First Carlist War Background The Contenders The War

In the beginning of the XVIII century, the King Philip V of Spain promulgated the Salic Law, thus declaring illegal the inheritance of the Spanish crown by women. The idea was to avoid the Habsburgs recover the throne by female dynastic line.

A century later, the King Ferdinand VII of Spain had a great problem: he didn't have male descendancy, he only had two daughters, Isabella (later known as Isabella II of Spain) and Louise Ferdinand (grandmother of the later king Alfonso XIII of Spain). So he promulgated the Pragmática Sanción, to allow their oldest daughter, Isabella, to become Queen after his death. But there was a trouble: Carlos María Isidro de Borbón y Parma, the king's brother. He would receive the crown without the Pragmatic so he and his followers (e.g., minister Calomarde ) pressed Ferdinand to change his mind. But the ill Ferdinand kept his decision and when he died, 29th September 1833, Isabella was the legitimated queen... but she only was a child, and somebody had to assume the regency: his Mother, María Cristina de Nápoles .

This could be just another story of family fights; but in the beginning of the XIX century, the political situation in Spain was very problematic. During the independence war against Napoleon, the Courts of Spain met in Cádiz (1812) and elaborated the first Spanish constitution , probably the most modern and most liberal one in the world. After the war, when Ferdinand VII returned to Spain, decided not to accept that and in the Manifest of Valencia, he annulled the constitution. Ferdinand VII became then an absolute king, governing by decrees and restoring the Spanish Inquisition, abolished by Napoleon's brother.

Ending his life, Ferdinand made some concessions to liberals that gave them hopes of a liberal rule. But there was a strong absolutist party that didn't want to lose its position. Their members knew that María Cristina and Isabella would make liberal reforms, so they looked for a candidate to the throne: and their natural election, with the background of the Salic Law, was Carlos María Isidro.

On the other hand, there was a continous movement to try to suppress the Basque Fueros and to move the customs borders to the PyreneesFor other meanings see: Pyrenees, Victoria and Montes Pyrenaeus. The Pyrenees ( Spanish Pirineos French Pyrenees Catalan Pirineus Basque Aunamendi are a range of mountains in southwest Europe that form a natural border between France and Spain. They separ. Since the XVIII a new emergent class had interest to weaken the powerful Basque nobles and their influence and comerce, including that extended for all the world with the help of the Jesuit order. Also Biscay was successfully divided giving its own sea port to CastileA former kingdom of Spain, Castile comprises the two regions of Old Castile in north-western Spain, and New Castile in the centre of the country. Previously an eastern county of the kingdom of Leon, Castile in the 11th century became an independent realm through the newly created SantanderFrancisco de Paula Santander was an important South American independentist, Vicepresident of the Republic of Greater Colombia, and President of the Republic of New Granada. Santander, Spain is a city in Spain. Santander, Colombia is a department of Colom province, splitted from Biscay, and there were made considerable efforts to bring the commerce from BilbaoGeography > Europe > Spain > Basque Country > Biscay Guggenheim Museum on the bottom right Bilbao ( Basque: Bilbo is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Pais Vasco and the capital of the province of Vizcaya (Basque: Bizkaia . A major seaport to Santander.

The newly appointed Spanish powerful courtiers supported any exterior superpower nations against the Basques at least since the Jesuit order abolition and the Godoy regime. First they sided with the French Bourbon to suppress the Jesuits, with the formidable changes in America and the subsequent loose of influence of Spain. Then Godoy sided with the English against the Basques in the Convention War and inmediately with the French of Napoleon also against the Basques. Obviously the English interest was in destroying as long as possible the Spanish comerce rutes and power that was mainly sustained by the Basque ports, comercial navy and companies ( Compañía Guipuzcoana de Caracas ). The Spaniards only did but help in such a destruction effort, bringing the Spanish empire to a total annihilation.

2 The Contenders

The church, a privileged class, was as ambiguous as ever, but many priests fought for Carlos.

