However, Amadeo had no experience as king, and what experience his father as King of Italy could offer was nothing compared to the extraordinary instability of Spanish politics. Amadeo was instantly confronted with a "Cortes" that regarded him as an outsider, even after it had elected him King; politicians conspired with and against him; and a Carlist uprising was taking place. In February 1873, he declared the people of Spain to be "ungovernable" and abandoned his kingdom, leaving rebel Republicans and Carlists to battle over the country.