The crisis of the Restoration, Primo de Rivera's Dictatorship and the end of the monarchy

1. ALPHONSE XIII ´S REIGN (1902- 1931):
CRISIS OF THE RESTORATION SYSTEM
AND PRIMO DE RIVERA´S DICTATORSHIP

2. ALPHONSE XIII (1902- 1931)
Alphonse XIII was declared of legal age in
1902. The political system of the
Restoration continued to exist until 1923:
-pacific alternation of the dynastic parties
(Liberal and Conservative)
-Constitution of 1876
-manipulation of the elections with the local
political bosses´ help (caciques)
ALPHONSE XIII AND HIS But opposition grew, the attempts of
WIFE VICTORIA EUGENIE reforming the system from inside failed and
OF BATTEMBERG difficulties for the survival of the regime
increased
Alphonse XIII not always respected
his constitutional role and he sometimes
intervened in politics much more than
necessary. This put the institution of the
monarchy in danger and finally led him to
exile.

3. ATTEMPTS OF POLITICAL REGENERATION
(1902-1914)
CRISIS OF THE PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM
(1914-1923)
PRIMO DE RIVERA´S DICTATORSHIP AND
THE END OF THE MONARCHY (1923-1931)

4. Conservative Party
Dynastic parties
Liberal Party
POLITICAL
PARTIES
Republicans
Opposition parties Nationalists and
regionalists
Workers´parties: PSOE
Carlists

5. DYNASTIC PARTIES
Some leaders of the dynastic
parties tried to make reforms from
above to avoid revolution from
below (following regeneration
ideas):
- Conservative Party: Antonio
Maura, between 1904-1905 and
ANTONIO MAURA
1907-1909, frustrated by the
Tragic Week (1909)
- Liberal Party: José Canalejas,
between 1910 and1912,
frustrated by his assassination
in1912
JOSÉ CANALEJAS

6. OPPOSITION PARTIES
NICOLÁS ALEJANDRO PABLO FRANCESC VÁZQUEZ
SALMERÓN LERROUX IGLESIAS CAMBÓ DE MELLA
- Republicans: Unión Republicana (Salmerón). After the Tragic Week other Republican
parties appeared: Radical Party (Lerroux) and Reformist Party (Melquíades Álvarez)
- PSOE (Pablo Iglesias)
- Lliga Regionalista de Catalunya (Cambó, Prat de la Riba) and PNV
- Carlists (Vázquez de Mella)
The opposition parties broke up the dynastic alternation in the big cities, where
manipulating the electionsv was more difficult, .

7. CU-CUT! INCIDENT (November 1905)
After the 1898 Disaster commotion, the
Army was very sensitive to the
critiques.
A cartoon published in Cu-Cut!, a
Catalan satirical magazine, provoked
an angry reaction of the army: 300
officers stormed the editorial offices of
the Cu-Cut! and La Veu de Catalunya.
- the Catalan opposition parties formed
a coalition called Solidaritat Catalana,
which won the elections in 1907 in
Catalonia(41 out of the 44 seats)
- The liberal government tried to punish
the officers, but the king refused to do
it. The government resigned and a new
government, headed by Segismundo CARTOON WHICH PROVOKED
Moret passed the Jurisdictions Law, THE REACTION OF THE ARMY
which gave the Army the right to judge
offenses to the Army, the flag or
against the integrity of the nation

8. MAURA´S REGENERATION REFORMS
He tried to create a strong and efficient
State to content people´s participation in
politics: a “revolution from above” to
stop revolution from below
During his rule many laws were passed:
- Laws to protect and promote national
industry
- Law of Colonization, to put more land in
cultivation
- Creation of the Instituto Nacional de
Previsión (first Social Security institution
in Spain, to provide retirement pensions
for workers)
- Electoral Law (1907)
- Sunday Rest Law(1904)
But he didn´t get enough support for other
laws (for example, to give more power to
municipalities). His regeneration project
was frustrated by the Tragic Week
events repression.

