Práxedes Mateo Sagasta

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Práxedes Mateo Sagasta.

Práxedes Mateo Sagasta y Escolar (born July 21, 1825 in Torrecilla en Cameros , today the autonomous community of Rioja , then the province of Logroño ; † January 5, 1903 in Madrid ) was a Spanish politician. Mateo is not a middle name, but the first part of the first family name. It can therefore usually be found in alphabetically sorted lists under M ateo Sagasta y Escolar. In the short form, only the second part of the first family name, Sagasta, is usually used.

Professional background

Práxedes Mateo Sagasta studied at the Engineering School for Road Construction ( Escuela de Ingenieros de Camino today part of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid ). After passing the final exam, he became head of public works in the city of Zamora in 1849 . From 1852 he was busy planning the railway line between Valladolid and Burgos . In 1857 he became a teacher at the newly founded School of Public Works ( Escuela de Ayudantes de Obras Públicas today Escuela Universitaria de Ingeniería Técnica de Obras Públicas de Madrid ) In 1866 he lost his job and went into exile. After returning in 1868, he devoted himself exclusively to his political activities.

Political career

Reign of Queen Isabella II.

After the parliament dissolved in July 1854 after various uprisings in the country without a formal resolution or decree, elections for the Constituent Cortes were held in October 1854 . In these elections, Sagasta was elected to the Cortes for the first time in the Zamora constituency. He was one of the progressives there . The most important goals of the progressives at that time were the guarantee of basic freedoms, popular election of city councils, decentralization of the administration, ministerial responsibility and the reorganization of the army. The Constituent Cortes were dissolved in 1856 without a new constitution having been adopted. In the subsequent elections in 1857, Sagasta received no mandate. It was not until the elections in 1858 that he was re-elected, this time in the constituency of Logroño , his home province. In the subsequent elections to the Cortes, the progressives did not run. From 1865 Sagasta was in contact with Juan Prim , who was planning a revolutionary uprising against the government of Queen Isabella II . The "uprising in the San Gil barracks" in 1866 failed, Sagasta was arrested and sentenced to death. However, he managed to flee and go into exile in France.

Interim government 1869

Sexenio Revolucionario

After the government was overthrown in 1868 and Queen Isabella II went into exile with her family, Francisco Serrano Domínguez formed a transitional government in October 1868. This government belonged to Sagasta as Minister of the Interior. He also headed the Ministry of the Interior in the following governments. The elections carried out by the government in January 1869 were based on universal, equal and direct male suffrage. There was no income census. About 24% of the population were eligible to vote. The turnout was 70%. Of the 236 seats won by the monarchical-democratic parties, the progressives under Prim received 156. The Republicans received about 25% of the vote and thus 85 seats. Sagasta himself was elected in a constituency in Madrid. The domestic political problems of Spain that Sagasta had to deal with as Minister of the Interior included: a. the dissolution of the provisional juntas formed during the period, some of which had taken over the local administration and did not want to dissolve after the elections. An agricultural crisis, exacerbated by a drought in various regions, led to famine and unemployment. In addition, a new constitution was to be drawn up. The right to organize, recognized by the Provisional Government in November 1868, paved the way for the establishment of organizations of the workers' movement. The Mining Act of the interim government gave foreign capital the opportunity to acquire mining rights on a permanent basis. This subsequently led to an economic upturn. In the period from January to December 1870, during the negotiations with the foreign candidates for the Spanish throne, Sagasta was Foreign Minister. Even if the negotiations with the intended heirs to the throne were largely conducted by Prime Minister, the Foreign Ministry played an important role. In December 1870, after the murder of Juan Prim and the arrival of King Amadeus , Sagasta took over the Ministry of the Interior again. In the Cortes elections in March 1871, Sagasta was elected in a constituency in Madrid. From July 1871 to December 1871, Sagasta was not a member of the cabinet. On December 21, 1871, King Amadeus appointed him president of the government. Because of a corruption affair, he had to give up the office in May 1872. Sagasta was not a member of the Cortes elected in August 1872, which decided to convert Spain into a republic in February 1873 . At the time of the First Republic he was also not a member of the Constituent Cortes.

