<P> In Spain, the failure of the second bourgeois revolution was followed by a period of uneasy peace for the next decade . Having borne only a female heir presumptive, it appeared that Ferdinand would be succeeded by his brother, Infante Carlos of Spain . While Ferdinand aligned with the conservatives, fearing another national insurrection, he did not view Carlos's reactionary policies as a viable option . Ferdinand--resisting the wishes of his brother--decreed the Pragmatic Sanction of 1830, enabling his daughter Isabella to become Queen . Carlos, who made known his intent to resist the sanction, fled to Portugal . </P> <P> Ferdinand's death in 1833 and the accession of Isabella II as Queen of Spain sparked the First Carlist War (1833--39). Isabella was only three years old at the time so her mother, Maria Cristina of Bourbon - Two Sicilies, was named regent until her daughter came of age . Carlos invaded the Basque country in the north of Spain and attracted support from absolutist reactionaries and conservatives; these forces were known as the "Carlist" forces . The supporters of reform and of limitations on the absolutist rule of the Spanish throne rallied behind Isabella and the regent, Maria Christina; these reformists were called "Cristinos ." Though Cristino resistance to the insurrection seemed to have been overcome by the end of 1833, Maria Cristina's forces suddenly drove the Carlist armies from most of the Basque country . Carlos then appointed the Basque general Tomás de Zumalacárregui as his commander - in - chief . Zumalacárregui resuscitated the Carlist cause, and by 1835 had driven the Cristino armies to the Ebro River and transformed the Carlist army from a demoralized band into a professional army of 30,000 of superior quality to the government forces . Zumalacárregui's death in 1835 changed the Carlists' fortunes . The Cristinos found a capable general in Baldomero Espartero . His victory at the Battle of Luchana (1836) turned the tide of the war, and in 1839, the Convention of Vergara put an end to the first Carlist insurrection . </P> <P> The progressive General Espartero, exploiting his popularity as a war hero and his sobriquet "Pacifier of Spain", demanded liberal reforms from Maria Cristina . The Queen Regent, who resisted any such idea, preferred to resign and let Espartero become regent instead in 1840 . Espartero's liberal reforms were then opposed by moderates, and the former general's heavy - handedness caused a series of sporadic uprisings throughout the country from various quarters, all of which were bloodily suppressed . He was overthrown as regent in 1843 by Ramón María Narváez, a moderate, who was in turn perceived as too reactionary . Another Carlist uprising, the Matiners' War, was launched in 1846 in Catalonia, but it was poorly organized and suppressed by 1849 . </P> <P> Isabella II of Spain took a more active role in government after coming of age, but she was immensely unpopular throughout her reign (1833--68). She was viewed as beholden to whoever was closest to her at court, and the people of Spain believed that she cared little for them . As a result, there was another insurrection in 1854 led by General Domingo Dulce y Garay and General Leopoldo O'Donnell y Jarris . Their coup overthrew the dictatorship of Luis Jose Sartorius, 1st Count of San Luis . As the result of the popular insurrection, the Partido Progresista (Progressive Party) obtained widespread support in Spain and came to power in the government in 1854 . In 1856, Isabella attempted to form the Liberal Union, a pan-national coalition under the leadership of Leopoldo O'Donnell, who had already marched on Madrid that year and deposed another Espartero ministry . Isabella's plan failed and cost Isabella more prestige and favor with the people . In 1860, Isabella launched a successful war against Morocco, waged by generals O'Donnell and Juan Prim that stabilized her popularity in Spain . However, a campaign to reconquer Peru and Chile during the Chincha Islands War (1864--66) proved disastrous and Spain suffered defeat before the determined South American powers . </P>

How did spain emerge as the first modern european power