PENINSULAR WAR.
After Pampeluna had fallen, 31 Oct. 1813, no French soldier was left on the Spanish terri tory except in Barcelona and some other places in Catalonia. Wellington attacked the enemy on the fortified banks of the Nivelle 10 No vember and Soult retreated into the camp of Bayonne. On 26 Feb. 1814 Wellington fought a battle with Soult at Orthez, by which the lat ter was driven from his strong position and obliged to retreat in great disorder to the upper Garonne. Wellington followed the French under Soult to Tonlouse, where the bloody battle of 10 April and the occupation of the place put an end to the war.
The Cortes had already held its first session and had resolved that Ferdinand VII should swear to preserve the constitution before he should be recognized as king. At their invita tion Ferdinand now returned to Spain, but de clared the constitution null and void; the In quisition was revived, despotism was restored and the greater part of the reforms introduced under Charles III were subsequently annulled. Ferdinand bore down all opposition with a high hand and for six years (1814-20) reigned with absolute power. From 1814 to 1819 there were 25 changes in the ministry, mostly sud den and attended with severities. They were produced by the influence of the camarilla or persons in the personal service of the king. Every attempt to save the state was frustrated by such counsellors and the prestige of Spain was further lowered by the loss of the Ameri can colonies, an attempt to reconquer which only resulted in a miserable failure. On 1 Jan. 1820, a military insurrection under Riego broke out, for the purpose of restoring the constitu tion of 1812. It spread with great rapidity; several generals, as O'Donnell and Freyre, who were dispatched to suppress it, joined the in surgents and Ferdinand, abandoned by his own troops, was obliged to swear to observe the constitution of 1812. Among other reforms the Inquisition was abolished. The Cortes being assembled immediately set themselves to frame such measures as should be calculated to re store tranquillity to the distracted country. But this was a task well nigh impossible under the circumstances. The country was divided into opposing factions — those who favored the restoration of its ancient power and privileges to the Crown and those, on the other hand, who advocated liberal or ultra-liberal measures, and the measures passed had no effect in allay ing the discontent. Guerrilla bands were or ganized in the provinces in the cause of Church and king and obtained the name of "armies of the faith." There was even established at Seo d'Urgel in July 1822 what was called "a regency during the captivity of the king." The govern ment, however, was powerful enough to dis perse these guerrilla hands and drive the regency into France. In these civil disturbances dreadful atrocities were committed on both sides. In the meantime France, at the Congress of Verona in October 1822, had agreed with the courts of eastern Europe upon an armed inter vention in Spain. The Spanish government was called upon to restore the royal sovereignty and to change the constitution, and when they de clined to comply a French army 100,000 strong, under the Duke of Angouleme, crossed the Pyrenees in the spring of 1823. By means of this force Ferdinand was restored to absolute power and immediately revoked all the decrees passed by the constitutional government be tween March 1820 and October 1823. The In quisition, indeed, was not restored; hut the secu lar tribunals supplied its place and performed deeds of vengeance of the most atrocious de scription. The whole Spanish army was now disbanded and its place supplied by the "army of the faith," who plundered and murdered the constitutionalists to their hearts' content. It is computed that 40,000 constitutionalists, chiefly of the educated classes, were thrown into prison. To restrain the violence of party fury a treaty had been concluded with France, stipulating for the maintenance of a French force of 45,000 men in the country, until the Spanish army could be organized. It was only in 1827 that the French evacuated Spain. The personal moderation of the king toward the constitu tionalists led to the formation of a plot by the • absolutists to compel him to abdicate and to raise Don Carlos, his brother, to the throne (thence their name of Carlistas). Several in surrections were set on foot by these Carlists, which were attended with numerous executions. In 1830 Ferdinand was persuaded by his wife, Maria Christina, a Neapolitan princess, to abol ish, by the pragmatic sanction of 29 March, the Salic Law of the Bourbon family, which ex cluded the daughters of the king from the throne. In consequence of the abolition of this law the succession passed from Don Car los to Ferdinand's daughter, the Infanta Isabel. Don Carlos and his party protested against this measure, and the death of Ferdinand in 1833 was the signal for civil war. Isabella was at once acknowledged by the leading powers of Europe and proclaimed without opposition