When the generals Juan Prim and Francisco Serrano denounced the government, much of the army defected to the revolutionary generals on their arrival in Spain. The queen made a brief show of force at the Battle of Alcolea, where her loyal moderado generals under Manuel Pavia were defeated by General Serrano.

In 1868 Queen Isabella crossed into France and retired from Spanish politics. She lived there in exile, at the Palacio Castilla in Paris, until her death in 1904.

The search for a suitable king proved to be problematic for the leaders of the revolution and in August 1870, they selected an Italian prince, Amadeo of Savoy. The younger son of Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, Amadeo had less of the troublesome political baggage that a German or French claimant would bring, and his liberal credentials were strong. He was elected King as Amadeo I of Spain on November 3, 1870.

His reign lasted two years, and he was replaced by the first Spanish Republic. That also lasted two years, until leaders in 1875 proclaimed Isabella's son, as King Alfonso XII in the Bourbon Restoration.

General Juan Prim, an architect of the 1868 revolution against Queen Isabella II.