Reign of Alfonso XII

The reign of Alfonso XII of Spain began after the Pronunciamiento de Sagunto on December 29, 1874, which ended the First Spanish Republic. It lasted until his death on November 25, 1885, after which his wife, María Cristina of Habsburg, assumed the Regency. During his reign, the political regime of the Restoration was established, based on the Spanish Constitution of 1876, which remained in effect until 1923.^[1]^[2] The regime was a constitutional monarchy, though neither democratic nor parliamentary,^[3] described by supporters as liberal and by critics, particularly regenerationists, as oligarchic. Its foundations were based on doctrinaire liberalism, as noted by Ramón Villares.^[4]

Carlos Dardé described the reign as brief but significant, with Spain's situation improving in various areas by its end. Despite uncertainty following the king’s death, the improvements continued under María Cristina's regency during the minority of her son, Alfonso XIII. The foundations of the liberal regime were solidified during this period.^[5]^[6]

The reign saw economic growth, driven by the expansion of the railway network, foreign investments, the mining boom, and increased agricultural exports, especially wine, due to the phylloxera plague devastating French vineyards.^[7] The nobility and high bourgeoisie benefited most from this growth, forming a "power bloc" intertwined with the political elite.^[8]^[9]^[10] Meanwhile, Spain remained largely agrarian, with two-thirds of the population working in the primary sector and a small middle class, while millions of poor laborers, especially in the south, lived in poverty.^[11]^[12]

^ Jover 1981, p. 271.
^ Varela Ortega 2001, p. 101-102."[The Restoration was a stable] regime, because Cánovas broke the coup dynamics of the Elizabethan era. He achieved it by suppressing in the Army and among the parties the political motives that made it possible. It put an end to the intervention of the Army as an institution in politics. It also put an end to the military acting as the armed wing of marginalized politicians, because it ended party exclusivism. It made room for the oppositions to conquer power by constitutional, not military means. It was not an easy task; nor was it automatic".
^ Varela Ortega 2001, p. 101.-"[The Restoration] was a liberal regime, not a democratic one."
^ Villares 2009, pp. 3–4.
^ Dardé 2021, p. 169.
^ Dardé 2003a, p. 11-12."Peace finally came to the country when the Carlist and Cuban wars were successfully concluded by the liberal and Spanish arms [...]. It was not without reason that the young king was called "the peacemaker". An appellative that also fits the monarch well for having been able to curb the warmongering desires of his ministers and public opinion on the occasion of the crisis that confronted Spain and Germany because of sovereignty over the Caroline Islands in 1885, although two years earlier his fondness for the army and German uniforms was the cause of a serious diplomatic incident with France. But the reign of Alfonso XII was also a decade of important political changes... A new Constitution was approved, and a new party system was created and came into operation. The monarch began to exercise, with an authority and wisdom unknown until then, the sovereignty that the Constitution recognized him, together with the Cortes. The parties alternated peacefully in power and thanks to this political stability was achieved".
^ Seco Serrano 2007, p. 169.
^ Jover 1981, p. 297-298.
^ Seco Serrano 2007, p. 169-170.
^ Suárez Cortina 2006, pp. 296–298"The arrival of the Restoration meant the triumph of the sectors most comfortable with the old liberal order, that alliance between nobility and high bourgeoisie... If in the Elizabethan era that nobility had been confined to the Senate, after the Gloriosa it recovered positions, opened up to new economic activities and acted as another element of the new social dynamics: it is incorporated into the business world, opens to new marriage strategies with the rising bourgeoisie and, above all, it is the bulwark of a new social pact in the alliance between Monarchy, Army and Church. [...] The dense network of business, family ties and political positions constitutes one of the most marked characteristics of this upper stratum of Spanish society during the Restoration".
^ Seco Serrano 2007, p. 170.
^ Suárez Cortina 2006, pp. 295, 299"A large part of society still lived in a traditional universe, under the dominion of the peasant community and with the protection and lifestyle of the extended family".

[FOOTNOTEJover1981271-1] Jover 1981, p. 271.

[FOOTNOTEVarela_Ortega2001101-102.-2] Varela Ortega 2001, p. 101-102."[The Restoration was a stable] regime, because Cánovas broke the coup dynamics of the Elizabethan era. He achieved it by suppressing in the Army and among the parties the political motives that made it possible. It put an end to the intervention of the Army as an institution in politics. It also put an end to the military acting as the armed wing of marginalized politicians, because it ended party exclusivism. It made room for the oppositions to conquer power by constitutional, not military means. It was not an easy task; nor was it automatic".

[FOOTNOTEVarela_Ortega2001101.--3] Varela Ortega 2001, p. 101.-"[The Restoration] was a liberal regime, not a democratic one."

[FOOTNOTEVillares20093–4-4] Villares 2009, pp. 3–4.

[FOOTNOTEDardé2021169-5] Dardé 2021, p. 169.

[FOOTNOTEDardé2003a11-12.-6] Dardé 2003a, p. 11-12."Peace finally came to the country when the Carlist and Cuban wars were successfully concluded by the liberal and Spanish arms [...]. It was not without reason that the young king was called "the peacemaker". An appellative that also fits the monarch well for having been able to curb the warmongering desires of his ministers and public opinion on the occasion of the crisis that confronted Spain and Germany because of sovereignty over the Caroline Islands in 1885, although two years earlier his fondness for the army and German uniforms was the cause of a serious diplomatic incident with France. But the reign of Alfonso XII was also a decade of important political changes... A new Constitution was approved, and a new party system was created and came into operation. The monarch began to exercise, with an authority and wisdom unknown until then, the sovereignty that the Constitution recognized him, together with the Cortes. The parties alternated peacefully in power and thanks to this political stability was achieved".

[FOOTNOTESeco_Serrano2007169-7] Seco Serrano 2007, p. 169.

[FOOTNOTEJover1981297-298-8] Jover 1981, p. 297-298.

[FOOTNOTESeco_Serrano2007169-170-9] Seco Serrano 2007, p. 169-170.

[10] Suárez Cortina 2006, pp. 296–298"The arrival of the Restoration meant the triumph of the sectors most comfortable with the old liberal order, that alliance between nobility and high bourgeoisie... If in the Elizabethan era that nobility had been confined to the Senate, after the Gloriosa it recovered positions, opened up to new economic activities and acted as another element of the new social dynamics: it is incorporated into the business world, opens to new marriage strategies with the rising bourgeoisie and, above all, it is the bulwark of a new social pact in the alliance between Monarchy, Army and Church. [...] The dense network of business, family ties and political positions constitutes one of the most marked characteristics of this upper stratum of Spanish society during the Restoration".

[FOOTNOTESeco_Serrano2007170-11] Seco Serrano 2007, p. 170.

[12] Suárez Cortina 2006, pp. 295, 299"A large part of society still lived in a traditional universe, under the dominion of the peasant community and with the protection and lifestyle of the extended family".

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