9. 1st BIG CRISIS: THE TRAGIC WEEK (1909)
The North of Morocco (Rif) was a
Spanish protectorate since 1906.
In July 1909 the Rif tribes attacked
the railway line works. The Spanish
troops launched an attack to
defend them, but were defeated in
a place called Wolf´s Gully
(Barranco del Lobo): around 1,300
dead soldiers and more than
600 wounded.
The government decided to send
more troops to Morocco and called
reservists from Barcelona (1903
draft).
CORPSES COLLECTION IN WOLF¨S GULLY

10. The Berber tribes
attacked the mining
railway

11. TRAGIC WEEK (24th July-2th August)
The conscription provoked:
- a general strike
- popular uprisings
- barricades in the streets
- anticlerical violence (religious
buildings were burnt)
The government sent the army to
suffocate the revolt. After a week
there were:
- 78 dead
- more than 500 wounded
- more than 2,000 arrested
- more than 100 buildings burned
- 17 sentenced to death. Five were
executed (among them, the
anarchist pedagogue Francisco
Ferrer y Guardia)

12. TRAGIC WEEK: CONSEQUENCES
Ferrer y Guardia´s execution provoked:
- generalized protests in Europe
- a campaign of the liberal press against
Maura (“!Maura no!”).
Alphonse XIII dismissed Maura and the
liberals came back to government.
Consequences:
- end of Maura´s regeneration project FRANCISCO FERRER Y GUARDIA
- Lerroux´s Radical Party lost prestige among
the workers
- electoral coalition of the left parties
(Conjunción Republicano-Socialista): in
1910, Pablo Iglesias was elected deputy.
- creation of CNT (anarchist union) in 1910
CNT FOUNDATIONAL CONGRESS , 1910

13. JOSÉ CANALEJAS´S LIBERAL GOVERNMENT (1910-1912)
2nd attempt of regeneration of the system:
- reduction of the power of the Church.
The government passed the Padlock
Law: new religious orders were
prohibited from settling down in Spain.
- Conscription Law: more equalitarian
conscription (minimum 5-month
military service)
- Law to forbide night work to women
JOSÉ CANALEJAS
- Project of Commonwealth
(Mancomunidad) for Catalonia (union
of the Diputaciones Provinciales to
render some public services): rejected
by the Cortes.
Canalejas´s regeneration project was
frustrated when he was killed by an
anarchist (Pardiñas) in November
1912

14. SPAIN DURING WORLD WAR 1
The conservatives came back to power
between 1913 and 1915:
- The Commonwealth Law was passed and
the Commonwealth of Catalonia was EDUARDO
DATO
created.
- Spain´s neutrality during WW1 (although
the public opinion divided in Alliadophiles
and Germanophiles). Spain supplied
products to both sides.
Consequences:
- Industrial development
- reduction of the State debt
- prices increased a lot (inflation) due to
the lack of supply. But salaries didn´t
increase and population´s purchasing
power decreased and protests
increased.
WW1 TRENCHES

15. 2nd BIG CRISIS: 1917 CRISIS
Triple protest, but the protesters were not
coordinated and had different objectives:
- military protest: due to the promotion
system (which privileged mentions in
dispatches) and loss of purchasing power:
the military created the Defense Boards
(similar to unions). The government
ordered their dissolution, but they didn´t
obey and the king supported them.
- political protest: the government closed WORKERS´ STRIKE
the Cortes and the Catalan deputies defied
the government and called a meeting in
Barcelona: Parliamentary Assembly. But
only 10% of the deputies participated and
the government dissolved the meeting
pacifically.
- Workers´protest: UGT and CNT called a
general strike in August. But the
government controlled the situation with
the army and the strike committee was
arrested.
The protests didn´t provoke any significant STRIKE COMMITTEE (INCLUDING JULIÁN BESTEIRO
change in the system. AND FRANCISCO LARGO CABALLERO, PSOE
MEMBERS)