After the coup of General Manuel Pavía and the dissolution of parliament on January 3, 1874, he became Foreign Minister of the Republic under the presidency of Francisco Serrano Domínguez . From May 13, 1874 to September 3, 1874, he again headed the Ministry of the Interior. From September 3, 1874, he exercised the office of district president. After the pronunciamiento of General Arsenio Martínez-Campos and the proclamation of King Alfonso XII. Sagasta handed over the official duties to Antonio Cánovas del Castillo on December 31, 1874 .

Reign of King Alfonso XII.

The politics of the restoration period, i.e. the time of the reign of King Alfonso XII. and the reign of his widow Maria Christina , is characterized by the change of government of the Conservatives (Partido Liberal Conservador) under their chairman Antonio Cánovas del Castillo and the Liberals ( Partido Liberal Fusionista ) under their chairman Praxedes Mateo Sagasta. The Conservative Party was a reservoir for members of the Moderados and the Liberal Union. This party found its supporters primarily among the large landowners and the bureaucratic and military middle class. The Liberal Party, in which many former progressives found themselves, on the other hand, represented the interests of the commercial and industrial bourgeoisie. The two-party system was based on the integration of a large part of the political spectrum into the two parties and the understanding of both parties not to enforce any legislation that was so fundamentally rejected by the other party that it would be reversed if there was a change of government. The change usually took place in such a way that the incumbent district president resigned, the king appointed a new district president and a new cabinet and dissolved the Cortes. By manipulating the new elections, the new district president received a clear majority in parliament for his policy.

After a Conservative term since 1874, mainly under Cánovas as President of the Government, he resigned in 1881 in favor of a Liberal government under Sagasta. During his first term as President of the Government at the time of the Restoration, he laid the foundation for a number of legislative changes. The most important innovations of the government led by Sagasta were the lifting of press censorship through a strikingly liberal press law in 1883, the extension of the freedom of teaching of universities and the practical legalization of the trade unions and organizations of the labor movement . Because of internal party disputes over the right to vote, Sagasta resigned in October 1883 and the politician of the Liberal Party José de Posada Herrera was appointed as the new government president. However, after only three months, in January 1884, he was replaced by Antonio Cánovas del Castillo. The day before the death of King Alfonso XII. Cánova and Sagasta met and agreed to bring about an amicable change in government in order to maintain political stability during the reign of the king's widow. This agreement, which lasted until after the deaths of the two politicians, came to be known as the Pacto del Pardo .

