UNIT 3. Foruak and Liberalism. THE Carlist WARS and THE Process TO Dismantle THE Traditional LAWS (1833-1876) PDF

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UNIT 3. FORUAK and LIBERALISM. THE CARLIST WARS and THE PROCESS TO DISMANTLE THE TRADITIONAL LAWS (1833-1876) INTRODUCTION The Constitution of 1812 gives rise to a new concept of the Spanish nation. It was difficult to maintain foralism with liberalism because the liberal regime is a system based on constitutional unity and the Constitution is a law of the State that establishes the concept of the Spanish nation and showed that individuals from all territories are equal to each other. This constitutional period in Cádiz lasted only until the return of Ferdinand VII (1814). With the failure of the Old Regime, a charter crisis began in the Basque Country. THE FIRST CHARLIST WAR (1833-1839) In 1833, liberalism was established in Spain. The period between 1833 and 1876 is marked by the inequalities of two liberal tendencies: moderate and progressive, and the beginning of two civil wars between liberals and followers of the Old Regime, which had special effects in the Basque Country. The wars began due to the elimination of the salic law that granted the right to the throne only to men, the suppression of said law granted Isabel, daughter of Ferdinand VII, access to the throne, which denied access to D. Carlos, Ferdinand VII's younger brother, the rise to the throne. This event ended up confronting urban liberalism with rural traditionalism. The power struggle between Spanish conservatism and a liberalism began. Mª Cristina, Isabel's mother, had to seek the support of the liberals to keep her on the throne. Carlism was supported mainly by the 3 Basque provinces, Navarra, Catalonia and the Maestrazgo area. The Basques supported D. Carlos for defending their traditional religious order against liberalism and maintaining his old laws and privileges known as fueros, which D. Carlos promised to restore and respect. The Carlist Wars contributed to an intensified sense of difference and opposition between the Basques and the rest of Spain. Carlism was supported mainly by the Church, whose power decreased and their properties were in danger under the liberal government. And it was also supported by artisans, peasants, small owners, who feared liberal changes. The motto of Carlism was God, King and Fatherland. Liberals or Isabellines were supported mainly by the bourgeoisie, the intellectuals, liberal professions, and some high nobility. Most of the Basque liberals were bourgeois. In fact, the economic and political system established under the foralist system did not coincide with the interests and intentions of the bourgeoisie. Therefore, the Basque bourgeoisie demanded to join the Spanish. Liberals had control of the peninsula. In the Basque Country, its strength was less than that of the Carlists, but some areas remained under its control: areas with rich agriculture, areas in favor of economic modernization and capitals. The first Carlist war would therefore be the cause of a conflict between the Old Regime and the new liberalism. The first Carlist war in the Basque Country was a civil war between the peasants (the rural world) and the bourgeoisie (the city). The first Carlist war lasted from 1833 to 1839. In the Basque country it was known as the seven-year War. The government lacked financial resources to fight the rebellion efficiently until minister Mendizabal managed to obtain foreign loans. The first phase (1833-1835): The war began after the death of Fernando VII (1833). By the following day, the Carlists had achieved firm control of the city. They received some of their greatest support in the rural and mountainous areas of Bilbao and in other parts of the Basque Country and Navarra. The insurgents found it very difficult to maintain the cities, and they abandoned Bilbao. The Carlists also gave up Logroño and Vitoria, which they had initially controlled. It started as a guerrilla war, but the

