PROGRESSIVE BIENNIUM: BACKGROUND, DEVELOPMENT AND REFORMS - HISTORY - 2024

The progressive biennium (1854 to 1856) corresponds to the Spanish political stage in which the Progressive Party displaced the Moderate Party from power. The latter represented the right wing of the liberals and had dominated the political scene since 1843. In that biennium, a new Constitution was approved, but never came into force.

Prior to this period, public opinion was convinced that members of the Moderate Party had failed in their goal of changing and modernizing the nation. Meanwhile, in the rest of Europe the establishment of capitalism was taking place. However, Spain still had an economy unable to compete with its peers.

Antonio María Esquivel (1806–1857)

Then, taking advantage of the wear and tear of the moderate government, the progressive general Baldomero Espartero (1793-1879) proposed to Queen Isabel II the convocation of new Constituent Courts. In addition, to neutralize the pressure of the conservatives, a majority in the Senate, he suggested that it be made up only by the Congress of Deputies.

In this way, during the progressive biennium there were changes that had the objective of transforming the legal framework to adapt the country to the parameters required by world capitalism. In this context, the revolution that began in 1854 did not have a popular social character, but served a strictly political need.

However, political instability was strongly felt from the beginning of this stage, even within progressivism. On September 2, 1856, a Royal decree closed the Constituent Cortes. Another Royal decree reinstated the Constitution of 1845. This marked the end of the progressive biennium and the moderates returned to power in October 1856.

Background

The progressive biennium was preceded by a military pronouncement that occurred at the end of June 1854, which was known as Vicalvarada or Revolution of 1854. It was led by General Leopoldo O'Donnell, a Spanish nobleman and military man of moderate convictions.

On July 7 of that same year, O'Donnell signed The Manzanares Manifesto, a text that explains the inspiring motives for the revolt. Among others, this document argued the need for a representative regime and the need for a reduction in taxes.

Likewise, he requested respect for seniority in both civil and military jobs and the decentralization of the provinces. In the end, what began as a seemingly conservative military coup soon evolved into a liberal movement that quickly gained support among progressive groups.

Then, Queen Elizabeth II was forced to call on the progressive general Baldomero Fernández Espartero to join a new cabinet. O'Donnell himself was also incorporated as Minister of War. Later, the Constituent Courts were convened to discuss new laws. In this way, the progressive biennium began.

Development

The new government

Leopoldo_O'Donnell

The new government, represented in the cabinet led by Espartero and O'Donnell, began sessions on July 19, 1854. This cabinet was made up of a coalition of moderate and progressive liberals. From the very beginning of the progressive biennium, the instability of the newly installed regime was evident.

On the one hand, the biennium was governed by two military leaders. On the other hand, the rest of the cabinet members belonged to the wing of pure progressives and compromising moderates.

However, the domain was in the hands of the former, who arranged for nearly two hundred laws to be discussed. All of them were highly liberal in character.

Despite its character, supporters of the 1854 revolution did not welcome some of the measures taken by the cabinet. One of them was the creation of provincial boards that did not have the capacity to make decisions. The other was the strong repression exerted against workers who demonstrated demanding wage increases.

Motivated by the disappointments of his sympathizers, the progressive Espartero-O'Donnell biennium turned conflictive among the working mass. His former followers began days of strikes and protests demanding the promised changes. A policy of repression began then, but the new government could never avert this conflict.

Debate of the new Constitution by the Constituent Courts

The convocation of the Constituent Cortes was one of the issues in which the new government was efficient. After its installation, discussions began for a constitution that would replace the old one of 1845. The debates began immediately and were very intense.

The most critical issues were religious, especially the prohibition of persecution for religious beliefs. Other issues were also sources of contention: free education, national sovereignty outside the Spanish crown, and individual rights.

According to the archives of the time, the coexistence between moderates and progressives was difficult during the entire period of the biennium. This caused constant changes in the government that resulted in social unrest. In 1856, taking advantage of this situation, O'Donnell removed Espartero from power and returned to proclaim the Constitution of 1845.

The 1856 Constitution was never promulgated and never came into force. However, many of the aspects covered in it were the basis for the subsequent Constitution of 1869.

The general strike in Catalonia of 1855

The first general strike in the history of Catalonia and the entire history of the Iberian Peninsula occurred in 1855. It was called by more than 100,000 workers from the main industrial centers of the country during the period of the progressive biennium. Under the slogan "Associació o mort" (association or death), they took to the streets to demand reforms.

