Ominous Decade
Encyclopedia
Spanish Constitution of 1812
The Spanish Constitution of 1812 was promulgated 19 March 1812 by the Cádiz Cortes, the national legislative assembly of Spain, while in refuge from the Peninsular War...
, on 1 October 1823, and his death on 29 September 1833.
Background
Ferdinand VII had become king after the victorious end of the Peninsular WarPeninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
, by which Spain was freed from the Napoleonic domination. He returned to Spain on 24 March 1814 and his first act was the abolition of the 1812 liberal constitution; this was followed by the dissolution of the two chambers of the Spanish Parliament on 10 May.
These were only the first moves towards a severe anti-liberal reaction, which caused a series of military riots, started in January 1820 by general Rafael del Riego
Rafael del Riego
Rafael del Riego y Nuñez was a Spanish general and liberal politician, who played a key role in the outbreak of the Liberal Triennium .-Early life and action in the Peninsular War:...
. The monarch was forced to reintroduce a constitution
Spanish Constitution of 1812
The Spanish Constitution of 1812 was promulgated 19 March 1812 by the Cádiz Cortes, the national legislative assembly of Spain, while in refuge from the Peninsular War...
, with a solemn oath that took place in Madrid on 10 March 1820. This begun the so-called Trienio Liberal ("Liberal Triennium", or Constitutional Triennium), during which Ferdinand had to witness to the fall of the main absolutist institutions and privileges, and the increasing shift towards radicalism of the Parliament's majority.
Ferdinand, however, had not abandoned his reactionary goals, and appealed to the Holy Alliance
Holy Alliance
The Holy Alliance was a coalition of Russia, Austria and Prussia created in 1815 at the behest of Czar Alexander I of Russia, signed by the three powers in Paris on September 26, 1815, in the Congress of Vienna after the defeat of Napoleon.Ostensibly it was to instill the Christian values of...
established at the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
in 1814, by which the main absolutist monarchies of Europe had agreed to help each other in case one of them had to suffer a democratic revolution. On 7 April 1823, France launched an expedition, by which a military corps, known as the One Hundred Sons of St. Louis and led by Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême, invaded the Spanish territory. Louis was welcomed on 24 May in Madrid, after the liberals had abandoned the city and took refuge in the commercial city of Cádiz, where Ferdinand was kept as prisoner.
Here the democratic Cortes
Cortes
Cortes is surname of Spanish and Portuguese origin. Cortes or Cortés may also refer to:-Institutions:* The Cortes , the national legislative assembly of Spain...
met to declare the king's deposition. The French troops besieged the city, until 31 August, when the Battle of Trocadero
Battle of Trocadero
The Battle of Trocadero, fought on 31 August 1823, was the only significant battle in the French invasion of Spain when French forces defeated the Spanish liberal forces and restored the absolute rule of King Ferdinand VII.-Prelude:...
marked the liberals' defeat and the capitulation of the city.
Reactionary restoration
After his restoration, Ferdinand VII started a period of his reign known as "Ominous Decade", due to its marked stress on the suppression of his enemies. Most of the members of the Liberal Party fled abroad, to London (where some received a money help by the British government for their role in the wars against Napoleon), Paris, Malta, the USA, or to newly proclaimed independent republics of South Americas, towards which the Spanish liberal government had held a far less hostile stance than Ferdinand VII. Others, instead, were ruthlessly eliminated, such as Del Riego, the main symbol of the revolution, who was hung on 7 November 1823 in the La Cebada Square of Madrid.A harsh censorships was re-established, while an archaic and totally reactionary organization of university was introduced under the strict control of the minister of Justice, Francisco Tadeo Calomarde, who was the mastermind of the suppression of opposition and of the restoration of medieval instutitions, such as the Jesuits, monasteries and others. The French corps remained in Spain, with the de facto role of a occupation force: however, its heavy cost of supply caused further damage to the Spanish treasure, which had been depleted under the liberal government, also due to the South American revolutions.
