Alfonso XIII (Spain)

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Alfonso XIII (Photo around 1916)

Coat of arms of Alfonso XIII.

Alfonso XIII ( Spanish Alfonso XIII , born May 17, 1886 in Madrid , † February 28, 1941 in Rome ; full name Alfonso León Fernando María Jaime Isidro Pascual Antonio de Borbón y Austria-Lorena ) was King of Spain from 1886/1902 to 1931 .

Life

He was the son of Alfonso XII, who died on November 25, 1885 . of Spain and his second wife Maria Christina of Austria and thus de jure king from the moment of his birth. Until 1902, however, his mother ran the official business as regent . In terms of foreign policy, he then broke away from his mother's pro-German course and, for example, concluded the Cartagena Agreement (1907) with Great Britain and France .

His reign fell during the era of political restoration in Spain. During this period all major forces tried to resolve the existing political and growing social contradictions in Spanish society, but without success. The king did not understand how to enforce the necessary reforms through his broad constitutional rights. The Spanish political system, characterized by corruption and reform backlog , finally fell apart in 1923 after the defeat of the Spanish army by Moroccan insurgents at Annual. The government was already completely discredited, so a coup general and allies had an easy time of it and there was no significant resistance to the coup plotters. The oligarchic-feudal semi-democracy was ousted by a regime that promised a “new order” in a time of global social unrest. The military regime was supported by Spain's conservative elites. These were, for example, bishops, the military, large industrialists and landowners. The communist and anarchist unions were suppressed, the socialist unions were built into the corporate state power system. State influence was expanded, military administrators were deployed everywhere and the bureaucracy escalated. Disliked people were arrested or forced into internal exile. There were no more elections. There was resistance to this, especially after the outbreak of the global economic crisis. Primo de Rivera also curtailed the king's powers to purely ceremonial.

Alfonso XIII with wife Victoria Eugénie

Alfonso, who began his reign at the age of 16, had power at first, but he vacillated widely between reactionary, conservative and liberal ideas. Because the political parties, conservatives and liberals, blocked everything mutually, he became something like an arbitrator. On his wedding day in 1906, he narrowly escaped a bomb attack. It was a troubled time and also a time of social upheaval. It is also criticized that the king lacked a real vision for his country.

Under General Miguel Primo de Rivera, Spain became a de facto military dictatorship in which the king was overshadowed by the military dictator. This attempt to consolidate the ailing Spanish state also failed, and the local elections on April 12, 1931, the first elections after 1923, resulted in a clear victory for the Republicans in the big cities . Two days later the republic was proclaimed in Madrid , and Alfons went into exile on the same day without formal abdication , first to Paris and later to Rome. He will later write that he gave up power to avoid civil war.

Alfonso XIII. allowed the establishment of the dictatorship by Miguel Primo de Rivera by expressly approving it on September 13, 1923, instead of opposing the cause. The constitution and freedom of the press were undermined, and parliament and government were replaced by a military directorate , and later a civil directorate . In the 2nd Republic he was therefore later declared deposed by the Cortes , the constituent assembly, and written out for arrest. He was accused of high treason, abuse of power and breach of the constitution. All dignities, rights and titles were withdrawn from him, with the express note that he would never be able to reclaim them either for himself or for his descendants.

Only shortly before his death, on January 15, 1941, did he renounce his claim to the throne in favor of his son Juan de Borbón y Battenberg .

Alfonso XIII was buried in the Roman church of Santa Maria di Monserrato . In 1980 his remains were transferred to the Pantheon of Kings of the El Escorial Monastery .

Marriage and offspring

Portrait of Joaquín Sorolla : Queen Victoria Eugenia "Ena" (1910)

The marriage with Princess Victoria Eugénie von Battenberg , daughter of Prince Heinrich Moritz von Battenberg , governor and captain of the Isle of Wight , and his wife Princess Beatrice of Great Britain and Ireland on May 31, 1906 , resulted in a total of seven children. The marriage turned out to be very unhappy, as Alfonso could not forgive his wife for being the carrier of the hemophilia and for passing the disease on to two of their sons, Alfons Pius and Gonzalo. The following children were born from the marriage:

• Alfons Pius (1907–1938), Count of Covadonga

⚭ 1933–1937 Edelmira Sampedro-Ocejo y Robarto

⚭ 1937–1938 Marta Rocafort y Altazurra

• Jaime (1908–1975), Duke of Segovia and French pretender to the throne as Jacques II.

⚭ 1935–1947 Princess Victoire Jeanne Joséphine Emmanuelle de Dampierre

⚭ 1949 Carlota Tiedemann

• Beatrix Isabel (1909–2002) ⚭ 1935 Alessandro Torlonia, Prince of Civitella-Cesi
• Fernando stillborn son (* / † May 21, 1910)
• Maria Christina (1911–1996) ⚭ 1940 Enrique Graf Marone
• Juan d. H. Juan de Borbón y Battenberg (1913–1993), Count of Barcelona ⚭ 1935 Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Sicily , the father of Juan Carlos I , who was appointed king after fascism .
• Gonzalo (1914-1934)

ancestors

Ferdinand VII King of Spain (1784–1833)

Isabella II Queen of Spain (1830–1904)

Maria Christina of Naples and Sicily (1806-1878)

Alfonso XII King of Spain

Francisco de Paula de Borbón (1794–1865)

Francisco de Asís de Borbón (1822–1902) Paternity is controversial among historians. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, it is recognized as official.

Luisa Carlota of Naples and Sicily (1804–1844)

Alfonso XIII King of Spain

Karl of Austria-Teschen (1771–1847)

Karl Ferdinand of Austria (1818–1874)

Henriette Alexandrine of Nassau-Weilburg (1797–1829)

Maria Christina of Austria (1858–1929)

Joseph of Austria (1776–1847)

Elisabeth Franziska Maria of Austria (1831–1903)

Maria Dorothea of ​​Württemberg (1797–1855)

Trivia

He was named after the Hotel Alfonso XIII and was tattooed by George Burchett .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ berliner-zeitung.de
2. ↑ berliner-zeitung.de
3. ^ Janey Levy: Tattoos in Modern Society. The Rosen Publishing Group Inc 2008, ISBN 1-435-8487-72 , p. 52.

Web links

Commons : Alfonso XIII.  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Newspaper article about Alfonso XIII. in the press kit 20th Century of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .

predecessor	Office	successor
Alfonso XII	King of Spain 1886–1931	President Niceto Alcalá Zamora
Alfonso Carlos de Borbon	Head of the House of Bourbon, legitimist pretender to the throne of France 1936–1941	Jaime de Borbon