The War of the Malcontents: A Guerrilla War?

Authors

  • Javier Posada Moreiras Universidad CEU-San Pablo

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53351/ruhm.v9i19.694

Keywords:

Malcontents’ War, malcontents watches, guerrilla groups, Royalist Volunteers, ilimitados officers

Abstract

The Malcontents’ War in Catalonia (1827-1828) has been traditionally considered by specialized sources as a guerrilla conflict. However, subsequent interpretations stressed the massive insurrection of the Voluntarios Realistas corps from the Principality of Asturias, which led to its suppression in Catalonia after the conflict. Other historians underlined the importance of the so-called «oficiales ilimitados» -military officers originating from the guerrilla units active during the Royalist Wars (1820-1823) leading the rebel Catalonian forces-, which were, eventually, not allowed in the army. Consequently, they became unemployed and were left in a very uncertain economic situation. In this sense, they may be considered the main factor behind the social unrest which eventually led to the war. All the above invites us to rethink this, on the other hand, not very well-known war -at least in its most strict military dimension— questioning whether it should be really considered a guerrilla conflict. To provide an answer –and resorting to the research tools handed out by Military History-, the most significant military operations carried out by malcontents watches were analysed. Besides, in accord with the bibliographical sources consulted as well as military doctrine, the composition and fighting profile of these guerrilla units have been described, focusing on their main commanders and operational core members so as to clearly differentiate guerrilla units from regular nineteen-century armies. Hence, the complex and polyhedral nature of malcontents watches and the crucial importance of Royalist volunteers as backbone of the rebel forces –including the aforementioned «ilimitados officers» as relevant guerrilla commanders, plus a civil mass of peasants and craftsmen used as troops- will be evidenced. The sources employed include specialized bibliography (mostly in Catalan) on the Malcontents War, and military service sheets of the main «ilimitados officers» and the rebel high command, records from the National Historical Archive and the General Archive of Palace and contemporary newspapers as primary sources.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

  • Javier Posada Moreiras, Universidad CEU-San Pablo
    • Licenciado en Historia de España por la UNED.
    • Título de Posgrado-Especialista Universitario en Historia Militar por el IUGGM de la UNED.
    • Realizó el V Ciclo de Introducción a la Historia Militar de España organizado por el IHCM del Ejército de Tierra.
    • Máster en Historia Contemporánea y del Mundo Actual por las Universidades de Barcelona y UOC de Cataluña (Curso 2015-16).
    • Actualmente, realizando el último curso del Doctorado en Humanidades para el Mundo Contemporáneo del CEINDO-CEU, con una tesis sobre las guerrillas carlistas.

References

José ALMIRANTE: Diccionario Militar, 2 volúmenes, Madrid, Ministerio de Defensa, 1989.

Miguel ALONSO BAQUER: “La reforma militar del siglo XIX”, Militaria. Revista de Cultura Militar, Madrid, Editorial Universidad Complutense, 1 (1989), pp. 15-26.

Pere ANGUERA: Els malcontents del corregiment de Tarragona, Barcelona, Dalmau, 1993.

Ramón ARNABAT MATA: “Notes sobre l'aixecament dels malcontents (1827)”, Butlletí de la Societat Catalana d’Estudis Historics, 10 (1999), pp. 107-128.

Domingo BLASCO VERDÚ y Francisco CABRERA CASTILLO: El Frente Invisible. Guerrilleros republicanos1936-39. De los “Niños de la Noche” al XIV Cuerpo, Madrid, Silente, 2013.

Gaston BOUTHOUL: Tratado de Polemología, Madrid, Servicio de Publicaciones del Estado Mayor del Ejército, 1984.

Alfonso BULLÓN DE MENDOZA: La Primera Guerra Carlista, Madrid, Actas, 1992.

Gonzalo BUTRÓN PRIDA: La ocupación francesa de España (1823-1828), Cádiz, Universidad de Cádiz, 1996.

Juan Luis CALVÓ: Armamento español en la Guerra de la Independencia, Barcelona, Ministerio de Defensa, 2008.

Antonio CARIDAD SALVADOR: El Ejército y las Partidas Carlistas en Valencia y Aragón, Valencia, Publicacions de la Universitat de València, 2013.