The discontent of the Spanish military was further spurred by the formation of the Voluntarios Realistas ("Royal Volunteers"), a militia created by Ferdinand VII in 1823, a few time after the collapse of the constitutional cabinet, in order to provide the king a direct mean of suppression against the liberal opposition. In 1826 the militia amounted to some 200,000 volunteers, half of which included in 486 infantry battalions, 20 artillery companies, 52 cavalry squadrons and some sappers companies.
Political instability
The decade saw an endless series of riots and attempts of revolutions, such as that of Torrijos, funded by English liberals, on 11 December 1831. Aside from the liberal side, Ferdinand's policies caused discontent also in the conservatory party: in 1827 a revolt broke out in CataloniaCatalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
, and later extended to Valencia
Valencian Community
The Valencian Community is an autonomous community of Spain located in central and south-eastern Iberian Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Valencia...
, Aragon
Aragon
Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...
, the Basque Country and Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
, spurred by ultra-reactionaries according to whom Ferdinand's restoration had been too timid, failing in particular to reinstate the Inquisition. In what was called the War of the Agraviados, some 30,000 men controlled most of Catalonia and some of the northern regions, and even established an autonomous government. Ferdinand intervened personally, moving to Tarragona
Tarragona
Tarragona is a city located in the south of Catalonia on the north-east of Spain, by the Mediterranean. It is the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the capital of the Catalan comarca Tarragonès. In the medieval and modern times it was the capital of the Vegueria of Tarragona...
to quench the revolt: he promised an amnisty, but once the rioters had surrendered he had their leaders executed and others exiled to France.
Further instability came when, on 31 March 1830, Ferdinand issued the Pragmatic Sanction
Pragmatic Sanction of 1830
The Pragmatic Sanction of 1830 , issued March 29, 1830 by King Ferdinand VII of Spain, ratified a Decree of 1789 by Charles IV of Spain, which had replaced the semi-Salic system established by Philip V of Spain with the mixed succession system that predated the Bourbon monarchy .When Philip V,...
, which had been approved by his father Charles IV
Charles IV of Spain
Charles IV was King of Spain from 14 December 1788 until his abdication on 19 March 1808.-Early life:...
as early as 1789, but not published till then. The decree allowed the succession to the Spanish throne also to female heirs, in case a male one was not available. Ferdinand would have only one child, a daughter, the future queen Isabella II
Isabella II of Spain
Isabella II was the only female monarch of Spain in modern times. She came to the throne as an infant, but her succession was disputed by the Carlists, who refused to recognise a female sovereign, leading to the Carlist Wars. After a troubled reign, she was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of...
, who was born in October 1830. The Sanction excluded from the succession Ferdinand's brother, Carlos, Count of Molina
Infante Carlos, Count of Molina
The Infante Carlos of Spain was the second surviving son of King Charles IV of Spain and of his wife, Maria Luisa of Parma. As Carlos V he was the first of the Carlist claimants to the throne of Spain...
.
Agony and death of Ferdinand
In his late years, Ferdinand fell severely ill, but would die only after a long agony. His young wife, Maria Christina of the Two SiciliesMaria Christina of the Two Sicilies
Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies was Queen consort of Spain and Regent of Spain .-Early years and first marriage:...
, took the regency. Since the other pretender, Don Carlos, was considered a champion of absolutism, Maria Christina decided to seek support from the liberal opposition.
Her policy worsened the acrimony amongst Carlos' supporters. At Ferdinand's death, in 1833, Carlos declared himself as the legitimate heir to the throne with the name of Charles V. This was the beginning of the First Carlist War
First Carlist War
The First Carlist War was a civil war in Spain from 1833-1839.-Historical background:At the beginning of the 18th century, Philip V, the first Bourbon king of Spain, promulgated the Salic Law, which declared illegal the inheritance of the Spanish crown by women...
.