article · Revista universitaria de historia militar
During the absolutist restoration between 1814 and 1820, New Spain experienced significant political, military, and financial shifts following the return of Ferdinand VII to absolute monarchy and the abolition of the constitutional regime. The period saw the decline and fragmentation of the insurgency after the fall of leader José María Morelos. Viceroy Félix María Calleja led the absolutist restoration, introducing ambiguities and arbitrary measures into administrative structures. In Oaxaca, a genuine military reconquest took place alongside political opportunism and efforts to segregate communities while overturning Cadiz constitutionalism. Counterinsurgency policies throughout the conflict demonstrated notable continuities, particularly through the widespread implementation of pardons under Calleja and his successor, Juan Ruiz de Apodaca. Prolonged conflict also fostered militarised provincial governments, tightened territorial control mechanisms, and expanded royalist militias, reflecting a pervasive militarisation of colonial society.
Understanding how regime changes and counterinsurgency policies altered governance structures provides crucial insight into Latin American state formation. By examining how authoritarian restoration, political opportunism, and armed militias reshaped provincial control in New Spain, this research clarifies the mechanisms through which protracted internal conflicts leave lasting legacies of militarisation across civil society and regional administrative systems.
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Título: La Restauración en la Nueva España: Guerra, cambios de régimen y militarización entre 1814 y 1820Title: The Restoration in New Spain: War, Regime Changes and Militarization in New Spain, 1814-1820[ES] Resumen: Este artículo aborda un conjunto de fenómenos históricos que tuvieron lugar en la Nueva España durante el periodo de la restauración absolutista. El texto busca recuperar la complejidad de la etapa que transcurrió entre la llegada de las noticias del restablecimiento de Fernando VII como monarca absoluto en 1814 y la nueva puesta en marcha del régimen constitucional en 1820. Entre otros objetivos, se propone analizar el impacto de la pretendida vuelta al antiguo régimen en términos de la estructura política y militar. Al efecto, primero se analizan las particularidades de la restauración novohispana y las vicisitudes del conflicto en esos años. De esta forma, el artículo recupera la decadencia y la fragmentación de la insurgencia a partir de la caída de su líder más visible, el cura José María Morelos, y problematiza las arbitrariedades y ambigüedades que trajo consigo la abolición del régimen constitucional y las implicaciones políticas, militares e incluso fiscales que ocasionó la Restauración absolutista emprendida por el virrey Félix María Calleja. En segunda instancia se examina el significativo caso oaxaqueño como uno de los pocos pero reveladores ejemplos novohispanos de genuina reconquista militar seguida de la problemática y relativa anulación de constitucionalismo gaditano, escenario que ofrece interesantes casos de “veletismo” político y manipulaciones tendientes a la segregación de grupos y comunidades enteras. Por último se revisan tres ámbitos emblemáticos del periodo en cuestión para evaluar las políticas de la guerra: la instrumentación de los indultos como uno de los fenómenos más representativos de la continuidad entre las gestiones de los virreyes Calleja y su sucesor Juan Ruiz de Apodaca; el militarismo de los gobiernos provinciales y de las estructuras de control territorial como consecuencias palpables de la prolongación del conflicto independentista; así como el crecimiento de las milicias de realistas, cuerpos en los se puede analizar con mayor claridad la creciente militarización de la sociedad novohispana.Palabras clave: Independencia de México, restauración absolutista, militarización, Constitución de Cádiz, contrainsurgencia. [EN] Abstract: This article deals with a set of historical phenomena located in New Spain during the period of the absolutist restoration. The text is aimed to expose the complex-ity of the events that occurred between the arrival of the news of the restoration of Ferdinand VII as an absolute monarch in 1814 and the new implementation of the constitutional regime in 1820. Among other objectives, the present study aims to analyze the impact of the return to the Ancien Régime envisioned by Ferdinand VII in terms of the political and military structure. To this end, we will first consider the particularities of the New Spain restoration and the vicissitudes of the conflict in those years. In this way, the article reviews the decline and fragmentation of the insurgency after the fall of its most visible leader, priest José María Morelos, and problematizes the arbitrariness and ambiguities caused by the abolition of the constitutional regime and the political, military and financial implications that produced the absolutist restoration ordered by the viceroy Felix Maria Calleja. In second instance, the significant Oaxacan case is examined as one of the few but significant examples of genuine military reconquest followed by the problematic and relative abolition of Cadiz constitutionalism, a scenario that offers interesting cases of political opportunism and manipulations tending aiming at the segregation of groups and entire communities. Finally, the present article examines three emblematic problems of the period in question, which are re-viewed to evaluate the policies of the war: the implementation of the pardons as one of the most representative phenomena of continuity between the viceroys Calleja and his successor Juan Ruiz de Apodaca; the militarism of provincial governments and territorial control structures as tangible consequences of the prolongation of the independence revolution and the growth of the “realistas” militias, the latter as a visible example of the increasing militarization of New Spain’s society. Keywords: Independence of Mexico, absolutist restoration, militarization, Cadiz Constitution, counterinsurgency.
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DOI: 10.53351/ruhm.v7i15.471
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