Pueblo y elites en la crisis del absolutismo: los voluntarios realistas

Abstract

Pueblo y elites en la crisis del absolutismo: los voluntarios realistas

The military situation existing at the times of the birth of the voluntarios realistas was such that nobody thought of questioning the social composition, mainly popular, of this armed force. In 1823 this dangerous solution of arming the populace — due to the frailty of the absolute State and especially to its military organization — instead of being a provisional arrangement became a stable need. So the absolutist élites were split between who deemed the popular support crucial for maintaining the ancien régime and who considered that arming the people was not a guarantee of preserving the status quo, as there was a big risk in giving weapons to social sectors who were in principle capable of employing these same weapons against the order they were supposed to support.