*662. Powers.*--The stipulations of the const.i.tution which relate to finance are precise. "The ancient right of the Swedish people to tax themselves," it is affirmed, "shall be exercised by the Riksdag alone."[833] The king is required at each regular session to lay (p. 598) before the Riksdag a statement of the financial condition of the country in all of its aspects, both income and expenses, a.s.sets and debts. It is made the duty of the Riksdag to vote such supplies as the treasury manifestly needs and to prescribe specifically the objects for which the separate items of appropriation may be employed; also to vote two separate amounts of adequate size to be used by the king in emergency only, in the one instance in the event of war, in the other, when "absolutely necessary for the defense of the country, or for other important and urgent purposes."
[Footnote 833: Art. 57. Ibid., 234.]
Finally, the Riksdag is authorized and required to exercise a supervisory vigilance in relation to the several branches of the governmental system. One of the functions of the Const.i.tutional Committee is that of inspecting the records of the Council of State to determine whether there has been any violation of the const.i.tution or of the general laws; and in the event of positive findings the Committee may inst.i.tute proceedings before the Riksratt, or Court of Impeachment. At every regular session the Riksdag is required to appoint a solicitor-general, ranking equally with the attorney-general of the crown, with authority to attend the sessions of any of the courts of the kingdom, to examine all judicial records, to present to the Riksdag a full report upon the administration of justice throughout the nation, and, if necessary, to bring charges of impeachment against judicial officers. Every third year the Riksdag appoints a special commission to determine whether all of the members of the Supreme Court "deserve to be retained in their important offices." Every third year, too, a commission of six is const.i.tuted which, under the presidency of the solicitor-general, overhauls the arrangements respecting the liberty of the press.[834]
[Footnote 834: Arts. 96-100. Dodd, Modern Const.i.tutions, II., 244-245.]
*663. Political Parties: Military and Tariff Questions.*--In Sweden, as in European countries generally, the party alignment which lies at the root of contemporary politics is that of Conservatives and Liberals.
Much of the time, however, within the past half-century party demarcations have been vague and shifting, being determined largely in successive periods by the rise and disappearance of various preponderating public issues. The first great question upon which party affiliations were shaped after the accession of Oscar II. in 1872 was that of national defense. The army and navy were recognized at that time to be hopelessly antiquated, and the successive Conservative ministries of the seventies were resolved upon greatly increased expenditures in the interest of military and naval rehabilitation. Against this programme was set squarely that of rigid economy, urged by the strongly organized Landtmannapartiet, or (p. 599) Agricultural party, representing the interests of the landed proprietors, large and small, of the kingdom. The Landtmannapartiet was founded in 1867, immediately following the reconst.i.tution of the Riksdag under the law of 1866, and through several decades it comprised the dominating element in the lower chamber, in addition to possessing at times no inconsiderable amount of influence in the upper one. Throughout the period covered by the Conservative ministry of Baron de Geer (1875-1880) and the Agricultural party"s government under Arvid Posse (1880-1883) there was an all but unbroken deadlock between the upper chamber, dominated by the partisans of military expenditure, and the lower, dominated equally by the advocates of tax-reduction. It was not until 1885 that a ministry under Themptander succeeded in procuring the enactment of a compromise measure increasing the obligation of military service but remitting thirty per cent of the land taxes. By this legislation the military and tax issues were put in the way of eventual adjustment.
Already there had arisen a new issue, upon which party lines were chiefly to be drawn during the later eighties and earlier nineties.
This was the question of the tariff. The continued distress of the agrarian interests after 1880, arising in part from the compet.i.tion of foreign foodstuffs, suggested to the landed interests of Sweden that the nation would do well to follow in the path already entered upon by Germany. The consequence was the rise of a powerful protectionist party, opposed by a free trade party with which were identified especially the merchant cla.s.ses. In 1886 the agrarians procured a majority in the lower chamber, and by 1888 they were in control of both branches. The free trade Themptander ministry was thereupon replaced by the protectionist ministry of Bildt, under which, in 1888, there were introduced protective duties on cereals, and later, in 1891-1892, on manufactured commodities. Step by step, the customs policy developed by Sweden during the middle of the century was reversed completely.
