Spain: Sociopolitical & Cultural Shifts (1874-1950)

1. Historical Context

The period from 1874 to 1950 witnessed significant events in Spain's history. The Bourbon Restoration under Alfonso XII (1874-1923) was marked by the Disaster of '98, leading to the loss of overseas colonies. This era saw the rise of Primo de Rivera's dictatorship and the alternation of power between the Conservative and Liberal parties. The Second Republic was proclaimed in 1931, followed by General Franco's military uprising in 1936, which ignited the Spanish Civil War.

Spain's socioeconomic and political conditions during this time reflected a backward society within Europe, heavily reliant on agriculture. A growing polarization emerged between the landowning class and the rural working class. Ortega y Gasset warned against the dangers of these two Spains living against each other.

Globally, this period witnessed the development of communism and capitalism, the rise of socialism, confrontations between the proletariat and the owners of the means of production, the Russian Revolution (1917), World War I, the consolidation of fascist regimes in Germany, Italy, and Spain, and World War II.

2. Cultural Context

The literary movements of '98, '27, and '50 contributed to a Silver Age in Spanish culture. However, the post-war decades saw a decline, accompanied by high illiteracy rates. This spurred a reaction among intellectuals and artists, leading to the emergence of avant-garde movements in literature (Modernism, Creationism, Surrealism), painting (Expressionism, Cubism, Abstract art), and film (e.g., Buñuel's Surrealism).

3. Philosophical Context

Several philosophical currents were prominent during Ortega y Gasset's time:

• Ontological: Idealism, Neo-Kantianism, Existentialism, Vitalism, Historicism
• Language and Science: Logical Positivism, Structuralism
• Social Issues: Marxism, Psychoanalysis

Three positions particularly influenced Ortega y Gasset's philosophy:

• Husserl's Phenomenology: In his objectivist phase, Ortega, having spent years in Germany, countered the subjectivism and personalism prevalent in Spanish culture, advocating for a focus on the realism and truth of things themselves.
• Dilthey's Historicism: The idea that life, the core of all realities, must be understood in its historical dimension, as something constantly changing.
• Heidegger's Existentialist Ontology: As developed in Being and Time.