Antonio CARRASCO ÁLVAREZ: La guerra interminable: Claves de la guerra de guerrillas en España 1808-1814, Astorga, CSED, 2013.

Andrés CASSINELLO PÉREZ: "El movimiento guerrillero en la Guerra de la Independencia", en La Guerra de la Independencia (1808-1814). El pueblo español, su ejército y sus aliados frente a la ocupación napoleónica, Madrid, Ministerio de Defensa, 2007, pp. 10-15.

Eduardo CHAO: La Guerra de Cataluña, Madrid, Imprenta y Establecimiento de Grabado de D. Baltasar González, 1847.

Josep CLARÁ: “El Setge de Girona en la Guerra dels Malcontents”, Revista de Girona, 91 (1980), pp. 67-73.

Carl von CLAUSEWITZ: De la guerra, Madrid, Ediciones Obelisco, 2015.

Luis DÍAZ-TORREJÓN: "El movimiento guerrillero en la Guerra de la Independencia" en La Guerra de la Independencia (1808-1814). El pueblo español, su ejército y sus aliados frente a la ocupación napoleónica, Madrid, Ministerio de Defensa, 2007.

Alexandre DUPONT: “«Las causas justas son hermanas»: El internacionalismo contrarrevolucionario, entre tradición e innovación política”, Pedro RÚJULA y Francisco Javier SOLANS (eds.), El desafío de la revolución. Reaccionarios, antiliberales y contrarrevolucionarios (siglos XVIII y XIX), Granada, Comares, 2017, pp. 141-158.

Hugh ELTON: “¿Una eficaz máquina de matar?”, Desperta Ferro Especiales, número especial XIII (2018), pp. 12-16.

Josep FONTANA: De en medio del tiempo. La segunda restauración española, Barcelona, Crítica, 2006.

Josep FONTANA: La época del liberalismo, en Josep FONTANA y Ramón VILLARES (Dirs): Historia de España, Vol. 6, Madrid, Crítica/Marcial Pons, 2011.

Ronald FRASER: La maldita guerra de España: Historia Social de la Guerra de la Independencia, 1808-1814, Barcelona, Crítica, 2006.

Ronald FRASER: Las dos guerras de España, Barcelona, Crítica, 2012.

Francesc Xavier HERNÁNDEZ CARDONA: Breve Historia de la guerra moderna, Madrid, Ediciones Nowtilus, 2010.

Emilio LA PARRA LÓPEZ: Fernando VII. Un rey deseado y detestado, Barcelona, Tusquets, 2018.

Juan Carlos LOSADA MALVÁREZ: De la honda a los drones. La guerra como motor de la historia, Barcelona, Ediciones de Pasado y Presente, 2014.

Jean-Philippe LUIS, “La construcción inacabada de una cultura política realista”, Miguel Ángel CABRERA y JUAN PRO (coords). La creación de las culturas políticas modernas. Volumen I. Zaragoza, Marcial Pons Ediciones de Historia y Prensas de la Universidad de Zaragoza, 2014, pp. 319-346.

Fernando MARTÍNEZ LAÍNEZ: Como lobos hambrientos. Los guerrilleros en la guerra de la independencia (1808-1814), Madrid, Algaba Ediciones, 2007.

Antonio MOLINER PRADA: “La articulación militar de la resistencia: las Guerrillas”, Trocadero, 20 (2008), pp. 45-58.

Álvaro PARÍS MARTÍN: “Los voluntarios realistas de Madrid: politización popular y violencia contrarrevolucionaria”, Pedro RÚJULA y Francisco Javier SOLANS (eds.), El desafío de la revolución. Reaccionarios, antiliberales y contrarrevolucionarios (siglos XVIII y XIX), Granada, Comares, 2017, pp. 89-106.

Juan Sisinio PÉREZ GARZÓN: “Absolutismo y clases sociales. Los Voluntarios Realistas de Madrid (1823-1833)”, Anales del Instituto de Estudios Madrileños, 15 (1978), pp. 295-310.

Fernando QUESADA SANZ: “Armamento ofensivo romano: de Augusto a Nerva”, Desperta Ferro Especiales, número especial X (2017), pp. 26-33.