*664. Politics Since 1891.*--July 10, 1891, the Conservative Erik Gustaf Bostrom, became premier, and thereafter, save for a brief interval covered by the von Otter ministry (September, 1900, to July, 1902) this able representative of the dominant agrarian interests continued uninterruptedly at the helm until the Norwegian crisis in the spring of 1905. With the elimination, however, of the tariff issue from the field of active politics, Premier Bostrom adopted an att.i.tude on public questions which, on the whole, was essentially independent. In the later nineties there arose two problems, neither entirely new, which were destined long to occupy the attention of the Government almost to the exclusion of all things else. One of these was the (p. 600) readjustment with Norway. The other was the question of electoral reform. The one affected considerably the fate of ministries, but did not alter appreciably the alignment of parties; the other became the issue upon which party activity largely turned through a number of years. All parties from the outset professed to favor electoral reform, but upon the nature and extent of such reform there was the widest difference of sentiment and policy. During the course of the contest upon this issue the Liberal party tended to become distinctly more radical than it had been in the nineties; and it is worthy of note that the rise of the Social Democrats to parliamentary importance falls almost entirely within the period covered by the electoral controversy. The first Social Democratic member of the Riksdag was elected in 1896. From 1906 to 1911 the Conservative ministry of Lindman, supported largely by the landholding elements of both chambers, maintained steadily its position. At the elections of 1908 the Liberals realized some gains, and at those of 1911 both they and the Social Democrats cut deeply into the Conservative majority. When, in September, 1911, it appeared that the Liberals had procured 102 seats in the lower chamber, the Social Democrats 64, and the Conservatives but 64, the Lindman government promptly resigned and a new ministry was made up by the Liberal leader and ex-premier Staaff.
The invitation which was extended the Social Democrats to partic.i.p.ate in the forming of the ministry was declined. In October the upper chamber was dissolved, for the first time in Swedish history, and at the elections which were concluded November 30 the Liberals and Social Democrats realized another distinct advance. Before the elections the chamber contained 116 Conservatives, 30 Liberals, and 4 Social Democrats; following them the quotas were, respectively, 87, 51, and 12.[835]
[Footnote 835: V. Pinot, Le parlementarisme suedois, in _Revue Politique et Parlementaire_, Sept. 10, 1912.]
IV. THE JUDICIARY AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
*665. The Courts.*--In theory the judicial power in Sweden, being lodged ultimately in the crown, is indistinguishable from the executive; in practice, however, it is essentially independent. The const.i.tution regulates with some minuteness the character of the princ.i.p.al tribunal, the _Hogsta Domstolen_, or Supreme Court, but leaves the organization of the inferior courts to be determined by the king and the Riksdag. The Supreme Court consists of eighteen "councillors of justice" appointed by the crown from among men of experience, honesty, and known legal learning. The functions of the court are largely (p. 601) appellate, but it is worthy of note that in the event that a request is made of the king by the lower courts, or by officials, respecting the proper interpretation of a law, the Supreme Court is authorized to furnish such interpretation, provided the subject is a proper one for the consideration of the courts. Cases of lesser importance may be heard and decided in the Supreme Court by five, or even four, members, when all are in agreement. In more important cases at least seven judges must partic.i.p.ate. When the king desires he may be present, and when present he possesses two votes in all cases heard and decided.
When the question is one of legal interpretation he is ent.i.tled to two votes, whether or not he actually attends the proceedings. All decisions are rendered in the name of the king. The inferior tribunals comprise 212 district courts, or courts of first instance, and three higher courts of appeal (_hofratter_), situated at Stockholm, Jonkoping, and Kristianstad. In the 91 urban districts the court consists of the burgomaster and at least two aldermen; in the 121 rural districts, of a judge and twelve elected and unpaid peasant proprietors serving as jurymen. No person occupying judicial office may be removed save after trial and judgment.
