The Coup d'état of Pavía (), or more simply Pavía's Coup, was a military

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

initiated by General Manuel Pavía y Rodríguez de Alburquerque on 3 January 1874, during

First Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), historiographically referred to as the First Spanish Republic (), was the political regime that existed in Spain from 11 February 1873 to 29 December 1874. The Republic's founding ensued after the abdication of King ...

. As a result, Spain transitioned from a democratic government to an authoritarian one.

Background

The Spanish Republic had been formed in February 1873 during the turbulent period of Spanish history known as the

Sexenio Democrático The ''Sexenio Revolucionario'' or ''Sexenio Democrático'' ("six revolutionary/democratic years") is a period of six years between 1868 and 1874 in the history of Spain. The ''Sexenio Democrático'' starts on 30 September 1868 with the overthro ...

. The Spanish parliament, the

Cortes Generales The (; ) are the Bicameralism, bicameral legislative chambers of Spain, consisting of the Congress of Deputies (the lower house) and the Senate of Spain, Senate (the upper house). The Congress of Deputies meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, ...

, had been fractured throughout 1873 and consensus between the moderates, centrists, and intransigents could not be reached. National unity was of particular concern to many members of Cortes as there were two simultaneous revolts in Spain: the conservative Carlist uprising in northern Spain and the socialist Cantonal rebellion in southern Spain.

Emilio Castelar Emilio Castelar y Ripoll (7 September 183225 May 1899) was a Spanish republican politician, and a president of the First Spanish Republic. Castelar was born in Cádiz. He was an eloquent orator and a writer. Appointed as Head of State in 1873 ...

, a political moderate, had been President of the Executive Power since 7 September 1873 and had suspended the Cortes on 20 September in order to take more effective control of the military. With worsening situations on both fronts, Castelar called for the Cortes to reconvene on 2 January 1874, in an effort to seek unlimited powers.

Coup

General Pavia, a supporter of President Castelar, positioned his troops across from the

Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies () is the lower house of the , Spain's legislative branch, the upper house being the Senate of Spain, Senate. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. Congress has ...

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

on 2 January in anticipation of the deputies reconvening. Shortly after midnight, in the early morning of 3 January, a

vote of confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fit ...

took place and Castelar's government lost with 100 votes of support against 120 votes opposed. A new vote was then held to elect a new President of the Executive and when it appeared that the radicals in the Cortes (the "intransigents") were preparing to elect the avowed republican , Pavia ordered his troops to surround the Cortes and request the session be dissolved. Former president

Nicolás Salmerón y Alonso Nicolás Salmerón Alonso (10 April 1838 – 21 September 1908) was a Spanish politician and president of the First Spanish Republic. Biography He was born at Alhama de Almería, Alhama la Seca in the province of Almería, was educated a ...

was presiding over the vote and remained in the Cortes with other deputies until Pavia's forces entered by force. At 6:55am on 3 January the deputies were vacated from the building without any casualties. Pavia offered the presidency to Castelar who refused due to the despotic nature of the morning's events. Instead, Pavia recruited former prime minister Francisco Serrano who had been in exile in France following a previous failed coup attempt in April 1873. Serrano was markedly anti-republican and did not support the Cortes during the first republic, and he officially dissolved the Cortes on 8 January 1874.

Aftermath

Pavia's coup on 3 January effectively marked the end of the Spanish Republic, although it would continue to exist in name until 29 December 1874 when the Bourbon monarchy was peacefully restored in Spain. In the intervening time, Serrano operated a ''de facto'' military dictatorship during which time opposition was suppressed.

References

{{reflist 1874 in Spain Military coups in Spain 1870s coups d'état and coup attempts