Luis González Bravo, leading the moderate faction, dissolved the "cortes" himself and ruled by royal decree. He declared Spain to be in a state of siege and dismantled a number of institutions that had been set up by the "progressista" movement such as elected city councils. Fearing another Carlist insurrection in northern Spain, he established the Guardia Civil, a force merging police and military functions to retain order in the mountainous regions that had been the Carlists' base of support and strength, so as to defend Isabella's rightful kingdom from her enemies.