*666. Local Government.*--The kingdom is divided into twenty-five administrative provinces or counties (_lan_).[836] The princ.i.p.al executive official in each is a _landshofding_, or prefect, who is appointed by the crown and a.s.sisted by a varying number of bailiffs and sub-officials. Each province has a Landsthing, or a.s.sembly, which meets for a few days annually, in September, under the presidency of a member designated by the crown. All members are elected directly by the voters of the towns and rural districts, in accordance with the principle of proportional representation, and under a body of franchise regulations which, while much liberalized in 1909, still is based essentially upon property-holding. The function of the Landsthing is the enactment of provincial legislation and the general supervision of provincial affairs. In a few of the larger towns--Stockholm, Goteborg, Malmo, Norrkoping, and Gafle--these functions are vested in a separate munic.i.p.al council. The conditions under which purely local affairs are administered are regulated by the communal laws of March 21, 1862. Each rural parish and each town comprises a self-governing commune. Each has an a.s.sembly, composed of all taxpayers, which pa.s.ses ordinances, elects minor officials, and decides petty questions of purely communal concern.
[Footnote 836: One of these comprises simply the city of Stockholm.]
PART IX.--THE IBERIAN STATES (p. 603)
CHAPTER x.x.xIII
THE GOVERNMENT OF SPAIN
I. THE BEGINNINGS OF CONSt.i.tUTIONALISM
*667. The Napoleonic Regime and the National Resistance.*--It was the fortune of the kingdom of Spain, as it was that of the several Italian states, to be made tributary to the dominion of Napoleon; and in Spain, as in Italy, the first phase of the growth of const.i.tutional government fell within the period covered by the Corsican"s ascendancy. Starting with the purpose of punishing Portugal for her refusal to break with Great Britain, Napoleon, during the years 1807-1808, worked out gradually an Iberian policy which comprehended not only the subversion of the independent Portuguese monarchy but also the reduction of Spain to the status of a subject kingdom. In pursuance of this programme French troops began, in February, 1808, the occupation of Spanish strongholds, including the capital. The aged Bourbon king, Charles IV., was induced to renounce his throne and the crown prince Ferdinand his claim to the succession, and, June 6, Joseph Bonaparte, since 1806 king of Naples, was designated sovereign.
An a.s.sembly of ninety-one pliant Spanish notables, convened at Bayonne in the guise of a junta, was influenced both to "pet.i.tion" the Emperor for Joseph"s appointment and to ratify the _projet_ of a Napoleonic const.i.tution.
Napoleon"s seizure of the crown of Spain was an act of sheer violence, and from the outset Joseph was considered by his subjects a simple usurper. The establishment of the new regime at Madrid became the signal for a national uprising which not only compelled the Emperor seriously to modify his immediate plans and to lead in person a campaign of conquest, but contributed in the end to the collapse of the entire Napoleonic fabric. Upon the restoration of some degree of order there followed the introduction of a number of reforms--the sweeping away of the last vestiges of feudalism, the abolition of the tribunal of the Inquisition, the reduction of the number of monasteries and convents by a third, and the repeal of all internal customs. (p. 604) But the position occupied by the alien sovereign was never other than precarious. At no time did he secure control over the whole of the country, and during the successive stages of the Peninsular War of 1807-1814 his mastery of the situation diminished gradually to the vanishing point. At the outset the princ.i.p.al directing agencies of the opposition were the irregularly organized local juntas which sprang up in the various provinces, but before the end of 1808 there was const.i.tuted a central junta of thirty-four members, and in September, 1810, there was convened at Cadiz a general Cortes--not three estates, as tradition demanded, but a single a.s.sembly of indirectly elected deputies of the people.
