Marcelo Azcárraga Palmero

Marcelo Azcárraga y Palmero (born September 4, 1832 in Manila , † May 30, 1915 in Madrid ) was a Spanish general , politician and Prime Minister of Spain (Presidente del Consejo de Ministros) .

biography

Military career, restoration of the monarchy and minister

Azcárraga Palmero, the son of General José Azcárraga and a Filipino mother, first completed a law degree at the University of Santo Tomas , where he was also awarded first prizes in mathematics . At his father's request, he went to Spain after completing his studies, where he was trained as an officer at the military academy and was soon promoted to captain. In July 1856 he took part in the overthrow of Baldomero Espartero on the side of Leopoldo O'Donnell . He then became a major on the General Staff before being transferred to Cuba . He then took part in expeditions to Mexico and Santo Domingo from 1861 to 1862 and from 1864 to 1865 . After the successful revolution of 1868 (La Gloriosa) he rose within the military administration to the position of Undersecretary in the War Ministry under King Amadeus in 1872.

As a staunch supporter of the restoration of the monarchy (Restauración borbónica) he stood in December 1874 for the proclamation of Alfonso XII. to the king . Subsequently, after his promotion to Lieutenant General (Teniente General), he was Chief of Staff of the Army and was entrusted in this position with the fight against the Carlist in northern Spain. For his military achievements, he was made an honorary field marshal (Mariscal de Campo) in 1875 .

His political career began on January 20, 1876, when he was elected Member of Parliament (Congreso de los Diputados) , in which, however , he held the constituency of Castellón for only one term as a member of the Liberal - Conservative Party (Partido Liberal - Conservador) until April 1879 represented.

In September 1878, while the incumbent was absent, he was Minister of War (Ministro de Guerra) in the government of Antonio Cánovas del Castillo for three weeks . During the legislative period from 1879 to 1880, he was a member of the Senate as representative of the Province of Castellón . In December 1884 he was re-elected senator in a by-election in the province of Navarre and was then a member of the Senate until March 1885. In the following years he was captain general (Capitán General) of the provinces of Navarre and Valencia .

On July 5, 1890, he was appointed Minister of War in the government of Antonio Cánovas del Castillo. As such he was a member of his government until December 11, 1892. By royal decree he was appointed Senator for life (Senador Vitalicio) on February 27, 1891 because of his political merits . In addition, he was acting Minister of the Navy (Ministro de Marina) for a few weeks from February to March 1892 due to the incumbent's illness . He was later from March 23, 1895 to October 4, 1897 again Minister of War in the cabinet of Cánovas del Castillo.

Three times Prime Minister and multiple Senate President

After his death he was first acting Prime Minister on August 8, 1897, before he was finally appointed Prime Minister of Spain (Presidente del Gobierno) on August 21, 1897 . However, he only exercised this office as part of a transitional government and finally handed over the business of government to Práxedes Mateo Sagasta on October 4, 1897 . On October 2, 1899, he was again Minister of War and in this office was part of the government of Francisco Silvela Le vielleuze until October 18, 1900.

As the successor to Silvela Le vielleuze, he took over the post of Prime Minister again on October 23, 1900. This time he held this office until he was replaced by Sagasta on March 6, 1901. During his tenure in October 1900, he was again acting Minister of the Navy for a week. He then became President of the Senate on May 17, 1903, after he had already held this office de facto in November 1900.

On December 16, 1904, he replaced Antonio Maura Montaner as Prime Minister and then formed his third cabinet until January 27, 1905. During this time he took over as the successor of José Ferrándiz y Niño until January 6, 1905 again as Minister of the Navy.

Azcárraga Palmero was re-elected President of the Senate on May 12, 1907 and this time held the office until June 14, 1910. Most recently in the legislative period from 1911 to 1914 he was again a senator due to personal rights (Derecho Propio) and again President of the Senate from April 2, 1914 until his death.

In 1904 he was awarded the Order of the Golden Fleece (Orden del Toisón de Oro) for his services . In addition, in 1911 he was awarded the rank of General Captain of the Armed Forces (Capitán General del Ejército) for life.

swell

Web links

• Biography on the homepage of the Spanish Prime Ministers ( Memento of October 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (Spanish)
• The cabinets during the reign of Alfonso XII. (1874-1884 - La Restauració)
• The cabinets during the reign of Maria Christina of Austria (1885-1902 - La Restauració)
• The governments during the reign of Alfonso XIII. (1902-1931)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ List of Members of Parliament from 1810 to 1977
2. ^ The Senate between 1834 and 1923 - Senators , accessed June 7, 2017.
3. ↑ List of Ministers of the Navy ( Memento of April 1, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
4. ^ Wittenberg, Thilo Jens: "Courage and Honor - The Professional, Ideological and Political Development of the Spanish Officer Corps in the 19th Century (1808-1908)" , Dissertation (Philosophy), Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, p. 246
5. ↑ The Senate and its Presidents 1834 to 1923 ( Memento from June 27, 2001 in the Internet Archive )
6. ↑ Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece
7. ↑ Page no longer available , search in web archives: Guaita Martorell, Aurelio: "Capitanes y Capitanias Generales" , p. 43

predecessor	Office	successor
Antonio Cánovas del Castillo	Prime Minister of Spain 1897	Práxedes Mateo Sagasta
Francisco Silvela Le vielleuze	Prime Minister of Spain 1900–1901	Práxedes Mateo Sagasta
Antonio Maura Montaner	Prime Minister of Spain 1904–1905	Raimundo Fernández Villaverde