Spain's Restoration Crisis: Politics, Dictatorship and the Fall of the Monarchy (1902-1931)

The Crisis of the Restoration System in Spain (1902-1931)

In 1902, Alfonso XIII assumed the throne at only 16 years of age. His reign saw the restoration system established by Cánovas remain in place, with the shift of the two parties (turno pacífico) and the 1876 Constitution, but the political system showed the beginning of deterioration and its fragility became evident in the following years. The main tests were: the instability of party politics, the unfortunate management of State affairs by Alfonso XIII, the persistence of caciquismo and administrative corruption.

In the final years of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the first ideological currents against the political regime of the Restoration emerged, grouped under the name of regeneracionismo. Among the most outstanding activists was Joaquín Costa, who demanded the complete political system be dismantled and the Restoration destroyed.

Opposition Groups

a) The Republicans

The Republican sectors managed to attract large social support, especially from the urban middle classes and salaried workers. When Alfonso XIII's reign began, two currents could be identified within Republicanism:

• The extremist tendency (Lerroux and Nakens), which relied on the more marginalized classes.
• The reformist tendency (Salmerón and Azcárate Álvarez), which sought to gain support from the middle classes.

Republicanism appeared divided into several parties:

• The Radical Republican Party, created in 1908 by Lerroux, which was determined to break the turnist system and end caciquil fraud. It attempted to build a modern mass party, the first of its kind in which organizations would be formed.
• The Reformist Party, created in 1912 by Álvarez, which proposed the democratization of the State's institutions and the expansion of economic intervention.

b) The Carlists

During the reign of Alfonso XIII, Carlist support was limited to a few social sectors, mainly in the provinces of Navarre, Vizcaya and Guipúzcoa. It was led by Jaime del Burgo, Juan Vázquez de Mella and Víctor Pradera, and the Marqués de Cerralbo. In 1907, the first Carlist youth militia was organized, aimed at confronting the Republicans.

c) The Catalan Nationalists

The Lliga maintained its hegemony in Catalan politics and obtained repeated electoral victories until the military dictatorship of 1923. The conservative leadership changed the Catalan nationalist movement. After 1917, as a consequence of the increase in social unrest, the violence of terrorist anarchism and the revolutionary offensive of the proletariat, the Catalanists decided to give priority to the economic defense of their interests.

d) The Basque Nationalists

After the death of Sabino Arana, the first stage of the PNV saw significant expansion and electoral success. In 1911, the nationalist workers' union Solidaridad de Obreros Vascos was founded. Within the movement two tendencies emerged:

• Moderate nationalists, who preferred to follow the tactics of the Catalan Lliga.
• Radical independentists, who had numerous followers, and whose youth branch advocated guerrilla action for the liberation of Euskadi.

e) Andalusian Regionalism

On the initiative of Blas Infante, the Andalusian regionalist movement arose and gained strength, based in Seville and driving the publication of the magazine Andalucía as its organ of expression. Its promoters held assemblies where regionalists defended an autonomist program and drafted the first proposal of competences.

f) Proletarian Opposition: Syndicalists and Socialists

Led by Pestaña, Saborit and Pablo Iglesias, the labor movement distanced itself from the use of violence and adopted the first moderate and more radical unionist positions. In 1910, the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) was founded. In 1927, the Federación Anarquista Ibérica (FAI) was created. Spanish Marxism experienced its first spectacular expansion: the UGT reached 240,000 affiliates in 1921, while the PSOE had 43,000 affiliates.

The Crisis of 1917

In 1917, the first serious production crisis manifested itself, showing the weakness of the Cánovas system. Causes: the internal division of the dynastic parties, the lack of relevant politicians, and the First World War, which brought a sharp rise in the prices of products and led to a decrease in the purchasing power of workers.

