ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the emergence of the Spanish state in its modern form, in particular the first half of the restored Bourbon constitutional monarchy. It describes the emergence of the Canovas system of authoritarian yet constitutional politics dominated by two parties peacefully alternating in power. The chapter explores the abuses of this system, especially the immunity of political bosses, electoral fraud, and judicial corruption. It also explains how, despite the unyielding political environment, including a reinvigorated Catholic Church, a ‘silver age’ emerged in Spanish culture and shows how such new political ideas as Marxism, positivism, National Catholicism, regional nationalism, Darwinism, and, Regenerationism, either reinforced or challenged the political settlement. The post-1876 stability of dynastic politics, combined with a growing state, inspired contemporary politicians to imagine the nation. Popular Spanish nationalism, something largely absent in 1808 and partly confected in the colonial wars of the 1860s, swept the country, boosted to some extent by droughts and high food prices.
