Spain’s Restoration Crisis: 1902-1923
Socio-Political Situation in Spain in the Early Twentieth Century
In 1900, Spain was still an agrarian country, with two-thirds of its population working in agriculture and living in poverty. This situation made it clear to the Spanish, in the aftermath of 1898, that the distance that separated us from Europe was the largest in our history. Adding to this was the unfair distribution of wealth, especially land, which led to the development of a rural workers’ movement that was very assertive. This delay was also cultural, with very high illiteracy rates. Moreover, the ignorance of the political society allowed a corrupt political system dominated by despotism in which the institutions did not represent the people, nor did they discuss the problems of citizens. Although a democratic system, in practice, it only represented the interests of the oligarchy. Finally, Spain in the early twentieth century had a serious military problem, with an army humiliated by the defeat of 1898, ill-equipped in arms, and with an excess of chiefs and officers.
Political Developments: Regeneration Phase
Maura’s Government: Revolution from Above and Tragic Week
The disaster of 1898 created disappointment and left a feeling of pessimism in the country. In 1902, Alfonso XIII came of age and politicians, influenced by regenerationist currents, tried to resolve outstanding issues. Part of society called for a “regeneration” of the country based on ethical standards in governance, state reform, wealth building, and encouragement of public education.
The Maurismo: 1903-1909
The second regenerationist attempt also came from the hand of conservatives who saw Maura as a new leader. Maura represented authoritarian reformism, but during his first governments, he failed to realize his program:
- The proposed reform of local government was hampered by the fierce opposition of liberals and Republicans, replacing universal suffrage with corporate suffrage (to be rated according to the trades).
- The electoral law of 1907 did not address the possibilities of the caciques to manipulate the results.
The Growth of the Opposition
The crisis in Catalonia after 1898 favored the development of Catalan politics. The Regionalist League, breaking the chieftaincy, achieved significant electoral success in Barcelona and appeared as a political force fighting for the autonomy of Catalonia and Spanish government reform. The rival forces of the Radical Party will be Alexander Lerroux’s (exalted Republicans) who got significant popular support in Barcelona, attacking the conservative nature of the Lliga, which he described as bourgeois, clerical, and separatist. Other Republican groups were in favor of an approach to the current political system (Melquiades Alvarez). As for socialism, the PSOE and UGT consolidated their dominance in the Basque Country, Asturias, and Madrid. After 1907, there was a tactical approach to the Republicans, socialists, and even liberals to oppose Maura’s right-wing politics. In 1909, the Socialist Republicans joined together to achieve success in municipal elections, and this allowed Pablo Iglesias to be elected deputy for Madrid in 1910 (still far from other European socialist parties). Anarchism remained divided into different trends. Persistent attacks and bombs occurred, including on Maura and Alfonso XIII on his wedding day. A century earlier, workerism reorganized and led major mobilizations (Barcelona general strike of 1902). This reorganization led to the creation of the CNT in 1910.
The Crisis of 1909
The impact of the Tragic Week led to a clash between right and left that involved, in fact, the fall of the government of Maura and the end of peaceful coexistence between conservatives and liberals.
Rif War and the Tragic Week
The Rif (Morocco) was an area granted to Spain at the International Conference of Algeciras (1906). The Spanish presence responded not only to the protection of Ceuta and Melilla but also to various interests:
- Some sections of the army sought to rebuild their reputation after the disaster of 1898.
- The dynastic politicians wanted Spain to play the role of “colonial power” again.
- Some companies, such as Minas del Rif Society, aimed to exploit rich deposits.
Due to attacks by the Rif, Maura’s government mobilized three reservist units (soldiers and graduates), leading to a hostile popular reaction due to the memory of the disaster in Cuba and the injustice of the recruitment system. The Republican and workerist press denounced the interests that lay behind the mining companies in the Rif, including leading figures from political life (Count of Romanones, Count Güell, Marques de Comillas, etc.). In Barcelona, a strike committee formed by socialists and anarchists called a peaceful general strike against the war. Lerroux’s press gave it a very belligerent and anticlerical tone. The peaceful protest degenerated into a revolt with generalized uncontrolled fires, assaults, and religious buildings, not only in Barcelona but in other locations. At last, the troops sent by the government ended the revolt (100 dead and 88 churches and convents burned). The disproportionate and indiscriminate repression (execution of Ferrer Guardia, 1000 prisoners) emphasized the left-right divide. In October 1909, Canalejas and Moret announced that the Liberal Party broke off relations with the conservatives and initiated a boycott campaign against the government (“Maura no”). The King withdrew confidence from Maura and instructed Moret to form a new government. The turn was no longer peaceful, and the Restoration system began to crumble.
