Neutrality and Crisis. Salvadó, Francisco J
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Spain and the First World War : neutrality and crisis. Salvadó, Francisco J. Romero The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without the prior written consent of the author For additional information about this publication click this link. http://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/jspui/handle/123456789/1722 Information about this research object was correct at the time of download; we occasionally make corrections to records, please therefore check the published record when citing. For more information contact [email protected] SPAIN AND THE FIRST WORLD WAR: NEUTRALITY AND CRISIS Thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of London By Francisco J. Romero Salvadó Queen Mary and Westfield College 20 June 1994 (LN N) Uy Abstract of thesis The subject of this thesis is a study of Spain during the First World War. The Spanish case is analyzed as the regional version of the general crisis which engulfed the rest of Europe during these years. This crisis was produced by the ideological militancy and social struggle caused by four years of devastating international conflict. It heralded the arrival of mass politics which put an end to a previous era marked by hierarchical and clientelist politics. This thesis examines how the maintenance of strict neutrality did not save the existing regime in Spain from the impact of the conflict raging in Europe. Spain did not enter the war but the war entered the country and, ironically, a conflict in which Spain did not take part was to alter its contemporary history. The analysis explores the gradual disintegration of the foundations of the ruling system, the Liberal Monarchy restored in December 1874, during and as a consequence of the First World War. Considerable attention is paid to the impact and importance of the war in producing the decay of the Liberal Monarchy. This process is examined at two levels: the political polarization and subsequent division of the country which was provoked by the debate about belligerence or neutrality, and the social and economic transformations that Spain underwent as consequence a of its privileged position as a supplier to both sides. The result was galloping inflation, widespread social discontent and political turmoil. Under these pressures, the hegemonic system, based on electoral falsification, widespread patronage and mass apathy, collapsed and gave way to an inexorable process of growing working class and right-wing militancy which led to the military coup of 1923. CONTENTS Preface Acknowledgements Chapter 1: The outbreak of the war Chapter 2: The year 1915: the critical phase Chapter 3: The Romanones administration: the domestic challenge 1 The labour movement 2 The bourgeoisie 3 The army Chapter 4: The Romanones administration: the international challenge Chapter 5: The hot summer of 1917 5.1. The disintegration of the Liberal party 5.2. The offensive against the regime 5.3. The end of the Turno PacIfico Chapter 6: The last year of the war: governments of monarchist coalition Chapter 7: Epilogue Notes Bibliography Acknowledgments Like any academic enterprise, this thesis benefitted from the assistance and support of many people and institutions. First of all, I am grateful to the British Academy, the University of London, the Central Research Fund and the Centre for Contemporary Studies for their financial aid. I am indebted to my supervisor, Paul Preston, for his patience, encouragement and stimulation in prodding this project along. The comments and discussion with my friends and colleagues at the Centre for Contemporary Studies were extremely helpful. In particular, I would like to thank Sebastian Balfour, Helen Graham, Enrique Moradiellos and Inés Roldn. I would also like to mention Lawrence Butler, Maria Sophia Quine and Jonathan Smele from Queen Mary and Westfield College and Frank Snowden from Harvard University. Their support and advice were of inestimable value. Elizabeth Speaknian helped me enormously with her proof- reading of the entire thesis. Her patience and hard work were admirable. Finally, I would like to thank all those friends who had to put up with my difficult moods when I was absorbed and distracted by this project: Anthony, Melanie, Joanna, Frederick and all the kids in 47 Landor Road, and Javi, Carlos, Lucy, Helena and all the friends in Madrid who with their warmth and friendship facilitated my stay in Spain. 