Catalanism and the Central State: A History
The Criticism of Centralism
The new Spanish constitution of the nineteenth-century liberal state defined Spain as a unique nation with a unique court, depository of national sovereignty. It would be a state with centralization of politics, economics, administration, and the judiciary, and military forces in Madrid.
This centralized vision was criticized throughout the nineteenth century, especially in Catalonia.
Federalism
In 1840, away from political and social struggle, federalist republicanism appeared. In 1868, with the emergence of the Democratic Federal Republican Party, federalism spread quickly. The emergence of this party was most important in Catalonia, and it had the support of part of the bourgeoisie, some urban areas and, most importantly, the industrial proletariat.
Pi i Maragall, the main promoter of federalism, argued that Spain was a nation. He defended that a Federal State should be made from the union of the different regions of the peninsula.
In 1869, a group of Catalan federals signed the Federal Pact of Tortosa, an agreement to support a Spanish federal state that contemplated popular sovereignty and the history of the Crown of Aragon.
The federal state was formalized during the First Republic and became a project of the Constitution of 1873. However, with the failure of the Republic and during the Restoration, it lost all possibilities.
Liga de Catalunya and the Message to the Regent
The restoration of the monarchy refused to recognize the rights that Catalans had obtained before and wanted to get some that they had not had. With the Restoration came the split between liberals and conservatives, alternating in elections thanks to election falsification. They created the Spanish nation, and the difference that this implied was that before, each county had its civil code, and now it would be the same for the whole country because laws had to be unified.
A group was formed, the League of Catalonia, made up of men like Verdaguer and Puig i Cadafalch. They were battling for the interests of Catalonia, with a completely conservative approach, to fight to preserve their rights as Catalans. The League was reluctant to approve the Civil Code of Spain, but it was eventually approved, although some of Catalonia’s rights were retained as the government agreed to change the code. This is considered the first victory of Catalanism.
Traditionalist Catalanism
During the implementation of the liberal state, the Catalan clergy gave support to Carlism and adopted fundamentalist and anti-liberal positions. At the end, during the Restoration, the clergy had changed their minds and gave support to the more conservative group of liberals. This group formed the weekly publication, Voice of Montserrat.
Josep Torras defended Catalan roots and Christian clergy. To regenerate Catalan society, the clergy should be the ones to take on the task of Christianization, following a low social model of thinking.
The Formation of the Unió Catalanista
The Catalan nationalist movement and the League’s campaign against the draft Civil Code showed the necessity of better organization.
This is why the Unió Catalanista was created, formed by all the counties.
The Unió had a lot of support among rural Catalonia, media owners, merchants, professionals, and liberal intellectuals.
The organization propelled Catalan consciousness and sought to obtain broad self-government for Catalonia.
Bases de Manresa
An act of the Unió was formed in Manresa and had the aim of adopting a political program that was named the Basis for a Regional Catalan Constitution. The document contained the principles of Catalan politics and placed importance on the role of Catalonia in Spanish politics.
The power of the central state would be limited, with a lot of competition in power. It proclaimed the official status of Catalan, that public office in Catalonia be exercised by Catalans, and that military service in Catalonia be voluntary.