The Crisis of 1917 and the Decomposition of the Spanish System (1918-1923)
The Crisis of 1917
The poor distribution of social benefits from the economic boom and growing inflation led to the outbreak of a deep and complex social crisis in 1917. Several aspects can be distinguished:
Military Crisis
Discontent among “mainland” officers due to the rapid and sometimes undeserved promotion of “Africanistas” culminated in the creation of the Boards of Defense. The Conservative cabinet of Eduardo Dato was determined to impose military juntas and accepted that some were against military discipline and the subordination of the military to civilian authority.
Parliamentary Crisis
Seventy deputies and senators from the Regionalist League, Republicans, Socialists, and even some Liberal party members formed a National Assembly of Parliamentarians in Barcelona. They demanded a change of government and the announcement of a Constituent Assembly.
Social Crisis: The General Strike of 1917
Convened in August by the CNT and UGT, the general strike had broad support in cities and ended with a hundred dead and thousands arrested. However, it brought immediate consequences. Faced with the threat of a workers’ revolution, the Boards of Defense abandoned their demands and supported the repression against the strikers. Meanwhile, Dato’s resignation and the formation of a coalition government with the participation of the Regionalist League led to the immediate deactivation of the Parliamentary Assembly.
The struggle of social classes had become the major problem in the country.
The Social Crisis and Class Struggle in Barcelona
The end of World War I brought a deep economic and social crisis that immediately sparked great social unrest in Barcelona (1919-1921).
Strikes and protests were encouraged by anarchists, met with a tough crackdown by the new government of Antonio Maura, which had the full support of the Catalan bourgeoisie. To counteract the “direct action” of the anarchists, the hardest-line employers created the so-called Free Trade Union, a group of gunmen who acted with the support of the police. Applying the “Law of Escape,” the pure and simple execution of prisoners without trial further exacerbated the conflict.
The anarchist response came in 1921 with the assassination of Eduardo Dato, chairman of the government. Two years later, anarchist leader Salvador Seguí was murdered.
The Decomposition of the System (1918-1923)
This period was characterized by the fragmentation of the dynastic political parties and government instability. Highlights include:
- Demand for autonomy for Catalonia
- Social unrest
- Disaster of Annual (1921) in the war in Morocco
After the crisis of 1917, several attempts were made to form national governments with leaders of all parties except the Left and the Republicans. Understanding was impossible, and these governments quickly dissolved.
The problems of Catalan autonomy took second place as social unrest grew. This was a common phenomenon across Europe due to the resonance of the Russian Revolution and the Soviet working class.
Social unrest manifested in strikes, social conflicts, and armed clashes between some sectors of workers gathered at the Single Union and a group of gunmen at the service of employers’ associations, the so-called free syndicalism.
During these years, there were hundreds of attacks. In 1921, another government president, Eduardo Dato, was assassinated.
The Spanish situation was further complicated in 1921 with the Disaster of Annual in Morocco. Spanish troops suffered a major defeat against Moroccan independence fighters, led by Abd el-Krim. The Spanish army had to flee to Melilla and suffered 12,000 casualties.
The Spanish occupation of Morocco, from the early twentieth century, represented a point of honor for Spain because it was the only remaining vestige of Spanish colonialism after the loss of overseas possessions. In reality, this occupation was not very profitable, and the Berber tribes, who knew the rugged terrain well, attacked the Spanish occupiers at every opportunity.
The defeat at Annual divided political and public opinion between supporters and opponents of the war. An investigation into the responsibilities for the disaster took shape in the Picasso Report, which implicated the government, the military, and the king himself.
The accumulation of serious problems that governments were unable to cope with (Morocco, social unrest, nationalist claims, and the need for regeneration of the political system), along with criticism from Republican and left-wing forces, led to the collapse of the Restoration regime.