Sp - Sessions 6 Rm And Gassett

Sessions 6: Restoration Monarchy II & Ortega y Gassett ► Politics

in Spain: Processes and Institutions

► IES

Barcelona ► FALL 2007 PROGRAM

► Instructor:

Andrew Davis ► e-mail: [email protected]

1

Powerful competing forces ► How

do these competing forces play out? Corrupt system and pressures from both below and from the periphery… ► Remember – power is still in the hands of the restoration monarchy forces, but even they disagree on how to move forward… ► 1898 marks the turning point – what happened?

2

Crisis in Cuba and the Philippines ► The

entry in 1898 of the United States into Spain's war against the pro-independence fighters in Cuba and the Philippines resulted in Spain's loss of its last colonies. ► The economic consequences of the disappearance of safe colonial markets were also severe. In Catalonia, the defeat raised a new awareness amongst the industrial bourgeoisie and was the definitive starting point for political Catalanism. 3

Crisis in Cuba and the Philippines ►The

Disaster of 1898 triggered a dramatic internal reaction: the consensus among the intellectual elite was that Spain was in mortal crisis

►Of

course, whose fault it was and how to fix it, depended on which side of the ideological and territorial divide you were on….

4

How to fix Spain’s institutions ► Big

question of the time – if you have a bankrupt system and uneducated populace, do you democratize and empower the people? Or do you educate them first? Or do you maintain Conservative non-democratic control?

5

Antonio Maura’s revolution from above ► ►

► ► ►

Maura aimed to revise the system – democratize it. He believed that the ‘real Spain’, or the masses not linked to the turno system, were fundamentally sound, and could regenerate Spain if allowed. The strength of the power of the people would be called social capital these days. He was willing to liberate the masses because he believed they were naturally conservative like him. This was also why he supported Catalan autonomy, because it too would be led by conservatives (the Lliga). 6

Revolution from Above fails ► Maura

was driven from office by an unholy alliance of left-wing forces, never completed his ‘revolution from above’ ► It failed because it while it attempted to reform the system, it didn’t attempt to reform the class structure around it. ► The revolution from above wanted to liberate the inherently Conservative masses in order to continue a permanent conservative majority. ► The same was true of Catalan autonomous demands. 7

Jose Canalejas - Maura’s liberal opposition ► Canalejas

was the leader of the Liberal movement at the time, tried to woo working classes away from socialism and anarchism. ► ‘Local life can’t be a force for anything’. ► The electorate must be educated before it could be an effective force in politics. ► He was not radical enough for left-

8

Seeds of Revolt ► The

corrupt restoration monarchy lists on… ► ….but none of the underlying problems is solved.

9

Seeds of Revolt II ► On

May 15, 1909 the Rusinol factory in the Ter valley was closed down, and 800 workers were discharged. The lockout was the opening blow in another campaign to lower wages throughout the textile industry. ► It was against this background of mounting crisis in Barcelona that the Maura ministry, on July 11, announced a call-up of military reserves for active duty in Morocco.

10

Spanish Africa

11

Setmana Tragica (the Tragic Week) 1909 ► Barcelona

revolts - the week of July 26 to August 1, a largely spontaneous uprising which lead to five days of shooting, looting , murders, bombs and barricades. ► Hundreds of demonstrators were killed in the streets while protesting against the military service system and factory closures ► anarchists and radical republicans burned 21 churches and 40 convents (not uncommon for anti-Catholic ideologues in Spain for past 100 years) 12

Reaction of Bourgeoisie ► Bourgeoisie

becomes mistrustful of electoral methods and drifted toward political subterfuge or the use of direct action. The industrial bourgeoisie returned to its old practice of making behind-the-scene deals. ► The inner paralysis of these classes increasingly tended to paralyze the entire constitutional system, restricting political life to maneuvers within the government. ► Lliga supports subsequent repression and begins to lose support because of it. 13

The Army - protector of national unity ► Traditionalist ► Ultimate

protector of national unity ► Would use influence to create a behemoth of bureaucracy, large officer/soldier ratio, threats for wages ► Fighting in Spanish Morocco ‘on the cheap’ creates an ‘Africa corps’ which includes Franco, Mola, Sanjurjo into bitter officers.

14

Revolt and Repression ► Period

between 1918-1923 is chaotic, mostly due to this revolt and repression cycle. The protest movements gain strength, the army retaliates, governments rise and fall rapidly.

