The Spanish regency had come to depend on liberal support within the army during the first Carlist war, but after the end of the war against the traditionalists, both the liberals and the have army tired of Maria Cristina.

They force her to resign in 1840, and a liberal government assumes responsibility for the regency.

Spain's Liberals are a narrowly based elite.

Their abstract idealism and concern for individual liberties contrasts sharply with the paternalistic attitudes of Spain's rural society.

There is no monolithic liberal movement in Spain, but anticlericalism, the touchstone of liberalism, unifies the factions.

They theorize that the state is the sum of the individuals living within it and that it can recognize and protect only the rights of individuals, not the rights of corporate institutions, such as the church or universities, or the rights of the regions as separate entities with distinct customs and interests.

Because only individuals are subject to the law, only individuals can hold title to land.

As nothing should impede the development of the individual, so nothing should impede the state in guaranteeing the rights of the individual.

Atlantic Southwest Europe (1840–1851): Liberal Conflicts, Regional Unrest, and Early Industrialization

Between 1840 and 1851, Atlantic Southwest Europe—including northern and central Portugal, Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, northern León and Castile, northern Navarre, northern Rioja, and the Basque Country—experienced intense liberal conflicts, social and economic transformations, and regional tensions. This era saw the climax and resolution of the Patuleia Revolt in Portugal, continuing economic change through early industrialization, and deepening struggles over governance, liberal reform, and local autonomy in both Spain and Portugal.

Political and Military Developments

Portugal: Patuleia and its Aftermath (1846–1847)

• The Patuleia Revolt (1846–1847), a popular uprising particularly intense around Porto and northern regions, erupted against Prime Minister Costa Cabral's authoritarian centralization, taxation, and disregard for regional interests.

• With Porto as their stronghold, rebels formed an alternative liberal government, provoking significant military engagements.

• The conflict was resolved through international mediation by Britain and Spain with the Convention of Gramido (June 1847), restoring relative political balance, forcing Cabral’s resignation, and tempering central authority.

Spain: Moderates, Progressives, and Carlism

• Spain faced ongoing struggles between Moderate Liberals (Moderados) favoring centralized constitutional monarchy and the Progressive Liberals (Progresistas) seeking broader democratic reforms. Political instability resulted in frequent changes of government.

• Northern Spain—especially the Basque Country, Navarre, and parts of Catalonia—continued as sites of Carlism, whose supporters promoted traditional monarchy, the Church, and regional fueros (autonomy privileges). Despite military defeat in the earlier First Carlist War (1833–1840), Carlism remained politically active and influential, especially in Navarre, the Basque provinces, and rural areas of northern Castile and León.

Economic Developments: Early Industrialization and Maritime Growth

Portugal’s Maritime and Commercial Activity

• Porto expanded significantly through increased export of Port wine and textiles, primarily to British markets. Improved port facilities and infrastructure facilitated increased maritime commerce.

• Industrialization slowly advanced, especially in northern Portuguese cities like Braga and Guimarães, where textile manufacturing industries modernized production methods, increasing economic prosperity and urban employment.

Northern Spain’s Industrialization

• The Basque Country (Bilbao) and Cantabria (Santander) saw sustained industrial growth driven by iron production, shipbuilding, and expanding trade links with Britain and France.

• Galicia strengthened its maritime economy through fisheries, shipping, and trade expansion, notably from ports such as Vigo and A Coruña. Improved communication routes supported modest industrial growth in Galicia, Asturias, and northern León.

Social and Urban Developments

Urban Expansion and Social Tensions

• Major urban centers (Porto, Bilbao, Santander, Braga, Vigo) continued rapid growth, reflecting industrial employment opportunities and rural migration. Social inequalities became increasingly pronounced, fueling tensions between industrial elites and working classes.

• Social unrest in cities like Porto, Vigo, and Bilbao highlighted urban inequalities, leading to periodic labor strikes and demonstrations demanding improved working conditions, wages, and political representation.

Rural Hardships and Emigration

• Galicia, Asturias, and northern Castile faced persistent rural poverty, agricultural stagnation, and population pressures. These conditions spurred significant emigration to the Americas (especially Brazil, Argentina, and Cuba), marking early stages of mass Iberian emigration.

