The Republic Year: A Turbulent Moment in Spanish History
One hundred and fifty years ago, Spain faced its most turbulent era as Amadeo of Savoy abdicated in February. With Prim’s resignation, an attempt to crown a new dynasty, aligned with the values of the 1868 Revolution that toppled Isabel, faltered. A general’s assault on Calle del Turco left him dead on the eve of Amadeo’s arrival, removing the new monarch’s principal pillar of support. Hours later, the republic was proclaimed as a political remedy, even though Republicans held less than twenty percent of the seats in the Congress of Deputies. Thus began the First Republic, a brief chapter measured not by years but by months, lasting eleven. The rapid turnover of leadership followed, with four heads of government—Figueras, Pi y Margall, Salmerón, and Castelar—unable to stabilize the young state.
In the pages of Republic Year, readers accompany the tale through the hands of Fernando Besora, the director known for guiding Iberia through a period marked by uncertainty. Besora was a respected figure who navigated the shifting currents of journalism as Spain emerged from months of upheaval. These events grew from deep political rifts among republican factions and from brutal clashes that shook the country. Cuba had seen war since 1868, later dubbed the Long War, and the Carlists had returned to the mountains for a third time in 1872. A new force joined them that summer: cantonalism, a movement rooted in the idea of bottom-up governance, with Cartagena as its epicenter. The cantonalist surge sparked battles that would outlast the republic itself, shaping the political landscape for years to come.
Cartoonishly dramatic sessions in the Congress of Deputies unfolded, often dominated by the most radical voices as a form of pressure. The ideas espoused by Salmerón or Castelar resonated with current experiences, as journalists described the era in Besora’s press gallery and in features across Iberia—extending even to the work of Galdós and Fernán Caballero, who chronicled the period through literature and reportage. The nation’s press helped illuminate a time when opinion, literature, and public life intertwined, leaving a lasting imprint on Spain’s cultural memory. Panels and stories highlighted the role of journalism and its influence on public discourse, with advances in printing and the spread of ideas marking the era as much as any political event.
The republic year also reveals smaller, vibrant scenes from daily life. Readers encounter a Spain transitioning from horse-drawn carriages to railroads, and from postal wagons to modern transport. They glimpse hot springs frequented by the wealthy, salons where power and money mingle, and public spectacles such as duels and bullfights that captured the national imagination. Religious rites and street protests, both political and social, offer a lens into the era’s competing loyalties and beliefs. These snapshots paint a society in motion, where tradition and reform collided in public spaces and private lives alike.
This historical thread intersects with a dramatic conspiracy around the disappearance of valuable books from the National Library after Castelar’s moment of political misfortune in the early hours of January 3, 1874. The disappearance becomes a catalyst for a narrative about booksellers and bibliophiles, where a passion for literature can spark dangerous temptations and serious crime. The plot threads weave together with a broader portrait of a country wrestling with its future, a society where knowledge, power, and fate mingle in unexpected ways.
Republic Year presents a panorama of Spain from that era, capturing the personalities who shaped it and the public life that defined it. It is a story told through historical events and literary voices, offering readers a vivid sense of a nation in flux. The narrative places figures such as José Calvo Poyato within the broader tapestry of a republic in formation, highlighting how politics, culture, and personal ambition intersected during a pivotal moment in modern Spanish history.
In the end, the work reveals a period when the nation’s dialogue about governance, liberty, and identity was both unsettled and urgent. It shows how a republic, born from upheaval and framed by constant debate, sought to define itself amid chaos and transformation. The book uses the conflict between old orders and new ideas to illuminate what it meant to live through a time when everything felt up for grabs, and every decision carried weight beyond a single term of office. [citation: historical analysis and contemporary commentary referenced throughout the narrative]
HarperCollins. Madrid, 2022. 640 pages.