*668. The Const.i.tution of 1812.*--Professing allegiance to the captive Ferdinand, the Cortes of 1810 addressed itself first of all to the prosecution of the war and the maintenance of the national independence, but after a year it proceeded to draw up a const.i.tution for a liberalized Bourbon monarchy. Save the fundamental decree upon which rested nominally the government, of Joseph Bonaparte, this const.i.tution, promulgated March 19, 1812, was the first such instrument in Spanish history. It was, of course, the first to emanate from Spanish sources. Permeating it throughout were the radical principles of the French const.i.tution of 1791. It a.s.serted unreservedly the sovereignty of the people and proclaimed as inviolable the principle of equality before the law. Executive authority it intrusted to the king, but the monarch was left so scant a measure of independence that not only might he never prorogue or dissolve the Cortes, but not even might he marry or set foot outside the kingdom without express permission. For the actual exercise of the executive functions there were created seven departments, or ministries, each presided over by a responsible official. The fundamental powers of state were conferred upon a Cortes of one chamber, whose members were to be elected for a term of two years by indirect manhood suffrage. Various features of the French const.i.tution which experience had shown to be ill-advised were reproduced blindly enough, among them the ineligibility of members of the legislative body for re-election and the disqualification of ministers to sit as members. The government of the towns was intrusted to the inhabitants; that of the provinces, to a governor appointed by the central authorities and an a.s.sembly of deputies popularly chosen for a term of four years. As the starting point of Spanish const.i.tutional development the fundamental law of 1812 is of genuine interest. It is not to be imagined, however, that the instrument reflects with any degree of accuracy the political sentiment and ideals of the ma.s.s of the Spanish people. On the contrary, it was the work of a slender (p. 605) democratic minority, and it was never even submitted to the nation for ratification. It was a product of revolution, and at no time was there opportunity for its framers to put it completely into operation.[837]
[Footnote 837: For brief accounts of the Napoleonic regime in Spain see Cambridge Modern History, IX., Chap. 11 (bibliography, pp. 851-853); Lavisse et Rambaud, Histoire Generale, IX., Chap. 6; A.
Fournier, Life of Napoleon the First, 2 vols., (new ed. New York, 1911), II., Chaps. 14-15; J. H. Rose, Life of Napoleon I. (London, 1902), Chap. 28; M. A.
S. Hume, Modern Spain, 1788-1898 (London, 1899), Chaps. 2-4; and H. B. Clarke, Modern Spain, 1815-1898 (Cambridge, 1906), Chap. 1. Of the numerous histories of the Peninsular War the most celebrated is W. Napier, History of the War in the Peninsula and the South of France, 1807-1814, 10 vols. (London, 1828).]
*669. The Restoration and the Reign of Ferdinand VII.*--Upon the fall of Napoleon the legitimate sovereign, under the name of Ferdinand VII., was established forthwith upon the Spanish throne. At one time he had professed a purpose to perpetuate the new const.i.tution, but even before his return to Madrid he p.r.o.nounced both the const.i.tution and the various decrees of the Cortes "null and of no effect," and when the Cortes undertook to press its claims to recognition it found itself powerless. In the restoration of absolutism the king was supported not only by the army, the n.o.bility, and the Church, but also by the ma.s.s of the people. For const.i.tutional government there was plainly little demand, and if Ferdinand had been possessed of even the most ordinary qualities of character and statesmanship, he might probably have ruled successfully in a perfectly despotic manner throughout the remainder of his life. As it was, the reaction was accompanied by such glaring excesses that the spirit of revolution was kept alive, and scarcely a twelvemonth pa.s.sed in the course of which there were not menacing uprisings. In January, 1820, a revolt of unusual seriousness began in a mutiny at Cadiz on the part of the soldiers who were being gathered for service in America. The revolt spread and, to save himself, the king revived the const.i.tution of 1812 and pledged himself to a scrupulous observance of its stipulations.
The movement, however, was doomed to prompt and seemingly complete failure. The liberals were disunited, and the two years during which the king was virtually a prisoner in their hands comprised a period of sheer anarchy. The powers of the Holy Alliance, moreover, in congress at Verona (1822), adopted a programme of intervention, in execution of which, in April, 1823, the French government sent an army across the Pyrenees under the command of the Duke of Angouleme. A six months"
campaign, culminating in the capture of Cadiz, whither the Cortes had carried the king, served effectively to crush the revolution and to reinstate the sovereign completely in the position which he had (p. 606) occupied prior to 1820. Then followed a fresh period of repression, in the course of which the const.i.tution of 1812 was again set aside, and throughout the remaining decade of the reign the government of the kingdom was both despotic and utterly unprogressive.[838]
[Footnote 838: On the period covered by Ferdinand"s reign see Cambridge Modern History, X., Chap. 7 (bibliography, pp. 808-811); Lavisse et Rambaud, Histoire Generale, X., Chap. 6; Clarke, Modern Spain, Chaps. 2-4, and Hume, Modern Spain, 1788-1898, Chaps. 5-6. Extended works which touch upon the const.i.tutional aspects of the period include: H. Gmelin, Studien zur Spanischen Verfa.s.sungsgeschichte des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts (Stuttgart, 1905); G. Diercks, Geschichte Spaniens (Berlin, 1895); A. Borrego, Historia de las Cortes de Espana durante el siglo XIX. (Madrid, 1885); and M. Calvo y Martin, Regimem parlamentario de Espana en el siglo XIX. (Madrid, 1883). A valuable essay is P. Bancada, El sentido social de la revolucion de 1820, in _Revista Contemporanea_ (August, 1903).]
