The Crisis of the Restoration in Spain (1898-1923)
The Crisis of the Restoration (1898-1923)
From 1898 to 1923, the Restoration period in Spain went into crisis. Several factors contributed to this:
- The monarchy lost prestige.
- Opposition forces grew.
- Losses in colonial wars.
- Increased social conflict.
The Spanish-American War (1898)
In 1898, the United States defeated Spain in Cuba and the Philippines.
Problems in Cuba:
- Cuban ranchers were dissatisfied because the Spanish government would not allow trade with the U.S., forcing them to buy Spanish products.
- The U.S. was interested in controlling the Caribbean.
Cuban poet and patriot José Martà initiated an armed uprising in 1895 against the Spanish government to achieve independence. The Spanish army, led by General Valeriano Weyler, used brutal methods against Cuba:
- Crop destruction.
- Summary executions.
- Isolation of the civilian population in concentration camps.
The explosion of the U.S. battleship “Maine” was the excuse the U.S. used to declare war on Spain. The war was short, and the Spanish navy was destroyed in Cavite (Philippines) and Santiago de Cuba. In July 1898, the Spanish government surrendered. Shortly after, a treaty was signed in Paris, and the Philippines and Puerto Rico became U.S. territories. Cuba achieved independence.
Political Instability
Conservatives and Liberals continued to govern until 1923, but they lost their historic leaders. The deaths of key figures led to internal divisions within both parties, making strong government impossible. Neither party addressed the poverty of the peasantry and the proletariat, nor the claims of Catalan nationalists.
In Catalonia, Catalan nationalists and Republicans swept the traditional parties, and *caciquismo* disappeared. In the rest of the State, Republicanism and the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party) grew.
New Catalan Political Landscape
Between 1900 and 1923, the Catalan political scene saw the rise of two new political formations: the Regionalist League and the Radical Republican Party.
The Regionalist League, founded in 1901, was a Catalan nationalist party. Its defense of Catalan autonomy made it an objective of the Spanish military. In 1906, the League spearheaded Catalan Solidarity, a coalition that won 41 out of 44 seats in the parliamentary elections. The League supported the monarchy. In 1914, the League established the Commonwealth of Catalonia, a governing body that united the four Catalan provinces.
Left-wing Republicans and other Catalan nationalist parties remained in the background, overshadowed by the League’s strength.
Radical Republicanism:
Led by Alejandro Lerroux, this movement was anti-absolutist, anti-clerical, and clearly pro-Spanish. It had the support of the workers, who were dazzled by Lerroux’s demagoguery. In 1909, during the Tragic Week in Barcelona, workers burned more than 70 religious buildings.
Major Crises of the Restoration
Between 1898 and 1923, a series of social and political crises shook the monarchy.
Tragic Week (1909)
On July 26 in Barcelona, a strike called against the war in Morocco transformed into a revolt known as the “Tragic Week.” During that week, Barcelona was filled with barricades, and a great number of religious buildings were burned. The army’s intervention to quell the revolt was indiscriminate, repressing Republicans, anarchists, socialists, and leftist nationalists.
Crisis of 1917
A general strike called by the CNT (National Confederation of Labor) and the UGT (General Union of Workers) paralyzed the entire state. It was so significant that the triumph of a workers’ revolution seemed imminent.
The Years of Gunmen (1918-1923)
In Andalusia, many estates were seized, and laborers clashed fiercely with the Civil Guard. In Barcelona, the struggle between workers and employers, with the CNT receiving support from the state, became a genuine social war. Many entrepreneurs and workers died at the hands of both sides.
The War in Morocco
Spain tried to build a new colonial empire in the Rif region of northern Morocco. The Conference of Algeciras (1906) divided Morocco between Spain and France. Moroccan resistance sparked a colonial war in which many Spanish soldiers died. In 1921, the Spanish were defeated, with more than 12,000 Spanish soldiers killed, many of them Catalans.
The regime of King Alfonso XIII had not satisfied the demands of Catalan nationalists, nor had it improved the situation of agricultural laborers and the industrial proletariat.