Prologue, Part I - The Kingdom with no King.
What the fuck?! Finding a democratic king in Europe is more difficult than finding an Atheist in Heaven!
Juan Prim, the veteran rebellious General and spirit of the Revolution of 1868 was getting nervous in his office when he remembered that his secretary was transcribing his declarations. Immediately, Prim ordered him to erase the first of the two last sentences.
The search for a new king was being more difficult than expected. When the whole country rebelled in 1868, tired of the grotesque rule of the capricious Queen Isabella II, the people agreed only in that they didn’t want Isabella anymore. A coalition government of almost all tendencies was formed, and soon its members began the discussions about the nature of the future regiment. Some bourgeois, mostly in Catalonia, wanted a Republic, but the rest considered that idea ridiculous. Through negotiations and debates, all parts agreed to support the establishment of a constitutional Monarchy modelled on the British example, in which the universal (male) suffrage would freely decide the next government independently of the personal tastes of whoever seized the Crown. Everybody remembered how in the last part of the reign of Isabella, the almost only requisite to achieved the Presidency [1] was to conquer the Queen’s bed in the first place. Something that Paquita (as was widely known the Consort Prince Francisco de Asís) never opposed, probably because he was more interested in young boys than in whatever was his wife “discussing” with her generals.
For the first time in Spanish History, every man over the age of 25 was allowed to vote in the General Elections of 1869, thing that the 70% did. The Progresist Party won 159 seats of the Parliament, the Democrats 20, the Unionists 69, the Republican Federalists 69, the Unitarians 2, the old fashioned Carlists 18 and the Moderate Liberals (most of them former Isabellists) 14. The results proved the general support to Prim’s plans, who was the head of the Progresists. General Francisco Serrano, the President of the transitional government since the <<Glorious Revolution>> and considered by some as the real father of Isabella’ son Alfonso, ceded his seat to Juan Prim. In 6 June, 1869, the new government approved a new liberal constitution heavily modelled on the 1812 one; like the historic accord written while the bombs of Napoleon where falling over Cádiz, the new Constitution of 1869 recognized the equality of all Spanish subjects, the National Sovereignty through the Cortes, the division between the Executive, Legislative and Judicial powers, the freedom of speech, press, reunion and association, the right of suffrage to all men over the age of 25, the inviolability of personal property and postal affairs, and (most revolutionarily) the freedom of education and religion. Despite the demands of the most liberal segments, however, the new Constitution wasn’t fully laic as Catholicism was declared the traditional religion of the State. As for the form of government, the Constitutional Monarchy was ratified. The last element in the gear was to find a new king, someone who accepted the democratic form of the Government and, as the conservative elements demanded, was of Catholic faith. Meanwhile, Serrano would be the official Regent of the Kingdom of Spain.
However, as Prim lamented, this was being more difficult than initially expected. All the possible candidates were being rejected one by one.
[1] The head of the Spanish government was known then as Presidente del Consejo de Ministros (President of the Ministers Council), though in English-speaking countries its figure would most likely be called Prime Minister.
What the fuck?! Finding a democratic king in Europe is more difficult than finding an Atheist in Heaven!
Juan Prim, the veteran rebellious General and spirit of the Revolution of 1868 was getting nervous in his office when he remembered that his secretary was transcribing his declarations. Immediately, Prim ordered him to erase the first of the two last sentences.
The search for a new king was being more difficult than expected. When the whole country rebelled in 1868, tired of the grotesque rule of the capricious Queen Isabella II, the people agreed only in that they didn’t want Isabella anymore. A coalition government of almost all tendencies was formed, and soon its members began the discussions about the nature of the future regiment. Some bourgeois, mostly in Catalonia, wanted a Republic, but the rest considered that idea ridiculous. Through negotiations and debates, all parts agreed to support the establishment of a constitutional Monarchy modelled on the British example, in which the universal (male) suffrage would freely decide the next government independently of the personal tastes of whoever seized the Crown. Everybody remembered how in the last part of the reign of Isabella, the almost only requisite to achieved the Presidency [1] was to conquer the Queen’s bed in the first place. Something that Paquita (as was widely known the Consort Prince Francisco de Asís) never opposed, probably because he was more interested in young boys than in whatever was his wife “discussing” with her generals.
For the first time in Spanish History, every man over the age of 25 was allowed to vote in the General Elections of 1869, thing that the 70% did. The Progresist Party won 159 seats of the Parliament, the Democrats 20, the Unionists 69, the Republican Federalists 69, the Unitarians 2, the old fashioned Carlists 18 and the Moderate Liberals (most of them former Isabellists) 14. The results proved the general support to Prim’s plans, who was the head of the Progresists. General Francisco Serrano, the President of the transitional government since the <<Glorious Revolution>> and considered by some as the real father of Isabella’ son Alfonso, ceded his seat to Juan Prim. In 6 June, 1869, the new government approved a new liberal constitution heavily modelled on the 1812 one; like the historic accord written while the bombs of Napoleon where falling over Cádiz, the new Constitution of 1869 recognized the equality of all Spanish subjects, the National Sovereignty through the Cortes, the division between the Executive, Legislative and Judicial powers, the freedom of speech, press, reunion and association, the right of suffrage to all men over the age of 25, the inviolability of personal property and postal affairs, and (most revolutionarily) the freedom of education and religion. Despite the demands of the most liberal segments, however, the new Constitution wasn’t fully laic as Catholicism was declared the traditional religion of the State. As for the form of government, the Constitutional Monarchy was ratified. The last element in the gear was to find a new king, someone who accepted the democratic form of the Government and, as the conservative elements demanded, was of Catholic faith. Meanwhile, Serrano would be the official Regent of the Kingdom of Spain.
However, as Prim lamented, this was being more difficult than initially expected. All the possible candidates were being rejected one by one.
[1] The head of the Spanish government was known then as Presidente del Consejo de Ministros (President of the Ministers Council), though in English-speaking countries its figure would most likely be called Prime Minister.
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