El relato sobre la nación en los debates del Ateneo de Madrid (1875-1898)

Abstract

The Bourbon Restoration was the culminating period in the configuration of the liberal narrative that developed during the 19th century, not only in state-dependent bodies such as the Real Academia de la Historia, but also in centres of sociability such as the Ateneo de Madrid. The construction of the liberal state made it necessary to base the proposal of future projects for the nation on the past. This article shows the consensus between different ideological sectors of the Ateneo de Madrid in the conception of the national past and the differences in the assessment of that past. As a result of these differences, the speakers elaborated different traditions that supported their idea of Spain's being and the reforms they proposed.