Joan Xavier QUINTANA I SEGALÀ: “Matices de una historia de la contrarrevolución”, Hispania Nova, Separata, 9 (2009), pp. 8-14.

Ramón del RÍO ALDAZ: “La formación del cuerpo de voluntarios realistas en Navarra (1823-1828)”, Museo Zumalacárregui. Estudios Históricos, 2 (1992), pp. 209-237.

Agustín Ramón RODRÍGUEZ GONZÁLEZ: “Las guerrillas de la Guerra de la Independencia: de partidas a divisiones”, Militaria. Revista de Cultura Militar, 7 (1995), p. 345-357.

Daniel RUBIO RUIZ: “Els cossos de Voluntaris Reialistes (Corregiment de Cervera): estructura social i conflicte”, Josep Maria SOLÉ SABATÉ (dir.), El carlisme com a conflicte, Barcelona, Columna, 1993, pp. 57-70.

Pedro RÚJULA: Contrarrevolución. Realismo y carlismo en Aragón y el Maestrazgo (1820-1840), Zaragoza, Prensas Universitarias de Zaragoza, 1998.

José María SANS PUIG: “La guerra de los ‘agraviats’ (1827)”, Historia y Vida, 240, (1988), pp. 44-56.

Manuel SANTIRSO: “El incierto cenit del carlismo catalán (1837-1840)”, Gerónimo de Uztariz, 14-15 (1999), pp. 153-178.

Manuel SANTIRSO: Revolución liberal y guerra civil en Cataluña (1833-1840), tesis doctoral dirigida por Josep FONTANA, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, 1995.

Manuel SANTIRSO: “Todas las guerras, la guerra. Joseph Tanski y la historia militar contemporánea en España”, El informe Tanski y la guerra civil carlista de 1833-1840, Madrid, Ministerio de Defensa, 2011, pp. 17-53.

Raimundo SANZ: Diccionario Militar, Zaragoza, Institución “Fernando el Católico” (CSIC), 2007.

Nuria SAUCH CRUZ: “La guerra dels Malcontents al corregiment de Tortosa”, Recerca, 5 (2001), pp. 141-184.

Carlos SECO SERRANO: “Prólogo”, Jaime TORRAS ELÍAS, La guerra de los Agraviados, Barcelona, Universidad de Barcelona, 1967.

Francisco SEVILLANO CALERO y Emilio SOLER PASCUAL (Eds.): Diarios de viaje de Fernando VII (1823 y 1827-1828), estudio introductorio de Emilio LA PARRA LÓPEZ, Alicante, Publicaciones de la Universidad de Alicante, 2013.

Federico SUÁREZ: Documentos del reinado de Fernando VII. VIII. Los agraviados de Cataluña, Pamplona, Ediciones Universidad de Navarra, 1972.

Federico SUÁREZ: “Los Cuerpos de Voluntarios Realistas. Notas para su estudio”, Anuario de Historia del Derecho Español, tomo XXVI, Madrid, 1956, pp. 47-88.

Jaime TORRAS ELÍAS: La guerra de los Agraviados, Barcelona, Universidad de Barcelona, 1967.

Jaime TORRAS ELÍAS: “Societat rural i moviments absolutistes. Nota sobre la guerra dels malcontents (1827)”, Recerques: Història, economía, cultura, 1 (1970), pp. 123-130.

Jaume TORRES GROS: “Documents sobre el Batalló de Voluntaris Reialistes de Tàrrega, 2ª comandancia de Bellpuig, 6 ª Brigada de Caçadors. Episodi de la Guerra dels Malcontents de 1827”, Urtx: revista cultural de l´Urgell, nº 14, 2001, pp. 217-224.

José Ramón URQUIJO GOITIA: “¿Voluntarios o quintos? Reclutamiento y deserción en la primera guerra carlista”, en Violencias fratricidas. Carlistas y liberales en el siglo XIX, Actas II Jornadas de estudio del Carlismo, Pamplona, Gobierno de Navarra, 2009.

