Baldomero Espartero, príncipe de Vergara

Don Baldomero Espartero, Count of Luchana, Duke de la Victoria, Prince of Vergara (es: Don Joaquín Baldomero Fernández Espartero Álvarez de Toro, conde de Luchana, duque de la Victoria y príncipe de Vergara) (February 27, 1793 - January 8, 1879) was a Spanish general and political figure. He was associated with the radical (or progressive) wing of Spanish liberalism and would become their symbol and champion after taking credit for the victory over the Carlists in 1839. His nobility title, Duke of La Victoria and Prince of Vergara, was granted by Isabella II to him as a result. To suggest a relevant news story for the main page, refer to the criteria then add your suggestion at the candidates page. ... Image File history File links Baldomero_Espartero. ... Image File history File links Baldomero_Espartero. ... D. (usually preceded in English by the) is the abbreviation for the Spanish honorific Don (pron. ... This article is about the international language known as Spanish. ... February 27 is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1793 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... January 8 is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1879 (MDCCCLXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... General is a high military rank, used by nearly every country in the world. ... A politician is an individual involved in politics, sometimes this may include political scientists. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Carlism was a conservative political movement in Spain, purporting to establish an alternative branch of the Bourbons in the Spanish throne. ... The Lords and Barons prove their Nobility by hanging their Banners and exposing their Coats-of-arms at the Windows of the Lodge of the Heralds. ... Isabella II (October 10, 1830 – 1904), Isabel II in Spanish, was queen of Spain. ...

Early life

Espartero born at Granatulu, a town of the province of Ciudad Real. He was the ninth child of a carter, who wanted to make him a priest, but the lad at fifteen enlisted in a battalion of students to fight against the armies of Napoleon I. In 1811 Espartero was appointed a lieutenant of Engineers in Cadiz, but having failed to pass his examination he entered a line regiment. In 1815 he went to America as a captain under General Morillo, who had been made commander-in-chief to quell the risings of the colonies on the Spanish Main. For eight years Espartero distinguished himself in the struggle against the colonists. He was several times wounded, and was made major and colonel on the battlefields of Cochabamba and Sapachni. He had to surrender to Sucre at the final battle of Ayacucho, which put an end to Castilian rule. He returned to Spain, and, like most of his companions in arms, remained under a cloud for some time. He was sent to the garrison town of Logroo, where he married the daughter of a rich landowner, Doa Jacinta Santa Cruz, who eventually survived him. Henceforth Logrono became the home of the most prominent of the Spanish political generals of the 19th century.

Carlist War

Espartero became in 1832, on the death of King Ferdinand VIL, one of the most ardent defenders of the rights of his daughter, Isabella II. The government sent him to the front, directly the Carlist War broke out, as commandant of the province of Biscay, where he severely defeated the Carlists in many encounters. He was quickly promoted to a divisional command, and then made a lieutenant-general. At times he showed qualities as a guerillero quite equal to those of the Carlists, like Zumalacarregui and Cabrera, by his daring marches and surprises. When he had to move large forces he was greatly superior to them as an organizer and strategist, and he never disgraced his successes by cruelty or needless severity. Twice he obliged the Carlists to raise the siege of Bilbao before he was appointed commander-in-chief of the northern army on 17 September 1836, when the tide of war seemed to be setting in favor of the pretender in the Basque provinces and Navarre, though Don Carlos had lost his ablest lieutenant, the Basque Zumalacarregui. Isabella II (October 10, 1830 – 1904), Isabel II in Spanish, was queen of Spain. ... September 17 is the 260th day of the year (261st in leap years). ... Charles Darwin 1836 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