►2

main problems – war in Morocco and labour war in Barcelona. 15

Rise and fall of the Spanish economy

The one boon - Spain stays out of the first World War ► Because

of this, there is economic progress. ► provides prime material such as ships, coal, chemistry, food or textile. ► Industries and industrials get many benefits but there is no trickle down to the lower classes as workers or peasants. ► when the war ends and such artificial growth starts to wane… actually it wanes so fast that there is an important crisis in 1917. 16

How does the system survive this chaos? ► Mainly

because protest movements were not able to articulate an alternative comprehensive enough to gain the necessary support. ► The reform and protest movements were made up of 4 main groups against corrupt Restoration system: Catalan & Basque nationalists, Socialists & Anarchists … plus the Carlists also around. ► Chaos, but continuation. 17

Summary of late Restoration (1902-23) ► Between

1902-23, 34 different governments ► All attempts to reform corrupt system fail ► Brief economic growth during WWI ends ► High class tension over Morocco and industrial relations ► In 1923, due to this instability, and following longstanding tradition, Miguel Primo de Rivera pushes another pronunciamiento. Initially strongly supported. 18

Primo Dictatorship 1923-30 ► In

order to solve the ‘problem of the nation’, the military Captain General of Catalonia, Miguel Primo de Rivera (1870-1930), proclaimed himself dictator of Spain in 1923, with the authorization of the king.  ► He called for a ‘brief parenthesis’ in the constitutional life of Spain. Purge the turno politicians. ► Extremely naïve. Society was sound, just needed better leadership. Supported Maura’s revolution from above. 19

Primo Dictatorship 1923-30 ► Establishes

a Military Directory (although two years later he becomes a government of civil politicians) and suspends the civil Constitution.  ► The Dictatorship welcomed with enthusiasm by almost everybody (including the King, and the Lliga Regionalista in CAT).  ► It was also initially successful in restoring public order. 20

Primo Dictatorship 1923-30 ► Public

work projects: railroads, highways, marshes, ports and reforestation, thus ending the jobs crisis.  ► Also the Banco de Crédito Industrial and the Banco de Crédito Local were established, stimulated the small businesses and savings.  21

Primo Dictatorship 1923-30 ► The

system of collection of taxes improves ► The national budget is balanced. ► Simultaneously, general Primo de Rivera manages to pacify the north of Morocco after two years military (1925-1927).  22

Primo Dictatorship 1923-30 ► BUT

- All this is coming on top of a culturally homogenizing, restrictive and authoritarian government. ► Country needed reforms, but he relied on Church and Military. ► Despite the advances of the Dictatorship, the intellectuals, liberal and the revolutionaries complained the persistent suppression of constitutional guarantees 23

Primo Dictatorship 1923-30 ► The

Great Depression of 1929 ended the prosperity of the Directory (now public neither happy with social reforms or economy) ► The Pact of San Sebastián (1930) united the liberal politicians (republican moderate) and to the revolutionary extremists (socialist and anarchists) to overthrow the Bourbon monarchy and to exile King Alfonso XIII.

24

King forces Primo out ► King

Alfonso XIII, fearing the future of the monarchy, rescinds his support of the dictator and, subsequently, Primo de Rivera is forced to resign his position in 1930. 

25

Second Republic (1931-1936) In the elections of April of 1931, although the monarchic parties obtained a great majority in the rural countryside, the coalition of republican and socialist parties won in the cities and Catalonia.  ► The new government declares a Spanish Federal Republic (1931-1936) ► In order to avoid a civil war, the King leaves the country on the April 14th 1931 for France. The King dies later in Rome in 1941. ►

26

Pause in the Storyline ► Let’s

take a pause in the storyline before we investigate the 2nd Republic. ► Who are the forces behind these changes, what is happening socially/politically in Spain/Europe during the first three decades of 20th century.

27

José Ortega y Gasset ► Ortega

led the republican intellectual opposition under the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera (1923-1936), and he played a role in the overthrow of King Alfonso XIII in 1931. ► Elected deputy for the province of León in the constituent assembly of the second Spanish republic, he was the leader of a parliamentary group of intellectuals know as La Agrupación al servicio de la república ("In the service of the republic") and was named civil governor of Madrid. He left the gov’t in 1932.

