until the young Alfonso turner 16 in 1902 and
became King Alfonso XIII.
• During the regency period, Spain lost its remaining
colonies, Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines, and
suffered heavy defeats in Morocco and violent rioting
in Barcelona.

9. • Primo de Rivera lost all confidence in the Spanish government
and organized a coup. Alfonso XIII supported him and Rivera
suspended the Constitution and became a dictator from
1923-1930. Unfortunately he was not a good leader and Spain
went bankrupt under his rule. Eventually, even the army
stopped supporting him and Alfonso XIII forced him to resign.
• Despite the attempts to re-establish a non-dictatorship
form of the government, people no longer trusted Alfonso XIII. In
1931, the Republicans won the elections, the monarchy was abolished
and the Second Republic was declared. It lasted until the end of the Civil
war in 1939.

10. The Constitution of 1931
Among many things it:
• established freedom of speech
• gave the vote to women
• made divorce legal
• took away the special legal status enjoyed by Spanish nobility
• limited the powers of the church

11. Opposition to the Republic
• The church: its powers had been limited by the new constitution.
• The military and the Nationalists: they saw the government as
weak.
• Workers' groups: they considered the Second Republic to be
oppressive.
• Monarchists and Fascists: their status as nobles had been
reduced.

12. The Civil War: 1936-1939
• On 18 July 1936, General Francisco Franco led a military takeover
of the Republican and the Civil War began. Spain was divided into
two sides: the Republicans (supporters of the republic) and the
Nationalists (supporters of General Franco).
• The war officially ended on 1 April 1939 with a Nationalist victory.