16. CRISIS OF THE PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM (1918-1923)
The political system of Restoration survived to the 1917 crisis, but instability was constant,
the governments were shorter and peasants and workers´protests intensified.
- governments of national unity or
very short dynastic governments.
- assassination of Eduardo Dato in
1921 by 3 anarchist gunmen
- increasing protests, especially in
Andalusia and Catalonia, during the so
called Bolshevik Triennium(1918-
1921):
- in Andalusia, laboueres revolted and
seized lands
- in Catalonia, industrial workers went
on strike. Patrons answered with lock
NUMBER OF STRIKES IN SPAIN out s and hired gunmen to threat the
members of the unions. Tension
increased and street confrontments
became usual in Barcelona
The government used the army to repress protests:
assassination of workers “trying to escape” (Ley de Fugas)

17. DISASTER OF ANNUAL (1921)
New disaster for the Spanish
army in Morocco against Abd-el
Krim troops: more than 12, 000
soldiers died (including their
commander in chief, general
Fernández Silvestre)
Although the lost territory was
soon recovered, this disaster
caused a strong impact in Spain
and a parliamentary investigation
started to determine the
responsibilities (Picasso
Report). The conclusions of the
report showed Alphonse XIII´s
implication in the disaster.

18. PRIMO DE RIVERA ´S COUP D´ÉTAT (September 1923)
Partly to avoid the publication of the Picasso
report, in September 1923 the Captain
General of Catalonia, Miguel Primo de
Rivera, rose up against the government.
Justifications he gave:
- Need to re-establish public order
- Need to end with corrupt politicians
- Recover the lost honour in Morocco.
The government demanded the
king to disavow Primo de Rivera, but
Alphonse XIII supported the coup d
´État. The Constitution was
suspended and a dictatorship was
established.
In this way, the survival of the
monarchy was united to the
duration of the dictatorship.
PRIMO DE RIVERA USED A REGENERATION
LANGUAGE TO JUSTIFY HIS ACTION..

19. MILITARY DIRECTORY (1923-1925)
- Government only formed by
military men (well received by
most people. Only the
anarchists and communists
opposed to dictatorship)
- Objectives:
- restoring public order: rigid
control of the opposition parties
and unions
- ending with caciquismo: no
significant results
- solving the problem in Morocco:
achieved with France´s help:
Landing of Alhucemas (1925)
THE MILITARY DIRECTORY WITH THE KING

20. CIVIL DIRECTORY (1926-1930)
Primo de Rivera tried to perpetuate the
dictatorship and included some civilians
in the government:
- creation of the Patriotic Union
(government party to support the
regime)
- economic policy similar to Fascist Italy:
public works, corporations, national
monopolies
- increasing loss of prestige of the
dictator and opposition protests
- first symptoms of the economic crisis
In January 1930 Primo de Rivera
resigned and the king appointed another
military: general Dámaso Berenguer.
PRIMO DE RIVERA AFTER HIS RESIGNATION

21. BERENGUER´S “DICTABLANDA”
Short period of “soft dictatorship”.
The opposition started
reorganizing without much trouble.
Pact of San Sebastián ( August
1930): agreement between
republicans, regionalists and
socialists to overthrow Alphonse GENERAL BERENGUER WITH ALPHONSE XIII
XIII´s monarchy, proclaim a
Republic, form a Provisional
Government and call Constituent
Cortes to write a Constitution
MEMBERS OF THE REVOLUTIONARY COMMITTEE
SIGNATORIES OF THE PACT OF SAN SEBASTIÁN

22. LAST GOVERNMENT OF THE MONARCHY
January 1931: Berenguer resigned. The
king appointed admiral Aznar, who
decided to call for general elections to
come back to the constitutional order,
but the opposition parties demanded
local elections first (the republicans had
more support in cities)
ADMIRAL JUAN BAUTISTA AZNAR
12th April: local elections. The republican
parties won in the most important cities
(41 out of 50 provincial capital cities).
13th Abril: the Republic was proclaimed in
different cities : Éibar, Sahagún and
Jaca.
PROCLAMATION OF THE REPUBLIC IN ÉIBAR

23. PROCLAMATION OF THE 2nd REPUBLIC (14th APRIL 1931)
14th April 1931: proclamation of the Republic in the main cities.In Madrid, the
Revolutionary Committee proclaimed the Republic in the Puerta del Sol and
formed a Provisional Government.
Alphonse XIII suspended his powers and exiled in Italy

24. MADRID
BARCELONA
VALENCIA