The whole first decade of the 20th Century made the territory of Catalonia one of instability and an area in social turmoil. The birth of Catalan nationalism had been at the base of Catalonia for a long period, prior to the real emergence of it into the public eye. Catalonia was highly nationalistic; it was a different society – in many ways, through the language, culture and, perhaps, its greatest advantage over the other Spanish territories, its industrial wealth and productivity. Catalonia was perhaps an exception to the rule – on its rise to nationalism – as it had witnessed a period of industrialisation, of which the consequence was an extremely high powered bourgeoisie. There is a widening gap in the social basis of Catalanism – as the ideal attracts the urban middle class and lower class – which in turn results in federalism. The fact that two major classes are excluded from these middle class elite – the economic and social elite along with the working class; this to some extent leads to foundations of the working class movement, due to their lack of absorption by the federalist groups, and the rise of Spanish nationalism – due somewhat to the same cause along with other contributing factors.
Yet in contradiction to the argument that Spanish Nationalism and the working class movement grew within Catalonia due to the rise of Catalan Nationalism – one could state that Catalan Nationalism rose to prominence due to the increasing repression of which it was under as a state in the second decade of the 20th Century. Evidence of this can perhaps be seen during the dictatorship of General Primo de Rivera, in which the authoritarian’s anti – Catalanist policies alienated all the nationalist groups. Another reason the Catalan Nationalism grew at such a rate in the first three decades, and gained such a dislike for Spanish Nationalism – was due to the loss of the Spanish - American War. When Spain lost the American colonies, such as Cuba, it had a massive effect on Catalonia – due to the fact that Cuba had been an important market for Catalan textiles and without it exports dropped dramatically.There was such a massive economic slump after this had occurred, that it was somewhat inevitable that the embittered the relationship between Catalonia and Castile would get increasingly worse, and they would begin to campaign more for the territory. It is perhaps possible to say that, the image of Catalonia declining, helped the rise of the Catalan Nationalist movement to rapidly progress, as it gained a mass following in the middle classes who became angered towards the Castilian movements, due to the mass decline in the economy with the loss of the war.
In contrast, Spanish Nationalism arose somewhat rapidly to combat this ever increasing threat of Catalan Nationalism – with the rise of the Spanish Nationalism the working class movement in turn became involved over Catalonia. In an attempt perhaps to make Catalonia more Spanish, along with the push of severe poverty in Castile and the promise of jobs, over 500,000 immigrant workers moved into Catalonia from all over Castile, in the period 1910 to 1930. The workers were somewhat disillusioned with what they received, poor working conditions, along with low wages, meant that they were somewhat unimpressed with the nationalist movement, and turned their focus to two groups, Spanish Nationalism and the working class movement, which promised some sort of reform in the region. Yet in contrast many of the working class were still Catalan, thus having a strong nationalistic belief via their working class based organisations.
The Tragic Week, or Setmana Tràgica played a particularly significant role in the rapid rise in both Nationalist groups and within the working class movement. The week was a huge revolt against the possible outbreak of war with Morocco, both the Spanish Republicans lead by Lerroux and the Catalan Nationalist groups were against the war, and were somewhat united in their views via their national papers, the Lerrouxist El Progreso and the Catalanist El Poble Català. Yet when the strikers were marching through Barcelona, they lost control of themselves and started burning down churches and religious schools, this lead to many restrictions being placed on the working class masses, many of the non-denominational schools being closed down in an attempt to punish the strikers. The ever increasing pressure on the working class masses to conform and join the Catalan Nationalist movement or the Republican sector – meant they would quite possibly set up their own project in order to combat the other two groups, and enable them to create their own faction who would fight for the territory of Catalonia.
Catalonia during the first decades of the twentieth century, a particularly wealthy region, which is one of the most probable factors as to why each of the politically orientated groups had a vested interest in the territory. Catalonia had a strong industrial background, despite the recession in the 2nd decade of the 20th Century. Catalan Nationalist group would benefit from the territory, as it would mean that Catalonia would once again be autonomous, and no longer a part of the amalgamated states that were Spain. The working – class movement, saw Catalonia as an industrial capital, from which they could reform the rest of Spain into their way of thinking, via perhaps using Catalonia as an example of how their redistribution of power worked. In the long run though, the radical working class movement would join ranks somewhat with the Catalan Nationalists, in order to combat the ever rising and problematic Spanish Nationalists. Spanish Nationalism, somewhat to the same extent, had an interest in Catalonia, due to her wealth and industrial power, it would also prove to the rest of Spain, that autonomy would never work and that Castilian would always prevail, perhaps setting an example somewhat to the Basques and Galicians.
In conclusion, the rise of Spanish Nationalism could quite possible merely have occurred in order to somewhat suppress the rise Catalan movement, which merely meant the Catalan movement increased its campaign in a revolt against the Castilian nationalism. Yet along with the increased Spanish Nationalism and the Catalan Nationalism, arose the working class movement. This working class movement, was a reply to the repression, yet it was also a cry out for the redistribution of power and also clearly showed, that one of the most vital groups to winning this battle over Catalonia had been left out of either side, so to some extent held the weight which could tip the scale towards Catalan Nationalism being recognised and Spanish Nationalism taking over Catalonian values and making them Castilian. One could question as to why the working class group arose so rapidly, it is most likely to say it is due to the fact they were not included in the overall plans of either nationalist side, and also due to the fact that their beliefs were different to either of the other two projects.
Bibliography
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Balcells, A., (1996), ‘Catalan nationalism: past and present’ edited and introduced by Geoffrey J. Walker ; translated by Jacqueline Hall with the collaboration of Geoffrey J. Walker (Basingstoke: Macmillan)
Johnston, H., (1991), ‘Tales of nationalism: Catalonia, 1939-1979’ (New Brunswick, NJ : Rutgers University)
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