Chapter IV, Part VII (revised)
Chapter IV, Part VII: The National Dis-Union
Spain had faced its first great test, and had passed with flying colors, more united than ever. The National Union, however, had been unable to stand the tensions of the crisis, and, even though it was known it would have a limited life, the party's implosion was still impressive.
Since the “Virginius affair”, shouting fights had been common between the left and right wings of the Union, and several times some of its more ardent members had to be held back by their companions to prevent a fistfight. By the time the Tercios Especiales were leaving for Madrid, the National Union's death existed in all but name, and only an agreement by the party's leadership kept the National Union together until the Courts were dissolved, which happened in March. The dissolution of the party was published in all the nation's newspapers, making official what everyone but those that did not pay attention could see.
Two parties came out of the National Union's ashes. The conservative wing became the Liberal-Conservative Party, which merged with Antonio Cánovas del Castillo's Conservatives and the remains of the Moderate Party. Since Francisco Serrano had announced his retirement from politics in accordance to the Pacto de los Heros, the party chose charismatic Antonio Cánovas del Castillo to become its first leader.
Meanwhile, the progressive wing formed the Democrat-Radical Party, which most of the old Progressive Party and the Democrat Party joined. Led by Práxedes Mateo Sagasta, Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla and Cristino Martos (with Juan Prim leaving politics yet handling things in the shadows), the party also attracted several members from the Republican Party, who were ready to accept King Leopoldo as long as they could have some influence in the governance of Spain.
Several more parties were also formed then: a small Progressive Party was formed by several members of the old party who did not wish to follow Sagasta and Ruiz Zorrilla, a Federal Republican Party split from the Republican Party, since Castelar supported an Unitary Republic similar to the one that had existed in France, and the Catholic-Monarchic Communion split in two, giving birth to the Integrist Party and the Traditionalist Party.
In the April 1874 elections, victory went to the Democrat-Radical Party, with the following results:
- Democrat-Radical Party: 217 deputies
- Liberal-Conservative Party: 128 deputies
- Republican Party: 19 deputies
- Federal Republican Party: 10 deputies
- Integrist Party: 8 deputies
- Progressive Party: 8 deputies
- Traditionalist Party: 1 deputy
- Non-established: 29 (Cuba and Puerto Rico)
One of the first things to be done was the trials for the Irredents. All of them were declared guilty of terrorism and treason to the Crown. Most of them were condemned to prison, others were condemned to forced labors in the colony of Guinea, and the surviving leaders were condemned to death by hanging. The sentences were carried out immediately, in order to avoid more problems.
In Cuba, negotiations were initiated with the rebels. General Arsenio Martinez-Campos, the leader of the Spanish Army in Cuba, and who had been supportive of harshness against the intransigents and tolerance with those that were in favor of negotiating, was the Government's representative in the final negotiations. These took place in the city of Mangos de Baraguá, due to its centric position in the island and its being near the coast. On July 7th 1874, both sides signed the peace agreement, the Compromise of Baraguá:
- The Spanish government will concede amnesty to all the rebels, free the imprisoned rebels and lift the exile sentence to those it was applied to.
- The rebels will lay down their weapons, renounce to armed fight and accepted the Spanish Government as Cuba's legitimate government.
- Anybody born in Cuba or with Cuban parents is a legitimate citizen of the Kingdom of Spain and has the same rights as all other Spaniards.
- All former slaves that worked in the rebel armies will be declared free men, and all other slaves will be freed before two years [1].
- Cubans may join the Spanish Army and be promoted like their Spanish counterparts, regardless of race.
- Cubans may meet freely, vote in local and national elections and form their own political parties, as long as they don't call for war against the legitimate government.
- Cuba will gain political and administrative autonomy.
It was then when Sagasta developed the idea of Foralism [2]. Although it had some influence from Francisco Pi y Margall's idea of a federal state, it was mostly developed based on the Compromise and the already existing Fueros in the Vascongadas and Navarra, which had been recently replaced with a degree of administrative autonomy. The size of the Kingdom of Spain, with far-flung territories in the Caribbean, Africa and the Far East, made administering everything from Madrid very difficult. Thus, Sagasta's government decided to restructure the administrative system in order to ease the interaction between the government and the people.
Spain would be divided in regions, all of which would have administrative autonomy centered in what could be considered the region's “capital”. As an addition, those regions that had a local language expanded enough within that territory would be allowed to use that local language as a second language and teach them in schools. The overseas regions (so far only Cuba and Puerto Rico) would be granted self governance in most internal matters, as governing from Madrid was certainly difficult. The autonomy was regarded as a way to ease the government's work, which would be able to act at a greater scope while the regions were able to concentrate on a local level, although the central government would still have the right to revert or stop any reforms made by individual regions.
It would still be three years until Cubans and Puerto Ricans were able to vote for their own representatives to Congress or their own Governor, but when they did, they would do so massively.
[1] This term did not fall well among the slave-owning aristocrats in the western half of the island, but, besides some sterile protests, they did not act against the slaves' manumission, because they knew any heavy protest would immediately backfire on them.
[2] The world Foral comes from Fuero, derived from the Latin word Forum, an open place that served as market, court and meeting place. However, Fuero, in this case, means a series of rights and laws the kings and nobles gave to certain cities in order to attract people to them.
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]END OF CHAPTER FOUR
I hope that you liked the changed chapter IV. As you can see, there are already several differences between the original and the new chapters, so that is something you can enjoy. Also, I have placed the new flag in there, and it is correctly done now.
I hope to post rewritten chapter V in a couple of days. Until then, give your opinions!
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