Political and Social Upheaval in Catalonia (1902-1923)
Political Crises of the Restoration (1902-1923)
The Cu-Cut! Incident (1902-1907)
The satirical weekly Cu-Cut! published an anti-militarist joke on June 1st. In response, 300 officers from the Barcelona garrison stormed the Cu-Cut! offices, as well as those of La Veu de Catalunya and La Publicitat. The military demanded that the government cede jurisdiction over crimes against the army and the country to military courts. The government, under President Segismundo Moret, acceded to this demand in 1906. This led to the creation of a coalition of Catalanist, Carlist, and Republican forces known as Solidaritat Catalana, whose main objective was to reject the jurisdiction of the military courts.
The System’s Decomposition (1918-1923)
The period between 1918 and 1923 was characterized by the fragmentation of dynastic political parties and governmental instability. The main features of this period were the push for Catalan autonomy, social upheaval, and the Annual Disaster of 1921 in Morocco. Following the crisis of 1917, several governments of national concentration were attempted, but these quickly dissolved due to the demands for Catalan autonomy. Concerns and debates about Catalan autonomy were overshadowed by increasing social unrest. This unrest manifested not only in an increase in strikes and social conflicts, but also in direct armed confrontation between some workers’ sectors, grouped within the Sindicat Únic. In 1921, the Spanish political situation was further complicated by the Annual Disaster in Morocco. Spain’s involvement in Morocco was a point of honor, as it was the only remaining manifestation of Spanish colonialism after the loss of its overseas possessions. In 1923, the Captain General of Catalonia, Miguel Primo de Rivera, led a coup in Barcelona, declaring a state of war and abolishing the Constitution of 1876.
Political Developments in Catalanism
During the second period of the Restoration, Catalanism managed to banish caciquismo and achieved a primary role in government: the Commonwealth (Mancomunitat, 1914-1925).
Ideological Formation
The most important ideological work of political Catalanism was La Nacionalitat Catalana (1906) by Enric Prat de la Riba, where the author explained that Catalonia, as a nation, could hold its own within a federal state. He also defended the policy of an articulated federal structure for Spain.
Political Parties in Catalonia
Conservative Catalanism was represented by the Lliga Regionalista (1901), born from the Centre Catalan and the Unió Regionalista. The Lliga suffered two splits: one that gave rise to the Centre Nacionalista Republicà (1906) and another that led to the creation of Acció Catalana (1922), led by Enric Prat de la Riba until his death in 1917, and subsequently by Francesc Cambó. Left-wing Catalanism had a precedent in the figure of Domènec Martí i Julià, a politician whose presidency of the Unió Catalanista defended both national and social liberation for Catalonia. The formation of the Partit Republicà Català was the germ of the future Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya.
The Commonwealth
The project of the Mancomunitat, or Commonwealth, a federation of the four Catalan provinces, began in 1911 under the initiative of Enric Prat de la Riba, president of the Diputació de Barcelona. In 1914, the Commonwealth was formed, with Enric Prat de la Riba, leader of the Lliga, elected as its first president. The Commonwealth’s powers were very limited because the state never ceded any services or resources. The Commonwealth was only an attempt at joint management of powers that the Catalan provinces already held. Its funding was very scarce. The work of the Commonwealth was extraordinary thanks to the efforts of Enric Prat de la Riba until 1917, and Josep Puig i Cadafalch thereafter. Among its various tasks, its work in education and culture stands out, including the creation of the Institut d’Estudis Catalans and the construction of many schools. Primo de Rivera’s coup had anti-democratic and anti-Catalan significance, prohibiting the public use of the Catalan language, the display of the senyera, and the performance of sardanes.