in all the midland and southern provinces of Spain. It was otherwise in the north, particu larly in the Basque province; there the in habitants took up arms in behalf of Don Carlos and proclaimed shim king, under the title of Charles V. Christina had the joint support of the moderados and the liberals and in order to attach them to her still more, a royal decree was issued in April 1834 granting•a constitution with two chambers. The Carlists, under the command of Zumalacarreguy, were at first suc cessful, but on his death their cause began to decline and the skilful leadership of Cabrera failed to retrieve the fortunes of the party. During this struggle England and France al lowed men to be recruited within their terri tories for the cause of the queen and an army of 10,000 went from England to join the royal troops. The chief of the royalist generals were Espartero and O'Donnell, under whose leader ship the war was brought to an end in 1840. Though the civil war had thus been brought to a successful termination, Spain had by no means been restored to a state of tranquillity. Chris tina failed to satisfy the ultra-liberals and rather than consent to have a colleague in the regency, as it was now thought expedient she should have, resigned 12 Oct. 1840, and sailed for France. In May 1841 the Cortes conferred the office of regent on Espartero and that of guardian to the queen on Arguelles. Espartero seems to have had the good of his country at heart, but he had a most difficult role to play. Every reform which he attempted gave offense to some party and to whatever side he turned he met only with opponents numerous, resolute and influential. Insurrections broke out in vari ous quarters, and Espartero, checked and ham pered on all hands, at last left the country and sailed for England. Queen Isabella was de clared of age by the Cortes in 1843 and hence forth the government was carried on in her name. She was married on 10 Oct. 1845 to her cousin, Don Francisco d'Assiz, her only sister, Louisa, being on the same day married to Louis Philippe's sou, the Duke of Montpensier. The outbreak of the French Revolution of 1848 caused much less commotion in Spain than in several other Continental states. Any revolu tionary movements that took place were easily repressed by Narvaez, a minister of prudence and energy, who was then at the head of the government. Narvaez, however, found no small difficulty in maintaining his position. The court was a mere focus of intrigue and the most important political changes were con stantly threatened to be effected by the most frivolous and contemptible means. Early in 1851 he was compelled to resign, and till 1854 a number of short-lived and weak ministries, most of which had reactionary tendencies, suc ceeded each other. At the head of the last of them was Sartorius, whose measures were so unpopular that insurrection broke out in vari ous quarters, and he and his colleagues, after trying in vain to suppress them, were obliged to save themselves by flight on the 17th of July 1854. Espartero, who had some time before to Spain, was 'now charged with the formation of a government in accordance with the wishes of the nation. Before consenting to undertake this task he made two stipulations the one that the queen-mother should be exiled, the other that the constituent Cortes should be assembled. On obtaining these concessions he formed a coalition ministry, himself holding the office of President and General O'Donnell that of Minister of War. The coalition ministry did not, however, work harmoniously, and Espar tero, after holding his position with some diffi culty till 14 July 1856, was obliged to give place to another ministry, with O'Donnell at its head, which only existed three months. Narvaez was now called to the head of affairs (October 1856). But in July 1858, O'Donnell was again entrusted with the formation of a ministry, which, being more liberal than the previous ones, endured for a period of five years, during which Spain enjoyed comparative tranquillity. In 1858 Spain shared in the French expedition against Anam, to avenge the persecution of Catholic missionaries and native Christians, which had been going on for a series of years. On 22 Oct. 1859, war was declared against Mo rocco, which, it was alleged, had attacked the Spanish possessions situated on the northern coast of that state. Under the leadership of O'Donnell it was carried to a successful con clusion and a treaty of peace was signed on 26 April 1860, in terms of which 20,000,000 piastres were paid to the Spaniards by way of indemni fication. These foreign wars led to a consider able increase of the army and navy, promoted peace at home and greatly raised the reputation and influence of Spain abroad. In 1860 an un successful attempt was made to overthrow the government of Isabella by the Count of Monte molin, the eldest son of Don Carlos, in whose favor the latter had in 1845 abandoned his claim to the Spanish throne. In 1861 Spain joined Britain and France in sending an ex pedition to Mexico to