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Carlists managed to raise an adequate army thanks to General Zumalakarregui (a regular soldier who became a leader). They maintained important cities, such as Bilbao, but they failed to control them. Zumalakarregi died in the first siege of Bilbao (1835). Lizarra, a commercial city, was the largest city occupied by the Carlists. Due to the importance of Euskadi and Navarra for the cause of Carlos, a new theme was incorporated into the Carlist motto, and the defense of the fueros became one of the Carlist ideals. Mª Cristina received support from abroad in 1834 and this had a great impact on the final result. Spain, Portugal, Great Britain and France formed the Quadruple Alliance to oppose the Carlists. The second phase (1835-1837): Another objective was to spread the rebellion to other parts of Spain. This resulted in military expeditions to Madrid and other parts of the country with little success. Zumalakarregi's substitutes were not as good generals as he was. In December 1836, after the battle of Lutxana, the liberal general Espartero lifted the siege of Bilbao with the help of the English army. From 1836 the expedition of General Gómez was carried out. He traveled the entire peninsula but achieved nothing. Another expedition called the Royal Expedition was carried out. It was directed by Carlos himself. He reached the walls of Madrid in 1837. He had not been able to organize a military coup. This change in strategy failed. The Carlists, without international protection and without financial resources, were left with almost no chance of victory. The 3rd phase (1837-1839): The liberal army was desperate. Due to the fatigue caused by the conflict, people advised Queen Maria Cristina to accept the Basque charters. Carlism was also in crisis: the troops and civilians were very tired. All of this hastened the end of the war. There was an internal division among the Carlists: "Apostólikoak", who opposed the concessions in favor of liberalism, which placed first of all the right of Carlos to inherit. Transactionists "transakzionistak" (among whom was Maroto, a Carlist general), supporters of seeking a political solution through a conflict agreement. In 1839, the Liberals managed to send 100,000 men and 700 cannons to the northern front under the command of General Baldomero Espartero (many more men and arms than the Carlists had). This military superiority together with the fatigue and lack of resources on the Carlist side led to the end of the war. Maroto, commander-in-chief of the Carlist army, and Espartero, on behalf of the liberal side, signed the Treaty of Bergara (1839), which recognized Isabel as the legitimate queen, allowing the regular officers who had served D. Carlos to return to the army without loss of rank, safeguarding the salary and promotion of Carlist officers. Espartero signed the commitment to maintain the foruak to the extent that they were compatible with the constitution. This compromise was not well accepted by all. Many Carlisatas thought it was treason, and the war continued as a guerrilla in some parts, especially in Navarra. By 1840 the rebellion ended, but Carlism and war remained a myth in the countryside in the Basque Country and Navarra. THE INCORPORATION OF THE FORAL REGIME IN THE LIBERAL SYSTEM and THE “ FORUZALETASUNA” Constitutional liberalism was based on the equality of all territories and individuals and did not support any other special regime, such as the provincial system. The situation of the "Foruak" of the Territories of the Basque Country in the Iberian Peninsula became increasingly difficult until its total abolition. This happened in two moments: Reforms on the foruak (1839-1841): The moderates won the 1837 elections and remained in power until 1840.

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After the First Carlist War, a law (October 25, 1839) explained that changes had to be made in the "Foruak" to adjust them to the Constitution of 1837.Therefore, the Law represented a fundamental change in the history of the Foruaks and the Basque Territories. Two representatives from each Territory were appointed to prepare the new foral project but it was impossible to unite a solid plan. The representatives of the territories were “Fueristas-Foruzaleak”, among whom the strongest position was that of the representatives of Bizkaia, who argued that the foral regime should remain as it was. The measures taken by the Government were in line with the representatives of Navarra (who accepted some changes because they were progressist liberals) and those who did not want to accept the proposal of the Basque Provinces. The cutbacks of the foruak: Espartero’s regency (1840-1843) Under General Espartero a new decree (1841) for the three Basque Provinces was issued in punishment for a moderate uprising in the Basque cities (1840) against progressive rule. - General Juntas were abolished - Councils (Diputaciones Forales) where abolished - Civil Governors would be appointed to the Basque Provinces - Tolls were changed to the seaports - Tax exemption and exemption from conscription and civil law were maintained. A new law was issued for Navarre (Ley Paccionada, 16 aug 1841). Through this law: - Navarre stop being a kingdom and became a province. - The old Cortes of Navarre were suppressed. - Navarre lost its legislative power. - Tax exemption and exemption from compulsory military service was abolished. - Tolls were set up on the Pyrenees border with France. Navarre´s Civil law was kept and Navarre´s Provincial “Diputation” obtained a high degree of administrative and economic self-government. The Province could still raise taxes and administer them once fixed amount, quota, (kupoa) was paid to the central State. the progress of the foruak: isabella’s reign (1843-1868): Moderate Liberals in the government (Moderate Decade 1844-1854) and thanks to Pedro Egaña (politician liberal fuerista) restored the “Fueros” partially under a decree given by the Minister Jose Pidal. - “General Juntas” and “Diputaciones” were reinstalled, - some other foral powers were reinstalled, - tolls were kept at the border with France, - judicial system and “foru-baimena or pase foral” were not reinstalled. This arrangement suited Basque liberals (mainly bourgeoisie): having lost American colonies (markets) and unable to compete with modern English iron and textile industries, they preferred to have direct access to the protected Spanish home market and were satisfied with tax-exemption and economic selfgovernment. In exchange for keeping the charters (Foruak) the Basque landed gave their support to the moderate liberals. The protection moderate governments gave to the Church appeased the clergy, and together with exemption from taxes and conscription, the rural population remained peaceful.

