Alfonso XII and María Cristina regency (1874-1902)

In 1870 Isabella II abdicated in favour of her son, Alfonso who was crowned Alfonso XII in 1874. 6 of 17 UNIT 8 Spain in the 19th Century Antonio Cánovas del Castillo was named Prime Minister. A system of turnos was established in which the liberals, led by Mateo Sagasta, and the conservatives, led by Cánovas del Castillo alternated in control of the government. The new Constitution (1876) tried to conciliate moderates' and progressives' ideas. The state was confessional and power was shared between Cortes and the king. The election system was very corrupt: first the king decided the political party that was going to govern. Then there were “adapted” elections for that party to win. • In the country the “caciques” forced the peasants to vote the most convenient party into office. That´s called “caciquismo”. • In cities electoral fraud was very common and it was known as “pucherazo”.

In 1895, a new pro-independence movement started in Cuba. The conflict continued until 1898 when the USA declared war on Spain after the warship Maine was sunk in La Habana harbour.

After the defeat, Spain lost the colonies of Cuba, the Philippines and Puerto Rico. This was knownas the 1898 disaster. It had a lot of consequences, like frustration and sadness, among politicians and intellectuals.

Another consequence was the “Rexeneracionismo”, an intellectual movement that proposed to carry out reforms in order to solve the problems of Spain and to end the caciquismo and corruption.