Alfonso XIII

Alfonso XIII (1886-1941), king of Spain (1886-1931), whose reign was marked by revolutionary, antidynastic uprisings, notably in Madrid and Barcelona from 1909 to 1911. He was the posthumous son of King Alfonso XII. Until he attained his majority in 1902, his mother, Queen Maria Christina, acted as regent. The principal event of this period was the Spanish-American War, in which Spain lost the Philippines and all its possessions in the New World. Alfonso pursued a neutral policy during World War I (1914-18), but was blamed for Spanish defeats in Morocco in 1921. From 1923 to 1930, he associated himself with the unpopular dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera. Following a period marked by strikes and riots, Alfonso was forced to flee Spain in 1931; he spent the rest of his life in exile.