Political parties in Spain in the 19th century

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If the 19th century is known for something, it is, among other things, for being one of the most turbulent periods in terms of political parties. And it is that, although in general we can divide political history into absolutists and liberals, we will see how during the succession of the different reigns will emerge new parties that, in turn, will be headed by different leaders politicians.

Next, in this lesson from a TEACHER we will try to briefly explain those political parties in 19th century Spain, which were so many that political instability caused us to end up losing very important colonial territories such as Cuba and the Philippines.

Index

1. Absolutists and liberals
2. Carlists, moderates and progressives
3. Conservative Party and Liberal Party

Before beginning to detail the political parties in Spain in the 19th century, it is important that we know the historical context in which the country was found. During the reign of Fernando VII (1814 - 1833) we find that there were

Absolutists

The absolutists were staunch defenders of theOld Regimewhere the monarchy was absolute, that is, the king was the head of the state and as such had unlimited powers.

Among other things, he was in charge of promoting territorial unification, as well as establishing good diplomatic relations with other States; On the religious issue, he had to put an end to all dissidents and also take charge of creating an apparatus centralized administrative office that was composed of officials sufficiently prepared to carry out such functions.

As regards society, we will see a class society divided into privileged and non-privileged classes.

Liberals

Liberals, by contrast, were defenders of the ideals of freedom that occurred in the French Revolution. Between the two, they were all differences, since the liberals argued that power should reside in the nation and not in the king and is that, while in absolutism the king was in charge of both political, economic and social issues, liberalism, opted for a division of powers whose representatives would be elected by the people through suffrage.

Defenders also of the existence of a basic law, the Constitution, in which both the king and the citizens were governed by the same laws, thus justifying the law of equality.

Regarding the economic aspects, a new law, that of the supply and demand, it would be the one that controlled the country's economy, contradicting the absolutist principles in which only the king was in charge of these aspects. Similarly, they struggled to see a separation between Church and State.

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However, within the absolutists we find the Carlists that they were called this way because they were under the regime of King Carlos María Isidro. These, like the absolutists, defended the maintenance of the old traditions of the Old Regime, the monarchy absolute, but they wanted to make the Church take a certain leading role and defended the Basque, Catalan and Navarrese.

And within the liberals we find different groups:

Moderate

Who defended a sovereignty that was shared between the king and the Cortes, and they got a census suffrage, although very limited, that the Spanish State was Catholic confessional and without freedom of religion, being the State that maintained the Church.

Likewise, there were some recognitions in the citizen, although also very limited and some reforms respecting, yes, the rights that the privileged class always had. Among the most important leaders we highlight Narváez.

Progressive

Unlike the moderates the Sovereignty was national and resided in the Cortes. Suffrage was still census, but somewhat more open, they recognized many more individual rights.

As for religion, there was religious freedom, although unlike the moderates it was the Church who maintained the State. As for the reforms, they were somewhat more profound and promoted, for example, confiscation. Among the most important leaders we highlight Espartero, Mendizábal, Prim and Madoz.

Within the progressives and after the Revolutions of 1848 a new party emerged, the Democratic Party characterized by the monarchy that became democratic, by carrying out universal male suffrage, by expanding the public liberties, ending social inequalities and by the intervention of the State in the subjects of education, taxation and social care.

In this other lesson from a TEACHER we offer you a short definition of carlism.

Image: ABC.es

We end this lesson on political parties in 19th century Spain by talking about the emergence of conservatives and liberals. At the time of Democratic six-year term (1868 - 184) There were many other parties, but we are only going to mention one with relative importance and it was the Republicans.

The Republicans as was logical they were in favor of a republican and secular state. From its foundation it was seen as a "progressive" party, expanding democratic rights, among other things. Among these, were:

• Federal Republicans: whose most important leaders were Figueras and Castelar.
• Unitary Republicans: in this case the leaders were Salmerón and Pi i Margall.

Already at the time of the Restoration (1874 - 1902) we once again limited ourselves to two major parties, the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party.

Conservative Party

It was made up of politicians who came from the moderates, the Liberal Union and the occasional Carlist. Defenders of the monarchy, private property and a centralist and unitary state. Supporters of political immobility.

Supported by the urban high bourgeoisie, industry, financiers and landowners, therefore, bringing together the conservative and traditional sectors, defended Catholicism as the official state religion, the suffrage was census. The leader, its creator, Antonio Cánovas del Castillo.

Liberal Party

It was made up of politicians from the Liberal Union, progressives, Democrats and the occasional Republican. What they had in common with the previous party is that they defended the monarchy, the Constitution of 1876, private property and the centralist and unitary state.

However, they differed in that they they wanted progressive reforms to take place, no political immobility, universal male suffrage was given, as for religion a non-denominational state was proclaimed, that is, freedom of worship. Supported by the vast majority of the urban middle classes, under which was its leader Mateo Sagasta.

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