José Ramón URQUIJO GOITIA: “Los escenarios bélicos. Las guerras carlistas”, en Miguel ARTOLA (dir.): Tomo IV. Edad Contemporánea I. El siglo XIX. Colección Historia Militar de España (dirigida por Hugo O’Donnell y Duque de Estrada), Madrid, Secretaría General Técnica del Ministerio de Defensa, 2015.

José Luís VILA-SAN-JUAN: Los reyes carlistas. Los otros Borbones, Barcelona, Planeta-De Agostini, 1997.

Luis VILAR Y PASCUAL y Juan José VILAR PSAYLA: Diccionario histórico, genealógico y heráldico de las familias ilustres de la Monarquía Española, Tomo III, Madrid, Imprenta de D.F. Sánchez a cargo de Agustín Espinosa, 1860.

Archivo General Militar de Segovia (AGMS)

Archivo General de Palacio (AGP)

Archivo Histórico Nacional (AHN)

Diario de Barcelona

Diario de Tarragona

Gaceta de Madrid

Downloads

Published

— Updated on 2020-12-14

Issue

Vol. 9 No. 19 (2020): Fear, Trauma, and Violence in the Wars of Antiquity

Section

Estudios

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License

By exercising the Licensed Rights (defined below), You accept and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of this Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License ("Public License"). To the extent this Public License may be interpreted as a contract, You are granted the Licensed Rights in consideration of Your acceptance of these terms and conditions, and the Licensor grants You such rights in consideration of benefits the Licensor receives from making the Licensed Material available under these terms and conditions.

Section 1 – Definitions.

  1. Adapted Material means material subject to Copyright and Similar Rights that is derived from or based upon the Licensed Material and in which the Licensed Material is translated, altered, arranged, transformed, or otherwise modified in a manner requiring permission under the Copyright and Similar Rights held by the Licensor. For purposes of this Public License, where the Licensed Material is a musical work, performance, or sound recording, Adapted Material is always produced where the Licensed Material is synched in timed relation with a moving image.
  2. Copyright and Similar Rights means copyright and/or similar rights closely related to copyright including, without limitation, performance, broadcast, sound recording, and Sui Generis Database Rights, without regard to how the rights are labeled or categorized. For purposes of this Public License, the rights specified in Section 2(b)(1)-(2) are not Copyright and Similar Rights.
  3. Effective Technological Measures means those measures that, in the absence of proper authority, may not be circumvented under laws fulfilling obligations under Article 11 of the WIPO Copyright Treaty adopted on December 20, 1996, and/or similar international agreements.
  4. Exceptions and Limitations means fair use, fair dealing, and/or any other exception or limitation to Copyright and Similar Rights that applies to Your use of the Licensed Material.
  5. Licensed Material means the artistic or literary work, database, or other material to which the Licensor applied this Public License.
  6. Licensed Rights means the rights granted to You subject to the terms and conditions of this Public License, which are limited to all Copyright and Similar Rights that apply to Your use of the Licensed Material and that the Licensor has authority to license.
  7. Licensor means the individual(s) or entity(ies) granting rights under this Public License.
  8. NonCommercial means not primarily intended for or directed towards commercial advantage or monetary compensation. For purposes of this Public License, the exchange of the Licensed Material for other material subject to Copyright and Similar Rights by digital file-sharing or similar means is NonCommercial provided there is no payment of monetary compensation in connection with the exchange.
  9. Share means to provide material to the public by any means or process that requires permission under the Licensed Rights, such as reproduction, public display, public performance, distribution, dissemination, communication, or importation, and to make material available to the public including in ways that members of the public may access the material from a place and at a time individually chosen by them.
  10. Sui Generis Database Rights means rights other than copyright resulting from Directive 96/9/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 1996 on the legal protection of databases, as amended and/or succeeded, as well as other essentially equivalent rights anywhere in the world.
  11. You means the individual or entity exercising the Licensed Rights under this Public License. Your has a corresponding meaning.

Section 2 – Scope.

