1914 Spanish general election
A general election was held in Spain on Sunday, 8 March and on Sunday, 22 March 1914, to elect the members of the 15th Cortes Generales#Restoration under the Spanish Constitution of 1876, during the Restoration period. All 408 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 180 of 360 seats in the Senate.
The informal turno system—which had allowed the country's two main parties, the Conservatives and the Liberals, to alternate in power by determining election outcomes in advance through caciquism and electoral fraud—broke down following Antonio Maura's downfall in 1909, as the latter had come to see the Liberal rise to power as the liquidation of the Pact of El Pardo. The government of Prime Minister José Canalejas attempted to enforce a liberal democratic regenerationism to curb the country's problems, seeing the abolition of consumption taxes, the introduction of compulsory military service, laws addressing the social question, the legal groundwork for the establishment of the Commonwealth of Catalonia in order to placate rising Catalan regionalism and the establishment of a Spanish protectorate in Morocco. But his assassination before he could fully realize his agenda plunged his plans—and his party—into chaos.
King Alfonso XIII entrusted the Count of Romanones with the formation of a new cabinet, but an internal crisis over the leadership of the Liberal Party prompted supporters of the Marquis of Alhucemas to split into the Liberal Democratic Party. As a result, Romanones's government fell in October 1913 after being defeated in a vote of confidence. Maura rejected the King's mandate to continue the turno, leading to the appointment of Eduardo Dato as prime minister instead. This fragmented the Conservative Party into the Maurists, the "suitable ones" and the Ciervists.
The election saw the Conservative bloc winning a majority of seats in both chambers, but internal infighting between the Maurist and Datist factions would leave the government in an unstable minority position. The Liberals ran divided between the supporters of Romanones and the liberal-democratic faction of the Marquis of Alhucemas. The Republican–Socialist Conjunction had been weakened by the departures of both the Reformist Party of Melquíades Álvarez and Alejandro Lerroux's Radical Republican Party.
Background
The Restoration system had entered a phase of decline following the national trauma from the Spanish–American War and the absence of politically authoritative figureheads since the deaths of Antonio Cánovas del Castillo and Práxedes Mateo Sagasta, weakening the internal unity of both dynastic parties and strengthening the position of faction leaders and local caciques as power brokers. Concurrently, the anti-monarchist opposition became increasingly competitive in urban and some rural districts, partly due to the introduction of universal suffrage since 1890, partly due to the progressive weakening of the pro-government electoral apparatus.The 1909–1910 government crisis had seen both the fall of the Conservative government of Antonio Maura by political pressure from the Liberals under Segismundo Moret, and the latter losing the support of the various factions within his party and being replaced by José Canalejas. As prime minister, Canalejas attempted to enforce his own vision of regenerationism to "nationalize" the monarchy and address the country's problems, which at the time included: growing tensions within the armed forces, Church–State relations, the Moroccan and social questions—with an increase in strike action and the emergence of the National Confederation of Labour, seeing episodes such as the Cullera events—and rising Catalan regionalism. This period saw the implementation of various reforms, such as the abolition of consumption taxes, the introduction compulsory military servicet, or a more appropriate regulation of women's working conditions.
Canalejas's aim to curb the Catholic Church's influence over public education resulted in a temporary rupture of relations with the Holy See, as well as a media campaign accusing Canalejas of fostering anti-clericalism. Discreet negotiations saw the approval of the Padlock Law in December 1910, which restricted the establishment of new religious orders during the next two years. His government also laid the legal foundations for the creation of commonwealths of provinces with limited powers in an attempt to placate the ambitions of the Regionalist League, paving the way for the Commonwealth of Catalonia in 1914. Canalejas refrained from intervening in the 5 October 1910 revolution that overthrew the Portuguese monarchy, but had to tackle its repercussions during the pro-republican mutiny aboard the ironclad Numancia in August 1911. The successful Kert campaign helped bring about the Spanish protectorate in Morocco, with the signing of the [Treaty Between France and Restoration (Spain)|Spain Regarding Morocco|Franco–Spanish Treaty of 1912].
Canalejas also attempted to rebuild the turno system through a conciliatory stance towards the Conservatives. Their leader, Maura, had come to see the Pact of El Pardo as liquidated following his fall from power in 1909, declaring an "implacable hostility" to the Liberals in power—equivalent to the official severance of solidarity ties between the two dynastic parties and a renounce to the power alternation—as long as they did not publicly retract their actions of the previous biennium. In the ensuing years, the Conservatives would divide among those adhering to Maura's political doctrine against the turno, and those advocating for continuity out of loyalty to the monarchy and a desire not to be excluded from power.