Reign of the regent Maria Christina

One day after the king's death on November 25, 1885, Cánovas resigned as President of the Government and the new regent Maria Christina appointed Sagasta as President of the Government. After Sagasta had increased his party base through negotiations with politicians from the dynastic left and some smaller liberal groups, he had the Cortes dissolved and new elections held in April 1886 with the usual manipulations. In these elections the Liberal Party received 278 seats and the Conservative Party 56 seats. Sagasta became an MP in his home province of Logroño. In the following years, parliament decided to reintroduce jury courts and amend the law on associations, which resulted in trade unions being formally permitted. A new civil code was introduced in 1889 , after a new criminal code had been introduced in 1882 and an economic code in 1885. The general right to vote without an income or education census was also reintroduced in 1889 for male Spaniards over 25 years of age. In July 1890, Sagasta resigned and the regent reappointed Cánovas as president of the government. In February 1891 he held elections under the new electoral law, in which the Conservatives received 253, the Liberals 74 seats and the Republicans 31 seats. After disputes in the Conservative Party, Cánovas lost a vote of confidence in parliament at the end of 1892 and resigned, so that Sagasta took over the office of president in December 1892. He had elections to the Cortes carried out in March 1893, in which his Liberal Party won 281 seats in the usual way. In the 1893 elections, Sagasta ran in the constituency of La Habana in Cuba, in addition to Logroño. He won in both constituencies but did not accept the La Habana mandate. The mandate was reassigned in a by-election. Sagasta's candidacy in Havana, which is more symbolic, shows the importance that the remnants of colonial possessions were then given. Sagasta rejected the proposal of overseas minister Antonio Maura Montaner , who would have given Cuba extensive autonomy with its own parliament. On February 24, 1895, under the leadership of José Martí , the armed struggle for Cuba's independence began again, which culminated in the Spanish-American War . In March 1895, Cánovas took over the office of president of the government again. After his assassination on August 8, 1897 and a short term in office of Marcelo Azcárraga Palmero , Sagasta took over the business of government again in October 1897. After the intervention of the United States of America in the fighting in Cuba and the sinking of the remains of the Spanish Navy, Sagasta had no choice but to conclude the Paris Peace of 1898, in which the United States received from Spain Puerto Rico , Guam and the Philippines . Cuba became formally independent. This loss was of great psychological importance in Spain and Sagasta was accused of betraying national interests. In March 1899 Sagasta was replaced by the new chairman of the Conservatives, Francisco Silvela Le vielleuze, as President of the Government. After a further term as district president from March 6, 1901 to December 6, 1902, he died on January 5, 1903 at the age of 77 in Madrid.

literature

Web links

Commons : Práxedes Mateo Sagasta  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Walter L. Bernecker and Horst Pietschmann: Geschichte Spaniens 4th ed. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-17-018766-X , p. 262
  2. ↑ Historical listing of the members of the Congress (1810–1977)
  3. ^ José Ramón Urquijo Gotia: Diccionario Biográfico de los Ministros Españoles en la Edad Contemporánea (1808–2000) , Gobierno de España, Instituto de Historia, Historia política del siglo XIX.
  4. ^ Walter L. Bernecker and Horst Pietschmann: Geschichte Spaniens 4th ed. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-17-018766-X , p. 273
  5. ^ Walter L. Bernecker and Horst Pietschmann: Geschichte Spaniens 4th ed. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-17-018766-X , p. 283
  6. ^ Stanley G. Payne: A History of Spain and Portugal vol. 2, The Library of Iberian Resources online p. 469
  7. ↑ a b Walter L. Bernecker and Horst Pietschmann: Geschichte Spaniens 4. Aufl. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-17-018766-X , p. 279
  8. ^ Stanley G. Payne: A History of Spain and Portugal vol. 2, The Library of Iberian Resources online p. 494
  9. ^ Stanley G. Payne: A History of Spain and Portugal vol. 2, The Library of Iberian Resources online p. 511
predecessor Office successor
José Malcampo Monge Government President of Spain
1871 - 1872 		Francisco Serrano Domínguez
Juan Zavala de la Puente Government President of Spain
1874 –1874 		Antonio Cánovas del Castillo
Antonio Cánovas del Castillo President of the Government of Spain
1881 - 1883 		José de Posada Herrera
Antonio Cánovas del Castillo President of the Government of Spain
1885 - 1890 		Antonio Cánovas del Castillo
Antonio Cánovas del Castillo President of the Government of Spain
1892 - 1895 		Antonio Cánovas del Castillo
Marcelo Azcárraga Palmero President of the Government of Spain
1897 - 1899 		Francisco Silvela Le vielleuze
Marcelo Azcárraga Palmero President of the Government of Spain
1901 -1902 		Francisco Silvela Le vielleuze
personal data
SURNAME Mateo Sagasta, Práxedes
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sagasta (short name); Mateo Sagasta y Escolar, Práxedes (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish politician and president
DATE OF BIRTH July 21, 1825
PLACE OF BIRTH Torrecilla en Cameros , Logroño
DATE OF DEATH January 5, 1903
Place of death Madrid