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In-Depth Information
to French occupation troops in 1808, and
their patriotic uprising was brutally
repressed, an episode commemorated in
two of G
OYA
's most famous paintings.
During the S
PANISH
CIVIL
WAR
(1936-39)
the Republican forces and the civilian pop-
ulation endured prolonged bombardments
and aerial attacks by the rebels, not surren-
dering until March 29, 1939. The city grew
steadily in the number of its residents, the
prosperity of its commerce, and the impres-
siveness of its infrastructure in the decades
following the end of the austere dictator-
ship imposed by F
RANCISCO
F
RANCO
. Its cul-
tural isolation was ended as it became a
center of art, with the magnificent collec-
tion at the P
RADO
gallery being joined by
the work of avant-garde painters and sculp-
tors. A glittering nightlife, a dynamic cin-
ema, a newly liberated literary community,
and energetic involvement in international
affairs reflected its growing sense of being a
cosmopolitan European metropolis. Madrid
sustained a shocking blow to its self-confi-
dence on March 11, 2004, when a series of
bombs placed aboard trains entering the
central railroad station killed and wounded
almost 200 people. This attack by terrorists
helped to bring down the national govern-
ment, precipitate a withdrawal of Spanish
troops from military operations in Iraq, and
sour relations with its new ally, the United
States.
ence in the plantations and among the
working class after he returned to Spain
gave him a strong sympathy with the need
for social justice and political reform. He
was, for a time, an anarchist and was
detained by the police for his public utter-
ances and early ventures into journalism.
He went abroad as a correspondent for sev-
eral Spanish newspapers in 1909 and lived
in the major European capitals, including
Berlin. When World War I broke out in
1914 he chose to report the conflict from
the Allied side and found himself particu-
larly at home in Great Britain, where his
verbal and written command of English
was put to good use. After the war the dis-
ruption of the old European order and the
rise of communism led to a shift in his poli-
tics, and he moved toward the Right. In
1923 he hailed the establishment of a vir-
tual dictatorship by General P
RIMO
DE
R
IVERA
. He was rewarded for his increas-
ingly outspoken conservatism by being
named ambassador to A
RGENTINA
in 1928.
His literary-political writings also gained
him recognition, including the Luca de Tena
Prize and election to the Spanish Royal
Academy.
The proclamation of the Second Republic
in 1931 accelerated Maeztu's disenchant-
ment with contemporary affairs. He became
a conservative activist and theoretician and
gained a following among young people as
well as the support of disillusioned politi-
cians and military men. His anti-Republican
organization, Acción Española, and its jour-
nal (which bore the same name) widened
his influence. His arguments in favor of
Spain's need for regeneration, renewal of
its Catholic roots, and leadership in Europe's
resistance to Bolshevism attracted Catholic
and “Traditionalist” allies. Detained on
Maeztu y Whitney, Ramiro de
(1874-1936)
Spanish writer and political theorist
Born in Vitoria to a Basque father and an
English mother, Maeztu spent some years
of his young manhood working in C
UBA
to
help rebuild the family fortune. His experi-
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