Faced at first with what seemed a national civil war, he soon became involved in a wider conflict that enveloped the Iberian Peninsula in a struggle between proponents of liberalism and those seeking a return to absolutism.
Inicialmente encarando o que semellaba ser unha guerra civil, ó pouco tempo viuse involucrado nun conflito maior que abarcou toda a península Ibérica nunha loita entre os propoñentes do liberalismo e os que procuraban un retorno ó absolutismo.