The Naval Rearmament Movement in Times of the Liberal Union: Public Opinion, Strategic Culture and Navalism in Spain (1858–1863).

The article examines the naval rearmament movement in Spain between 1858 and 1863, which united commercial bourgeoisie, liberal parliamentary and intellectual elites, naval officers, municipalities, Spanish emigrant communities in the Americas, and the press to promote the growth of the Real Armada as a tool of Spanish global power. It situates Spanish navalism within a broader 19th-century transnational trend linking naval strength to national identity and state power, highlighting how this movement shaped Spain's strategic culture during Queen Isabel II's reign. Key figures such as Miguel Lobo, Justo Gayoso, and Eusebio Salazar y Mazarredo developed grand strategic plans advocating for a modernized, versatile fleet aligned with Spain's geopolitical and commercial interests, particularly in the Americas, Asia, and Africa. The Liberal Union government (1858–1863) largely implemented these ideas through increased naval budgets, shipbuilding, and overseas interventions, although economic crises and political instability after 1864 curtailed the movement's long-term success. The article underscores that Spain's naval policies of the period were the product of a coordinated social and intellectual campaign rather than ad hoc ministerial decisions.