Editing Spain (section)

=== Liberalism and nation state ===
{{Main|Contemporary history of Spain|Mid-19th-century Spain|Spanish American wars of independence|Spanish–American War|Anarchism in Spain|Second Spanish Republic}}
[[File:Jura Constitución Fernando VII (cropped).jpg|thumb|Ferdinand VII swears on the 1812 Constitution before the Cortes in 1820.]]
In 1793, Spain went to war against the revolutionary new [[First French Republic|French Republic]] as a member of [[War of the First Coalition|the first Coalition]]. The subsequent [[War of the Pyrenees]] polarised the country in a reaction against the [[Francization|gallicised]] elites and following defeat in the field, peace was made with France in 1795 at the [[Peace of Basel]] in which Spain lost control over two-thirds of the island of [[Hispaniola]]. In 1807, a secret treaty between [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon]] and the unpopular prime minister led to a new declaration of war against Britain and Portugal. French troops entered the country to invade Portugal but instead occupied Spain's major fortresses. The Spanish king abdicated and a puppet kingdom satellite to the French Empire was installed with [[Joseph Bonaparte]] as king.

The [[Dos de Mayo Uprising|2 May 1808 revolt]] was one of many uprisings across the country against the French occupation.<ref>David A. Bell. "[https://archive.today/20120922013528/http://www.historynet.com/wars_conflicts/napoleonic_wars/6361907.html?page=2&c=y Napoleon's Total War]". TheHistoryNet.com</ref> These revolts marked the beginning of a devastating [[Peninsular War|war of independence]] against the Napoleonic regime.<ref>(Gates 2001, p. 20.)</ref> Further military action by Spanish armies, [[guerrilla]] warfare and an Anglo-Portuguese allied army, combined with [[Napoleon's Invasion of Russia|Napoleon's failure on the Russian front]], led to the retreat of French imperial armies from the Iberian Peninsula in 1814, and the return of [[Ferdinand VII of Spain|King Ferdinand VII]].<ref>(Gates 2001, p. 467.)</ref>

During the war, in 1810, a revolutionary body, the [[Cortes of Cádiz]], was assembled to coordinate the effort against the Bonapartist regime and to prepare a constitution.<ref>{{cite book|author= Alvar Ezquerra, Jaime|title=Diccionario de historia de España|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l4JQIkW1yrsC&pg=PA209|year=2001|publisher=[[Ediciones Akal]]|isbn=978-84-7090-366-3|page=209}} Cortes of Cádiz (1812) was the first parliament of Spain with sovereign power</ref> It met as one body, and its members represented the entire Spanish empire.<ref>{{cite book|title=Independence of Spanish America|last=Rodríguez|publisher=Cambridge University Press|url=https://www.google.es/search?tbm=bks&hl=es&q=%22It+met+as+one+body%2C+and+its+members+represented+the+entire+Spanish+world%22&btnG=|quote=It met as one body, and its members represented the entire Spanish world|access-date=20 June 2013|archive-date=10 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200310230600/https://www.google.es/search?tbm=bks&hl=es&q=%22It+met+as+one+body%2C+and+its+members+represented+the+entire+Spanish+world%22&btnG=|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1812, a [[Spanish Constitution of 1812|constitution]] for universal representation under a constitutional monarchy was declared, but after the fall of the Bonapartist regime, the Spanish king dismissed the Cortes Generales, set on ruling as an [[Absolute monarchy|absolute monarch]].
[[File:Baldomero Espartero.jpg|thumb|General and statesman [[Baldomero Espartero]], a key political figure in the 19th century]]
The French occupation of mainland Spain created an opportunity for overseas [[Criollo people|''criollo'']] elites who resented the privilege towards [[Peninsulars|Peninsular elites]] and demanded [[retroversion of the sovereignty to the people]]. Starting in 1809 the American colonies began a series of revolutions and declared independence, leading to the [[Spanish American wars of independence]] that put an end to the metropole's grip over the [[Spanish Main]]. [[Reconquista (Spanish America)|Attempts to re-assert control]] proved futile with opposition not only in the colonies but also in the Iberian peninsula and army revolts followed. By the end of 1826, the only American colonies Spain held were [[Captaincy General of Cuba|Cuba]] and [[Captaincy General of Puerto Rico|Puerto Rico]]. The Napoleonic War left Spain economically ruined, deeply divided and politically unstable. In the 1830s and 1840s, [[Carlism]] (a reactionary legitimist movement supportive of an alternative Bourbon branch), fought against the government forces supportive of Queen [[Isabella II of Spain|Isabella II]]'s dynastic rights in the [[Carlist Wars]]. Government forces prevailed, but the conflict between [[Progressive Party (Spain)|''progressives'']] and ''[[Moderate Party (Spain)|moderates]]'' ended in a weak early constitutional period. The 1868 [[Glorious Revolution (Spain)|Glorious Revolution]] was followed by the 1868–1874 progressive ''[[Sexenio Democrático]]'' (including the short-lived [[First Spanish Republic]]), which yielded to a stable monarchic period, the [[Restoration (Spain)|Restoration]] (1875–1931).<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eX7cXu4N2AUC&pg=PA33|page=33|title=Elecciones y cultura política en España e Italia (1890–1923)|editor-first=Rosa Ana|editor-last=Gutiérrez|editor-first2=Rafael|editor-last2=Zurita|editor-first3=Renato|editor-last3=Camurri|publisher=[[University of Valencia|Universitat de València]]|location=Valencia|year=2003|isbn=84-370-5672-1|chapter=Caciquismo y mundo rural durante la Restauración|first=Salvador|last=Cruz Artacho|access-date=13 September 2020|archive-date=12 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230912033420/https://books.google.com/books?id=eX7cXu4N2AUC&pg=PA33|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Episodio de la revolución de 1854 en la Puerta del Sol (cropped).JPG|thumb|right|[[Spanish Revolution of 1854]] in [[Puerta del Sol]], Madrid. [[Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies]] fled to exile and [[Baldomero Espartero]] became regent.]]