II. POLITICAL AND CONSt.i.tUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT, 1833-1876
*670. Maria Christina and the Estatuto Real of 1834.*--Ferdinand VII.
died September 29, 1833, leaving no son. Regularly since the establishment of the Bourbon dynasty the succession in Spain had been governed by the principle of the Salic Law, imported originally from France. But, to the end that the inheritance might fall to a daughter rather than to his brother, Don Carlos, Ferdinand had promulgated, in 1830, a Pragmatic Sanction whereby the Salic principle was set aside.
Don Carlos and his supporters refused absolutely to admit the validity of this act, but Ferdinand was succeeded by his three-year-old daughter, Isabella, and the government was placed in the hands of the queen-mother, Maria Christina of Naples, as regent.[839] Her administration of affairs lasted until 1840. From the const.i.tutional point of view the period was important solely because, under stress of circ.u.mstances, the regent was driven to adopt a distinctly liberal policy, and, in time, to promulgate a new const.i.tutional instrument.
Don Carlos, supported by the n.o.bility, the clergy, and other reactionary elements, kept up a guerilla war by which the tenure of the "Christinos" was endangered continuously. The regent was herself a thoroughgoing absolutist, but her sole hope lay in the support of (p. 607) the liberals, and to retain that it was necessary for her to make large concessions. The upshot was that in April, 1834, she issued a royal statute (_Estatuto Real_), whereby there was established a new type of Cortes, comprising two chambers instead of one. The upper house, or Estamento de Proceres, was essentially a senate; the lower, or Estamento de Procuradores, was a chamber of deputies. Members of the Procuradores were to be elected by taxpayers for a term of three years. Upon the Cortes was conferred power of taxation and of legislation; but the Government alone might propose laws, and the Cortes, like its ancient predecessor, was allowed no initiative save that of pet.i.tioning the Government to submit measures upon particular subjects. A minimum of one legislative session annually was stipulated; but the sovereign was left free otherwise to convoke and to dissolve the chambers at will. Ministers were recognized to be responsible solely to the crown.
[Footnote 839: In the mediaeval states of Spain there was no discrimination against female succession. The Spanish Salic Law was enacted by a decree of Philip V. in 1713, at the close of the War of the Spanish Succession. Its original object was to prevent the union of the crowns of France and Spain. In view of the change which had come in the international situation, Charles IV., supported by the Cortes, in 1789 abrogated the act of 1713 and re-established the law of _Siete Partidas_ which permitted the succession of women. This measure was recorded in the archives, but was not published at the time; so that what Ferdinand VII.
did was simply to publish, May 19, 1830, at the instigation of the Queen, this _pragmatica_, or law, of 1789. The birth of Isabella occurred the following October 10.]
*671. The Const.i.tution of 1837.*--Toward the establishment of const.i.tutional government the Statute of 1834 marked some, albeit small, advance. The Moderados, or moderate liberals, were disposed to accept it as the largest concession that, for the present, could be expected. But the Progressistas, or progressives, insisted upon a revival of the more democratic const.i.tution of 1812, and in 1836 the regent was compelled by a widespread military revolt to sign a decree pledging the Government to this policy. A const.i.tuent Cortes was convoked and the outcome was the promulgation of the const.i.tution of June 17, 1837, based upon the instrument of 1812, but in respect to liberalism standing midway between that instrument and the Statute of 1834. Like the const.i.tution of 1812, that of 1837 affirmed the sovereignty of the nation and the responsibility of ministers to the legislative body. On the other hand, the Cortes was to consist, as under the Statute, of two houses, a Senate and a Congress. The members of the one were to be appointed for life by the crown; those of the other were to be elected by the people for three years. In a number of respects the instrument of 1837 resembled the recently adopted const.i.tution of Belgium, even as the Statute of 1834 had resembled the French Charter of 1814. In the words of a Spanish historian, the doc.u.ment of 1837 had the two-fold importance of "a.s.suring the const.i.tutional principle, which thenceforth was never denied, and of ending the sentiment of idolatry for the const.i.tution of 1812."[840]
[Footnote 840: R. Altamira, in Cambridge Modern History, X., 238.]
