The reign of Alfonso XII (1874-1885) marked the beginning of a new era, based upon the acceptance of pseudo-democracy under constitutional forms, and accompanied by a growing tendency toward internal peace. Minor outbreaks in Spain, now of Carlists, now of Republicans, continued to require military attention down to 1886, but no such disorder as had so long been the rule again prevailed. A new constitution was promulgated in 1876 which had the effect of conciliating the clergy, since it provided for state support of the church, although that institution did not receive all it had been promised; indeed, it protested bitterly against the grant of toleration to other faiths. The constitution of 1876, which with some modifications is still operative, was patterned after that of 1845, with the addition of certain of the more recent reforms. Some of its provisions were the following: the Cortes was to be composed of two houses, respectively the senate and the congress; the senate was to contain eighty members in their own right, such as princes of the royal family, grandees, presidents of the great councils, archbishops, and captain-generals, one hundred more by royal appointment, and one hundred and eighty elected for a term of five years by municipal and provincial assemblies, universities, and taxpayers of the highest class; congress was to be made up of 431 deputies, representing districts of 50,000 people each, chosen by an electorate which was limited by the imposition of a property qualification,—changed in 1889 by the restoration of universal manhood suffrage; legislative power was vested in the Cortes with the king; the king was made irresponsible, but his decrees had to be countersigned by a responsible minister; and the jury system was abolished,—although it was restored early in the next reign. The net result was a centralized monarchy in the control of the conservative elements. Many principles of the Liberal program, taken especially from the constitution of 1869 when Prim was in power, have since been added. The death of the king, who had ruined his health as the result of excesses which recalled the scandals of his mother’s reign, seemed likely to raise fresh difficulties at the close of the year 1885. The queen was then pregnant, and it was not until 1886 that her son, the present Alfonso XIII, was born. The ex-queen, Isabella II, attempted to intervene, but only succeeded in strengthening the position of the queen-mother, María Cristina of Austria, who ruled henceforth as regent until Alfonso attained his majority in 1902.
Charles E. CHAPMAN, A History of Spain, 1918.
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