  1. License grant.
    1. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Public License, the Licensor hereby grants You a worldwide, royalty-free, non-sublicensable, non-exclusive, irrevocable license to exercise the Licensed Rights in the Licensed Material to:
      1. reproduce and Share the Licensed Material, in whole or in part, for NonCommercial purposes only; and
      2. produce and reproduce, but not Share, Adapted Material for NonCommercial purposes only.
    2. Exceptions and Limitations. For the avoidance of doubt, where Exceptions and Limitations apply to Your use, this Public License does not apply, and You do not need to comply with its terms and conditions.
    3. Term. The term of this Public License is specified in Section 6(a).
    4. Media and formats; technical modifications allowed. The Licensor authorizes You to exercise the Licensed Rights in all media and formats whether now known or hereafter created, and to make technical modifications necessary to do so. The Licensor waives and/or agrees not to assert any right or authority to forbid You from making technical modifications necessary to exercise the Licensed Rights, including technical modifications necessary to circumvent Effective Technological Measures. For purposes of this Public License, simply making modifications authorized by this Section 2(a)(4) never produces Adapted Material.
    5. Downstream recipients.
      1. Offer from the Licensor – Licensed Material. Every recipient of the Licensed Material automatically receives an offer from the Licensor to exercise the Licensed Rights under the terms and conditions of this Public License.
      2. No downstream restrictions. You may not offer or impose any additional or different terms or conditions on, or apply any Effective Technological Measures to, the Licensed Material if doing so restricts exercise of the Licensed Rights by any recipient of the Licensed Material.
    6. No endorsement. Nothing in this Public License constitutes or may be construed as permission to assert or imply that You are, or that Your use of the Licensed Material is, connected with, or sponsored, endorsed, or granted official status by, the Licensor or others designated to receive attribution as provided in Section 3(a)(1)(A)(i).

  2. Other rights.

    1. Moral rights, such as the right of integrity, are not licensed under this Public License, nor are publicity, privacy, and/or other similar personality rights; however, to the extent possible, the Licensor waives and/or agrees not to assert any such rights held by the Licensor to the limited extent necessary to allow You to exercise the Licensed Rights, but not otherwise.
    2. Patent and trademark rights are not licensed under this Public License.
    3. To the extent possible, the Licensor waives any right to collect royalties from You for the exercise of the Licensed Rights, whether directly or through a collecting society under any voluntary or waivable statutory or compulsory licensing scheme. In all other cases the Licensor expressly reserves any right to collect such royalties, including when the Licensed Material is used other than for NonCommercial purposes.

Section 3 – License Conditions.

Your exercise of the Licensed Rights is expressly made subject to the following conditions.

  1. Attribution.

    1. If You Share the Licensed Material, You must:

      1. retain the following if it is supplied by the Licensor with the Licensed Material:
        1. identification of the creator(s) of the Licensed Material and any others designated to receive attribution, in any reasonable manner requested by the Licensor (including by pseudonym if designated);
        2. a copyright notice;
        3. a notice that refers to this Public License;
        4. a notice that refers to the disclaimer of warranties;
        5. a URI or hyperlink to the Licensed Material to the extent reasonably practicable;
      2. indicate if You modified the Licensed Material and retain an indication of any previous modifications; and
      3. indicate the Licensed Material is licensed under this Public License, and include the text of, or the URI or hyperlink to, this Public License.
      For the avoidance of doubt, You do not have permission under this Public License to Share Adapted Material.
    2. You may satisfy the conditions in Section 3(a)(1) in any reasonable manner based on the medium, means, and context in which You Share the Licensed Material. For example, it may be reasonable to satisfy the conditions by providing a URI or hyperlink to a resource that includes the required information.
    3. If requested by the Licensor, You must remove any of the information required by Section 3(a)(1)(A) to the extent reasonably practicable.

Section 4 – Sui Generis Database Rights.

Where the Licensed Rights include Sui Generis Database Rights that apply to Your use of the Licensed Material:

  1. for the avoidance of doubt, Section 2(a)(1) grants You the right to extract, reuse, reproduce, and Share all or a substantial portion of the contents of the database for NonCommercial purposes only and provided You do not Share Adapted Material;
  2. if You include all or a substantial portion of the database contents in a database in which You have Sui Generis Database Rights, then the database in which You have Sui Generis Database Rights (but not its individual contents) is Adapted Material; and
  3. You must comply with the conditions in Section 3(a) if You Share all or a substantial portion of the contents of the database.

