Spanish Conservatism 1834-1923

Abstract

The definition used in this article to identify the conservative position in modern Spanish politics is similar to that proposed by Robert Michels, when he observed that the term 'conservatism' does not necessarily refer to any specific values or philosophy but rather to 'a tendency to maintain the status quo regardless of what it may be.' The status quo of modern Spain its dominant political form has been constitutional parliamentary monarchy on the pattern of moderate nineteenth century liberalism. The goal of Spanish conservatism from 1834 through at least the first quarter of the twentieth century, was to preserve that institutional structure, with its values and its functional relationships, largely within the nineteenth-century framework. Classic modern Spanish conservatism was thus moderate or conservative liberalism, defending an established philosophy and system from the reactionary assaults of neotraditionalist Carlism on the one hand and all manner of progressives, radicals and revolutionaries on the other.