History of Madrid - Post War of Independence (1814)

Post War of Independence (1814)

After the war of independence (1814) Ferdinand VII came back to the throne, but after a liberal military revolution, Colonel Riego made the king swear respect to the Constitution. This would start a period where liberal and conservative government alternated, that would end with the enthronement of Isabellla II (1830–1904). She could not calm down the political tension that would lead to yet another revolt, the First Spanish Republic, and the comeback of the monarchs, which eventually led to the Second Spanish Republic and the Spanish Civil War.

The military uprising of July 1936 was defeated in Madrid by a combination of loyal police units and workers' militias. After this, from 1936–1939, Madrid was held by forces loyal to the Spanish Republic and was besieged by Spanish Nationalist and allied troops under Francisco Franco. Madrid, besieged from October 1936, saw a pitched battle in its western suburbs in November of that year and eventually fell to the nationalists on March 28, 1939. The Siege of Madrid saw the first mass bombing of civilians from the air by German aircraft of the Condor Legion.

During the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, especially after the sixties, the south of Madrid became very industrialized and there were massive migrations from rural environments into the city. Madrid's south-eastern periphery became an extensive slum settlement, which was the base for an active cultural and political frame.

After the death of Franco, emerging democratic parties (including those of left-wing and republican ideology) accepted Franco's wishes of being succeeded by Juan Carlos I - in order to secure stability and democracy - which led Spain to its current position as a constitutional monarchy.

Befitting from the prosperity it gained in the 1980s, the capital city of Spain has consolidated its position as the leading economic, cultural, industrial, educational, and technological center on the Iberian peninsula.

On 11 March 2004, Madrid was hit by a terrorist attack when terrorists placed a series of bombs on multiple trains during the rush hour. This was the worst massacre in Spain since the end of the civil war in 1939. At first the Basque separatists ETA were blamed but it was later revealed that Islamic terrorists were to blame. The Partido Popular, now in opposition, as well as certain media outlets such as El Mundo newspaper and a small percentage of the population, continue to support theories relating the attack to a vast conspiracy to remove them from power.

These theories consider that the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), ETA as well as members of the security forces and national and foreign secret services were implicated in the bombings. Nevertherless, all the investigations carried out by Del Olmo Judge in Madrid lead all suspicions towards a local terrorist Islamist cell (which mainly resided in the "barrio" of Lavapies) that wanted to punish the Spanish government for their implication in the Iraq war, as the terrorists themselves asserted in some video tapes found at the Madrid Muslim Mosque in the aftermath of the attacks.

Madrid has also expressed its desire to host the Olympic Games, and was a candidate for the 2012 games, which was finally won by London after Madrid was eliminated in the third round of the ballot. Immediately following the announcement of London's success, the mayor of the city, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, spoke of bidding for the 2016 games, and in 2007 Madrid formally announced its candidature. Again they got eliminated in the third round, this time to Rio de Janeiro.