obtain redress of griev ances. The same year Spain resumed possession of her former colony of Santo Domingo. On 18 March the last President of that republic, Santana, issued a proclamation announcing the union of that state with Spain, and on 20 May the queen signed the decree by which the an vexation was accepted. In 1863, however, a revolt broke out and after some fighting, which continued into the following year, Spain re linquished the possession once more. A quarrel at this time broke out between Spain and Peru, in consequence of which the Spaniards seized the Chincha Islands by way of material guaran tee; but in the early part of 1865 the differences between the two governments were adjusted and the Chincha Islands restored to the Peruvian authorities. A more serious rupture took place in the same year with Chile, which led to a war between the two countries. The Chileans were supported by Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia; but Spain had not very much to fear from this combination, though at the same time, as might have been expected, the war procured her little either of honor or profit. A military insurrec tion broke out in Spain toward the end of 1865, under the leadership of General Prim, hut he and his adherents were forced to flee before the royal troops. Prim effected his escape to Portugal, but in the following year another at tempt at insurrection was made. On 22 June a regiment of artillery, quartered in Madrid, mutinied in their barracks, and after murdering several of their officers marched through the streets of the city calling upon the people to rise in the name of "Prim and the republic." The active measures, however, of the Prime Minister, Marshal O'Donnell, soon put down the revolt. An equally abortive rising, though on a larger scale, took place in August 1867 in Aragon, Catalonia, Valencia and elsewhere, where hands of armed men made their ap pearance, and were in some instances joined by the mayors of towns and other functionaries. The movement in a short time wholly collapsed, and several persons engaged in it were taken prisoners and executed. But the Revolution of 1868 had a very different issue. The conduct of the queen had alienated all feelings of loyalty in the breasts of her subjects. The forms of the constitution had been abused, and made the machinery of arbitrary and oppressive rule, and the people were weary of a system which re pressed all freedom of thought and rights of conscience, which placed the education of the young in the hands of Jesuits, and under which they had lost all respect for their ministers and all attachment to the Crown. In the month of
April insurrectionary movements broke out in Catalonia, and the province was placed in a state of siege. In July several Spanish generals were arrested by the government, and without any form of trial sent into exile. The revolution burst forth in September. On the 17th of that month General Prim arrived at Cadiz, where the exiled generals also arrived two days later, . and immediately lent themselves to the move ment. Meanwhile a proclamation had been is sued calling the people to arms. Marshal Ser rano, formerly president of the Senate, placed himself at the head of the movement and the whole of Andalusia pronounced for the revolu tion. The Spanish ministry resigned, and Gen eral Concha was appointed by the queen presi dent of the council. The Marquis de Novaliches commanded the royal army, and marched upon Cordova, which was occupied by the insurgents. At Burgos a severe conflict took place, which resulted in the royal troops fraternizing with the people. Juntas were established in the dif ferent towns, which one after another raised the flag of rebellion. The defeat of Novaliches at Puerta Alcalen and the formation of a pro visory junta at Madrid determined Isabella to flee the country and take refuge in France. Immediately after her flight the fall of the Bourbons was solemnly proclaimed, and one of the first acts of the juntas was to recognize universal suffrage as a principle of the future constitution. Serrano entered Madrid at the head of the revolutionary troops on 3 October and was received with the utmost enthusiasm by the inhabitants. A few days later a pro visional ministry was formed, "to lead the na tion to liberty, and not allow it to perish in anarchy." Decrees were passed suppressing the Society of the Jesuits, declaring the absolute freedom of primary education, and restoring the liberty of the press. Thus was accomplished with little violence and less bloodshed a revolution which marks one of the most im portant eras in Spanish history. The Cortes of 1868 declared for the monarchical form of government; but it was no easy task to find a prince both able and willing to fill the hazardous post of king. After fruitless nego tiations with several princes, which, in the case of one of them, the Prince of Hohenzollern, led indirectly to the disastrous Franco-German War (q.v.) of 1870, the Crown was at length ac cepted by Amadeus, the second son of Victor Emmanuel, and