The assassination of Canalejas in November 1912 put an end to his agenda and plunged his party into chaos. King Alfonso XIII's initial decision to appoint the the Congress of Deputies, the Count of Romanones, as prime minister, was met with outrage by Maura—deepening his disaffection with the "failed" turno—as well as by supporters of minister of state under Canalejas, the Marquis of Alhucemas, who also aspired to the Liberal leadership. The Alhucemas–Romanones feud and the leadership crisis within the Liberal Party, coupled with the debate on the Law of Commonwealths, brought about the former's split into the Liberal Democratic Party in the summer of 1913 and the latter's downfall in a Senate vote of confidence on 25 October. Maura's refusal to accept the King's mandate and maintain the turno caused a schism within the Conservative Party between "maurists" and "suitable ones", leading Alfonso XIII to hand over power to the "suitable" Eduardo Dato. A third Conservative faction led by Juan de la Cierva—governance minister under Maura—supported restoring unity of action between idóneos and mauristas, without affiliating itself to either.
Within the republican opposition, the Reformist Party was formed in 1912 by Melquíades Álvarez, Gumersindo de Azcárate and Benito Pérez Galdós, representing a moderate, accidentalist and democratic republicanism. Concurrently, disagreements with Alejandro Lerroux's Radical Republican Party led to its departure from the Republican–Socialist Conjunction.
Overview
Under the 1876 Constitution, the Spanish Cortes Generales were envisaged as "co-legislative bodies", based on a nearly perfect bicameral system. Both the Congress of Deputies and the Senate had legislative, control and budgetary functions, sharing equal powers except for laws on contributions or public credit, the first reading of which corresponded to Congress, and impeachment processes against government ministers, in which each chamber had separate powers of indictment and trial.Electoral system
Voting for the Congress of Deputies was on the basis of universal manhood suffrage, which comprised all national males over 25 years of age, having at least a two-year residency in a municipality and in full enjoyment of their civil rights. It was compulsory, though those older than 70, the clergy, first instance judges and public notaries were exempt from this obligation. Additionally, voters were required to not being in active military service; nor being sentenced—by a final court ruling—to perpetual disqualification from political rights or public offices, to afflictive penalties not legally rehabilitated at least two years in advance, nor to other criminal penalties that remained unserved at the time of the election; neither being legally incapacitated, bankrupt, insolvent, debtors of public funds, nor homeless.The Congress of Deputies was entitled to one seat per each 50,000 inhabitants. 98 members were elected in 28 multi-member constituencies using a partial block voting system: in constituencies electing ten seats or more, electors could vote for no more than four candidates less than the number of seats to be allocated; in those with more than eight seats and up to ten, for no more than three less; in those with more than four seats and up to eight, for no more than two less; and in those with more than one seat and up to four, for no more than one less. The remaining 310 seats were elected in single-member districts using plurality voting and distributed among the provinces of Spain in proportion to their populations. Additionally, in those districts with uncontested elections, candidates were to be elected automatically without a vote.
As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Congress multi-member constituency was entitled the following seats:
| Seats | Constituencies |
| 8 | Madrid |
| 7 | Barcelona |
| 5 | Palma, Seville |
| 4 | Cartagena |
| 3 | Alicante, Almería, Badajoz, Burgos, Cádiz, Córdoba, Gran Canaria, Granada, Huelva, Jaén, Jerez de la Frontera, La Coruña, Lugo, Málaga, Murcia, Oviedo, Pamplona, Santander, Tarragona, Tenerife, Valencia, Valladolid, Zaragoza |
Voting for the elective part of the Senate was on the basis of censitary suffrage, which comprised archbishops and bishops ; full academics ; rectors, full professors, enrolled doctors, directors of secondary education institutes and heads of special schools in their respective territories ; members with at least a three-year-old membership ; major taxpayers and Spanish citizens of age, being householders residing in Spain and in full enjoyment of their political and civil rights ; and provincial deputies.