The people of the Basque Provinces and NavarreComunidad Foral de Navarra / Nafarroa ko Foru Komunitatea Capital Pamplona Official languages Castilian; Basque co-official in some areas Area total % of Spain Ranked 11th 10 391 km² 2,2% Population Total (2003) % of Spain Density Ranked 15th 569 628 1,4% elected the side of Carlos because the traditionalism and the historical respect to the Catholic Church; ideologically, Carlos was clearly near them. There have been many authors that believed that the carlist cause in the Basque Country was a foralist cause. But it probably is an interested version with the clear intention of creating indices of a Basque nationalism before the Arana brothers (an inspired and quite neutral version in "The Basque Nationalism", by Stanley G. Payne ). Of course, the people though a traditionalist rule would respect better the ancient Foral institutions, and surely they were right. But the main reason of the massive mobilisation of the Basque Provinces and Navarre for the Carlist cause must be searched in the great influence of the Basque clergy in the society. Salvador de Madariaga, in his book "Memories of a Federalist" (Buenos Aires, 1967), accused the Basque clergy to be "the heart, the brain and the root of the intolerance and the tough line" of the Spanish Catholic Church; there are also another social and economical causes that have not been properly studied. In fact, there are more narrative books about Carlist War in Basque Provinces than historical works. This means a "romantic" vision of the Basque people fighting for their rights against the foreign rule of Castile. For example, this article by Karl Marx ( New York Daily Tribune , 1854): "The carlism is not a simple retrograde and dynastic movement that any well-paid and liar liberal historians tried to explain us. It's an spontaneous and popular movement in defence of traditions more liberals and regionalists than the absorbent official liberalism... The carlist traditionalism owns an authentically popular and national base formed by peasants, little land owners and the low clergy".

Meanwhile, in Catalonia and Aragón, the people saw the chance of recovering their foral rights, that were lost after Spanish Succession War when Philip V defeated their armies that fought for Archduke Karl of Austria, the other candidate to the throne after the death of Charles II of Spain. It is quite ironic that the Catalans went to war to defend the Salic Law, promulgated by a King that they still hate.

In the other side, the liberals and moderates united to defend the "new order" represented by María Cristina and her daughter, Isabella. They controlled the institutions, almost the whole army and the cities; the Carlist movement was stronger in the country. They had the important support of United Kingdom, France and Portugal, support that was shown in the important credits to Cristina's treasure and the military help from British (British Legion, General Lacy Evans) ( Westminster Legion ) and Portuguese (a part of the regular army, General Baron Das Antas). The Liberals had force enough to win the war in two months, but an inefficient government and the dispersion of the Carlist forces gave time Carlos to consolidate his forces and resist almost seven years in the northern and eastern provinces.

3 The War

The war was long and hard, and the carlist forces achieved important victories in the north under the direction of a genial general called Tomás de Zumalacárregui. Opposing his advises, Carlos V decided to conquer a Bilbao defended by the British navy. With such an important city at his hands, the Prusian or Russian Zarist banks would give him credits to win the war: one of the most important problems of Carlos was the lack of funds. And in the siege of Bilbao, Zumalacárregui was wounded in the leg by a lost bullet. The wound was not important, but it wasn't correctly healed and finally General Zumalacárregui lost his life on 25th June 1835. Any historians think it was a very strange death, and remind that the general had too many enemies in the Carlist court but nothing has been proved about that.

In the European theatre all superpowers backed the Isabeline army as many British observers wrote in their repports.

Meanwhile, in the east, carlist general Ramón Cabrera had the iniciative in the war, but his forces were too few to achieve a decissive victory over liberal forces. [1] {stub}

4 The End of the War

After the death of Zumalacárregui, the liberals slowly recovered the initiative but were not able to win the war until 1839. The war ended with the "Abrazo de Vergara" (the embrace in Vergara), 31st August 1839, between the liberal general Baldomero Espartero and the carlist General Rafael Maroto. Any authors have written that General Maroto was a betrayer that forced Carlos to accept the peace, but it is clear that the carlists were too tired and the liberal government too consolidated to continue with the war. In the east, General Cabrera kept on fighting but he was alone and finally had to flee to France. Though, Cabrera was considerated a hero and returned for the Third Carlist War .

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Home > First Carlist War

1 Background

2 The Contenders

3 The War

4 The End of the War

Topics: First Carlist War, Background, The Contenders, The War...