Guerra de Melilla y reajustes en Europa (1893-1894)

Abstract

It has been said that Spain lacked a foreing policy during the Restauration period. This lack han been considered a decisive factor in the defeat by the United States. The policy of internal consolidation, which the Spanish rulers shared with those of Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany and Austrian-Hungary, hat nothing to do with isolationism. It meant the accceptance of existing boundaries, a policy of non-aggression, a concentration of resources on institutional stabilization, and from the second half of the 1880s, an improvement of the welfare of the lower social classes. This article, stemming from a research project, situates the geostrategic position of Spain in a framework of triple solidarity: with the European monarchies, with the Mediterranean nations (including those of North Africa), and with the political parties of each country. That community of interests ought to act as a factor of cohesion at a time when the fluidity of European policy created uncertainty and threatened the peace.