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This reign was mostly peaceful and prosperous.
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This established a constitutional comarchy, with Alfonso XII as the chief. -
Due to the posthumously born of Alfonso XIII, Maria Christina of Austria (Alfonso XIII's mother), acted as a regent until he came of age.
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Under the regency, the goverment was entrusted to two political parties:
- The Liberals, led by Sagasta.
- The Conservatives, led by Cánovas.
They alternated goverment by means of process know as turnismo. This was achieved by electoral fraud controlled by caciques. The oligarchy created by the turnismo system excluded all other political parties and many other groups. This led to growing resentment in many sectors and a rise in anarchism in the Andalusian countryside and among Catalan workers. -
Late 19th century, Spain was no longer a great imperial power. The few colonies it retained were restive. During this time US had developed the expansionist policy.
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After 2 wars, and a mysterious ship explosion (which allowed US to lend military support). Spain lost Cuba in a humiliating defeat and Cuba became an American protectorate. -
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In 1902, Alfonso XIII reached his majority. During this reign, Spain made some economic progress, but the political regime was incapable of effectively handling many of the serious issues affecting the country.
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There was a political and intellectual movement wich sought to modernise political, social and economic life. Early governments under Alfonso XIII attempted to reform the system (with little success):
- Conservatives. The governments of Francisco Silvela and Antonio Maura tried to implement timid reforms to control abuses exercised by local governments.
- Liberals. The government headed by José Canalejas tryied to limit the influence of the Catholic Church, and decentralisate the state. -
Great Britain and France offered Spain the control over the Rif, a region of northern Morroco. -
Barcelona was filled with barricades in protest against the mandatory military service: the wealthy families could pay to avoid serving, while ordinary people had to fight.
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The conservative leader Eduardo Dato, face a crisis in 3 interrelated areas:
- Military. Soldiers demand reforms and the modernisation of the army.
- Political. The goverment did not want to call the cortes. The opposition of Cataluña called a meeting to assume their powers.
- Social. Foreign demand resulting from Spain's WWI neutrality causes prices to rise. The trade union called a revolutionary strike, which was hardly suppresed. -
Resistance from population led to the Rif War. In 1921, an ambush cost the lives of thousands of soldiers.
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With the king's approval, he stablished a military dictatorship.
