The reign of Ferdinand VII (reigned 1808–33) saw several Catalan uprisings and after his death, the conflict over the succession between the absolutist "Carlist" partisans of Infante Carlos and the liberal partisans of Isabella II led to the First Carlist War, which lasted until 1840 and was especially virulent in the Catalan territory. Catalonia was divided. The most industrialized areas support liberalism and the Catalan bourgeoisie tries to contribute to the construction of the new liberal state. As with the Basques, many Catalans fought on the Carlist side, not necessarily because they supported absolute monarchy, but because some of them hoped that restoration of the Old Regime would mean restoration of their "fueros" and recovery of regional autonomy.