on 16 Nov. 1870, he was for mally elected as king by the Cortes. Mean while insurrectionary movements in several of the provinces had disturbed the peace of the country, but were forcibly suppressed. The new constitution was promulgated 6 June 1869, and Serrano appointed regent until a king was elected. The two years' reign of Amadeus I failed to give peace to the much disturbed country. Parties were numerous and irrecon cilable. One ministry had to give place to another, each successive change making mat ters worse instead of better. To crown all, in April 1872, the Carlist insurrection, which had been for some time threatening, burst forth. Risings took place simultaneously, under old chiefs of the party, in Aragon, Navarre and the Basque provinces; and bands also rapidly formed in Leon, Castile, and elsewhere. The cry of "Viva Carlos VII" was heard on all sides. No time was lost by the government in dispatching Marshal Serrano to the scene of action. He succeeded in driving the insurgents before him, and coming up with the main body on 4 May at Oroquieta defeated them. The check they received was, however, only temporary, as they still kept up a species of guerrilla warfare, and the year 1872 closed amidst widespread con fusion in the provinces, and excitement in the capital itself. "The Carlists in the north, the federalists in the south, overran the country, exacting contributions,. cutting the railways and u telegraph wires, inflicting heavy damages upon the state and on private families, putting a stop to all commercial intercourse, undermining local trade, protecting and facilitating smuggling, and obtaining unlimited authority wherever they went"; and in this state of disorganization the country continued Tong after all active fighting had ceased. Disaffection in the army added to the strife of parties, and the many opposing manifestations of public opinion at length de termined the king to resign a crown the wear ing of which had caused him nothing but anxiety and unrest. He accordingly abdicated on 11 Feb. 1873; and immediately thereupon the Cortes, by a majority of votes, declared for a republic, which was officially proclaimed at Madrid on 16 February. This was followed by political complications of the most chaotic de scription, a state of affairs which the Carlists were not slow in taking advantage of. Not only, however, were the Carlists active, but other insurrectionary movements, consequent on the general discontent, combined to complicate the difficulties of the government. On 8 June the form of government, which had been the subject of much dispute, was, by an almost unanimous vote of the Cortes, definitely de clared to be that of a federal republic. The Ministers under it were as short-lived as previ ously. On 21 September Castelar, who at that time was President, was invested with dictatorial powers by a resolution of the Cortes, who voted their own suspension till 3 Jan. 1874. At the expiration of that period matters were in no way improved. Public opinion was wholly dis organized, and the Carlist war had gained formidable dimensions. January 3 saw another revolution of government ; the Cortes had re assembled, and on a motion being made for the approval of Castelar's exercise of authority during the recess it was negatived by a large majority. Castelar at once presented the resig nation of himself and cabinet. As soon as this event was known out of doors, General Pavia, the captain-general of Madrid', at the head of his troops, entered the chamber and forcibly dissolved the Cortes; and having assembled the chiefs of the Revolution of 1868, and leading men of all political parties, justified his con duct by the urgency of the case, and desired them to form a new coalition ministry. The parties now placed in power, with Serrano at their head, were the same with those who made the Revolution of 1868 and the constitution of 1869. During this new revolution Madrid re mained tranquil; but in Saragossa, Barcelona and Valencia volunteers were arrayed by the communal authorities against the troops of the government, and barricades were raised. The struggle, however, was of short duration, and soon quelled. Within 10 days after the in auguration of the new government a striking military success, in the capture of Carthagena from the disaffected, came to give it credit. In the north the Carlist War still raged, and be came more and more formidable. Bilbao made a stubborn resistance to the government troops, hut ultimately fell, and this success was fol lowed by a few others ; but at the battle of Estella, fought on 27 June, the Carlists obtained a signal victory over the republicans, who lost nearly 5,000 men in killed, wounded and prison ers. The Carlists now overran the northeastern provinces, the fortresses only holding out against them. On 15 July, after a terrible bombardment, Cuenca ell into their hands. By the beginning of September the pretender's troops had entered several towns in different parts of Spain, though they had been, for the most part, unable to retain