The Advance of Democracy in Eastern Andalucía, 1860–1861

Abstract

The abject and tragic failure of Cámara’s fifth attempt at insurrection in three years revealed the weakness of clandestine organisation once police got on the scent. The insurrectionary wing of the Democrat party never recovered momentum that it had enjoyed under Cámara’s leadership between 1855 and 1859. Yet with the foundation of Italy as a nation state in 1860, Democrats could now appreciate how failed insurrections had been a dynamic factor in the Risorgimento. Hence Sixto Cámara’s reputation grew after his death, the newspaper campaign for the return of the martyr’s body to Madrid keeping the myth of insurrection and heroic sacrifice alive. On the local level Democrats in Loja observed how clandestine organisation had contributed to the defeat of Carlos Marfori, Narváez’s candidate for Loja in 1858. The logic of clandestinity therefore remained while Garibaldi’s exploits in southern Italy showed how Spain’s own national regeneration might be achieved through inspired acts of daring.