Alfonso XIII’s Reign: Spain’s Political Turmoil & Reform Attempts
Item 7.1 Alfonso XII and the Crisis of the Restoration – I
1. Alfonso XIII: Projects Political Regeneration
a. The Regeneration Aspects
Surge Regenerationism: the restoration system and its political practices. Force during the early decades of the twentieth century in search of ills of Spain and identify possible solutions. It has several aspects:
- Socio-economic: agglutinated the discomfort of the producing classes. The ideologue was Joaquín Costa, who censured works as Caciquismo Oligarchy and the political system and distortion of democracy and proposed a series of economic and educational reforms. He was critical of the regime party and the parliamentary system.
- Intellectual: represented by Unamuno and Maeztu, expressing a terrible existential crisis and reflecting on the decline of Spain and the Generation of ’98.
- Politics: Regenerationists’ arguments were used to give new impetus to the restoration policy, trying to change it without trauma. The Conservative-led regenerationism of Silvela announced its intention to undertake radical reform and a “revolution from above,” creating two new ministries. Liberal regenerationism also adopted the spirit of regeneration, earning the sympathy of many liberal intellectuals like Gasset. The “revolution from above” aimed for radical change in government. When the young king came of age, he would become the visible head of regenerationism, both from within and above.
b. Conservative Reformism and the Crisis of 1909
Maurismo: Government and Program
Maura personified the renewal of the Conservative Party after Silvela’s death, despite facing critical opposition within his own party. The content of his program was: Conservative Catholic mass, defending the Church’s influence; connecting with social reality by establishing a Catholic-character social corporatism (confused and critical of liberal parliamentarism); incorporating other political forces into the system, namely conservative Catalan nationalism, which could form associations; and carrying out a nationalist and expansionist Moroccan foreign policy to overcome the defeat of 1898 and invigorate the military.
The Crisis of 1909: The Tragic Week
The issues of conflict were: the problem of Catalan politics (since 1901, there was a push for autonomy in exchange for collaboration with the regime; in November 1905, clashes between the Lliga and the military resulted in the military’s favor, leaving the conflict open until the civil war); the problem for Republicans (anti-monarchists joined federalists and others as enemies of the monarchy, and the Catalan Republican Party formed the Radical party); and the problem of the labor movement (in Catalonia, the union movement and workers’ struggles grew; in 1907, the Workers’ Federation emerged, and even apolitical societies played an important role; the UGT had little force in Catalonia). The events of July 1909 unfolded after the military disaster in Morocco. Maura recruited troops for the war, sparking protests and riots in Catalonia that lasted a week. There was a dramatic repression, with death sentences for five defendants without evidence, leading to Maura’s resignation and the Liberals’ return to power.
c. Liberal Reformism
Canalejas Government
Canalejas led a new Liberal Party, serving as president from 1910-1912. He adopted measures such as state intervention in the economy and society, decentralizing measures (promoting the law of associations), and addressing religious matters by moving towards a secular state with the “Padlock Law” (prohibiting new foreign religious orders and promoting religious freedom). He also harshly repressed a new wave of strikes using the army. He was assassinated by an anarchist in 1912.
Evolution of the Republican-Socialist Opposition and Unionism
The anti-dynastic Republican-Socialist opposition formed an electoral coalition, marking the first time the PSOE collaborated with bourgeois parties. Pablo Iglesias was elected in the 1910 elections. The coalition broke down, with Radicals and Moderates losing influence, and Melquíades Álvarez founded the Reform Party (Democrats and Republicans). Trade unionism grew, with the UGT increasing its presence in Madrid, Asturias (among miners and railwaymen), and the emergence of the CNT (Solidaridad Obrera), which embraced anarchism, apolitical stances, and sought to overthrow the state and parties through direct action. It gained traction in Catalonia and Valencia, facing persecution and bans.
2. Alfonso XIII: The Crisis of Parliamentarism
a. The Political Crisis of the Restoration System
Causes
To understand the failure of regenerationism, one must consider the split between oligarchic and democratic liberalism and the fracture between a centralist conception of public administration and those advocating for territorial organization. From 1913, political life was characterized by constant contradictions, complicated by: the political impact of the Great European War, dividing society into pro-German and pro-Allied groups; and the progressive fragmentation of the dynastic parties, stressed by the monarch’s constant intervention, weakening party leadership.