their acquisitions. The tide of success, however, again turned against the Carlists. They met with a signal defeat near Pampeluna on 25 September and again at Irun on 11 November; but the repub licans failed to follow up their successes or act as if they had any desire to bring the war to a speedy conclusion. Meanwhile another polit ical change was in contemplation. The Al fonsists, or advocates of the Prince of Asturias, son of the ex-queen, consisting of a large ma jority of the middle and upper class of society, had been working steadily in his interests. On the prince's 17th birthday addresses had been presented to him at Sandhurst, in England, where he was pursuing his military studies as cadet; and on the last day of the year it was announced that Gen. Martinez Campos, pro claiming Prince Alfonso as king, had entered Valencia with two brigades. On the same day he was proclaimed in Madrid under the title of Alfonso XII. On 9 June 1875, the new king landed at Barcelona and assumed the govern ment of Spain. The Carlist rebellion dragged itself on for more than a year after this event, but with fainter and fainter hopes of success. On 22 Feb. 1876, five battalions of Carlists surrendered at Tolosa to General Campos, and four days later Don Carlos fled to France On 20 March fbllowing the young king made a triumphal entry into Madrid. Spain enjoyed a time of peace until his death in his 29th year, November 1885. His wife, Christina of Austria, was proclaimed regent after the birth in 1886 of her posthumous son, who is now king under the title of Alfonso XIII. Besides her struggles with the Carlists and others at home, Spain had to contend from 1868 to 1878, and again from 1895 onward, against insurgents in Cuba, where rebellion seemed almost the normal state of affairs. The United States intervened in. 1898, and war ensued, resulting in the defeat of Spain, the almost complete destruction of her navy and the loss of her American and Asiatic colonies. ( See UNITED STATES, WAR WITH SPAIN). The loss of the protected colonial markets greatly dislocated manufacturing in terests, particularly in Catalonia, where the old separatist tendency is still strong. The year 1901 was marked by serious anti-clerical dis turbances and the Sagasta government took a firm stand against the religious orders. The regency was terminated 17 May 1902 when Alphonse XIII came of age. In May .1906 the king married Princess Ena of Battenberg. In the same year the government sought to estab lish civil marriage and to regulate monastic establishments. Spain secured a rapprochement with France in 1904 by coming to an under standing with the latter in regard to Morocco; in 1908 both nations handled the Moroccan question in amity. The years 1908-09 were marked by anarchistic activities; a revolution was initiated at Barcelona which was soon sup pressed and its leader, Francisco Ferrer, exe cuted. In 1910-12 many internal reforms were instituted and Spain's relations with the Vatican placed on a more explicit basis. A measure of religious liberty to denominations other than Catholics was also enacted. Spain succeeded in maintaining her neutrality throughout the World War of 1914-18, although the feeling in Spain was sharply divided. The aristocracy and wealthy classes and a militaristic group sided with the Central powers, while the intellectuals and the great majority of the population took the part of France and the Entente. The Carlists were pro-German and the Republicans pro-Ally. Maura was against neutrality and publicly stated that Spain's interests would be best served by joining the Entente. This stirred the German element to action and a counter-campaign was instituted. The govermnent's position was ren dered most difficult. The Romanones ministry fell early in 1917 and was succeeded by the Prieto ministry which lasted until 9 June 1917, when its fall was brought about by a crisis in the army, where a revolutionary movement de veloped. The Dato ministry partially succeeded in settling many of the points at issue and several reforms were instituted in the mode of army appointments, promotions, etc. The radi cal element demanded Parliamentary reform but met with little success. Strikes and disturbance, became very numerous throughout the country in June and July 1917 and on 13 August it was announced that the government had decided to declare martial law throughout Spain. Garcia Prieto succeeded Dato as Premier on 3 Nov. 1917 and formed a compromise ministry from several factions in the Cortes. It lasted only ashort time, having failed to the general dissatisfaction. A new Cortes met on 18 March and a new ministry under Maura was formed. It lasted until 9 Nov. 1918 when Romanones was asked to form a new cabinet. Within eight weeks Prieto was again at the head of affairs and Romanones was Foreign Minister. Great dissatisfaction was manifested with the attitude of the government toward Germany's submarine warfare; disorder was rife in the industrial regions of the kingdom. The Prieto ministry fell from power on 3 Dec. 1918.