Empire Rising: Spain

Chapter 11: Chapter 11: We Want Bread, Not a Republic

Seeing the Spanish Revolution rapidly spread towards Madrid like a raging fire, the notoriously scandalous Queen Isabella finally panicked.

Faced with the choice between resisting or fleeing, Queen Isabella did not hesitate for a moment. She hastily fled north to France with her family.

The Queen’s flight also accelerated the revolution in Spain, with the Revolutionary Army readily occupying Madrid and declaring the fall of the Kingdom of Spain.

On October 8, 1868, Francisco Serrano appointed himself as the President of the Provisional Government, with the highly esteemed Juan Prim in the Revolutionary Army taking on the role of Secretary of State for War. Spain officially entered a state of extreme chaos.

Whether this grand revolution is the savior of the Spanish people remains unknown, but the chaotic situation in Spain created opportunities for Cuba, far away in America, to strive for independence.

On October 10, the renowned Cuban plantation owner and prominent lawyer Sespedes Boha del Castillo led a group of Cuban patriots to initiate an uprising near Yara in the Oriente Province and issued the Grito de Yara, calling on all Cubans to fight for freedom, equality, and independence.

This was a heavy blow to the hastily established Spanish Provisional Government because Cuba was one of the few remaining lucrative colonies for Spain.

Cuba’s war for independence not only forced the Spanish Provisional Government to dispatch troops for suppression, but also imposed enormous military expenses on the fledgling government, which was already in severe financial difficulty.

But this was not the only problem faced by the Provisional Government. Although the revolution succeeded, the Provisional Government had yet to take control of the entire Spain.

Meanwhile, stabilizing the rule of the Provisional Government and establishing a system entirely different from the former autocratic monarchy of the Kingdom Government is currently the greatest challenge.

Moreover, the Provisional Government was not united, with various classes and forces being at odds with each other, making the chaos in the Provisional Government hardly better than that of the former Kingdom Government.

The revolution was initiated by the Spanish upper bourgeoisie and liberals. Their original intention was to overthrow the old autocratic monarchy and establish a democratic constitutional monarchy with centralized power in the national government.

However, the petite bourgeoisie, workers, and peasants of Spain had had enough of the monarchy and aristocratic oppression. They more eagerly pursued the establishment of a federal republic with decentralized but unified management, and supported the idea of replacing the King with a President to manage the entire Spain.

Carlo was also closely monitoring the situation in Spain. The good news was that Spain and Italy, separated only by France, allowed for quick transmission of news.

The last thing Carlo wished to hear was the Spanish Provisional Government’s decision to abolish the monarchy, thus severing Carlo’s connection to the Spanish throne completely.

Time moved to November 9, when the Spanish Provisional Government finally issued a decree to establish a parliament and announced that elections would take place next year, in February 1869.

Although the decree did not mention the future composition of the Spanish Government, everyone keeping an eye on Spain understood that the result of the parliamentary elections would determine Spain’s fate.

If the big capital and liberal reform factions secured a majority in the parliament, the new parliament would then have the authority to enact laws regarding a constitutional monarchy.

Similarly, should the working or peasant class secure a majority in parliament, the Spanish monarchy might vanish, and a republic could very likely emerge on the Spanish stage.

As of now, the situation in Spain seems to be developing according to historical trends with significant likelihood.

Prim, a supporter of constitutional monarchy, still held significant power in the Spanish Government and was likely to gain an advantage in the parliamentary elections a few months later.

Moreover, the timing of the parliamentary elections warrants contemplation. From the establishment of the Provisional Government to the parliamentary elections, it’s merely four months, and less than three months from the decree’s issuance to the elections.

These three months are hardly enough to change the attitudes of the Italian populace, nor significantly alter the influence of nobles and big capital in Spain.

Nevertheless, to make his plan more secure, Carlo decided to sway Spanish public opinion.

How would he sway them? By advocating for the monarchy, of course.

As for the harm caused to the Spanish people by the Bourbon Dynasty, it could all be attributed to the depraved rule of Queen Isabella.

Carlo had his reasons for advocating monarchy.

Currently, the world’s strongest navy undoubtedly belonged to the United Kingdom, which was a constitutional monarchy. The world’s strongest army should be France (under the legacy of Napoleon), and France also had a monarchy.

Among Europe’s old powers, Russia, the Austrian Empire, and the emerging Kingdom of Prussia were all monarchies. Even Italy, which had recently achieved unification and joined the ranks of the great powers, was a monarchy.

From a global perspective, the only major power that was not a monarchy was the United States, and at the time, it was not as formidable in the eyes of Europeans.

The rise of the United States would have to wait until after World War I and World War II, as it did not possess the overwhelming industrial and economic scale during this era.

If most European powers were monarchies, why would the Spaniards voluntarily abandon such an advanced system?

As for the past failures of monarchy, they were entirely the fault of the Bourbon family and Queen Isabella. Let them blame Queen Isabella.

Besides leaving a trace of trust in the monarchy within Spanish people’s hearts, Carlo also intended to incite aversion towards the Bourbon Dynasty and Queen Isabella among the Spaniards.

Only in this manner would the Spaniards be less resistant to a foreign dynasty, increasing Carlo’s chances of ascending to power in Spain.

As for the Bourbon family, Queen Isabella, and the renowned Alfonso XII, since they’ve drained Spain for decades, it’s about time they contributed something to the Spaniards.

Moreover, this did not count as defaming the Bourbon family. Queen Isabella’s rule in Spain was well-known for its depravity and abusive chaos.

If Spanish people lose trust in the Bourbon Dynasty, the long-standing rebellion by the Carlos Faction could also be appropriately resolved.

After all, the Carlos Faction belonged to the Bourbon family, and they did contribute to Spain’s chaos to some extent.

On November 27, 1868, Italy’s prominent Sun Newspaper published an article titled “We Want Bread, Not a Republic,” which quickly spread through Northern and Southern Italy.

The main topic of this article was the current advancement of monarchies and the success of various European monarchies, asserting that monarchy is the most reasonable choice for European countries and that republicanism is an aberrant evolution for Europe.

Regardless of the article’s validity, for the monarchies in Europe at the time, such an article was certainly better than none.

Publishing such an article in a newspaper was surely preferable to publishing those promoting republicanism and liberal democracy, as at least it would not incite dissatisfaction with the monarch’s throne.

In the absence of opposition from various countries, this report also began to spread in the Mediterranean region, particularly around Italy.