Editing Alfonso XII (section)

==Reign==
{{Main|Reign of Alfonso XII}}
[[File:5 pesetas Alfonso XII - 1875.png|thumb|5 Peseta of Alfonso XII]]

Within a few days after Cánovas del Castillo took power as Premier, the new king, proclaimed on 29 December 1874, arrived at [[Madrid]], passing through [[Barcelona]] and [[Valencia]] and was acclaimed everywhere (1875). In 1876, a vigorous campaign against the [[Carlism|Carlists]], in which the young king took part, resulted in the defeat of [[Carlos, Duke of Madrid|Don Carlos]] and the Duke's abandonment of the struggle.<ref name="EB1911"/>

Initially led by Cánovas del Castillo as moderate prime minister, what was thought at one time as a coup aimed at placing the military in the political-administrative positions of power, in reality ushered in a civilian regime that lasted until [[Miguel Primo de Rivera|Primo de Rivera]]'s 1923 coup d'état. Cánovas was the real architect of the new regime of the Restoration.

In 1881 Alfonso refused to sanction a law by which the ministers were to remain in office for a fixed term of 18 months. Upon the consequent resignation of Cánovas del Castillo, he summoned [[Práxedes Mateo Sagasta]], the Liberal leader, to form a new cabinet.<ref name="EB1911"/>

[[File:Homburg Castle Monarchs.jpg|thumb|left|Alfonso surrounded by his relative European monarchs and their spouses at [[Homburg Castle]] in 1883. [[Edward VII]], [[Wilhelm I]] and [[Carlos I of Portugal|Carlos I]] can be seen amongst others]]

In order to eliminate one of the problems of the reign of [[Isabella II of Spain|Isabel II]], the single party and its destabilizing consequences, the Liberal Party was allowed to incorporate and participate in national politics, and the '[[Turno|turnismo]]' or alternation was to become the new system. Turnismo would be endorsed in the [[Spanish Constitution of 1876|Constitution of 1876]] and the [[Pact of El Pardo]] (1885). It meant that liberal and conservative prime ministers would succeed each other ending thus the troubles.

This led to the end of the Carlist revolts and the victory over the New York-backed Cuban revolutionaries, and led to a huge backing both by insular and peninsular Spaniards of Alfonso.<ref>Ancede, M. (2020). The Spanish explorer who desecrated graves in the name of science. El Pais.</ref>

[[File:King Alfonso XII.jpg|thumb|right|Photograph of Alfonso XII, {{circa|1884}}]]

Alfonso's short reign established the foundations for the final socioeconomic recuperation of Spain, bringing an end to the political instability that had dominated Spain for the past two-thirds of a century (see [[History of Spain (1808–1874)]]). Both Europe (the coastal regions, such as the Basque Country, Catalonia, and Asturias) and the colonies in the Antilles and Pacific were able to grow steadily. Cuba and Puerto Rico prospered to the point that Spain's first train was not in Spain proper but between [[Havana]] and [[Güines]] in Cuba, and the first telegraph in Latin America was in Puerto Rico, established by [[Samuel Morse]], whose daughter and son-in-law lived there. Upon the [[Puerto Rico campaign|American invasion of Puerto Rico]], ten US dollars were needed to buy one Puerto Rican peso.