Among those requested reforms were the right to free association, increase in wages and reduction of working hours. The workers were immersed in a crisis that the government had been unable to resolve. There were even many cases of child labor exploitation.

This strike was unleashed at a time when a discredited Spanish state was trying, through the appointment of the cabinet of the progressive biennium, to regain control. And the conflict in society was the same that arose between the members of the government cabinet.

Faced with this picture of social unrest, the government responded with violence. In May 1955, the captain general of Catalonia, Juan Zapatero Navas, ordered the arrest of labor leaders and the outlawing of their organizations. He also occupied the large industrial centers and ordered mass arrests. This hastened the end of the progressive biennium.

Reforms carried out during the progressive biennium

Pascual Madoz General Confiscation Law

Pascual Madoz

On February 5, 1855, the minister of finance of the progressive biennium Pascual Madoz Ibáñez (1806-1870) presented his draft Law of Confiscation to the Cortes. For Madoz, this law was synonymous with progress and constituted a key piece in the social, political and economic take-off of the country.

In this sense, the primary purpose of this law was to facilitate and regulate the sale of state assets. These sales would make it possible to obtain extraordinary income to repay the public debt securities (real vouchers) that the State issued to finance itself.

Similarly, it sought to increase national wealth and create a bourgeoisie and a middle class of peasants who at the same time owned the plots they cultivated. In addition, it sought to create capitalist conditions (privatization and a strong financial system) so that the state could collect more and better taxes.

The law was approved on May 1, 1855. It was not the first confiscation applied, but it was the one that achieved the highest volume of sales. This law was definitively repealed in 1924.

Drafting a new constitution

The Constituent Courts convened by Queen Elizabeth II began the development of a new constitution more progressive than the one in force at that time (Constitution of 1845). The new constitution was finally voted on and approved in 1856.

Although it was never promulgated, it included the most important progressive aspirations. Among them were national sovereignty, limitation of the powers of the Crown and Senate of popular election. It also included the democratic election of mayors and religious tolerance.

Gathered on November 8, 1854, the Constituent Courts carried out intense legislative work. Its progressive character represented for the moderates a disturbing element of the security of the monarchical state.

Of all the proposals of the project, religious tolerance was the one that raised immediate protests from the Spanish bishops and the severance of relations between the Cortes and the Vatican. The pressures of the ecclesiastical hierarchy began to crystallize in political groups that were dedicated to hindering the promulgation of the new constitution.

Railways Act of 1855

The Railways Law was promulgated on June 3, 1855 as part of the group of measures that were adopted to promote the economic modernization of the country. In it, great benefits were given to those who invested in the construction of railways, since this was the essential means in the industrialization process.

In the end, this law benefited foreign investors, especially France and England, more than Spanish investors. His interest in railway development was to have an adequate transport network so that his goods could easily penetrate the Spanish market. In turn, they boosted their economies by boosting their iron and steel sectors.

This law lasted beyond the duration of the progressive biennium. By the time of its promulgation, it came to unify a series of disjointed norms previously dictated. Throughout its articles, it dealt with the definition of the types of railways, the width of the tracks, types of concessions and use of public funds, among other topics.

Subsequently, some regulations supplemented it, among them the Royal Decree of 1856 that established the rate model. Similarly, the Royal Order of 1859 regulated state subsidies for concessionary companies. Also, the 1860 regulation allowed quotations on foreign exchanges of railway titles.

References

1. Congress of Deputies. (s / f). Progressive Biennium (1854-1856). Taken from congreso.es.
2. Cantos, V. (2016, January 29). Manzanares Manifesto. Taken from auladehistoria.org.
3. Morelos, A. (February 2018). Progressive Biennium. Taken from espana.leyderecho.org.
4. Montagut, E. (2016, December 05). The Constitution 'non nata' of 1856. Taken from nuevatribuna.es.
5. Pons, M. (2018, July 08). 1855: «Associació o mort», the first general strike in the history of Catalonia. Taken from elnacional.cat.
6. 20th century history. (s / f). From the Progressive Biennium to the "Glorious Revolution" (1854-1868). Taken from historiaiglo20.org.
7. Saíz, MD (s / f). Public opinion and confiscation. The general law of Confiscation of Madoz of May 1, 1855. Taken from mapama.gob.es.
8. Costa, MT (1983). The external financing of Spanish capitalism in the 19th century. Barcelona: Edicions Universitat Barcelona.