For the avoidance of doubt, this Section 4supplements and does not replace Your obligations under this Public License where the Licensed Rights include other Copyright and Similar Rights.

Section 5 – Disclaimer of Warranties and Limitation of Liability.

  1. Unless otherwise separately undertaken by the Licensor, to the extent possible, the Licensor offers the Licensed Material as-is and as-available, and makes no representations or warranties of any kind concerning the Licensed Material, whether express, implied, statutory, or other. This includes, without limitation, warranties of title, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, absence of latent or other defects, accuracy, or the presence or absence of errors, whether or not known or discoverable. Where disclaimers of warranties are not allowed in full or in part, this disclaimer may not apply to You.
  2. To the extent possible, in no event will the Licensor be liable to You on any legal theory (including, without limitation, negligence) or otherwise for any direct, special, indirect, incidental, consequential, punitive, exemplary, or other losses, costs, expenses, or damages arising out of this Public License or use of the Licensed Material, even if the Licensor has been advised of the possibility of such losses, costs, expenses, or damages. Where a limitation of liability is not allowed in full or in part, this limitation may not apply to You.
  1. The disclaimer of warranties and limitation of liability provided above shall be interpreted in a manner that, to the extent possible, most closely approximates an absolute disclaimer and waiver of all liability.

Section 6 – Term and Termination.

  1. This Public License applies for the term of the Copyright and Similar Rights licensed here. However, if You fail to comply with this Public License, then Your rights under this Public License terminate automatically.

  2. Where Your right to use the Licensed Material has terminated under Section 6(a), it reinstates:

    1. automatically as of the date the violation is cured, provided it is cured within 30 days of Your discovery of the violation; or
    2. upon express reinstatement by the Licensor.
    For the avoidance of doubt, this Section 6(b) does not affect any right the Licensor may have to seek remedies for Your violations of this Public License.
  3. For the avoidance of doubt, the Licensor may also offer the Licensed Material under separate terms or conditions or stop distributing the Licensed Material at any time; however, doing so will not terminate this Public License.
  4. Sections 1, 5, 6, 7, and 8 survive termination of this Public License.

Section 7 – Other Terms and Conditions.

  1. The Licensor shall not be bound by any additional or different terms or conditions communicated by You unless expressly agreed.
  2. Any arrangements, understandings, or agreements regarding the Licensed Material not stated herein are separate from and independent of the terms and conditions of this Public License.

Section 8 – Interpretation.

  1. For the avoidance of doubt, this Public License does not, and shall not be interpreted to, reduce, limit, restrict, or impose conditions on any use of the Licensed Material that could lawfully be made without permission under this Public License.
  2. To the extent possible, if any provision of this Public License is deemed unenforceable, it shall be automatically reformed to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable. If the provision cannot be reformed, it shall be severed from this Public License without affecting the enforceability of the remaining terms and conditions.
  3. No term or condition of this Public License will be waived and no failure to comply consented to unless expressly agreed to by the Licensor.
  4. Nothing in this Public License constitutes or may be interpreted as a limitation upon, or waiver of, any privileges and immunities that apply to the Licensor or You, including from the legal processes of any jurisdiction or authority.

Creative Commons is not a party to its public licenses. Notwithstanding, Creative Commons may elect to apply one of its public licenses to material it publishes and in those instances will be considered the “Licensor.” The text of the Creative Commons public licenses is dedicated to the public domain under the CC0 Public Domain Dedication. Except for the limited purpose of indicating that material is shared under a Creative Commons public license or as otherwise permitted by the Creative Commons policies published at creativecommons.org/policies, Creative Commons does not authorize the use of the trademark “Creative Commons” or any other trademark or logo of Creative Commons without its prior written consent including, without limitation, in connection with any unauthorized modifications to any of its public licenses or any other arrangements, understandings, or agreements concerning use of licensed material. For the avoidance of doubt, this paragraph does not form part of the public licenses.

Creative Commons may be contacted at creativecommons.org.

How to Cite

The War of the Malcontents: A Guerrilla War?. (2020). Revista Universitaria De Historia Militar, 9(19), 165-185. https://doi.org/10.53351/ruhm.v9i19.694

Similar Articles

1-10 of 281

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.