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During this period, with regard to the foral system of the three provinces, although the government threatened to change the charter, the foral regime achieved greater development than ever before, mainly thanks to the powers of the “Foru Aldundiak or Diputaciones Forales”. THE LAST CARLIST WAR (1872-1876) and THE ABOLITION OF THE “FORUAK” (1876) The six democratic years (1868-1874) The Revolution of 1868 put an end to the reign of Isabella II. In the Democratic Six-Year Plan (1868-1874) the Progressive liberals, democrats, and the unionist government would launch a democratic revolution: Constitution of 1869: - Progressive: it will establish a democratic monarchy: The king is king, but he does not rule. - It supported freedom of worship, which aroused the anger of the Carlists. - It did not touch the foral regime. The secularism of the 1869 Constitution, and the fear of a social revolution and the fact that a progressive government would abolish the traditional order once again. Many Basque moderates shifted again to Carlism. In the 1869 elections to the Cortes, all Basque MPs were Carlist. The declaration of a Constitutional monarchy made it clear that Carlos VII had no chance. Amadeo´s democratic monarchy only lasted from 1871-1873 and failed because he had no support, and because the opposition was growing stronger. The first attempt to establish a federal republic in Spain failed as a result of the division of the Republicans, and the opposition of other forces. In 1874 the uprisings of Martinez Campos and other soldiers put an end to the republic, and Alfonso XII (son of Isabella II) was proclaimed king. The second Carlist war (1872-1876): The Basque Country was the territory where the war was mostly fought in. As was the case during the First Carlist War, the agricultural areas were predominantly Carlist and the most important settlements remained in favor of the Liberals. The actions of the Carlists were hardened by the establishment of the Republic. The causes of the 2nd carlist war (Basque Country) or 3rd Carlist war (rest of Spain) were: ▪ The establishment of a democratic revolution and a secular state, freedom of worship. The defense of Catholicism would give the Carlist movement the strength to easily win the election. ▪ The Carlists carried out propaganda in the press, as well as in the churches in the pulpits, and the majority of the population of the Basque Country considered liberalism a movement against Catholicism and foral regime. ▪ The Carlists, on the other hand, did not accept the reign of Amadeus of Savoy; nor the First Republic. ▪ 1854-1856 The civil confiscation of Madoz damaged the situation of Basque farmers by selling public lands without giving them the opportunity to buy them. ▪ They will start organizing military attacks based on the principles of God, Homeland, Charters and the King, and will launch a war for the re-establishment of the traditional monarchical regime The uprising started in 1872 in the Basque Country. It was defeated by the government troops and after the battle of Orio, the treaty of Zornotza (1872) established a brief truce signed by Serrano and the carlists, which was broken at the proclamation of the I Republic (Feb 1873). They failed to conquer the cities which remained loyal to the Republic. Bilbao was again besieged (dec. 1873), but it resisted until the Liberal General Concha freed the city from Carlists (2nd may, 1874).

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In 1875, the Liberals defeated the Carlists in Catalonia and Maestrazgo. The military conflict lasted until 1876; As Alfonso XII (son of Elizabeth II) became involved in politics. In 1876, with the fall of Lizarra in February, the Liberals won a final victory, and Charles VII had to flee to France. As a result of the military devastation of the Carlists, the new government of Canovas, during the Restoration, abolished the charters (1876) and restored the conservative and Catholic Bourbon monarchy (Alfonso XII). The abolition of the foral system (1876): The liberal army defeated the Carlists on 28th Feb 1876. This gave the government and the Cortes the opportunity to reduce Basque privileges and to assert the unity of the State. It was done against the wishes of all Basques. On July 21, 1876 the Cortes issued a law abolishing the Basque Charters for Bizkaia, Araba and Gipuzkoa: - Tax exemption was abolished, - Military service was introduced, - General Juntas and “Foru Aldundiak or Diputaciones Forales” were suppressed but the “Diputaciones Provinciales” were installed. - But at the same time, in its fifth article, the Law allowed the possibility of establishing an exceptional economic system in the Basque Country. The Law of 1876 (Abolition of the Foruak) did not mean full equality with other Spanish territories. The financial pacts or kontzertu ekonomikoak (1878): This system was defined by a Decree on the 28th, Feb. 1878, which has been in force to the present day. This financial Pact or “Kontzertu Ekonomikoa” recognized the following in the three Basque Provinces: - Tax autonomy: Each province´s “Diputazioa or Provintial Councils” has the right to set and collect taxes in the province. In exchange it has to pay a fixed yearly sum to the state which is known as the quota or “kupoa”. - Administrative autonomy: “Diputazioak” could negotiate with the Central Government, establish taxes and contributions, expropriate property, build roads, railroads and ports… With the abolition of traditional institutions, they lost the control and power the Old Regime granted them. Peasants, especially those who were not rich enough to pay off enrolment, were now subjected to conscription.

“Diputazioak” were no longer elected by General Juntas, but through the state general election system. During the Civil War (1936/39) and the Franco regime the financing pact was suppressed in Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, but not in Araba and Navarre, as they had been “loyal” to the “nationals”. The Economic Agreements were restored (1980) and approved by the Cortes.

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