*672. The Const.i.tution of 1845.*--October 12, 1840, the regent Maria Christina was forced by the intensity of civil discord to abdicate and to withdraw to France. Her successor was General Espartero, leader of the Progressistas and the first of a long line of military men to whom it has fallen at various times to direct the governmental (p. 608) affairs of the Spanish nation. November 8, 1843, the princess Isabella although yet but thirteen years old, was declared of age and, under the name of Isabella II., was proclaimed sovereign. Her reign, covering the ensuing twenty years, comprised distinctly an era of stagnation and veiled absolutism. Nominally the const.i.tution of 1837 continued in operation until 1845. At that time it was replaced by a revised and less liberal instrument, drawn up by the Moderados with the a.s.sistance of an ordinary Cortes. The duration of the Cortes was extended from three to four years, severer restrictions upon the press were established, supervision of the local authorities was still further centralized, and the requirement that the sovereign might not marry without the consent of the Cortez was rescinded. In the course of a revolutionary movement in 1854 there was convoked a const.i.tuent Cortes, dominated by Moderates and Progressives. The const.i.tution which this body framed, comprising essentially a revival of the instrument of 1837, was never, however, put in operation. In the end, by a royal decree of 1856, the const.i.tution of 1845 was amended and re-established. Save for some illiberal amendments of 1857,[841] which were repealed in 1864, this instrument of 1845 continued in operation until 1868. Throughout the period, however, const.i.tutionalism was hardly more than a fiction.[842]
[Footnote 841: One established conditions under which senatorial seats might be made hereditary.]
[Footnote 842: Cambridge Modern History, X., Chap.
7; XI., Chap. 20; Lavisse et Rambaud, Histoire Generale, X., Chap. 6; XI., Chap. 9; Hume, Modern Spain, Chaps. 7-12; Clarke, Modern Spain, Chaps.
5-11; Mariano, La Regencia de D. Baldomero Espartero (Madrid, 1870); J. Perez de Guzman, Las Cortes y los Gobiernos del reinado de Da Isabel II., in _La Espana Moderna_, 1903.]
*673. The Const.i.tution of 1869: King Amadeo.*--By a revolt which began in September, 1868, the queen was compelled to flee from the country, and, eventually, June 25, 1869, to abdicate. A provisional government effected arrangements for the election of a Cortes by manhood suffrage, and this Cortes, convened at the capital, February 11, 1869, addressed itself first of all to the task of drafting a new national const.i.tution. A considerable number of members advocated the establishment of a republic; but for so radical an innovation there was clearly no general demand, and in the end the proposition was rejected by a vote of 214 to 71. June 1 a const.i.tution was adopted which, however, marked a large advance in the direction of liberalism.
It contained substantial guarantees of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, liberty of religion, and the right of pet.i.tion and of public a.s.sembly, and in unequivocal terms the sovereignty of the people was affirmed afresh. A Cortes of two houses was provided (p. 609) for, the members of the Senate to be chosen indirectly by the people through electoral colleges and the provincial a.s.semblies, those of the Congress to be elected by manhood suffrage, the only qualification for voting being the attainment of the age of twenty-five years and possession of ordinary civil rights.
Pending the selection of a sovereign, a regency was established under Marshal Serrano. Among the several dignitaries who were considered--Alfonso (son of the deposed Isabella) the Duke of Montpensier, Ferdinand of Savoy (brother of King Victor Emmanuel of Italy), King Luiz of Portugal, Ferdinand of Saxony, Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, and Prince Amadeo, duke of Aosta, second son of Victor Emmanuel--favor settled eventually upon the last named, who was elected November 19, 1870, by a vote of 191 to 120. At the end of 1870 the new sovereign arrived in Spain, and February 2, 1871, he took oath to uphold the recently established const.i.tution. From the outset, however, his position was one of extreme difficulty. He was opposed by those who desired a republic, by the Carlists, by the adherents of the former crown prince Alfonso, and by the clergy; and as a foreigner he was regarded with indifference, if not antipathy, by patriotic Spaniards generally. February 10, 1873, wearied by the turbulence in which he was engulfed, he resigned his powers into the hands of the Cortes, and by that body his abdication was forthwith accepted. It is a sufficient commentary upon the political character of the reign to observe that within the twenty-four months which it covered there were no fewer than six ministerial crises and three general elections.
