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:''Main article: Carlism''
The 'First Carlist War' was a civil war in Spain from 1833 to 1839.

Contents

Historical background

Basque reasons for Carlist uprising

The contenders

The war in the Northern Front

The end of the war

External links

Historical background

At the beginning of the 18th century, King Philip V of Spain promulgated the Salic Law, which declared illegal the inheritance of the Spanish crown by women. His purpose was to thwart the Habsburgs' regaining the throne by way of the female dynastic line.
A century later, King Ferdinand VII of Spain had no male descendant, but only two daughters, Isabella (later known as Isabella II of Spain) and Luisa Fernanda). So he promulgated the ''Pragmática Sanción'', to allow Isabella to become Queen after his death.

The Infante Carlos, the king's brother, would have normally become king without the ''Pragmatic''. He and his followers, such as Secretary of Justice Francisco Tadeo Calomarde) pressed Ferdinand to change his mind. But the ill Ferdinand kept his decision and when he died, 29th September 1833, Isabella became the legitimate queen. As she was only a child, a regent was needed: her mother, Queen Consort María Cristina.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the political situation in Spain was extremely problematic. During the war of independence against Napoleon, the Cortes met in Cádiz (1812) and elaborated the first Spanish constitution, possibly the most modern and most liberal in the world. After the war, when Ferdinand VII returned to Spain, he annulled the constitution in the Manifest of Valencia, and thus became an absolute king, governing by decrees and restoring the Spanish Inquisition, abolished by Joseph Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon.
Towards the end of his life, Ferdinand made some concessions to the liberals, giving them hopes of a liberal rule. But there was a strong absolutist party which did not want to lose its position. Its members knew that María Cristina and Isabella would make liberal reforms, so they looked for another candidate for the throne; and their natural choice, with the background of the Salic Law, was Ferdinand's brother Carlos.

Basque reasons for Carlist uprising

Meanwhile, there was a continued movement to suppress the Basque Fueros and to move the customs borders to the Pyrenees. Since the 1700s a new emergent class had an interest in weakening the powerful Basque nobles and their influence and commerce, including that extending throughout the world with the help of the Jesuit order.
The newly appointed Spanish courtiers supported some of the great powers against the Basques at least since the abolition of the Jesuit order and the Godoy regime. First they sided with the French Bourbons to suppress the Jesuits, with the formidable changes in America and the subsequent loss of Spanish influence. Then Godoy sided with the English against the Basques in the Convention War of 1793 and immediately afterwards with the French of Napoleon also against the Basques. The English interest was to destroy, for as long as possible, Spanish commercial routes and power, which was mainly sustained by the Basque ports, commercial navy and companies (Compañía Guipuzcoana de Caracas). The Spaniards only helped in such a destructive effort, bringing the Spanish empire to total annihilation.

The contenders

The Church, a privileged class, was as ambiguous as ever, but many priests fought for Carlos.
The people of the Basque Provinces and Navarre sided with Carlos because of traditionalism and historical respect for the Catholic Church; ideologically, Carlos was clearly close to them. There have been many authors who believed that the Carlist cause in the Basque Country was a foralist cause. But this point of view is largely subjective, with the clear intention of creating indications of a Basque nationalism before the Arana brothers (an inspired and quite neutral version in "The Basque Nationalism", by Stanley G. Payne). Many supporters of the Carlist cause believed a traditionalist rule would respect the ancient Foral institutions better.

Another important reason for the massive mobilisation of the Basque Provinces and Navarre for the Carlist cause was the tremendous influence of the Basque clergy in the society. Salvador de Madariaga, in his book "Memories of a Federalist" (Buenos Aires, 1967), accused the Basque clergy of being "the heart, the brain and the root of the intolerance and the hard line" of the Spanish Catholic Church; there are also other social and economic causes, which have not been properly studied. In fact, there are more narrative books about the Carlist War in the Basque Provinces than historical works. This means a "romantic" vision of the Basque people fighting for their rights against the foreign rule of Castile.

Meanwhile, in Catalonia and Aragón, the people saw the chance of recovering their foral rights, which were lost after the Spanish Succession War when Philip V defeated the armies that fought for Archduke Karl of Austria, the other candidate to the throne after the death of Charles II of Spain. Carlos, however, never said anything about the foral rights.
On the other side, the liberals and moderates united to defend the "new order" represented by María Cristina and her three-year-old daughter, Isabella. They controlled the institutions, almost the whole army and the cities; the Carlist movement was stronger in the country. The liberals had the crucial support of United Kingdom, France and Portugal, support that was shown in the important credits to Cristina's treasury and the military help from the British (British Legion or Westminster Legion under General Lacy Evans), the French (the French Foreign Legion) and the Portuguese (a part of the regular army, under General Baron Das Antas). The Liberals were strong enough to win the war in two months, but an inefficient government and the dispersion of the Carlist forces gave Carlos time to consolidate his forces and hold out for almost seven years in the northern and eastern provinces.

The war in the Northern Front

The war was long and hard, and the Carlist forces achieved important victories in the north under the direction of the brilliant general Tomás de Zumalacárregui. Opposing his advisers, Carlos V decided to conquer a Bilbao defended by the British navy. With such an important city in his power, the Prussian or Russian Tsarist banks would give him credit to win the war; one of the most important problems for Carlos was a lack of funds. In the siege of Bilbao, Zumalacárregui was wounded in the leg by a stray bullet. The wound was not serious, but it did not heal properly, and finally General Zumalacárregui lost his life on June 25, 1835. Many historians believe the circumstances of his death were suspicious, and have pointed out that the general had many enemies in the Carlist court; however, nothing has been proven.

In the European theatre all the great powers backed the Isabeline army, as many British observers wrote in their reports. Meanwhile, in the east, Carlist general Ramón Cabrera held the initiative in the war, but his forces were too few to achieve a decisive victory over the liberal forces. In 1837 the Carlist effort culminated in the ''Royal Expedition'', which reached the walls of Madrid, but subsequently retreated after the Battle of Aranzueque.

The end of the war

After the death of Zumalacárregui, the liberals slowly regained the initiative but were not able to win the war until 1839. The war ended with the "Abrazo de Vergara" (the embrace in Vergara - Bergara in Basque -), 31st August 1839, between the liberal general Baldomero Espartero, Count of Luchana and the Carlist General Rafael Maroto. Some authors have written that General Maroto was a traitor who forced Carlos to accept the peace, but it is clear that the Carlists were too tired to continue with the war against the liberal government. In the east, General Cabrera continued fighting but he was alone and finally had to flee to France. However, Cabrera was considered a hero and returned for the Third Carlist War.
One of the best works on this subject is Alexander Gallardo, ''Britain and the First Carlist War'', Norwood Editions, 1978

External links

★ Chronology of the First Carlist War

★ Site by the Zumalakarregi Museum dedicated to the First Carlist War