The Liberal Union () was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in the third quarter of the 19th century. It was founded by

Leopoldo O'Donnell Leopoldo O'Donnell y Jorris, 1st Duke of Tetuán, GE (12 January 1809 – 5 November 1867), was a Spanish general and Grandee who was Prime Minister of Spain on several occasions. Early life He was born at Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Cana ...

in 1858 with the intent of forging a compromise and taking a centrist position between the two forces that had hitherto dominated Spanish politics during the reign of

Isabella II Isabella II (, María Isabel Luisa de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias; 10 October 1830 – 9 April 1904) was Queen of Spain from 1833 until her deposition in 1868. She is the only queen regnant in the history of unified Spain. Isabella wa ...

. On one side were the forces of

conservative liberalism Conservative liberalism, also referred to as right-liberalism, is a variant of liberalism combining liberal values and policies with conservative stances, or simply representing the right wing of the liberal movement. In the case of modern con ...

known as the ''doceañistas'', arrayed around the

Moderate Party The Moderate Party ( , , M), commonly referred to as the Moderates ( ), is a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative* * * * * List of political parties in Sweden, political party in Sweden. The party generally supports tax cuts, the free ma ...

. Among their leading figures were the

queen mother A queen mother is a former queen, often a queen dowager, who is the mother of the monarch, reigning monarch. The term has been used in English since the early 1560s. It arises in hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarchies in Europe and is also ...

Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies (, ; 27 April 1806 – 22 August 1878) was the queen consort of Spain, Queen of Spain from 1829 to 1833 and Queen regent of the kingdom from 1833, when her daughter became queen at age two, to 1840. By virtue ...

and General

Ramón María Narváez Ramón María Narváez y Campos, 1st Duke of Valencia (5 August 180023 April 1868) was a Spanish general and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Spain, Prime Minister on several occasions during the Reign of Isabella II of Spain, reign of ...

. On the other were radical liberal ''exaltados'' or ''veinteañistas'' arrayed around the Progressive Party and the National Militia. Among their leading figures was General

Baldomero Espartero Baldomero Fernández-Espartero y Álvarez de Toro (27 February 17938 January 1879) was a Spanish marshal and statesman. He served as the Regent of the Realm, three times as Prime Minister and briefly as President of the Congress of Deputies ...

. Both parties had fought on the same side in the

Carlist Wars The Carlist Wars (, ) were a series of civil wars that took place in Spain during the 19th century. The contenders fought over claims to the throne, although some political differences also existed. Several times during the period from 1833 to 1 ...

, but they had also at times fought against one another, and elements of the Moderate Party leaned toward absolute monarchy themselves. O'Donnell's intent was to bring together the non-absolutist Moderates and the less "exalted" (radical) Progressives and to occupy the political center. He first came forward with this program in September 1854 a few months after the end of the 10-year reign of the Moderates, but did not succeed in forming a party at that time. The Liberal Union was more of a pragmatic party than an

ideological An ideology is a set of beliefs or values attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely about belief in certain knowledge, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones". Form ...

one. They wished to preserve the

Spanish monarchy The monarchy of Spain or Spanish monarchy () is the constitutional form of government of Spain. It consists of a hereditary monarch who reigns as the head of state, being the highest office of the country. The Spanish monarchy is constitu ...

but to oppose absolutism; to reform

public administration Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...

and favor

centralized government A centralized government (also united government) is one in which both executive and legislative power is concentrated centrally at the higher level as opposed to it being more distributed at various lower level governments. In a national conte ...

; to offer a certain degree of a

multi-party system In political science, a multi-party system is a political system where more than two meaningfully-distinct political parties regularly run for office and win elections. Multi-party systems tend to be more common in countries using proportional ...

, with room for both Moderates and Progressives; and to have a policy of strong public investment. They also intended to reform the law of the press, but this never came to fruition. After the elections to the

Cortes Cortes, Cortés, Cortês, Corts, or Cortès may refer to: People * Cortes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), a Spanish conquistador Places * Cortes, Navarre, a village in the South border of ...

20 September 1858, the Liberal Union had a majority of seats; it maintained power continuously until the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...

of 1868 ushered in 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 Liberal Union centered on O'Donnell and the iron hand of his Minister of Governance, José Posada Herrera. Other prominent figures were Francisco Serrano Domínguez, Juan Manuel de Manzanedo,

Juan Prim Juan Prim y Prats, 1st Count of Reus, 1st Marquis of los Castillejos, 1st Viscount of Bruch (; ; 6 December 1814 – 30 December 1870) was a Spanish general and statesman who was briefly Prime Minister of Spain until his assassination. Bio ...

Manuel Silvela Manuel Silvela y Le Vielleuze KStJ (9 March 1830, in Paris, Kingdom of France – 25 May 1892, in Madrid, Kingdom of Spain) was a Spanish politician, lawyer, writer and journalist who held several importante governmental offices, such as Ministe ...

, and

Antonio Cánovas del Castillo Antonio Cánovas del Castillo (8 February 18288 August 1897) was a Spanish people, Spanish politician and historian known principally for serving six terms as Spanish Prime Minister, prime minister and his overarching role as "architect" of the ...

. These people, like the party's supporters in general, came from a broad, though largely elite, set of backgrounds: nobles, lawyers, entrepreneurs, merchants, bankers, military officers and government functionaries. To influence public opinion, the Liberal Union had several newspapers: '' La Época'', '' El Diario Español'' and '' La Correspondencia de España''.

Notes

References

* Martínez Gallego, Francesc. ''Conservar progresando: la Unión Liberal (1856-1868)''. Valencia, 2001. . {{Authority control Liberal parties in Spain Political parties established in 1858 1874 disestablishments in Spain Defunct political parties in Spain 1858 establishments in Spain Political parties disestablished in 1874

See also

Notes

References