Political History of Spain - The Tragic Week in Barcelona in 1909.

        The month before Tragic Week was filled with café discourse over the legitimacy of the unpopular war in Morocco.  Fresh in the minds of the Spaniards was the Disaster of 1898, when all most of the Spanish colonial holds were lost in embarrassing battles.  At a time when other European countries were expanding, Spain had lost its Cuban, Filipino, Guam, and Puerto Rican territories, making many Spaniards strongly opposed to fighting any more oversea wars, especially given the political turmoil in their homeland.  Additionally, in contrast to the earlier conquests, popular opinion recognized the Moroccan expedition as only an economic endeavor to protect the personal interests of the king, aristocrats, and clergy whose possessed iron mines in the Rif.  On July 8, 1909, despite already having placed 6.000 men in North Africa, War Minister Arsenio Linares called up all the army reservists assigned to the 3rd Mixed Brigade, stationed in Cataluña. Linares made a crucial mistake in targeting the Catalans, because, as former Captain General of Barcelona, he should have recognized the unruly nature which had become standard in this area, after years of political and labor tension.  However, Linares chose these men because they had been trained at his hand and he wanted to exhibit their abilities.  Men in the Third Brigade came from Aragon, Valencia and Barcelona, and consequently, the northeastern corner of the country was saturated in angry citizens, who were either going to war or losing a principle source of income, not to mention a family member. Madrid was absorbed into protest in mid-July when its First Mixed Brigade was mobilized. 

        In the week before the official strike was called in Barcelona, anarchists, socialists, and la Solidaridad Catalana (Cataluña’s nationalist party) members had gone back and forth between striking, holding rallies and protesting. On Wednesday, July 21, the workers presented a formal declaration of their grievances, written by Fabra Rivas.  It stated:

Considering the fact that war is a fatal consequence of the capitalist system of production; considering, also, the fact that under the present Spanish system, only workers go to fight the war which the bourgeoisie declare: The Assembly protests energetically:

1. Against the action of the Spanish Government in Morocco;

2. Against the proceedings of certain ladies of the aristocracy who insult the suffering of the reservists… giving them medals and scapularies instead of providing them with the means of sustenance… wretched from them by the removal of the head of the family;

3. Against sending to war citizens useful to production…when they could form regiments of priests and monks who, besides being directly interested in the triumph of the Catholic religion, have no family nor home nor are they of any service to the nation; and

4. Against the attitude of the republican deputies who have not taken advantage of their parliamentary immunity in order to take their place at the head of the masses in the protest against the war…

This is the first written indication that the protestors have grievances not only against the war, but that at the root of their anger is also anticlericalism.  The protestors are not only incensed at Maura and the closed Cortes; they are frustrated about the lack of representation, the unfair conscription, the war in Morocco which was irrelevant in the eyes of the average Spaniard, and the way that the Church has distanced itself from the people.  By citing them as having no purpose to the nation, the protestors have virtually invalidated one of the most powerful influences in Spanish history.

        A cloud of religious doubt had settled over Spain, whose sentiments were far from where they were during the days of the Catholic Kings.  During the nineteenth century, the church became identified as supporters of absolutism, and therefore anti-republic and anti-liberal, during the Carlist Wars, when they sided with the Carlists instead of Isabella II.  The Carlists’ crusade of violence in Cataluña and País Vasco and their perceived alliance with the Church caused a permanent rift between the priest and the parishioner.  Between 1820 and 1823, the monks and friars suffered brutal outbursts of the citizens of Spain.  This lead to the massacre in Madrid on July 17, 1834, which resulted in the deaths of 78 Franciscans, Jesuits, Dominicans, and Mercedarians. Similar flare-ups followed in Barcelona and Zaragoza. 

        During the nineteenth century, the financial superiority of the Church added to the discontent. The Church’s economic eminence was a result of various privileges granted by the government. A special legal status was granted to the clergy, placing them above the laws of Spain and accountable only to Rome.  The religious personnel sold a variety of handmade goods that were excused from being taxed, therefore enjoying financial benefits while taking labor away from and undercutting the labor market of the villagers.  One Republican newspaper, garnering official documents and statements, estimated that the Church cost the State 43 million pesetas each year.  And finally, the populations in small villages and larger towns began to wonder how the parish priest was supposed to relate to them and help their needs if he was the equivalent of the establishment in the area.  He was more a part of the elite than he was an advocate for the impoverished.

        At the turn of the century, the Radical Republicans also formed a movement against the clergy.  When they picked up the cause, they added a new dimension to the growing anticlerical population: the unskilled/unemployed workers, migrating to the cities and soaking up these new sentiments, which were in contrast to their countryside feelings. The Republicans’ opposition to clergy was focused publicly on the myths and popular animosities, questioning the sexuality of the religious leaders and their Catholic rituals.  Alejandro Lerroux, the Republican leader in Barcelona, encouraged his followers to raid convents and “raise the veils of nuns to convert them into the category of mothers”. One of Lerroux’s strongest characteristics was the way he rallied and mobilized the lower classes.  He strongly supported workers’ rights and, in 1906, he organized Casas del Pueblo, a location in each neighborhood where workers could go in order to take advantage of recreational and cultural services.  He was both anticlerical and patriotic, condemning Catalan separatism.

        During the Tragic Week, violence against the church was committed by many different types of people, not just followers of Lerroux.  These atrocities were not on the part of a small fanatical minority, nor were they accidental occurrences at the hand of a confused mob. In fact, though most of the arsons and raids were organized by local officials of the Radical party and extremists in its youth group, they were carried out and backed by larger sections of the population than just the Lerroux supporters.  The lack of resistance that the insurgents faced is an indication that the troops (sent in to put down the mobs) and the middle class citizens (who watched the burnings from their balconies) shared in the masses’ ill will towards the church. 

        From the lack of casualties among the clergy, one can discern that the aggression was geared towards the symbolic importance of the Church and its place in the ruling class. Rather than stealing its great riches, the rioters burned and destroyed the Church’s emblems.  When invading the convents, many protestors believed they would discover great social injustices, including women being held against their will.  The Radical propaganda led people to believe that torture chambers and sexual instruments were hidden within the walls of the convents, and others believed that they would reveal hidden riches of the Carlist campaign. When one group of invaders found corpses of nuns with their feet and hands bound, they paraded through the squares of the towns with the bodies in tow, as evidence of clerical eccentricism, not realizing that this was a standard burial position.    

        Tragic Week was the result of heightening social and political movements, which gained momentum after the Disaster of 1898.  The country was developing its identity as a new nation in the twentieth century, but at the same time, the central and southern portions of the country were suffering an agrarian decline, urbanization was beginning, and the developing labor organizations were on the rise.  The loss of colonial powers caused many Spaniards to question the legitimacy of both the government and the army and subsequently, faith was lost in both of them.  Morocco, the unfair conscription, and the lost battles provided the spark for the riots, though unplanned.  Governor Ossorio, Interior Minister La Cierva, and Prime Minister Maura’s efforts to put down a one day protest actually helped elevate and infuriate public opinion to a new level, leading to the violent responses. Some would assume that the wealthy private institutions would have felt the brunt of the aggression, however, the socialist and anarchist tendencies, combined with Republican ideals, downplayed class divisions and instead spoke out against the ancient regime, including the Church. The clergy became the focus of Tragic Week destruction for many rioters because it was the most visible representation of the established ruling order.  The Catholic Church was the most accessible mark throughout the city, with its presence in schools, convents, monasteries, churches, and welfare locations spread throughout the city.