Cultural and Religious Developments

Liberalism, Education, and Secularization

• Liberal ideals continued reshaping education and intellectual life. Universities in Coimbra and Porto (Portugal), Santiago de Compostela (Galicia), and Salamanca (Castile) emphasized liberal education, secular studies, and scientific innovation, influencing educated elites and urban middle classes.

• Despite secularization trends, Catholicism remained socially dominant, with the Church strongly influencing rural populations, especially evident in the Basque Country, Navarre, and northern Portugal.

Cultural Flourishing and Regional Identities

• Regional literature, arts, and language revival movements flourished. Galicia saw renewed interest in Galician language and folklore; northern Portugal embraced literary Romanticism; the Basque Country nurtured distinct cultural pride through language and traditions.

• Artistic patronage in cities such as Porto, Bilbao, and Santiago de Compostela supported growing cultural identity and reinforced local autonomy movements.

Legacy and Significance

The years 1840–1851 in Atlantic Southwest Europe marked critical transitions toward greater regional autonomy, moderate liberal reforms, and early stages of industrialization. Portugal’s Patuleia Revolt underscored tensions between centralization and regional interests, while Spain’s ongoing liberal-Carlist conflicts reflected deeper ideological divides. Economic growth and urbanization brought prosperity but heightened social inequalities and prompted rural emigration. Cultural developments reinforced regional identities, laying critical foundations for future political and social transformations across the region.

The Spanish army’s displeasure at regent Maria Cristina’s attempts to overturn the constitution of 1837 results in her exile in 1840.

The Spanish civil war that ended in 1839 had lasted over seven years, the fighting spanning most of the country at one time or another, although the main conflict had centered on the Carlist homelands of the Basque Country and Aragon.

This first of the so-called Carlist Wars has left civilian politicians discredited, and generals have become the arbiters of politics not as intruders, as in 1814-20, but as part of the political machinery.

They have become the “swords” of the two main political groups.

The moderados, who are upper-middle-class oligarchic liberals fearful of democratic violence and upholders of the prerogatives of the crown, represent the conservative stream in liberalism.

Their rivals, the progresistas, are the heirs of the exaltados and represent a lower stratum of the middle class; the progresistas are prepared to use the discontent of the urban masses in order to bring pressure on the crown to give them office.

Their instrument is the Urban Militia.

General Baldomero Espartero, Prince of Vergara, had begun to dabble in politics in 1836; on his return to Madrid in 1840, he becomes head of the government and selects a cabinet of ministers who agree with his progressive ideas.

Espartero uses his military faction and his supporters among the younger progresista politicians and their artisan followers in the great cities to oust Maria Cristina, who in October resigns the regency rather than accept his program of reforms.

She departs for Paris.

The Cortes, or Spanish parliament, appoints Baldomero Espartero regent in May 1841.

Espartero's regency reveals his faulty understanding of politics.

The progressive party is not united, and when Agustïn Argüelles is appointed tutor to young Isabella II by the Cortes, Maria Cristina's protests from Paris gain the support of the moderates.

Generals Concha and Diego de Léon unsuccessfully attempt to seize Isabella in September 1841.

At Pamplona, Espartero defeats the pro-Maria Cristina insurrection led by Concha and de Léon.

The severity with which he crushes their rebellion makes his government unpopular, however.

American author Washington Irving is appointed U.S. minister to Spain in 1842.

Barcelona rises in November 1842, a year after Espartero's crushing of the military insurrection by the moderates, and declares a republic, but Espartero suppresses by December, with equally harsh measures.

Baldomero Espartero has proven a disappointment to the radical progresistas, who now ally with his conservative opponents under his military and political rival, Ramón María Narváez.

In a pronunciamiento led by Generals Narváez, Juan Prim and Francisco Serrano, an alliance of Moderates, Progressives, and Republicans moves against Espartero.

Narváez, representing the new alliance, seizes Madrid on July 15, obliging Espartero to flee to England.

Narváez is asked to form a government under Isabella II, who, thirteen years old on October 10, 1843, is declared of age, and Narváez becomes Lieutenant General of the Kingdom, inaugurating what will be known as the Moderate Era.