Los ayacuchos entre el moderantismo y el esparterismo: memorias posimperiales e identidades políticas en la España isabelina

This article analyses the ‘war of memories’ that the champions of Sparterism engaged in with their rivals in the Moderate Party in relation to the battle of Ayacucho, particularly during the period of Espartero’s regency (1840-143) and the Moderate Decade (1844-1854). We will explain how the political-intellectual actors of moderantism elaborated a derogatory myth of the Ayacucho defeat to blame their political enemies for the imperial disintegration of Spain. This defamatory campaign, orchestrated through the press, pamphleteering and historiographical works, met with a swift response from those affected, who simultaneously vindicated their honour, group prestige and political ideas