Pact of Territet

It was also tacitly understood that the following king should be Juan de Borbón y Battenberg, descendant of the Alfonsist branch but supposed to embrace Carlist political principles.

Following unexpected death of Jaime III the agreement was questioned by his Carlist successor, posing as Alfonso Carlos I; he demanded further declarations on part of the Alfonsists.

[11] Though for almost 100 years in a bitter dynastical feud, in 1931 the Alfonsists and the Carlists found themselves driven somewhat closer by their shared hostility towards the newly established republic.

[13] In both movements there were currents which supported opening talks on some sort of dynastical agreement, possibly even leading up to final reconciliation of the two branches.

Many Carlists were infuriated by an idea of a compromise with the hated liberal dynasty that generations of their forefathers fought (and died) to topple.

In the Alfonsist ranks, not fully recovered from bewilderment and shock following the rapid fall of the monarchy, the opposition to any deal with the Carlists was less pronounced.

[15] Having left Spain from the port of Valencia in April 1931 the former king Don Alfonso travelled by sea to Marseilles and then further on towards Paris.

However, at one point in the spring of 1931 they decided to open talks on some sort of dynastic agreement; no source consulted provides information who initiated the negotiations.

[21] No details are known though it seems that basic principles of some consensus were agreed at the time;[22] also a so-called Comité de Accíon, the body called to discuss would-be violent action against the republic, continued talks with the Alfonsists in Saint-Jean-de-Luz and San Sebastián.

[23] Don Jaime was reportedly strongly influenced by his secretary Francisco Melgar, Rafael de Olazábal and especially by Gómez Pujadas, who travelled to Frohsdorf to convince his king;[24] they were allegedly from the onset determined to work towards a fusion and towards passing succession rights to the Alfonsist branch.

[26] Dánvila and Gómez agreed the text and having obtained approval of their monarchs they signed the draft in the Swiss locality of Territet on September 12, 1931; it was subject to later royal ratification.

In a later separate statement, issued by Don Jaime only, the author noted that "neither my cousin nor I have abdicated our rights, for this is simply a matter of political agreement with no other goal than the happiness of Spain".

[36] However, on October 2 Don Jaime died unexpectedly due to heart failure; none of the sources consulted suggests it was anyhow related to talks on dynastical succession.

However, he reportedly remained skeptical about details and according to his own later account he refused to sign or even support the draft at one stage of the negotiations.

[39] In early December 1931 in a private letter to one of his Carlist correspondents he approvingly referred to a joint monarchic pact intended to save Spain from communism and hinted at an interview (by telephone?)

The third one declared Don Alfonso Carlos the head of the House of Borbón and the acting regent, which in an opportune moment would convoke the Cortes to work out details of the regime.

At that time in internal Carlist correspondence the 83-year-old admitted that after his death indeed the agnatic succession would pass on Don Alfonso, but he could not be considered a legitimate king unless in a solemn and official form he swears allegiance to Traditionalist rules and principles.

[52] There was little progress in course of 1933,[53] apart that Carlist and Alfonsist political structures in Spain, CT and RE, formed an electoral alliance; it was only grudgingly approved by Don Alfonso Carlos.

Many leaders of RE were not averse towards incorporating elements from the Traditionalist ideological toolset,[54] but not necessarily up to the point of denying legitimacy to the Alfonsist branch.

The current known as Cruzadistas demanded clear declaration that no such thing was possible and advanced own dynastic solution; in return, Don Alfonso Carlos expulsed them from the Comunión.

[55] In 1934 Don Alfonso Carlos issued manifestos which claimed that recognition of legitimacy of the Carlist branch is the conditio sine qua non expected of any his successor.

Rodezno, strongly leaning towards a dynastical alliance, was replaced with Manuel Fal Conde, a politician hostile towards the ungodly liberal Alfonsist branch.

Perhaps he viewed it as a chance to renew talks about a succession deal, but Don Alfonso Carlos preferred to stick to purely family matters (and apologized he would not attend).

In response, representatives of the same Juanista current opened direct talks with Don Juan; in 1957 in an official and pompous act he solemnly accepted Traditionalist principles and was declared king by a major and prestigious group of Carlists.

[74] Later both Traditionalist[75] and progressist[76] currents joined forces in advancing the theory that the alleged pact was "apócrifo", an Alfonsist plot, a fake supposed to demonstrate that the Carlists had consented to Don Juan assuming the united monarchist claim.

Some claim that it was modeled on a so-called Pact of Dover of 1912, an agreement supposedly signed by exiled branches of the Portuguese Braganzas, which advanced a very similar dynastic solution.

Though there might be doubts as to good will of either one or both claimants, it is suggested that they decided to join forces without abandoning own dynastic logic, and some brand it as a "relatively sensible agreement".

One theory holds that Don Alfonso Carlos was initially not aware of the details, and it was only once he had realized the scale of concessions that he decided to backtrack.