2 Without the support, help and encouragement of all these friends and colleagues, my thesis probably would have never been completed. Of course, any errors of the text are entirely mine. 3 PREFACE The First World War constituted a turning point in modern European history. It was a devastating conflict which produced massive economic dislocation, social distress and discontent throughout the continent. Hitherto the existing governing elites had managed to cling to power through a variety of Liberal political systems which in fact disguised the monopoly of power enjoyed by the privileged propertied classes. After the First World War that would no longer be possible. It heralded the arrival of a new era, that of mass politics. Europeans would irretrievably move away from the world of 1914 as the dominant forms of hierarchical, clientelist and elitist politics broke down. The ruling orders were confronted with the unwelcome prospect of more genuine democracy and from 1917 with the fast-advancing threat of Socialism. It initiated a period of ideological militancy and political mobilization unknown in Europe since 1848. Spain was not an exception. In fact, the Spanish case has to be regarded as the regional version of the general crisis which engulfed Europe during those years. The impact of the Great War inflicted a deadly blow on the Restoration Monarchy which had ruled the country since 1875. In vain, the Spanish governing classes struggled to keep the country away from the conflict. The official neutrality of the state did not save its political system. Spain did not enter the war, but the war entered Spain and its economic and political impact eroded the fragile 4 foundations of a political system which had so far been based on the passivity and subservience of the population. A chronological order to the narrative has been adopted so as to facilitate a sense of evolution. The analysis traces developments from the outbreak of hostilities in Europe and the subsequent process of disintegration of the ruling political system in Spain throughout the years of the conflict. The first chapter is an introduction in which particular emphasis is placed on the fact that foreign problems played an important part in the growing loss of hegemony of the Restoration Monarchy. The second chapter examines the socio-economic impact and the ideological split of the country produced by the war. The third and fourth chapter have extraordinary importance. The period covered, December 1915-April 1917, has traditionally been ignored by most historians. Yet it constituted the crucial moment in which the crisis of the ruling system became a reality and could no longer be concealed. In the third chapter, the rebellion of key institutions--bourgeoisie, labour movement and army--is analyzed. In the fourth, the secret war fought in Spain between Allies and Central Empires and the process by which the country was close to abandoning neutrality are both thoroughly investigated. In the fifth chapter, the final crisis of the ruling system is fully explained. Its analysis is divided into three sections. Firstly, the insurrection of the military, the subsequent mobilization of all the progressive forces of the state and the break-up and discredit of the governing elites, are scrutinized. Secondly, the showdown in August 1917 between government and working class is 5 investigated. Finally, the destruction of the ruling political system is studied. The sixth chapter is an account of the failure of the governing elites to find a new stable political settlement. The bankruptcy and lack of credibility of the new political solutions in both the domestic and international fields are fully examined. The seventh and last chapter is an examination of the way in which the effects of the First World War destroyed the existing liberal system but failed to provide a valid alternative. Thus the following years would be marked by the throes of an ailing ruling order which although politically dead still managed to survive for almost five more years. 6 1.-The outbreak of the War: Since 1875 Spain had been ruled by a constitutional monarchy. The architect of the new ruling order was the shrewd politician Antonio Cnovas del Castillo. His main objective was to reach a political settlement which could put an end to the years of civil strife, military pronunciamientos and general instability which had characterized the earlier part of the century. He was to be largely successful. The restoration of the Bourbon Monarchy in the person of Alfonso XII and the constitution of 1876 were his achievements. He devised a political system which seemed to be modern and democratic. For the next four decades two ruling monarchist or 'dynastic' parties, the Conservative headed by Cánovas himself, and the Liberal led by Práxedes Mateo Sagasta, alternated in power. The rotation in office of these two political groups was so systematic that the Canovite order was known as Turno Paci'fico ('Peaceful Rotation'). In fact, the Restoration settlement was far from democratic. All the constitutional trappings actually served to conceal the monopoly in politics enjoyed by a governing elite. That political class was formed by the representatives of the ruling privileged landowning oligarchies of Castilian wheat growers and Andalusian wine and olive oil producers. As the years went by, the group also included large financial interests such as banks, state companies or big concerns like railways.