Canalejas’ Government: The Liberal Version, 1910-1914
The liberal Canalejas and Moret, from 1910 until 1912, also had the expected success in his attempt to reform. Liberal reformism recovered much of the revolutionary program of 1868: democratization of the Senate, strengthening local government, reform of the Concordat (agreement between the State and the Vatican), promoting public education, etc. Canalejas undertook a new regenerationist attempt based on the strengthening of civilian power without harming the interests of the Church (e.g., “padlock law,” which stated that new religious orders could not be installed in Spain, but those already there were respected). The regional problems were faced with decentralization concessions: in 1914, the Commonwealth of Catalonia began, a federation of the four Catalan provinces with administrative autonomy. Attacked by the right and weakened by divisions within the Liberal Party, the reformist program of the liberals failed. The murder of Canalejas in 1912 opened a struggle for leadership of the party, which split into rival groups (supporters of Romanones and Garcia Prieto). A similar process occurred in the Conservative Party between supporters of Dato and La Cierva from 1913.
Troubled Phase
Impact of World War I
Spanish neutrality had a significant impact on the Spanish economy: the need to supply themselves with a range of products that were imported before the war and the possibility of exporting industrial and agricultural products to belligerent countries. The Spanish economy was launched, with a trade balance surplus in 1915-1919. The exports of textiles and steel products and import substitution industries grew, and some industrial structures diversified (chemical, coal, mechanics, etc.). There was also a strong accumulation of capital and a large increase in profits, leading to the consolidation of the big banks and their role in the industry. The capitalist development model was based on a small group of banks (Bilbao, Vizcaya, Hispanic-American, Urquijo, etc.) that dominated key sectors of the economy. Eventually, the process was purely speculative, circumstantial, with no continuity after the war. On the other hand, the benefits of foreign markets had a negative impact on the domestic market, with significant price increases and a loss of purchasing power of wages (in 1917, it was 80% of what it was in 1914). Under these conditions, social conflict increased from 1915.
Crisis of 1917
The division and discrediting of the dynastic parties brought the system of the Restoration to its final crisis in 1917. Spanish neutrality in World War I allowed significant growth that contributed to the rise of social tensions. The government’s authoritarian attitude, refusing to open the courts, provided the Catalan nationalist Convergence, reformers, Republicans, socialists, and liberal factions in a move that required a deep reform of the political system. On July 19, 1917, these forces gathered in the Parliamentary Assembly of Barcelona, requiring the government to call for a Constituent Assembly. The Lliga and Cambo appeared as the main promoters of this movement. The assembly relied on the neutrality of the army, which was surrounded by the problem of the creation of military juntas of Defense, a corporate and clandestine movement that clashed with the government. They demanded changes in the promotion system and economic improvements (middle class). As for the trade unions, they hoped that the PSOE and the Republicans would facilitate broad popular support and stifle potential revolutionary radicalism. However, the workers’ left wanted to go beyond the objectives of Cambo. In early August, the CNT-UGT joint committee promoted a revolutionary general strike to form a provisional government. The radicalism of the movement baffled reformers, who condemned the revolutionary strike, allowing the government to use the army to quell the protest (80 dead and 2000 prisoners). The political crisis of 1917 actually ended in November, with the formation of a “concentration” government involving the Catalan nationalists for the first time. This meant the end of the monopoly of power by the dynastic parties and the failure of the reformist agenda of the assembly.
Critical Situation: Concentration Governments
Social Unrest
The years 1917 to 1923 were characterized by the presence of a powerful labor movement that led bourgeois political forces to maintain a public order attitude before any reform. Cambo participated twice in concentration governments that gave no political stability to the situation. Social unrest was widespread and reached a hitherto unknown extension, not only in industrial centers but also in agricultural areas. This radicalization was motivated by, among other factors:
- The intransigent attitude of the employers’ organizations to combat the labor movement: the winter of 1919-20 lockout that left 200,000 Catalan workers jobless for two months.
- The revolutionary euphoria of unions and workers’ parties that, confident in their strength (in 1919, the UGT had 211,000 members and the CNT 700,000), launched a contest to see the final (Russian revolution) for social emancipation.
In the countryside, Andalusian harvest laborers were paralyzed in 1918, 1919, and 1920 (“triennium Bolshevik”), leading to a social revolution with the occupation and division of land. In Barcelona and its industrial belt, the workers’ struggle, led by the CNT, became more massive, as seen in the Canadian strike (February-March 1919). Employers’ organizations supported the most drastic measures taken by the authorities (“Law of Flight”), favored the creation of counter unions (free trade unions), and created their own security forces.
Annual Disaster and its Aftermath
This situation was aggravated by the military disaster of Annual (July 1921) in the Rif, where 12,000 Spanish soldiers died. The leftist opposition demanded an investigation (Picasso file). Responsibilities involved political, military figures, and the king himself. Given this critical situation, some in the army decided to intervene and take control of power. The captain general of Catalonia led the coup that would end 47 years of operation of the Constitution of 1876.