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Chapter I, Part IV
Chapter I, Part IV: The Provisional Government and the Constituent Assembly
The Provisional Government was presided by General Serrano and represented, in equal parts, by Unionists and Progressives. Unionists Juan Bautista Topeta, Juan Álvarez Lorenzana, Antonio Romero Ortiz and Adelardo López de Ayala from the Liberal Union took the Ministries of the Navy, Foreign Affairs, Justice and Overseas, respectively, while Progressives Juan Prim, Práxedes Mateo Sagasta, Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla and Laureano Figuerola were chosen as Ministers of War, Home Affairs, Public Works and Treasury.
The Provisional Government. From left to right: Figuerola, Ruiz Zorrilla, Sagasta, Prim, Serrano, Topete, López de Ayala, Romero Ortiz y Lorenzana.
The election of the Provisional Government was met with the first frictions in the coalition, as the Democrats, who were suffering an internal division between the Francisco Pi y Margall's Republicans and Cristino Martos' Monarchists, had been left out of the government, despite having been on the coalition for far more time than the Unionists.
Cristino Martos and Francisco Pi y Margall, leaders of the monarchist and republican factions of the Democrat Party
This, fortunately, did not cause many problems save for a few complaints which were easily handled by the government, especially considering the trove of problems they had to get through: their first actions were aimed at the concession of the promises given to the people, especially those concerning public and political rights. The government also published a manifest to announce the many political reforms they had already established, as well the first economic reforms, impulsed by Minister Figuerola, that would finally allow the Spanish economy to recover from the many disasters of the past.
The local elections to select the mayors that would replace the Revolutionary Juntas would be held in December, while January 1869 would have the long-awaited national election to the Constituent Assembly. During the months between the establishment of the Provisional Government and the national election, the former approved several decrees that would be temporary replacements for the law on certain important matters, and would be legal until the Constitution was finally approved. Thus, the freedom of press, right to assemble and associate, freedom of religion and academic freedom were legislated and confirmed, while the the institution of the jury was recognized, and male universal suffrage was finally granted.
The previous problems within the Democrat Party became exacerbated when the Provisional Government chose the Constitutional Monarchy as the form of government, citing the little success republics had had in Europe, as well as the distrust a Spanish Republic would awake in the rest of Europe: the Republican faction, with Pi y Margall at the helm decided to break up with the Democrats and form their own party, the Partido Republicano, which supported a United States-like federal republic, a move also supported by some of the Revolutionary Juntas and, later, by the local governments where the Republicans had won the local elections, showing that the federalism from the pre-Bourbons' times was not dead, and their anti-militarist and anti-clerical discourse was finding many adepts and supporters.
Unfortunately for those that disliked it, the first main problem the government was forced to concentrate was the Cuban insurrection. Cuba and Puerto Rico, which for years had been treated almost as personal fiefdoms by General Captains that had almost absolute power and that were still held under the yoke of a slave-based economy, had been on the brink of exploding, which happened around the same time La Gloriosa started. The rebellion in Puerto Rico, which started five days before the Battle of Alcolea, had been easily put down by local forces, and although the rebels were condemned to death, the new governor, José Laureano Sanz, dictated a general amnesty for the rebels, some of which were nonetheless exiled.
The Cuban rebellion, which was started by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes on October 10th with the so-called Grito de Yara, was not as easy to put down due to the fact that the rebels would soon initiate a brutal guerrilla war, whose main scenario were bloody machete charges by former slaves that were liberated by the rebels, that would engulf the whole island, thanks to local support for the guerrillas. Many factors came into play, among them Spain's almost brutal economic exploitation of the island, the lack of support for the local economy, the Cuban people's complete lack of political rights and freedoms, and the existence of a society tacitly approved by the Isabeline governments consisting on a class division based on racial prejudices and the existence of slavery. In spite of the rebels' inability to take control of any great city, and the arrival of new Captain General Domingo Dulce with the new measures approved by the Provisional Government, the rebels did not surrender.
Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, initiator of the Grito de Yara and first President of Revolutionary Cuba
Considering the situation as very alarming, the Provisional Government was forced to do what they did not want and initiate a conscription program to form an army with which the rebels could be defeated. This played into the hands of the Republicans, who supported the establishment of a Spanish federal nation where Cuba would be one state, and the popular classes started to feel a certain letdown, and considered that Cuba would become La Gloriosa's cancer if something was not done soon.
Spanish volunteers embarking to travel to Cuba
All these problems did not mean that political life stopped: on January 15th, the Spaniards were called to the urns, so that they could vote in the Constituent Assembly. 70% of the electoral census, for the first time formed by all Spanish males, chose their representatives to the Assembly, which was formed by the following:
The opening of the Spanish Constituent Courts on February 11th 1869
After the results were made public, and desiring a continuation with respect of the Provisional Government, Serrano maintained the Presidency of Government with the support of War Minister Juan Prim and the same composition as the Provisional Government, and a Constitutional Commission was formed, consisting on equal numbers of Progressive, Unionist and Democrat politicians and legislators, whose task would be to develop a new Constitution for the Kingdom of Spain.