In the late 19th century nationalist movements arose in the Philippines and Cuba. In 1895 and 1896 the [[Cuban War of Independence]] and the [[Philippine Revolution]] broke out and eventually<!--For whatever reasons; it is not for here to go into long explanations!--> the United States became involved. The [[Spanish–American War]] was fought from April to August 1898 and resulted in Spain losing the last of its once vast colonial empire outside of North Africa. ''El Desastre'' (the Disaster), as the war became known in Spain, gave added impetus to the [[Generation of '98]]. Although the period around the turn of the century was one of increasing prosperity, the 20th century brought little social peace. Spain played a minor part in the [[scramble for Africa]]. It remained neutral [[Spain during World War I|during World War I]]. The heavy losses suffered by the colonial troops in conflicts in northern Morocco against Riffians forces brought discredit to the government and undermined the monarchy.

Industrialisation, the development of railways and incipient capitalism developed in several areas of the country, particularly in [[Barcelona]], as well as [[labour movement]] and socialist and anarchist ideas. The [[1870 Barcelona Workers' Congress]] and the [[1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition]] are good examples of this. In 1879, the [[Spanish Socialist Workers' Party]] was founded. A trade union linked to this party, [[Unión General de Trabajadores]], was founded in 1888. In the anarcho-syndicalist trend of the labour movement in Spain, [[Confederación Nacional del Trabajo]] was founded in 1910 and [[Federación Anarquista Ibérica]] in 1927.

Catalanism and Vasquism, alongside other nationalisms and regionalisms in Spain, arose in that period: the [[Basque Nationalist Party]] formed in 1895 and [[Regionalist League of Catalonia]] in 1901.

Political corruption and repression weakened the democratic system of the constitutional monarchy of a two-parties system.<ref>{{cite book|title=Oligarquía y caciquismo, Colectivismo agrario y otros escritos: (Antología)|last=Costa|first=Joaquín|author-link=Joaquín Costa}}</ref> The July 1909 [[Tragic Week (Spain)|Tragic Week]] events and repression exemplified the social instability of the time.

The [[La Canadiense strike]] in 1919 led to the first law limiting the working day to eight hours.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Revolutionary Left in Spain, 1914–1923|last=Meaker|first=Gerald H.|date=1974|publisher=[[Stanford University Press]]|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=RM6rAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA158 159] ff|isbn=0-8047-0845-2}}</ref>
[[File:01 eibar.jpg|thumb|Women voting in [[Éibar]] in 1933, after [[women's suffrage]] was approved. Deputy [[Clara Campoamor]] was a key figure for the right to be granted.]]

After a period of Crown-supported dictatorship from 1923 to 1931, the first elections since 1923, largely understood as a plebiscite on Monarchy, took place: the [[1931 Spanish local elections|12 April 1931 municipal elections]]. These gave a resounding victory to the Republican-Socialist candidacies in large cities and provincial capitals, with a majority of monarchist councilors in rural areas. The king left the country and the proclamation of the Republic on 14 April ensued, with the formation of a provisional government.

A [[Spanish Constitution of 1931|constitution]] for the country was passed in October 1931 following the [[1931 Spanish general election|June 1931 Constituent general election]], and a series of cabinets presided by [[Manuel Azaña]] supported by republican parties and the [[Spanish Socialist Workers' Party|PSOE]] followed. In the election held in 1933 the right triumphed and in 1936, the left. During the [[Second Spanish Republic|Second Republic]] there was a great political and social upheaval, marked by a sharp radicalisation of the left and the right. Instances of political violence during this period included the burning of churches, the [[Sanjurjada|1932 failed coup d'état led by José Sanjurjo]], the [[Revolution of 1934]] and numerous attacks against rival political leaders. On the other hand, it is also during the Second Republic when important reforms to modernise the country were initiated: a democratic constitution, agrarian reform, restructuring of the army, political decentralisation and [[Women's suffrage|women's right to vote]].