When a country manages to achieve independence and full sovereignty over its territory , it is more common for the new nation to sever political ties with the dominant nation. This was not the case in the Republicana, as in 1860 the Dominican rulers proposed that the Spanish crown regain power. War of Restoration
The union with Spain
In 1860 Pedro Santana wrote a letter to Queen Isabel II proposing to return to the mother country . The purpose of Santana was to achieve national stability and protect the Dominican territory for possible interference of the United States.
In order for his proposal not to be unpopular, he proposed a series of conditions: that there should be no form of slavery, that the Dominican territory should become a Spanish province, and that Spain should assume the circulating paper currency. War of Restoration
The annexationists’ conditions were accepted by the Spanish government and the local authorities started a propaganda campaign to communicate the new Spanish domain to the people. Immediately Pedro Santana became the colony’s new governor.
The return to the colonial situation had several immediate consequences: the establishment of the Spanish legal system , the social and political predominance of Spanish elites, the aggravation of racial prejudice and a climate of religious intolerance . War of Restoration
On the economic front, the consequences were equally negative, as trade was reduced and the production of raw materials declined notably
The new framework generated popular class discontent and quickly intensified patriotic sentiment. Resistance centers began to be organized in 1863 and in this way the War of Restoration began. Little by little, the restorers took control of several Dominican locations, where they had the economic and military support of Venezuela and Haiti.
In 1864 the impulse of the restorers gained control of the entire territory and finally in 1865 the Spanish government decided to abandon the Dominican territory (the economic costs of the war were very high and, furthermore, the war was very unpopular in Spanish society as a whole ) . War of Restoration
Consequences
Although many cities were destroyed and many crops disappeared, national pride spread throughout the Dominican Republic.
At the same time, the inhabitants of Cuba and Puerto Rico – until then Spanish colonies – saw that their desire for independence was viable and that the Spaniards could be defeated. Finally, the combative attitude of the restorers caused the Haitians to renounce the armed invasion. War of Restoration
