Editing Isabella II (section)

== Birth and regencies ==
[[Image:Isabel II, niña.jpg|left|thumb|200px|Isabella II as a child. She is depicted wearing the sash of the [[Order of Queen Maria Luisa]].]]{{Main|Early life of Isabella II of Spain}}
Isabella was born in the [[Royal Palace of Madrid]] in 1830, the eldest daughter of King [[Ferdinand VII of Spain]], and of his fourth wife and niece, [[Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies]]. She was entrusted to the royal governess [[María del Carmen Machín y Ortiz de Zárate]]. Queen Maria Christina became regent on 29 September 1833, when her three-year-old daughter Isabella was proclaimed sovereign following the death of Ferdinand VII.

Isabella succeeded to the throne because Ferdinand VII had induced the [[Cortes Generales]] to help him set aside the [[Salic law]], introduced by the Bourbons in the early 18th century, and to reestablish the older succession law of Spain. The first [[pretender]] to the throne, Ferdinand's brother [[Infante Carlos, Count of Molina]], fought for seven years during Isabella's minority to dispute her title (see [[First Carlist War]]). The supporters of Carlos and his descendants were known as [[Carlists]], and the fight over the succession was the subject of a number of [[Carlist Wars]] in the 19th century.

Isabella's reign was maintained only through the support of the army. The Cortes and the [[Moderate Party (Spain)|Moderate Liberals]] and [[Progressive Party (Spain)|Progressives]] reestablished constitutional and parliamentary government, dissolved the religious orders and confiscated their property (including that of the [[Jesuits]]), and tried to restore order to Spain's finances. After the Carlist war, the regent, Maria Christina, resigned to make way for [[Baldomero Espartero]], Prince of Vergara, the most successful and most popular Isabelline general. Espartero, a Progressive, remained regent for only two years.

Her minority saw [[Spanish-American relations#Mid-nineteenth century|tensions with the United States]] over the [[United States v. The Amistad|''Amistad'' affair]].

Baldomero Espartero was deposed in 1843 by a military and political ''[[pronunciamiento]]'' led by Generals [[Leopoldo O'Donnell]] and [[Ramón María Narváez]]. They formed a cabinet, presided over by [[Joaquín María López y López]]. This government induced the Cortes to declare Isabella of age at 13. Between the beginning of her reign in 1833, and the [[Abdication of Margrethe II|abdication]] of [[Margrethe II]] of Denmark in 2024, at any given time, there was a queen regnant in Europe.