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The First Carlist War (1833–40), insurgency, Ramón Cabrera, and expeditionary warfare

Lawrence, Mark (2019) The First Carlist War (1833–40), insurgency, Ramón Cabrera, and expeditionary warfare. Small Wars & Insurgencies, 30 (4-5). pp. 797-817. ISSN 0959-2318. (doi:10.1080/09592318.2019.1638539) (KAR id:76357)

Abstract

The period 1833 to 1840 witnessed a brutal civil war in Spain waged between insurgent Carlists and the government Cristinos. The Carlists managed to secure reliable territorial control only over one part of Spain (upland Navarra and rural parts of the neighbouring Basque provinces). Although pockets of armed Carlism flourished elsewhere in Spain, especially in Catalonia, Aragón and Galicia, these insurgents were ineffective at coordinating actions. The Carlist court in the Basque country tried to break its strategic blockade by launching a series of expeditions into Cristino-held territory in the hope of destabilising the Madrid regime and consolidating distant insurrections. This article explains how and why these expeditions scored tactical victories but strategic failures. In particular it argues that Carlist raiding strategy was a failure, for its use of violence against real and imagined enemies in marginal and Cristino areas of control alienated civilian support.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1080/09592318.2019.1638539
Uncontrolled keywords: Carlism, violence, guerrilla, Ramón Cabrera, raiding
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Arts and Humanities > School of History
Depositing User: Mark Lawrence
Date Deposited: 11 Sep 2019 13:19 UTC
Last Modified: 04 Mar 2024 18:00 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/76357 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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