La España del liberal José María Blanco White en The Quaterly Review Magazine y en The British Encyclopedia

Abstract

El presente trabajo se ocupa de dos artículos sobre España escritos por José María Blanco White: uno publicado en 1823, en la revista The Quarterly Review, como recensión crítica de la obra de Michael J. Quin: A Visit to Spain; Detailing the Transactions which Occurred during a Residence in that Country, in the Latter Part of 1822, and the first four months of 1823; otro inserto en la Sixth Editions of the Encyclopaedia Britannica y fechado en 1824. Se presentan y analizan los hechos histórico-políticos acaecidos en España desde finales del XVIII y hasta el primer tercio del siglo XIX, sobre los que se extiende Blanco White. El examen revela, entre otras cuestiones, que Blanco White entendió que los españoles habían tenido muchas dificultades para desprenderse del yugo del absolutismo y que en España no había tenido lugar un inteligente y adecuado desarrollo del liberalismo, incapaz este de construir una respuesta ajustada a la realidad española que no fuese más allá de lo que la propia nación en ciernes era capaz de tolerar. Además, evidencia que White mostró un profundo desacuerdo con los principios de la fórmula liberal generalmente vinculada a las normas y prácticas tradicionales del liberalismo patrio, de clara inspiración e influencia francesa, optando por el modelo británico.

The present work deals with two articles on Spain written by José María Blanco White: one published in 1823, in The Quarterly Review Magazine, as a critical review of the work of Michael J. Quin: A Visit to Spain; Detailing the Transactions which Occurred during a Residence in that Country, in the Latter Part of 1822, and the first four months of 1823; another insert in the Sixth Editions of the Encyclopaedia Britannica and dated 1824. The historical-political events that occurred in Spain from the end of the 18th to the first third of the 19th century, on which Blanco White extends, are presented and analyzed. The examination reveals, among other issues, that Blanco White understood that the Spaniards had had many difficulties to get rid of the yoke of absolutism and that an intelligent and adequate development of liberalism had not taken place in Spain, which was incapable of constructing a response adjusted to the Spanish reality that did not go beyond what the fledgling nation itself was capable of tolerating. In addition, evidence that White showed a deep disagreement with the principles of the liberal formula generally adjusted to the traditional norms and practices of patriotic liberalism, of clear French inspiration and influence, opting for the British model.