Catalan Nationalism in the 19th Century
Catalan Nationalism: 19th Century
Catalan nationalism in the 19th century had two distinct stages. The 1830s saw a cultural revival focused on recovering the Catalan language, banned since the Nueva Planta Decree. Despite restrictions, Catalan persisted in daily use among the largely monolingual population.
From the 1880s, a new political movement emerged, seeking organization based on Catalan identity and language, incorporating diverse ideas. This movement demanded political autonomy for Catalonia as a legitimate national aspiration.
Cultural Catalanism: The Renaixença
The Renaixença, the most significant cultural movement of 19th-century Catalonia, is often dated to 1833 with Bonaventura Carles Aribau’s poem “La Pàtria”. However, Joan Pau Ballot had published his Gramàtica i apologia de la llengua catalana in 1815.
Joaquim Rubió i Ors’s poems in the Diari de Barcelona (1841) were a declaration of the Renaixença. The 1859 restoration of the Floral Games promoted Catalan as a language and symbol of national identity.
Institutions like the University of Barcelona, the Barcelona Athenaeum, and the Academy of Fine Arts supported this movement.
Parallel to the Renaixença, popular literature flourished with figures like Frederic Soler (“Serafí Pitarra”), who advocated for contemporary Catalan over the archaic language used in the Floral Games.
The Renaixença succeeded due to:
- Catalonia’s industrialization and the rise of a prosperous middle class embracing Catalan identity.
- A reaction against cultural and administrative centralism in Spain.
- The influence of European Romanticism, emphasizing medieval history and regional identity.
Political Catalanism
The new liberal state’s centralization led to protests, notably the “bullangues” (1835-1843), reflecting social and political unrest. These uprisings demanded state decentralization, universal suffrage, and improved working conditions.
During the Revolutionary Six Years, federalism gained traction. Francesc Pi i Maragall advocated for a federal state including Catalonia. The 1869 Pact of Tortosa aimed to build a federal state from the former Crown of Aragon. However, federal republicanism declined after the failed 1873 republican experience.
Valentí Almirall promoted Catalan political organization, advocating for a Catalanist party outside state politics. His work Lo Catalanisme argued for Catalonia’s role in Spain’s regeneration.
Almirall organized the First Catalanist Congress (1880), resulting in:
- Defense of Catalan civil law.
- Establishment of an Academy of the Catalan Language.
- Creation of an organization to promote Catalan.
The Catalan Centre produced the Memorial de Greuges (1885), the first manifesto of Catalan political unity.
In 1887, conservative intellectuals formed the Lliga de Catalunya, petitioning for autonomy in the Missatge a la Reina Regent (1888).
By the 1890s, Catalanism shifted towards conservatism. Bishop Josep Torras i Bages’s La tradició catalana proposed a conservative Catholic Catalanism based on:
- Rejection of revolutionary approaches.
- Idealization of the Middle Ages.
- A regional strategy focused on social regeneration through the Church.
The Unió Catalanista (1891) aimed to unite Catalanist groups. The Bases de Manresa (1892) outlined a program for Catalan sovereignty.
These initiatives faced repression, labeled as “separatism” by Madrid.
Political Catalanism During the Restoration
Enric Prat de la Riba’s La nacionalitat catalana (1906) distinguished between nation and state, arguing for Catalonia’s right to self-government within a federal Spain.
The Lliga Regionalista (1901), led by Prat de la Riba and later Francesc Cambó, represented conservative Catalan nationalism. The Solidaritat Catalana campaigned for autonomy and managed the Mancomunitat.
The Catalan left, including Domènec Martí i Julià, advocated for social and national liberation. Republican groups like the GOP of Marcel·lí Domingo and Francesc Layret emerged, along with Francesc Macià’s Estat Català (1922), leading to the Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (1931).
Socialists like Rafael Campalans and Manuel Serra i Moret formed the Unió Socialista de Catalunya (1923).
Alejandro Lerroux’s Partido Republicano Radical represented anti-Catalan sentiment, appealing to recently arrived classes.
The Mancomunitat de Catalunya
The Mancomunitat, a federation of Catalonia’s four provincial councils, was initiated by Prat de la Riba in 1911. Despite limited powers and funding, it achieved significant educational and cultural advancements, including the normalization work of the Institut d’Estudis Catalans and the creation of the Biblioteca de Catalunya.
The Mancomunitat also developed infrastructure projects, though many were incomplete due to financial constraints. Primo de Rivera’s dictatorship led to its dissolution in 1925.