Spain’s Restoration: Caciquismo, Labor Movement, and Nationalism
Caciquismo and the Restoration
Universal male suffrage did not imply the existence of democracy. The Restoration favored electoral consultations, which were subject to manipulation and fraud.
Caciquismo is the socio-political relationship that exists between the Cacique (Chief) and their clients.
The Caciques
- It was the local leader of a political party.
- He controlled the state administration, hence its power.
- He could use legal state institutions.
- He acted locally and at the district, and even provincial, level.
- He was an intermediary between the state and the community.
The Client
The chiefs exchanged their votes for favors from clients. Besides, the chiefs wielded political patronage (voters = clients).
The chief-client relationship was based on personal relationships and mutual political interest.
The Labor Movement
It was characterized by three features:
- Non-unitary trade unionism (socialism, anarchism, and moderate reformism).
- The weight of anarchism, especially in Andalusia and Catalonia.
- Political support for republicanism.
Anarchism
It was organized in 1881 with the Federation of Workers in the Region. There was an episode of the Black Hand (1883). Their political strategy was based on:
- Violent action: murders, including that of Canovas in 1897.
- Trade union action: through the general strike.
- Cultural production.
Socialism
In 1879, the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) was founded. In conjunction with the Republican Socialists (1910), they won the first seat in the Chamber of Deputies.
In 1888, the General Union of Workers (UGT) was established. One of their initiatives was the Feast of May 1 as an expression of their demands.
Regeneration and Nationalisms
Hatching occurred in the peripheral nationalisms (Catalonia, Basque Country, Galicia, and Valencia).
Participating in regional, distant ideological groups. It highlights the critical position regarding the political system of the Restoration.
Catalan Nationalism
Underwent major transformations. Valenti Almirall stressed that caused the submission to Alfonso XII (1885) of the Memorial of Grievances, defending industrial protectionism and the right of Catalonia against the standardization of Spanish law.
In 1891, he created the Catalan Union, released in the Bases de Manresa, the first program of Catalanism. It posed a conservative political ideology.
The Regionalist League appears that represented the conservative option and modern middle classes.
Basque Nationalism
The Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) was founded by Sabino Arana. Arana’s ideology was based on the defense of the cultural and ethnic integration of the Basque people.
Basque nationalism advocated for political independence.
Galician and Valencian Regionalisms
Galician regionalism was supported by agricultural landowners and merchants. He joined a traditional tendency, with anti-liberal approaches, and a liberal-democratic one.
Valencian regionalism was a recent and minority phenomenon that spearheaded the creation (1878) of the Lo Rat Penat society, the core of cultural Valencianism to the 20th century.