Bankruptcy of Bipartisanship
Intertwined problems in this process included: the crisis of leadership (after Canalejas’s death, the government remained in Liberal hands; Maura wanted to return to power but imposed harsh conditions unacceptable to the Liberal Party); the fragmentation of liberal political education, with various leaders and factions; and instability in power (renewing the parliamentary majority through elections became increasingly difficult due to minorities and dissent). The two bases of the restoration system became unviable, with erratic power shifts between Liberals and Conservatives and an increasingly contested electoral “pie.”
Impact of the First World War
Spain remained neutral but experienced economic impacts: a surge in Spanish exports to belligerent countries, an industrial boom, and inflation due to increased demand (prices rose, but wages did not). There were also social implications: old empires fell, genuine democracy expanded, the Russian Revolution triumphed (communism), and the high bourgeoisie and middle classes feared a potential communist victory.
b. The Crisis of 1917
Three conflicts converged:
Military Juntas
In 1905, the army succeeded in passing the “Law of Jurisdictions” after assaulting a newspaper in Barcelona. During the second decade of the twentieth century, a strong division grew between mainland and African military personnel. The Juntas demanded military budget improvements and the convocation of the Cortes Constituyentes. Eventually, the military juntas were legitimized as “Information Commissions.”
Assembly of Parliamentarians
A parliamentary meeting was held in Barcelona, attended by dynastic parties (excluding Catalans), Republicans, and Socialists. The aim was to combat the power of the oligarchies, break the turnismo system, and make parliament the center of politics.
Labor Conflict and the General Strike
: the labor unions pressed for a more equitable distribution. There was a conflict in the railway sector, the UGT called a general strike in August 1917. To fight the government resorted to the army, members were sentenced to life imprisonment.
The balance of the crisis was that governments could no longer match the fiction of the turn, regenerationist reformism was overwhelmed, the army moved forward in their participation in politics and bring down a government together.
c. Problems end of the monarchy. (1917-23)
Six years after the end of the triple crisis of 1917 and the arrival of a cousin of Rivera to power, are the most contentious stage of the reign of Alfonso XIII international reasons (end of the First World War, revolutions in Russia, Germany, Hungary … decompositions of old empires) and internal (escalation of the war in Morocco, final restoration).
There was an unstable governments tried various formulas for the government did not obtain such weakness but all with little success since the king was able to form governments excessive concentration but had personal vendettas and from 1919 he was alternating governments with governments fraction coalition.
During the years 1919-1921 overcame two problems in Catalonia, which was the claim of political autonomy that failed to thrive and prompted a wave of anti-Catalanism in Spain and a great social unrest in Barcelona with a revolutionary atmosphere, with great union growth and major strikes. The clashes between the CNT and free trade unions, lock-outs … all this was accentuated by the army’s role. Socialism disclaims Republicans for the disappointment of August 17, but then suffers a split of the Communist Party is the party that those who decided to enter the international III. The Moroccan problem was a foreign policy problem that had very direct effects on the Spanish domestic politics when it lost the colonies to maintain colonial rule in Africa was an alternative solution, this is opposed by leftist political forces and popular opinion . The outbreak of the tragic week in Barcelona began on popular opposition to the shipment of troops to Morocco, and boundaries were established in the Algeciras Conference of 1906. The annual disaster was the most acute phase of the conflict and took place when Spain decided to make the occupation of the territories in a series of operations triggered by Silvestre, Rif troops defeated the Spanish and recovered almost all the territory. The consequences of the disaster was a military defeat in which the military accused the politicians of ways to overcome them, encouraged the rebellion of the army. There was a division between Africans (he wanted to stay in Morocco) and Spaniards (they want to stop the conflict). There was a demand from the opposition to establish political responsibility for the military defeat of Annual, the file was created Picasso, whom he accused of wrongdoing several dozen military officials, the regime was discredited and splashed himself rey.Las possible solutions to the or regime crisis was greater democracy or establish an authoritarian regime, the solution taken was the dictatorship and the contributory factors are that were common in Europe, especially in highly industrialized countries dictatorship, nerves triggered by the report Picasso criticism of the king came to power in Italy under Mussolini fascism which greatly affect the regime of Primo Rivera.