Editing Amadeo I of Spain (section)

==== Second Ruiz Zorrilla Government: Failure of the Radicals ====
[[File:RuizZorrilla.png|thumb|[[Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla]].]]

Post-Serrano, Amadeo tapped General [[Fernando Fernández de Córdova]] as interim president until Ruiz Zorrilla's return, calming radical press criticism. Up to 300 Radicals, led by [[Nicolás María Rivero]], {{Interlanguage link|José María Beránger|es|José María Beránger}}, and [[Francisco Salmerón]], visited “La Tablada” to recall Ruiz Zorrilla, greeted by thousands in Madrid. He demanded an unconstitutional Cortes dissolution and elections—less than four months since April—pressuring Amadeo, who yielded, appearing partisan to Radicals. Jorge Vilches calls this a “coup d’état” by Radicals forcing power via threats and constitutional breaches.{{Sfn|Vilches|2001|pp=304-306; 308}}

Ruiz Zorrilla formed his June 13 government, taking the Interior Ministry, with ex-Democrats Martos (State) and Echegaray (Public Works), ex-Progressives {{Interlanguage link|Eduardo Gasset y Artime|es|Eduardo Gasset y Artime}} (Overseas), [[Servando Ruiz-Gómez y González-Llanos|Servando Ruiz Gómez]] (Finance), [[Eugenio Montero Ríos]] (Justice), and Beránger (Navy), plus Fernández de Córdoba (War). Rivero was slated for Congress Speaker. A purge dismissed 40,000 civil servants for loyalists.{{Sfn|Vilches|2001|p=306}}{{Sfn|Fontana|2007|p=370}}

===== Assassination Attempt Against the King on July 18 and Insults to the Crown =====
[[File:Tentativa regicida contra D. Amadeo en la calle del Arenal.jpg|left|thumb|Assassination attempt on Amadeo I, July 18, 1872, {{Interlanguage link|Calle del Arenal|es|Calle del Arenal}}.]]

On July 18, Amadeo and Queen Maria Vittoria survived an assassination attempt on Madrid's {{Interlanguage link|Calle del Arenal|es|Calle del Arenal}}, intensifying his isolation as a Radical-dependent king. Warned via Martos and Governor Pedro Mata, Amadeo refused to alter his route; Mata's agents arrested Republican federalist attackers after they fired. [[Francesc Pi i Margall]] defended them in court. Public humiliations followed: carriage attacks on [[Calle de Alcalá]], mud-throwing on Cedaceros, insults near [[Parque del Buen Retiro, Madrid|El Retiro]], and aristocratic snubs like the “mantillas” incident.{{Sfn|Bahamonde|1996|p=86}}{{Sfn|Vilches|2001|pp=314-315}}

===== August 1872 Elections and Its Consequences =====
[[File:El entusiasmo, inmenso; la muchedumbre, indescriptible.jpg|thumb|Caricature of Amadeo I, {{Interlanguage link|Gil Blas (Madrid)|es|Gil Blas}}, August 4, 1872, by [[Josep Lluís Pellicer]].]]

The [[August 1872 Spanish general election|August 24 elections]] saw Radicals propose jury trials, abolishing [[Military Service (Spain)|conscription]] and {{Interlanguage link|Matrícula de mar|es|Matrícula de mar}}, church-state separation, public education, and militia strengthening to fulfill 1868 promises to the working classes.{{Sfn|Bahamonde|1996|pp=84-85}}{{Sfn|Vilches|2001|p=307}} The [[Constitutional Party (Spain)|Constitutional Party]] debated participation—opting in on July 5 to block a Republic—but fielded few candidates amid defeatism, with Serrano refusing to run, weakening the dynasty's conservative pillar. Topete, Sagasta, and [[Antonio de los Ríos Rosas]] led instead.{{Sfn|Vilches|2001|pp=269-276}} Radicals won 274 seats, with 77 Republicans, 14 Constitutionalists, and 9 Moderates, aided by a Radical-Republican pact and over 50% abstention from boycotts and apathy.{{Sfn|Bahamonde|1996|p=86}}{{Sfn|López-Cordón|1976|p=42}}{{Sfn|Vilches|2001|p=308}}

