Ramón Cabrera on the Pages of the Newspaper Sankt-Peterburgskie Vedomosti in 1833−1840

Abstract

Through the prism of the publications in the Russian newspaper Sankt-Peterburgskie Vedomosti, this article studies the activities of General Ramón Cabrera, who took part in the First Carlist War in Spain (1833−1840). The conflict was motivated by the dynastic dispute between Don Carlos, one of the brothers of King Ferdinand VII of Spain, who died in 1833, and the widow, Queen Maria Christina, who defended the right of her daughter Isabella II to the throne. In the course of the conflict, Cabrera led the partisans of Don Carlos in the Maestrazgo, a historical area that included parts of modern Catalonia, Aragon, and Valencia. The period of 1838−1839 became the “golden age” of Carlism in the region. This paper analyses mentions Ramón Cabrera in Sankt-Peterburgskie Vedomosti between October 1833 and July 1840, i.e. throughout the conflict. A total of 1955 issues were studied, the war being mentioned in 1453 of them. The first mention of Cabrera in the newspaper dates back to 1834. However, the majority of the mentions were made during the final part of the conflict (1838−1840). In addition, the article provides examples of fake news, biographical paragraphs, and statements about the General by his comrades-in-arms. It is noted that some episodes of the war associated with Cabrera that later became widely known were only briefly touched upon in the newspaper. The General was a controversial figure in the eyes of his contemporaries, while Sankt-Peterburgskie Vedomosti took a neutral position on Cabrera.