Defeat of the Carlists

His military duties at the head of the principal national army did not prevent Espartero from showing for the first time his political ambition. He displayed such radical and reforming inclinations that he laid the foundations of his popularity among the lower and middle classes, which lasted more than a quarter of a century, during which time the Progressists, Democrats and advanced Liberals ever looked to him as a leader and adviser. In November 1836 he again forced the Carlists to raise the siege of Bilbao. His troops included the British legion under Sir de Lacy Evans. This success turned the tide of war against Don Carlos, who vainly attempted a raid towards Madrid. Espartero was soon at his heels, and obliged him to hurry northwards, after several defeats. In 1839 Espartero carefully opened up negotiations with Maroto and the principal Carlist chiefs of the Basque provinces. These ended in their accepting his terms under the famous convention of Vergara, which secured the recognition of their ranks and titles for nearly 1000 Carlist officers. Twenty thousand Carlist volunteers laid down their arms at Vergara; only the irreconcilables led by Cabrera held out for a while in the central provinces of Spain. Espartero soon, however, in 1840, stamped out the last embers of the rising, which had lasted seven years. He was styled El pacificador de Espana, was made a grandee of the first class, and received two dukedoms.

Political Life

Bronze equestrian statue of Baldomero Espartero by Pablo Gibert. 1886, Madrid.

It was against this backdrop that Espartero's political opponents, the moderates, mobilised support to amend the progressive Constitution of 1837. In particular, the moderates' proposal to abolish democratically-elected local councils threatened to destroy the powerbase of the progressives. This threat was checked by the radical revolution of 1840, after which the conservatives were sidelined and Espartero became the master of the destiny of Spain. 1886 (MDCCCLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Friday (click on link to calendar) // Events January 18 - Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England. ... Madrid is the capital and largest city in Spain, as well as in the province and the autonomous community of the same name. ... 1840 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Conservatism or political conservatism is any of several historically related political philosophies or political ideologies. ...

During the last three years of the war Espartero, who had been elected a deputy, exercised from his distant headquarters such influence over Madrid politics that he twice hastened the fall of the cabinet, and obtained office for his own friends. At the close of the war the queen regent and her ministers attempted to elbow out Espartero and his followers, but a pronunciamiento ensued in Madrid and other large towns which culminated in the marshals accepting the post of prime minister. He soon became virtually a dictator, as Queen Christina took offence at his popularity and resigned, leaving the kingdom very soon afterwards. Directly the Cortes met they elected Espartero regent by 179 votes to 103 over Arguelles, who was appointed guardian of the young queen.

Forcing the Regent, Maria Cristina, into exile for her conspiracy with the moderates, Baldomero Espartero himself became Regent with the intention of remaining so until the future Queen Isabella II came of age. Espartero's popular support enabled him to crush moderate military uprisings across Spain in 1841. Yet his ruthless execution of dozens of the conspirators, including many popular fellow war heroes like Diego de Leon, as well as his hasty and ungrateful dissolution of the radical juntas that had crushed the risings, marked the start of the decline in support for his regency // High public office A regent, from the Latin regens who reigns is anyone who acts as head of state, especially if not the monarch (who has higher titles). ... Maria Christina, Queen Regent of Spain Maria Christina, Princess of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Queen of Spain (Maria Cristina Ferdinanda of the Two Sicilies branch of the Royal House of Bourbon) (April 27, 1806–August 22, 1878) was Queen Consort of Spain (1829 to 1833) and Queen Regent of Spain (1833... Isabella II (October 10, 1830 – April 10, 1904), Isabel II in Spanish, was queen of Spain. ... take you to calendar). ...