The Provisional Government was presided by General Serrano and represented, in equal parts, by Unionists and Progressives. Unionists Juan Bautista Topeta, Juan Álvarez Lorenzana, Antonio Romero Ortiz and Adelardo López de Ayala from the Liberal Union took the Ministries of the Navy, Foreign Affairs, Justice and Overseas, respectively, while Progressives Juan Prim, Práxedes Mateo Sagasta, Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla and Laureano Figuerola were chosen as Ministers of War, Home Affairs, Public Works and Treasury.
The Provisional Government. From left to right: Figuerola, Ruiz Zorrilla, Sagasta, Prim, Serrano, Topete, López de Ayala, Romero Ortiz y Lorenzana.
The election of the Provisional Government was met with the first frictions in the coalition, as the Democrats, who were suffering an internal division between the Francisco Pi y Margall's Republicans and Cristino Martos' Monarchists, had been left out of the government, despite having been on the coalition for far more time than the Unionists.
Cristino Martos and Francisco Pi y Margall, leaders of the monarchist and republican factions of the Democrat Party
This, fortunately, did not cause many problems save for a few complaints which were easily handled by the government, especially considering the trove of problems they had to get through: their first actions were aimed at the concession of the promises given to the people, especially those concerning public and political rights. The government also published a manifest to announce the many political reforms they had already established, as well the first economic reforms, impulsed by Minister Figuerola, that would finally allow the Spanish economy to recover from the many disasters of the past.
The local elections to select the mayors that would replace the Revolutionary Juntas would be held in December, while January 1869 would have the long-awaited national election to the Constituent Assembly. During the months between the establishment of the Provisional Government and the national election, the former approved several decrees that would be temporary replacements for the law on certain important matters, and would be legal until the Constitution was finally approved. Thus, the freedom of press, right to assemble and associate, freedom of religion and academic freedom were legislated and confirmed, while the the institution of the jury was recognized, and male universal suffrage was finally granted.
The previous problems within the Democrat Party became exacerbated when the Provisional Government chose the Constitutional Monarchy as the form of government, citing the little success republics had had in Europe, as well as the distrust a Spanish Republic would awake in the rest of Europe: the Republican faction, with Pi y Margall at the helm decided to break up with the Democrats and form their own party, the Partido Republicano, which supported a United States-like federal republic, a move also supported by some of the Revolutionary Juntas and, later, by the local governments where the Republicans had won the local elections, showing that the federalism from the pre-Bourbons' times was not dead, and their anti-militarist and anti-clerical discourse was finding many adepts and supporters.
Unfortunately for those that disliked it, the first main problem the government was forced to concentrate was the Cuban insurrection. Cuba and Puerto Rico, which for years had been treated almost as personal fiefdoms by General Captains that had almost absolute power and that were still held under the yoke of a slave-based economy, had been on the brink of exploding, which happened around the same time La Gloriosa started. The rebellion in Puerto Rico, which started five days before the Battle of Alcolea, had been easily put down by local forces, and although the rebels were condemned to death, the new governor, José Laureano Sanz, dictated a general amnesty for the rebels, some of which were nonetheless exiled.
The Cuban rebellion, which was started by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes on October 10th with the so-called Grito de Yara, was not as easy to put down due to the fact that the rebels would soon initiate a brutal guerrilla war, whose main scenario were bloody machete charges by former slaves that were liberated by the rebels, that would engulf the whole island, thanks to local support for the guerrillas. Many factors came into play, among them Spain's almost brutal economic exploitation of the island, the lack of support for the local economy, the Cuban people's complete lack of political rights and freedoms, and the existence of a society tacitly approved by the Isabeline governments consisting on a class division based on racial prejudices and the existence of slavery. In spite of the rebels' inability to take control of any great city, and the arrival of new Captain General Domingo Dulce with the new measures approved by the Provisional Government, the rebels did not surrender.
Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, initiator of the Grito de Yara and first President of Revolutionary Cuba
Considering the situation as very alarming, the Provisional Government was forced to do what they did not want and initiate a conscription program to form an army with which the rebels could be defeated. This played into the hands of the Republicans, who supported the establishment of a Spanish federal nation where Cuba would be one state, and the popular classes started to feel a certain letdown, and considered that Cuba would become La Gloriosa's cancer if something was not done soon.
Spanish volunteers embarking to travel to Cuba
All these problems did not mean that political life stopped: on January 15th, the Spaniards were called to the urns, so that they could vote in the Constituent Assembly. 70% of the electoral census, for the first time formed by all Spanish males, chose their representatives to the Assembly, which was formed by the following:
- Government Coalition: 236 Deputies
- Partido Progresista: 134 Deputies
- Unión Liberal: 69 Deputies
- Partido Demócrata: 33 Deputies
- Republican Party: 85 Deputies
- Federalist faction: 83 Deputies
- Centralist faction: 2 Deputies
- Carlist Party: 20 Deputies
- Isabeline independents: 11 Deputies
- Non-elected: 29 Deputies
- Cuban representatives: 18 Deputies
- Puerto Rican representatives: 11 Deputies
The opening of the Spanish Constituent Courts on February 11th 1869
After the results were made public, and desiring a continuation with respect of the Provisional Government, Serrano maintained the Presidency of Government with the support of War Minister Juan Prim and the same composition as the Provisional Government, and a Constitutional Commission was formed, consisting on equal numbers of Progressive, Unionist and Democrat politicians and legislators, whose task would be to develop a new Constitution for the Kingdom of Spain.
- Milarqui
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