Spain's Triple Crisis of 1917: Military, Political, Social

The Triple Crisis of 1917 in Spain

1. The Military Crisis: The Rise of the Defense Boards

The Spanish army, largely as a result of colonial wars, suffered from an excessive number of officers relative to the number of soldiers. Promotions were obtained mostly by merit of war, which heavily benefited the Africanist military officers at the expense of the peninsular officers.

The strong discontent among lower and middle-ranking mainland officers resulted in the formation of the so-called Defense Boards (Juntas de Defensa), a military association that spanned most of the peninsular garrisons. They demanded:

• A significant wage increase.
• Opposition to war merit promotions, claiming seniority as the sole criterion for advancement.

2. The Political Crisis and Government Repression

In response to the growing instability, the government of President Eduardo Dato suspended constitutional guarantees, closed the Cortes (parliament), and imposed strict press censorship.

In reaction to these authoritarian measures, the Catalan Parliamentary Assembly was organized in Barcelona. This assembly demanded the formation of a provisional government capable of convening a Constituent Cortes to reform the state. The Assembly subsequently called for a meeting of all Spanish deputies and senators, but the majority did not answer the call.

The Catalan political assembly's motion was not sustained and ultimately disappeared without achieving constitutional reform. This failure was due to deep ideological differences between regional politicians and leftist parties, in addition to the opposition from the Military Juntas to the parliament's proposals. These bourgeois forces were incapacitated by their fear of an outbreak of revolution, similar to what had recently occurred in Russia.

3. The Social Crisis and the General Strike

The leading role in the anti-government protest shifted to the organized labor movement and associations. This mobilization was primarily motivated by the sharp decline in real wages.

In 1916, a significant strike movement began, leading the major trade unions, the CNT (Confederación Nacional del Trabajo) and the UGT (Unión General de Trabajadores), to sign a joint manifesto urging the government to intervene immediately to contain rising prices.

The 1917 General Strike

Following a railway dispute in Valencia, the UGT decided to call a general strike to support the Valencian strikers. The government's reaction was swift and repressive:

• Martial law was declared.
• The army was deployed to repress the labor movement.
• Members of the strike committee were jailed, and some were sentenced to life imprisonment.