The crisis had three main dimensions:

• Military crisis: excessive control by the Army prevented its modernization. Promotions based on merit (MRIT) favored Africanist militants during the war. The rise in prices and the decrease in wages affected the military. Together they demanded a wage increase and opposed promotions based on merit, considering the war in Morocco a national calamity caused by the government.
• Political crisis: the government of Eduardo Dato (Conservative) faced the plight of the country, the Cortes were dissolved and constitutional liberties were suspended. As a result, in July 1917 the Assembly of Parliamentarians was formed in Barcelona by senators and deputies, who demanded a change of government and the call for Constituent Cortes to draft a new Constitution.
• Social crisis: wages fell while businesses earned large profits, which led to a general strike in Spain in 1917, organized by the UGT and CNT.

The Impact of the Great War

Given these conditions, a general crisis was almost inevitable and the system was shaken. Even though the economic, social, and military problems had been aggravated since 1914, the war years were a period of exceptional growth for the Spanish economy, thanks to the increase in industrial exports and the merchant marine, since Spain remained neutral. However, this growth in exports was not accompanied by a corresponding increase in productivity, which caused serious inflationary consequences. Between 1916 and 1918, the prices of basic necessities almost doubled (212 in 1914, 463 in 1918, and more than 1,000 in 1920), which explains the social divide and the political crisis.

Colonial Intervention in Morocco

From 1906, Spain began its penetration into North Africa. The Algeciras Conference (1906) and later the French agreement (1912) recognized Spain's entry into the distribution of zones of influence among the European powers. Britain, which held great influence in the region and wanted to limit French presence in North Africa, supported the establishment of a Spanish protectorate in Morocco. Spain received a strip of land in the north, the Rif, and a spot on the Atlantic coast (Ifni and Río de Oro).

The Spanish Army suffered a crushing defeat at Annual in 1921 at the hands of the Moroccans led by Abd-el-Krim.

The Dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera (1923-1930)

Faced with this situation, Captain General Miguel Primo de Rivera, Captain General of Catalonia, carried out a coup d'état on September 13, 1923. The King and the Army supported him, and he even gained the backing of the Catalan Lliga and Socialists, given the disorder in the cities and the new hope placed in a regime that would carry out social reforms.

a) The Military Directorate (1923-1925)

Primo de Rivera's first government was composed exclusively of generals, a strong military government. The government enjoyed initial popularity as it tackled the most urgent political problems: terrorism and the restoration of public order, and a definitive pacification of Morocco through the landing at Alhucemas, an operation carried out with French military support. It dissolved the Mancomunitat de Catalunya, the Catalan regional government, which led to the loss of the Lliga's support.

b) The Civil Directorate (1925-1930)

From 1925, the regime of Primo de Rivera became civilian. It had been established as a provisional power aimed at resolving the chaotic situation and institutionalizing the regime. The attempt to create a single party, the Unión Patriótica, represented the government; it was inspired by the Italian fascist party, whose regime was an obvious model. The government was formed by civilians. Economic conditions were highly favorable for the industrial development of the country: road building, electrification, large hydraulic works, and the creation of national monopolies in sectors such as telephony, tobacco (Tabacalera) and oil (CAMPSA).

The Fall of the Monarchy

After the fall of the dictatorship, the monarchy had its days numbered. Alfonso XIII had become compromised in politics and had lost prestige. Alfonso XIII instructed General Berenguer to form a government to prepare the country for the restoration of democratic liberties and a return to the party system. Berenguer's government, however, lacked decisiveness, and the people did not accept a return to the system that had prevailed before the dictatorship, as nothing had changed. On April 12, 1931, a coalition of anti-monarchist parties was formed. Berenguer's replacement by Admiral Aznar and the municipal elections called to resolve the situation achieved nothing. The elections of April 12 gave the anti-monarchist forces victory in the large cities, while in the rural areas, controlled by the caciques, clashes continued. Alfonso XIII, seeking to avoid confrontation, left the country, and on April 14 the Second Republic was proclaimed.