Second Carlist War

The Carlist movement arose from a dynastic dispute over the Spanish succession, with supporters of the conservative, traditionalist Bourbon claimants descended from Don Carlos opposing the line of Isabella II. Championing Catholic legitimism, regional privileges, and the old order, the Carlists had already fought a major war in the 1830s and remained a potent force in Spain's northern provinces.

Taking advantage of the political turmoil that followed the 1868 revolution and the troubled reign of Amadeo of Savoy, the pretender Carlos, known to his followers as Carlos VII, launched a fresh rising. The renewed Carlist War erupted in the early 1870s and was fought chiefly in the Basque provinces, Navarre, and Catalonia, where Carlist sympathies were strongest.

The Carlists established control over parts of the north but could not capture the major cities or win national power. The war turned against them after the Bourbon restoration brought Alfonso XII, son of Isabella II, to the throne in late 1874. Government forces gradually prevailed, and the conflict ended in 1876 with the pretender's defeat and exile, confirming the restored Bourbon monarchy.