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Cantabria PAU History of Spain study materials
Cantabria PAU History of Spain study resources

Cantabria PAU History of Spain: Crisis of the Old Regime and Liberal Revolution: from 1808 to the Restoration

Cantabria PAU History of Spain · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

All guide sections

Crisis of the Old Regime and Liberal Revolution: from 1808 to the Restoration

This independent module develops the stated Spanish-history theme through chronology, concepts and source analysis. Regional examples provide comparisons within Spanish history; they do not define the Basque examination syllabus, prescribed documents, question format or marking criteria. Use the substantive material to distinguish causes, consequences, continuity and change.

War of Independence and Cádiz

  • The French invasion of 1808 provoked the Madrid rising of 2 May, the abdications of Bayonne and the creation of juntas. The war combined regular operations, the siege of cities and guerrilla warfare.
  • The Cortes of Cádiz, elected during the war, approved the Constitution of 1812: national sovereignty, constitutional monarchy, indirect male suffrage, equality before the law and abolition of seigneurial jurisdiction.
  • Ferdinand VII abolished the Constitution in 1814; the Liberal Triennium (1820–1823) restored it after Riego’s pronunciamiento but ended with French intervention.

Isabella II and the liberal state

  • After Ferdinand’s death (1833), the Carlist wars pitted supporters of Carlos against Isabella and the liberals. The regencies of María Cristina and Espartero saw the construction of a centralised liberal state.
  • The desamortización of Mendizábal (1836) sold church lands; the Constitution of 1837 and the more conservative Constitution of 1845 defined the moderate liberal order. Carlism, the army and the parties disputed power.

Democratic Sexennium and Restoration

  • The Glorious Revolution of 1868 overthrew Isabella II; the Constitution of 1869 established universal male suffrage and a constitutional monarchy. Amadeo of Savoy abdicated and the First Republic (1873–1874) faced cantonal revolt, including in Valencia, and war.
  • The Restoration (1874) restored the Bourbons under Alfonso XII and created the Canovist party system.

Worked example

Article 1 of the Constitution of 1812 states that the Spanish nation is the union of all Spaniards of both hemispheres. Classify it as a constitutional text. Explain its principles: national sovereignty, unity of the nation and inclusion of overseas territories. Then assess its significance: it challenged absolutism and colonial hierarchy, although it excluded women and many dependent people. The answer must connect the article to the Cortes of Cádiz and to the liberal revolution.

Traps that cost marks

  • Confusing the Constitution of 1812 with later constitutions.
  • Confusing indirect male suffrage and its historical eligibility exclusions with direct universal adult suffrage; identify who could participate and how elections proceeded.
  • Mixing up Mendizábal’s desamortización (1836) with Madoz’s (1855).
  • Treating the First Republic as stable; it faced cantonalism and war.
  • Forgetting that the Restoration began in 1874, before the 1876 Constitution.