Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
SPAIN, FROM THE AMERICAN WAR
THROUGH THE CIVIL WAR
The events of 1898, often referred to simply as “the Disaster,” produced
a profound reaction among Spaniards that varied according to their
political, socioeconomic, and cultural status. For those with a degree of
historical sophistication it was perceived as yet another stage in the
recurring pattern of convulsion that seemed to mark the end of each
successive century: the discovery of the New World in 1492 and the
launching of the struggle for mastery of the Old, the crises that followed
Philip II's death in 1598, the end of the Habsburg dynasty and the suc-
cession struggle that commenced in 1700, and the onset of the revolu-
tionary upheaval that engulfed the Iberian Peninsula at the beginning
of the 19th century and destroyed Spanish rule in the Americas. Now
at the end of the 19th century the symbolic remains of empire were
gone (save for a few stretches of sand and jungle in Africa), and the
armed forces were humiliated as never before. Intellectuals asked
whether this was truly the end of Spain or an opportunity for a new,
better way of thinking and acting. Capitalists called for a long-delayed
modernization now that Spain was no longer mired in reveries about
past glory. Politicians attempted to reposition themselves according to
their ideological commitments and personal ambitions. The Conserva-
tive Party split into a faction that clung to traditional values as the sal-
vation of the country and a moderate wing that accepted the need for
change without being too clear about how to achieve it. Its old rival,
the Liberal Party, claimed to have a “progressive” solution to the nation's
needs. Newer parties multiplied, often as the result of the class warfare
that had developed in the 1880s and '90s and the perception that the
Disaster had come about because they had not been in charge at the
critical moment. These parties or pseudoparties included Socialists,
anarchists (each with its own affiliated trade union movements), Radi-
cals, and Republicans, to say nothing of a Catalan nationalist move-
ment and even the remnant of Carlism holding out in Navarre. All of
these would have their role to play in the tumultuous events of the
next four decades. Nor was the Catholic Church reluctant to prescribe
its own remedies for the national malaise or the army to insist that its
own brand of self-interested patriotism was essential to national
survival.
Amidst the chorus of blame, critical analysis, and militant opportun-
ism that rose up at the beginning of the 20th century, a surprisingly
wide variety of Spanish commentators still looked to the monarchy as an
anchor in the great storm that threatened to engulf the country and a
 
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