Rule of Espartero

For two years Espartero ruled Spain in accordance with his Radical and conciliatory dispositions, giving special attention to the reorganization of the administration, taxation and finances, declaring all the estates of the church, congregations and religious orders to be national property, and suppressing the diezma, or tenths. He suppressed the Republican risings with as much severity as he did the military pronunciamientos of Generals Concha and Diego de Leon. The latter was shot in Madrid. Espartero crushed with much energy a revolutiotiary rising in Barcelona, but on his return to Madrid was so coldly welcomed that he perceived that his prestige was on the wane. Economic slump and rumours of a free-trade deal with Britain provoked a popular uprising by workers and the bourgeoisie of Barcelona in 1842. Espartero's ruthless bombardment of the city crushed this revolutionary threat. But a second uprising in 1843, combined with moderate conspiracies and military uprisings. The rebels declared Queen Isabel of age, and, led by General Narvaez, marched upon Madrid. Espartero, deeming resistance useless, embarked at Cadiz on 30 July 1843 for England, and lived quietly apart from politics until 1848, when a royal decree restored to him all his honors and his seat in the senate. Dubbed public enemy number one by the brutal forces of reaction, headed by the moderate General Ramón María Narváez y Campos, Duke of Valencia, Espartero was unable to return to his estates in northern Spain until an amnesty decreed later in the 1840s. Bourgeoisie is a French word. ... Barcelona is the capital city of Catalonia, an autonomous community in Spain. ... 1842 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1843 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... July 30 is the 211th day (212th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 154 days remaining. ... 1843 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Amnesty (from the Greek amnestia, oblivion) is an act of justice by which the supreme power in a state restores those who may have been guilty of any offence against it to the position of innocent persons. ... // Events and Trends Technology First use of anaesthesia in an operation, by Crawford Long War, peace and politics First signing of the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi) on February 6, 1840 at Waitangi New Zealand. ...

Although Espartero's regime 1840-43 in reality had done little for Spain's poor, the anti-radical reaction of the moderates made the former Regent a folk-hero amongst many of the workers. Therefore, it was logical that he should become head of the short-lived "progressive Biennium" of 1854-1856. But, as Karl Marx observed, the progressive caudillo was a man whose time had passed. The old marshal vainly endeavoured to keep his own Progressists within bounds in the Cortes of 1854-1856, and in the great towns, but their excessive demands for reforms and liberties played into the hands of a clerical and reactionary court and of the equally retrograde governing classes. The growing ambition of General O'Donnell constantly clashed with the views of Espartero, until the latter, in sheer disgust, resigned his premiership and left for Logrono, after warning the queen that a conflict was imminent between O'Donnell and the Cortes, backed by the Progressist militia. O'Donnells pronunciamiento in 1856 put an end to the Cortes, and the militia was disarmed, after a sharp struggle in the streets of the capital. When Spanish political power swung once more back towards the moderates in 1856. 1840 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1843 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... 1854 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1856 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Karl Heinrich Marx (May 5, 1818 Trier, Germany – March 14, 1883 London) was an immensely influential German philosopher, political economist, and revolutionary. ... Moderate in the sense meant here is an intermediate position between those generally classified as being left-wing and those seen as being right-wing. ...

Retirement

After 1856 Espartero resolutely declined to identify himself with active politics, though at every stage in the onward march of Spain towards more liberal and democratic institutions he was asked to take a leading part. He refused to allow his name to be brought forward as a candidate when the Cortes of 1868, after the Revolution, sought for a ruler. Espartero, strangely enough, adopted a laconic phrase when successive governments on their advent to power invariably addressed themselves to the venerable champion of liberal ideas. To all to the Revolution of 1868, the Constituent Cortes of 1869, King Amadeus, the Federal Republic of 1873, the nameless government of Marshal Serrano in 1874, the Bourbon restoration in 1875 he simply said: Cumplase la voluntad nacional ( Let the national will be accomplished ). King Amadeus made him prince of Vergara. The Restoration raised a statue to him near the gate of the Retiro Park in Madrid. Spaniards of all shades, except Carlists and Ultramontanes, paid homage to his memory when he died at his La Rioja residence on 8 January 1879. His tastes were singularly modest, his manners rather reserved, but always kind and considerate for humble folk. He was a typical Spanish soldier politician, though he had more of the better traits of the soldier born and bred than of the arts of the statesman. His military instincts did not always make it easy for him to accommodate himself to courtiers and professional politicians. (A. E. H.) Capital Logroño Area  â€“ Total  â€“ % of Spain Ranked 16th  5 045 km²  1,0% Population  â€“ Total (2003)  â€“ % of Spain  â€“ Density Ranked 17th   281 614  0,7%  55,82/km² Demonym  â€“ English  â€“ Spanish  â€”  riojano/a Statute of Autonomy June 9, 1982 Parliament  â€“ Congress seats  â€“ Senate seats  4  1 President Pedro Sanz... January 8 is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1879 (MDCCCLXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.