Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and exercises for Social sciences for Baccalaureate

Systems of Colonial Administration

Colonial Administration involved the creation of specific systems of government to manage territories. These systems varied based on the goals of the metropolis:

• Colonies of Exploitation: These saw little emigration from the mother country and were primarily responsible for the systematic exploitation of resources.
• Settler Colonies (Poblament): These featured a strong contingent of European population enjoying the same rights and privileges as the metropolis, which they imposed on the indigenous population.
• Direct Rule Colonies: These had no self-government and were directly under the administration of the metropolis. Authority was usually held by a governor assisted by officials, constituting a true ruling elite.

The Restoration Political System

The political regime was based on the two-party system (Liberal and Conservative) and the alternation of power. Both parties accepted the Bourbon monarchy and the principle of private property.

The Two Main Parties

• Conservatives: Led by Cánovas del Castillo, they represented the Unionist legacy. Their social base included the rural landowning aristocracy, the middle class, and the Church.
• Liberals: Led by Sagasta, they emerged from the Fusionist party (1880) and the Liberal party (1885). They represented merchants, manufacturers, and the heirs of constitutional liberalism.

Both parties accepted existing legislation, while other political groups remained marginalized. The Turno (alternation) involved parties yielding...

Genesis of Karl Marx's Early Thought (1840-1848)

We must first consider some general aspects that determined the genesis of Karl Marx's thought, especially in the period between 1840 and 1848.

Historical and Socio-Economic Context

From a political point of view, this period included the conservative position supported by King Frederick William IV of Prussia and the diffusion of liberal ideas in Germany, a consequence of French influence. All this, coupled with the lack of a working class capable of mobilization against the constant political conservatism, led writers and historians to argue for revolutionary ideas. Amidst this exchange of ideas, from the late eighteenth century to the early twentieth century, Europe witnessed a series of revolutionary...

Anarchism: A Dominant Force in Spain

Anarchism was the mainstream ideology in Spain during this period. The Federation of Workers of the Spanish Region (FTRE) was founded in 1881, with Anselmo Lorenzo as a prominent figure. The new federation augmented its membership and developed significant union activism and demands.

Internal disagreements and the continuing repression of the worker and peasant movement led a part of anarchism to choose "direct action," i.e., the revolutionary or violent strike and attack against the ruling classes. Anarchism was accused of being behind the Black Hand. The authorities' forceful response only fueled a cycle of actions. The defining moment of this spiral was the Montjuïc Trials. Direct action allowed the ruling...

Development of the Turno de Partidos

The first crisis of the system occurred in 1898 as a result of the 1898 Disaster. The Conservative Party ruled from 1875 to 1881 and introduced universal male suffrage for municipal elections. Cánovas returned to power in 1884, but the death of King Alfonso XII led to the Covenant of El Pardo, which aimed to support the regency of Maria Cristina and ensure the continuity of the monarchy.

Under the longer-lasting Liberal government led by Sagasta, a major reform program was driven forward. Key achievements included:

• Approval of the Law of Associations and the legalization of all political parties.
• The abolition of slavery.
• Promotion of a new Civil Code.
• Reforms to the national finances and the army.
• The introduction

Catalan Political Ideologies

The most significant ideological work of the era is La nacionalitat catalana (1906) by Enric Prat de la Riba, which establishes the distinction between nation and state.

Three Primary Political Ideologies

• Catalan Conservatism: The Regionalist League (1901) emerged from the Catalan National Center (1899) and the Regionalist Union. It held party hegemony until 1923. In 1906, it created the Catalan Solidarity, and in 1914, it established the Commonwealth of Catalonia (Mancomunitat).
• Left-Wing Catalanism: Includes the Catalan Republican Party (founded in 1917 by Layret and Companys), the Catalan State (1922, by Francesc Macià, known for the Prats de Molló plot), and the Socialist Union of Catalonia (1923, by Manuel Serra

The Legal Principles of Administrative Organization

A) The Principle of Hierarchy

This principle establishes that all government bodies are not equal, creating a hierarchy within the administrative organization, often represented as a pyramid. As one ascends the hierarchy, power and skill level increase, and vice versa. For a hierarchy to function effectively, two conditions must be met:

• Bodies with a plurality of matching material and staggered competition between them.
• That all will be guaranteed through a set of powers attributed to the higher bodies against the lower they are:
  • Potestad of momentum and direction, to direct its actions.
  • Potestad of inspection, monitoring/control.
  • Potestad to annul acts of the lower bodies through hierarchical recourse.

Understanding Bilingualism

The term bilingual refers to the ability of a person to express themselves with more or less equal competence in two languages; this is known as individual bilingualism. On a collective level, social bilingualism refers to communities that use two languages, where most individuals are bilingual.

We tend to speak of passive bilinguals as those who understand both languages but can only speak one, and active bilinguals as those who speak and understand both. While bilingualism is a source of cultural enrichment, it is unlikely that these languages exist in a situation of total equality.

Individuals rarely use two languages for the same purpose. One usually uses a hegemonic language for formal frameworks and reserves a...

Manifesto of the Persians and Ferdinand VII

The Manifesto of the Persians was a document presented to Ferdinand VII upon his return to Spain in 1814. It serves as a critical historical marker for the transition between liberal reform and the restoration of the absolute monarchy.

The Six Years of Captivity

The six years of his captivity refers to the period when Ferdinand VII was imprisoned in France following the Abdication of Bayonne. This event allowed Napoleon Bonaparte to grant the power of Spain to his brother, Joseph I. During these six years, the Spanish War of Independence developed due to the discontent of the people who saw their king ruled from outside the peninsula.

The Definition of Sovereignty

Sovereignty is the power or authority...

Regionalism and Nationalism in 19th Century Spain

Regionalism: This movement aspires to create specific institutions or achieve administrative autonomy within a context of greater decentralization, emphasizing the use of regional languages, such as in the Galician or Valencian cases.

Nationalism: This represents a radicalization of previous proposals, aiming for higher levels of political power, which in some cases led to movements for independence. It featured two opposing tendencies: a conservative and liberal wing in favor of recovering old charters (fueros), and a progressive, federal, and Republican wing.

The 1898 War and the Loss of Cuba

The War of '98 was the culmination of a series of previous conflicts (the Ten Years' War between 1868–1878,