*674. The Republic (1873-1875): Monarchy Restored.*--The breakdown of the elective monarchy, following thus closely the overthrow of absolutism, cleared the way for the triumph of the republicans. The monarchist parties, confronted suddenly by an unantic.i.p.ated situation, were able to agree upon no plan of action, and the upshot was that, by a vote of 258 to 32, the Cortes declared for a republic and decreed that the drafting of a republican const.i.tution should be undertaken by a specially elected convention. Although it was true, as Castelar a.s.serted, that the monarchy had perished from natural causes, that the republic was the inevitable product of existing circ.u.mstance, and that the transition from the one to the other was effected without bloodshed, it was apparent from the outset that republicanism had not, after all, struck root deeply. A const.i.tution was drawn up, but it was at no time really put into operation. The supporters of the new regime were far from agreed as to the kind of republic, federal or (p. 610) centralized, that should be established;[843] the republican leaders were mutually jealous and p.r.o.ne to profitless theorizing; the nation was lacking in the experience which is a prerequisite of self-government.[844] At home the republic was opposed by the monarchists of the various groups, by the clergy, and by the extreme particularists, and abroad it won the recognition of not one nation save the United States. The presidency of Figueras lasted four months; that of Pi y Margall, six weeks; that of Salmeron, a similar period; that of Castelar, about four months (September 7, 1873, to January 3, 1874). Castelar, however, was rather a dictator than a president, and so was his Conservative successor Serrano. By the beginning of 1874 it was admitted universally that the only escape from the anomalous situation in which the nation found itself lay in a restoration of the legitimist monarchy, in the person of Don Alfonso, son of Isabella II.
The collapse of the republic was as swift and as noiseless as had been its establishment. The princ.i.p.al agency in it was the army, which, in December, 1874, declared definitely for Alfonso, after he had pledged himself to a grant of amnesty and the maintenance of const.i.tutional government. December 31 a regency ministry under the presidency of Canovas was announced, and the new reign began with the landing of the young sovereign at Barcelona, January 10, 1875. Between the premature and ineffective republicanism of the past year, on the one hand, and the absolutism of a Carlist government, on the other, the const.i.tutional monarchy of Alfonso XII. seemed a logical, and to the ma.s.s of the Spanish people, an eminently satisfactory, compromise.[845]
[Footnote 843: Castelar favored a consolidated and radical republic; Serrano, a consolidated and conservative republic; Pi y Margall, a federal republic, on the pattern of the United States; Pavia, a republic which should be predominantly military.]
[Footnote 844: In this connection may be mentioned a remark of General Prim, one of the leading spirits in the provisional government of 1868. When asked why at that time he did not establish a republic his reply was: "It would have been a republic without republicans." There was no less a dearth of real republicans in 1873-1874.]
[Footnote 845: On the revolutionary and republican periods see Cambridge Modern History XI., Chap. 20 (bibliography, pp. 945-949); Lavisse et Rambaud, Histoire Generale, XII., Chap. 9; Hume, Modern Spain, Chap. 10; V. Cherbuliez, L"Espagne politique, 1868-1873 (Paris, 1874); W. Lauser, Geschichte Spaniens von dem Sturz Isabellas, 1868-1875 (Leipzig, 1877); E. H. Strobel, The Spanish Revolution, 1868-1875 (London, 1898); E.
Rodriguez Solis, Historia del partido republicano espanol (Madrid, 1893); Pi y Margall, Amadeo de Saboya (Madrid, 1884); H. R. Whitehouse, Amadeus, King of Spain (New York, 1897). A significant work is E. Castelar, Historia del movimiento republicano en Europa (Madrid, 1873-1874). Special works dealing with the restoration include A. Houghton, Les origines de la restauration des Bourbons en Espagne (Paris, 1890); Diez de Tejada, Historia de la restauracion (Madrid, 1879).]