Impact of World War I on Spain’s Political Landscape
Spain and the First World War
The years of the Great War were crucial to understanding twentieth-century Spain. This is due to two reasons: its neutrality in the conflict and the fact that 1917 became a pivotal year for the decomposition of the political system of the Restoration.
War was declared on 28 July 1914, and two days later, the decree of neutrality and non-intervention was published. Alfonso XIII decided that Spain would keep away from conflict, remaining absolutely impartial, despite the extreme hostility and zeal for the horrors of war.
The General Strike
From the beginning, this strike, rather than profit, suffered from the two earlier movements. When it began, the military was prepared to prevent any political or social subsidy, and the Catalans did not intend to reach beyond where they had come. In May 1916, Congress of the UGT proposed a general strike, which would be essentially political. In that month, UGT and CNT began their contacts to ask the government for specific issues, the major one being the cheapening of subsistence. The moment of awareness of the strength of the coalition of the left was the general strike of 24 hours, which was a success. Romanones promised to resolve the problems of subsistence and other workers’ petitions, but he ceased to be chairman of the Governor, and when Dato came to power, he did not consider it an obligation to fulfill the promises of his predecessor. The same day he met the Parliamentary Assembly, a rail and streetcar strike took place in Valencia that ended in dismissals. Since then, and during August, there were strikes in major industrial towns; strikers confronted the army, and many were killed or injured in Madrid, Barcelona, Vizcaya, and Asturias. Despite the grueling demands of the army, the strike soon became dominated.
The Disaster of ’98
The Spanish Colonial Empire Overseas
The remains of the Spanish colonial empire, after the loss of continental America, consisted of two major islands: Cuba and Puerto Rico. The situation in Cuba and Puerto Rico had very peculiar colonial features: two islands, situated near the United States, had a life based on export agriculture, particularly sugar cane and tobacco. The Spanish economy contributed to a steady flow of profits due to heavy tariff laws imposed on those colonies by Madrid. Spain’s dependence remained only for the role it fulfilled as the metropolis, which ensured its troops and administration for the benefit of a very small oligarchy. In the Philippines archipelago, the Spanish population was low, and the capital invested was not significant.
The Consequences of the Disaster: The Crisis of ’98
The loss of the remnants of the Spanish empire, from an economic perspective, not only did not bring disaster but also led to a major repatriation of capital; on the other hand, no Latin American markets were lost.
The defeat and the loss of about 50,000 fighters led to a severe concussion in Spanish society. The disaster caused:
“A crisis of national consciousness, the so-called Generation of ’98.”
– Proposals for reform and political modernization, called regeneration.
“Finally, the peripheral nationalisms in the peninsula gained more thrust and prominence in the wake of these events.”
It showed the limitations of the Restoration scheme to address the problems of modernization and progress in Spain.
Regenerationist thinking about it could be explained thus: the democracy of the middle classes had become unworkable in Spain because the people’s will had been annulled by the economic and political oligarchy through despotism.