Isabel II was exiled to France. With no monarch, another Constitution was signed in 1869. General Prim looked for a new monarch: Amadeo I de Saboya (from Italy). It was a very instable period (Cuban revolution, rebellions in the Basque and Catalonian region…). He returned to Italy in 1873, after General Prim was assassinated. First Republic In 1873 Spain became a republic (a form of government with no monarch). The instability continued, with four different presidents in one year. In 1874 General Manuel Pavia mounted a coup d’état that led to the end of the republic. Restoration General Martínez Campos restored the monarchy: Alfonso XII became in 1875 the new king of Spain as a constitutional monarch (Constitution of 1876). There were two political parties (Liberals and Conservatives) taking turns to hold power (turno pacífico). There were electoral frauds. It was a stable time of economic prosperity and modernisation. Alfonso XII died very early. His wife María Cristina ruled as regent until their son, Alfonso XIII was sixteen. During the regency Spain lost the last colonies in 1898 and there were heavy defeats in Morocco. Dictatorship Primo de Rivera organised a coup, and became a dictator in 1923. Alfonso XIII supported him. The new leader wasn’t very good and Spain went bankrupt. In 1930 the army stopped supporting him and Alfonso XIII forced him to resign. Second Republic People didn’t trust Alfonso XIII anymore and the republicans won the elections in 1931. The second republic was declared according to the Constitution of 1931: freedom of speech, vote to women, legal divorce, no special legal status of nobility, limited powers of the church. In consequence, many groups opposed to it. The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) Spain was divided into two sides: the Republicans (supporters of the republic) and the Nationalists (supporters of General Franco). In July 1936, General Francisco Franco led a military takeover of the Republic and the Civil War began. It ended in April 1939 with a Nationalist victory. Franco’s dictatorship General Franco established a dictatorship which lasted until his death in 1975:
General Franco declared Spain a monarchy and chose Alfonso XIII’s grandson as successor (Juan Carlos I). The transition to democracy began in 1975, when General Franco died. Juan Carlos I, with Adolfo Suárez as Prime Minister, began a political reform: release of political prisoners, the right to strike and form unions, a new electoral law... In 1978 the Spanish Constitution was approved by the parliament and then by the people in a referendum. |
AuthorTeacher Belén Archives
June 2018
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