28

José Ortega y Gasset II ► His

political views forced him to leave Spain at the outbreak of the Civil War, and he spent years of exile in Argentina and Europe. He settled in Portugal in 1945 and began to make visits to Spain. ► In 1948 he returned to Madrid and founded the Institute of Humanities, at which he lectured. 29

The Generation of '98 ► The

Generation of '98 was almost obsessively preoccupied with what came to be known as the 'Spanish problem' ► Men who had lived through the revolution, the 1st Republic, the Restoration, and the loss of Empire. ► Sought to regenerate Spain. 30

The Revolt of the Masses ► The

Revolt of the Masses earned him an international reputation. In it, he decried the destructive influence of the mass-minded, and therefore mediocre, people, who, if not directed by the intellectually and morally superior minority, encourage the rise of fascism and bolshevism. 31

Mass man and select man ► mass

man - the average, ordinary man who accepts himself as he is and who is unwilling to place demands upon himself, but who also considers himself to be the equal of everyone else.

32

Select man ► select

man - places great demands upon himself in the pursuit of excellence, broadly conceived. ► Ortega defines the ‘select man’ as part of the minorities who serve some ideal and wish to excel. ► Is the difference between select man and mass man class-based, or something else? 33

Problem of the mass ► He

is making an intellectual, not class, distinction.

► The

mass-man does not appreciate past collective and individual efforts, such as advances in technology and democracy, that give him a better quality of life than ever. Neither does he realize that life should serve some future goal.

► "the

mass crushes beneath it everything that is different, everything that is excellent, individual, qualified and select."

34

Problems of the Masses ► Ortega

compares the average mass man of our time to the aristocrat who inherits a life which he has not created and which he is unqualified to live, since "all life is the struggle, the effort to be itself," and the mass man is "self-satisfied" and complacent. ► In this way, the masses have inherited institutions and conditions that not only require great intellectual and physical effort and risk to create, but also require that same exertion in order to be maintained. 35

Problem of the masses ► This

contentment with himself leads him to shut himself off from any external court of appeal; not to listen, not to submit his opinions to judgment, not to consider others' existence. ► His intimate feeling of power urges him always to exercise predominance. He will act then as if he and his like were the only beings existing in the world .... This type which at present is to be found everywhere, and everywhere imposes his own spiritual barbarism, is, in fact, the spoiled child of human history.

36

► How

do you interpret his argument?

► How

would you apply his thinking to Spain?

► Is

Gassett’s conclusion antidemocratic? 37

hyperdemocracies ► This

theory of an ideal society, led by elites, is often incorrectly interpreted as antidemocratic ► Ortega does mention “hyperdemocracies” as mass movements, but he contrasts such “hyperdemocracies” to a culture characterized by universal suffrage. ► Under universal suffrage, the masses choose which minority agenda to support, whereas under a “hyperdemocracy,” the masses act directly by material or economic pressures

38

Modern Civilization needs Leadership ► So

in other words, EVERYBODY can’t lead…

► Communism

– everybody equal regardless of talent ► Nazism – everybody equal within the German ‘aryan’ race which is ‘naturally’ superior. ► Ortega argues we need leadership by far-sighted intellectuals.

39

Point of debate – Can we take Ortega’s argument too far? ► “Consider,

for example, the effects of the introduction of egalitarianism into marriages, families, and households. The mistaken view that equality is the basic principle of marriage has resulted in men and women assuming co-leadership positions where decision-making authority is divided equally, resulting in constant tension in terms of rule and in substantial increases in separation and divorce.” ► This is NOT from Ortega!

40

Point of Debate II ►

In an age of consumerism and the influence of corporations and interest groups on government policies, Ortega's thoughts on human subjectivity speak to our present human condition.

►

The "revolt of the masses" continues and is gaining momentum as we proceed into the twenty-first century, and it consists in the social distribution of equality to everyone, irrespective of qualifications and individual merit-based characteristics.

►

Think about globalization in this context… 41

How does this apply to Spain in the early 20th century? ► he

saw that the social conditions for the development of a mature liberal democracy were rather lacking in his native country.

► Ortega

y Gasset found his fears confirmed by the advent of totalitarian mass movements from communism to nazism in his own days. 42

Spain’s solution I ► It

is not that political liberalism is essentially flawed, but instead that it cannot function properly without an associated social program of responsible upbringing, without a certain kind of civic education and expectation, without the standards and the requirements of human excellence. 43

Spain’s solution II ► Ortega

also argues that the solution to the imbalance in the relations between masses and minorities (in Europe, not just in Spain) is the project of a European supranation, the “United States of Europe,” would provide the guidance that would bring Europe out of its crisis and give it the ability to prevail in the world. 44