The Carlist Wars were a series of civil wars that took place in Spain during the 19th century. The contenders fought to establish their claim to the throne, although some political differences also existed. Indeed, several times during the period from 1833 to 1876 the Carlists — followers of Infante Carlos and his descendants — rallied to the cry of "God, Country, and King" and fought for the cause of Spanish tradition against liberalism, and later the republicanism, of the Spanish governments of the day. The Carlist Wars had a strong regional component, given that the new order called into question region–specific law arrangements and customs kept for centuries. When King Ferdinand VII of Spain died in 1833, his widow, Queen Maria Cristina, became regent on behalf of their infant daughter Queen Isabella II. This splintered the country into two factions known as the Cristinos and the Carlists. The Cristinos were the supporters of Queen Maria Cristina and her government, and were the party of the Liberals. The Carlists were the supporters of Infante Carlos of Spain, Count of Molina, a pretender to the throne and brother of the deceased Ferdinand VII. Carlos denied the validity of the Pragmatic Sanction of 1830 that abolished the semi Salic Law. They wanted a return to autocratic monarchy. While some historians count three wars, other authors and popular usage refer to the existence of two big engagements, the First and the Second, with the 1846–1849 events being taken as a minor episode.
The First Carlist War lasted more than seven years and the fighting spanned most of the country at one time or another, although the main conflict centered on the Carlist homelands of the Basque Country and Aragon, Catalonia and Valencia.
The Third Carlist War began in the aftermath of the deposition of one ruling monarch and abdication of another. Queen Isabella II was overthrown by a conspiracy of liberal generals in 1868, and left Spain in some disgrace. The Cortes replaced her with Amadeo, the Duke of Aosta. Then, when the Spanish elections of 1872 resulted in government violence against Carlist candidates and a swing away from Carlism, the Carlist pretender, Carlos VII, decided that only force of arms could win him the throne. The Third Carlist War began. It lasted until 1876.
