But a significant number of Spaniards opposed the Napoleonic regime due to its foreign origins or autocratic nature, while agreeing with some or all of the principles of the French Revolution.
At the end of the War of Independence Joseph Bonaparte and the troops of the French Empire were expelled before the deposed King Ferdinand VII had time to return to office.
The group's social base consisted of the urban middle classes, as well as a large portion of the new generation of military officers that had been produced by the War of Independence.
This latter group, of middling to humble social origins and influenced by the ideas of the French Revolution, had a grievance against Ferdinand VII for demobilising them after the war.
By 1834 the Spanish Congress of Deputies had a sizeable faction of former Exaltados and like-minded radical democrats; by 1836 many, though not all, of them had organised themselves into a more structured entity, the Progressive Party.
This rapprochement between the radical-liberal and conservative-liberal traditions was facilitated by the emergence of Carlism, an ultra-royalist movement that opposed parliamentary government and wished to restore the absolute monarchy.
In 1835 Queen Regent Maria Cristina named a veteran Exaltado, Juan Álvarez Mendizábal, as president of government (prime minister), with the Progressives forming the core of his parliamentary support.
In 1837 a revolt by radical military officers prompted Maria Cristina to again appoint a government of Exaltados and accede to the demands of the Progressives, who held a majority in congress.
A reform of local administration by one Moderate government, seen as a power-grab by the Progressive deputies, prompted the latter to walk out of parliament and demand that the widely popular war hero General Espartero be appointed regent to preserve the spirit of the constitution.
At this moment of volatility, the example of the Revolutions of 1848 in Europe prompted a shake-up of the Spanish parliamentary system: This realignment of parties brought political instability.