Regencies on behalf of Isabella II of Spain

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Isabella II of Spain (10 October 1830 – 9 April 1904) was barely three years of age when her father Ferdinand VII of Spain died on 29 September 1833. Her minority age was marked first by the regency of her mother Maria Christina of the Two Sicilles and then under General Baldomero Espartero, covering almost ten years of her reign, until 23 July 1843, when Isabella was declared to be of age.

Upon the death of Ferdinand VII, his wife Maria Christina immediately assumed the regency on behalf of her daughter Isabella II, and promised the liberals a policy different from that of the deceased king. Part of the Spanish society was expectant before a possible change in the future reign of Isabella II, and that would incorporate to the country the liberal models that were developed in some nations of Europe. The First Carlist War and the confrontations between the liberals of the Moderate Party and those of the Progressive Party culminated in the rise to the head of state of General Espartero, in a convulsive period plagued by governmental crises and social instability.