Vilches notes the elections discredited the 1868 Revolution among conservatives, shifting the regime leftward via illegalities, sidelining Constitutionalists, and aligning Amadeo with Radicals, prompting Bourbon restoration talk for [[Alfonso XII]]. Montpensier's June 20 letter endorsed Alfonso as a progressive heir, gaining traction with Cánovas's liberal Moderates.{{Sfn|Vilches|2001|pp=272-278}}

===== Abolition of Slavery Project in Puerto Rico =====
On September 15, Ruiz Zorrilla's reform program passed only the Criminal Procedure Law.{{Sfn|Bahamonde|1996|p=86}} The {{Interlanguage link|Abolition of slavery in Spain|es|Abolición de la esclavitud en España}} in Puerto Rico—immediate abolition, provincial regime, and split civil-military authority—split the cabinet. Overseas Minister Gasset y Artime and Finance Minister Ruiz Gómez resigned, replaced by Tomás María Mosquera, who presented it December 24, backed by Republicans and the [[Sociedad Abolicionista Española]]. Cuba's abolition was deferred due to Centro Hispano Ultramarino pressure. Conservatives feared destabilizing Puerto Rico and encouraging Cuban rebels, while Radicals saw it as a peace gesture. Opposition from the National League, including Serrano and Cánovas, sought a conservative government to halt reforms without toppling the regime.{{Sfn|Vilches|2001|pp=278-282; 318-321}}{{Sfn|Bahamonde|1996|p=86}}{{Sfn|Fontana|2007|p=371}}

===== Halted Reforms and Division Among the Radicals =====
[[File:Madrid - La première revue passée à Madrid par le roi Amédée, en l'honneur du prince Humbert (D'après le croquis de M. Urrabieta).jpg|thumb|Amadeo I reviewing troops, September 1871, by [[Daniel Vierge]].]]

Under [[Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla]]’s second government, ongoing conflicts—the [[Third Carlist War]] and [[Cuban War of Independence|Cuban War]]—blocked his pledge to abolish military drafts. Announcing a new recruitment in late 1872 sparked riots in several cities, emboldening “intransigent” federal Republicans to push their insurrectionary agenda. The most significant revolt erupted October 11 in [[Ferrol, Spain|Ferrol]], but it collapsed due to lack of local support and no nationwide echo. “Benevolent” Republican leaders, like [[Francesc Pi i Margall]], condemned it in the Cortes on October 15 as a “true crime” given “fully guaranteed” freedoms, deepening the party's split between legalists and insurrectionists—a rift only the Republic's proclamation four months later averted from escalating further.{{Sfn|Vilches|2001|pp=315-317}}{{Sfn|López-Cordón|1976|p=47}}

The Carlist War intensified in December 1872, again delaying draft abolition. Republicans rejected Ruiz Zorrilla's policies, with minor Andalusian rebel groups forming, though less threatening than Carlists.{{Sfn|López-Cordón|1976|pp=46-47}} Amid this turmoil, Ruiz Zorrilla tried mending ties with the [[Constitutional Party (Spain)|Constitutional Party]] by proposing ordinary courts, not the Senate, judge [[Práxedes Mateo Sagasta|Sagasta]] for the “two million reales scandal.” This backfired as democratic deputies, led by Congress Speaker [[Nicolás María Rivero]], and ministers [[Cristino Martos y Balbí|Cristino Martos]] and [[José Echegaray]], sided with Republicans to reject it. This internal rift bolstered “benevolent” Republicans’ strategy to lure ex-Democrats ({{Interlanguage link|Cimbrios|es|Cimbrios (política)}}) into a parliamentary majority to topple the monarchy.{{Sfn|Vilches|2001|pp=322-324}}