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was welcome news, for Britain's expedi-
tionary force in Spain was already battling
against the French invaders. By early 1812
Zea, now with the rank of consul, was
back in St. Petersburg successfully negoti-
ating a treaty between Spain and Russia
pledging them to a common anti-French
policy. As a result of these missions Zea
was appointed minister plenipotentiary to
Russia during the post-Napoleonic period
with oversight of trade negotiations and
subsequently was sent to Britain with sim-
ilar responsibilities.
In 1824, following the fall of the liberal
regime that had controlled Spain between
1820 and 1823, Ferdinand VII summoned
Zea back from his diplomatic duties to
become minister of state at M ADRID . Rather
than impose a totally repressive policy as
some of the king's supporters urged, Zea
sought to balance conservative principles
with liberal concessions. While insisting on
the reaffirmation of royal prerogatives, he
diminished the power of reactionary mili-
tary commanders and guaranteed the pen-
sion rights of military men and their families
who had supported the fallen liberal admin-
istration. The minister's conciliatory actions
enraged the hard-line conservatives and
provoked a series of conspiracies and threat-
ened coups, forcing him to withdraw from
office by October 1825.
In 1832 with Ferdinand VII struggling to
secure the succession to his female heir
against the opposition of the Carlists, the
king brought Zea back to power. The min-
ister established a policy that he christened
“enlightened despotism,” which was, once
again, essentially a compromise between
absolute royal power and reformist princi-
ples. Zea believed that he could work with
the liberals while retaining the support of
all but the most extreme conservatives.
Once again he proved overly optimistic.
On the death of Ferdinand VII in 1833
his widow assumed the regency on behalf
of the young I SABELLA II. Zea persuaded
her to issue a decree asserting the rights of
the monarchy but promising no funda-
mental changes in principles. The minister
shuffled his cabinet to no avail and lost the
support of the regent when British and
French diplomats indicated that they
would not support her as long as the pres-
ent ministry remained in power. Zea real-
ized that he had exhausted all his options.
Resigning at the beginning of 1834, he
withdrew to France, where he died shortly
afterward. Frequently characterized as a
man of the ultraright, Zea Bermúdez was
in fact a seeker after a balanced system of
government who was doomed to failure in
a time of uncompromising extremism.
With his fall from office the onset of the
First Carlist War and years of bloody civil
strive became inevitable.
Zorrilla y Moral, José (1817-1893)
Spanish poet and dramatist
The son of a staunch conservative who was
a member of F ERDINAND VII's inner circle,
Zorrilla was educated at a school for young
nobles and began his university training
under the tutelage of the Jesuits. When he
was barely 17 he shocked the ruling circles
by joining the liberal critics of the regime.
Soon after he won the attention of literary
circles in M ADRID by delivering an impres-
sive elegy at the funeral of the satirical
essayist M ARIANO J OSÉ DE L ARRA . Building
rapidly on the notice he had gained, he
published a book of poetry, full of youthful
enthusiasm and romantic excess, that was
 
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