The elections to the General Cortes of the Spanish Republic of 1873 were held on May 10 and 13 , [1] becoming the first and last elections in the short period of the First Spanish Republic. The elections were held under conditions of universal male suffrage and with the complete dominance of Republicans, who simply did not allow most of their opponents to participate in them.
← 1872  1876 → | |||
| Legislative Election in Spain | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Congressional Elections | |||
| May 10 and 13, 1873 | |||
 |  |  | |
| Party head | Francisco Pi Y Margal | Cristino Martos | Praxedes Mateo Sagasta |
| The consignment | Republican Federal Party | Independent radicals | Independent Constitutionalists and Conservatives |
| Seats received | 346 ( ▲ 268) | 20 ( ▼ 252) | 7 ( ▼ 7) |
| Past number of seats | 78 | 274 | 14 |
| Election result | The Republican Federal Party won, winning almost 90% of the seats in parliament | ||
Background
On February 11, 1873, King Amadeus I of Savoy abdicated from the throne due to the deepening social crisis and the Third Carlist War . On the same day, at a joint meeting of the Congress of Deputies and the Senate, united in a single legislative body called the National Assembly, Spain declared the republic (for - 258 votes, against - 32). The President of the executive branch ( Spanish Presidente del Poder ejecutivo ), that is, the new head of state and at the same time the government, was Republican Estanislao Figueres and Moragas. Initially, power in the newly proclaimed Spanish Republic was divided between republicans and radicals. Since April 1873, only Republicans have been in power, breaking the alliance with the radicals due to two coup attempts. In May 1873, elections were held in the Republic of Cortes, which were to adopt a new republican constitution.
As in the previous elections , the Carlists and a significant part of the constitutionalists, conservatives and Alfonsinas, supporters of the infant of Alfonso , the only son of Queen Isabella II and the infant of Francisco de Asis , the duke of Cadiz who left Spain after the deposition of his mother in 1868, did not participate in them. Some of the radicals were not allowed to participate in the elections. At the same time, “irreconcilable republicans” (as part of the Republican Federal Party) and anarchists - Bakuninists , followers of M. A. Bakunin took part in the elections. [1] The socialists and nascent trade unions associated with the First International boycotted the elections. As a result, the 1873 election was probably the lowest turnout election in Spanish history. So, in Madrid only 28% of voters voted, and in Catalonia - 25%. This led the republic to a serious lack of legitimacy.
Results
A total of 383 deputies were elected, as the elections did not take place in 8 districts controlled by the Carlists ( Aoys , Bastan , Estella , Berga , Olot , Puigcerda , Sort and Tremp ). Another 18 deputies were elected in Cuba and 11 in Puerto Rico . [one]
In conditions when representatives of the right (constitutionalists, conservatives, carlist and “alfonsinas”) and the left wing (radicals) almost did not participate in the elections, the Republican Federal Party led by Francisco Pi-i-Margal won a landslide victory, winning almost 90% of the seats . [one]
Republican Federal Party : 346 independent radicals : 20 independent constitutionalists and conservatives: 7 Alfonsinas: 3 others: 6
| Parties and coalitions | Leader | Places | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Places | +/− | % | ||||
| Republican Federal Party | Spanish Partido republicano federal | Francisco Pi Y Margal | 346 | ▲ 268 | 88.49 | |
| Independent radicals | Spanish Partido Demócrata-Radical | Cristino Martos | 20 | ▼ 252 | 5.12% | |
| Independent Constitutionalists and Conservatives | Spanish Independientes Constitucionales y Conservadores | Praxedes Mateo Sagasta / Francisco Serrano | 7 | ▼ 7 | 1.79% | |
| Independent Alfonsinos | Spanish Alfonsinos independientes | Antonio Canovas del Castillo | 3 | ▼ 6 | 0.77% | |
| Independent Republicans | Spanish Independientes independientes | one | ▼ 1 | 0.26 | ||
| Other | 6 | ▼ 5 | 1,54 | |||
| Total | 383 | ▼ 8 | 100 | |||
A source:
| ||||||
Regional Results
Federalist Republicans took first place in the number of elected deputies in 46 provinces. In Alava, the mandates were divided among themselves by radicals and republicans. The party affiliation of deputies from the Canary Islands is unknown. In Madrid, all 7 seats went to the federal Republicans, in Barcelona they won 5 of the 5 mandates. [3]
After the election
Jose Maria Ourense (representative of the “irreconcilable” Republicans) was elected chairman of the Cortes. On June 13, 1873 he was succeeded by Nicholas Salmeron (Republican-Centralist). After Salmeron was elected President of the Republic on August 26, 1873, Emilio Castelar (moderate Republican) became the new chairman of the Cortes. On September 10, 1873, Castelara, elected president, was succeeded by Nicholas Salmeron. [one]
On June 8, 1873, the Cortes proclaimed the Federal Republic of Spain. However, the parliament could not approve the new constitution.
On June 11, 1873, Francisco Pi-i-Margal (Republican Federalist) was approved as the new President of the executive branch (head of state and government). After the cantonal revolution, he left his post. On July 18, 1873, the Republic was led by Nicholas Salmeron (a Republican centralist), who resigned because of his reluctance to sign death sentences. On September 7, 1873, the moderate Republican Emilio Castellar became president.
On January 4, 1874, the Republic was led by the conservative Republican Francisco Serrano and Dominguez. He managed to end the Cantonal Revolution by taking the last stronghold of the cantonalists - Cartagena. But the setbacks in the war against the Karlists and the difficult economic situation led the republic to a severe political crisis, which Serrano tried to get out of by proclaiming a unitary republic and starting to rule without convening the Cortes. On February 26, 1874, he was replaced by another Republican conservative, Juan de Savala and de la Puente, as president. September 3, 1874 the last president of the First Republic was the liberal-constitutionalist Praxedes Mateo Sagasta. At the end of December of the same 1874, most of the army sided with the Infant Alfons, leading him as the new king of Spain. The republican authorities, feeling their weakness and having no support either in the army or in society, left Spain. The first republic fell. On January 14, 1875, Alphonse XII arrived in Madrid, starting his reign.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 Elecciones a Cortes de la República 10 de mayo de 1873 (Spanish) . Historia electoral.com. Date of treatment October 30, 2016.
- ↑ Carlos Barciela López, Albert Carreras, Xavier Tafunell. Estadísticas históricas de España: siglos XIX-XX, Volumen 3 (Spanish) . Fundacion BBVA (1 de enero de 2005). Date of treatment March 11, 2016.
- ↑ Ver resultados por provincias y por regiones (1869-1923) (Spanish) (xls). Historia electoral.com. Date of treatment March 12, 2016.
Links
- Gráficos y análisis: Elecciones en el Sexenio Revolucionario y la Restauración 1869-1923 (Spanish) . Historia Electoral.com. Date of treatment March 11, 2016.