The Basque Country (pdf, 4,3Mb) - Kultura Saila - Euskadi.net

2.3. The rise of liberal capitalism:
early industrialisation
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The sixteenth through the nineteenth centuries saw a change from
the typical feudal society of the Middle Ages to another type of
society based on capitalism. The emergence of new powers in the
seventeenth century brought about political and social conflict,
including numerous popular uprisings known as matxinadas.
2.3.1. Political aspects
In the decades following the triumph of the Bourbons in the War
of Spanish Secession, many of the tax and free trade advantages
enjoyed by the Basque economy were removed.
At the end of the eighteenth century efforts were already being
made to move the customs houses from the inland locations
(the mountains bordering Castile) to the coast and the Pyrenees,
meaning that foreign merchandise would no longer be able to
enter freely.
The defeat of the First Carlist War fifty years later would put a
permanent end to the matter.
But first, the wars between Spain and France in the late eighteenth
and early nineteenth centuries caused great destruction to Basque
lands; an example is the tremendous fire that razed Donostia.
The nineteenth century is characterised by a gradual loss of rights
for the Basque people, particularly after the two Carlist wars, and
by a deep political crisis. The first Carlist War began in 1833,
owing to a dispute between pretenders to the Spanish throne –
supporters of Isabel II (liberals) as heir versus supporters of Don
Carlos (Carlistas or Carlists) – but also because of two conflicting
ways of thinking (traditionalism and liberalism) and the fear of
losing the fueros.
The so-called “embrace of Bergara”
between General Espartero (Liberal)
and General Maroto (Carlist),
marking the end of the First Carlist
War in 1839.
The war ended in 1839, bringing about the defeat of the Carlists
(sealed by the “Abrazo de Vergara” or embrace in Vergara), the
fueros being linked to the constitution, the abolition of the fuero
for Navarre – including the elimination of its legislative and judicial
powers – which was replaced by the Ley Paccionada of 1841.
Stained glass window in the Gernika Assembly
Hall, Bizkaia. The images shows God granting
the Basque people charter of privileges or fueros.
Although the Kingdom of Navarre was incorporated as another
province of the liberal state, it did retain some of its earlier
powers. The Basque provinces (today Euskadi) refused to become
a single province, and therefore retained provisional status.