180 seats in the Senate were elected using an indirect, write-in, two-round majority voting system. Voters in the economic societies, the local councils and major taxpayers elected delegates—equivalent in number to one per each 50 members or to one-sixth of the councillors, with an initial minimum of one—who, together with other voting-able electors, would in turn vote for senators. The provinces of Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia were allocated four seats each, whereas each of the remaining provinces was allocated three seats, for a total of 150. The remaining 30 were allocated to special districts comprising a number of institutions, electing one seat each: the archdioceses of Burgos, Granada, Santiago de Compostela, Seville, Tarragona, Toledo, [Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Province of Valencia|Valencia in Spain|Valencia], Valladolid and Zaragoza; the six oldest royal academies ; the universities of Madrid, Barcelona, Granada, Oviedo, Salamanca, Santiago, Seville, Valencia, Valladolid and Zaragoza; and the economic societies of Madrid, Barcelona, León, Seville and Valencia.
An additional 180 seats comprised senators in their own right—the monarch's offspring and the heir apparent once coming of age; grandees of Spain with an annual income of at least Pts 60,000 ; captain generals of the Army and admirals of the Navy; the Patriarch of the Indies and archbishops; and the presidents of the Council of State, the Supreme Court, the Court of Auditors and the Supreme Council of War and Navy, after two years of service—as well as senators for life appointed directly by the monarch.
The law provided for by-elections to fill seats vacated in both the Congress and Senate throughout the legislative term.
Eligibility
For the Congress, Spanish citizens of age, of secular status, in full enjoyment of their civil rights and with the legal capacity to vote could run for election, provided that they were not contractors of public works or services, within the territorial scope of their contracts; nor holders of government-appointed offices, the judiciary, the prosecution ministry and presidents or members of provincial deputations—during their tenure of office and up to one year after their dismissal—in constituencies within the whole or part of their respective area of jurisdiction, except for government ministers and civil servants in the Central Administration. A number of other positions were exempt from ineligibility, provided that no more than 40 deputies benefitted from these:- Civil, military and judicial positions with a permanent residence in Madrid and a yearly public salary of at least Pts 12,500;
- The holders of a number of positions: the president, prosecutors and chamber presidents of the territorial court of Madrid; the rector and full professors of the Central University of Madrid; inspectors of engineers; and general officers of the Army and Navy based in Madrid.
For the Senate, eligibility was limited to Spanish citizens over 35 years of age and not subject to criminal prosecution, disfranchisement nor asset seizure, provided that they were entitled to be appointed as senators in their own right or belonged or had belonged to one of the following categories:
- Those who had ever served as senators before the promulgation of the 1876 Constitution; and deputies having served in at least three different congresses or eight terms;
- The holders of a number of positions: presidents of the Senate and the Congress; government ministers; bishops; grandees of Spain not eligible as senators in their own right; and presidents and directors of the royal academies;
- Provided an annual income of at least Pts 7,500 from either their own property, salaries from jobs that cannot be lost except for legally proven cause, or from retirement, withdrawal or termination: full academics of the aforementioned corporations on the first half of the seniority scale in their corps; first-class inspectors-general of the corps of civil, mining and forest engineers; and full professors with at least four years of seniority in their category and practice;
- Provided two prior years of service: Army's lieutenant generals and Navy's vice admirals; and other members and prosecutors of the Council of State, the Supreme Court, the Court of Auditors, the Supreme Council of War and Navy, and the dean of the Court of Military Orders;
- Ambassadors after two years of service and plenipotentiaries after four;
- Those with an annual income of Pts 20,000 or were taxpayers with a minimum quota of Pts 4,000 in direct contributions at least two years in advance, provided that they either belonged to the Spanish nobility, had been previously deputies, provincial deputies or mayors in provincial capitals or towns over 20,000 inhabitants.
Election date
The term of each chamber of the Cortes—the Congress and one-half of the elective part of the Senate—expired five years from the date of their previous election, unless they were dissolved earlier. The previous elections were held on 8 May 1910 for the Congress and on 22 May 1910 for the Senate, which meant that the chambers' terms would have expired on 8 and 22 May 1915, respectively.The monarch had the prerogative to dissolve both chambers at any given time—either jointly or separately—and call a snap election. There was no constitutional requirement for concurrent elections to the Congress and the Senate, nor for the elective part of the Senate to be renewed in its entirety except in the case that a full dissolution was agreed by the monarch. Still, there was only one case of a separate election and no half-Senate elections taking place under the 1876 Constitution.
The Cortes were officially dissolved on 2 January and 13 February 1914, with the Senate dissolution decree setting election day for 8 March and 22 March 1914 and scheduling for both chambers to reconvene on 2 April.