Socialism and Republicanism in Spain: A Historical Analysis
Socialism in Spain
Socialism: In 1876, after the demise of the International, its members decided to form a political party. A group of workers in Madrid, which included Pablo Iglesias, founded the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) in 1879. The Socialist Party defined itself as Marxist, with a working-class orientation, and supported social revolution. It presented a program of reforms that included the right of association, assembly, and demonstration, universal suffrage, reduction of working hours, prohibition of child labor, and other social measures. In 1888, the General Union of Workers (UGT) was founded, allowing its members freedom of political affiliation.
When the Republicans lost some of their former social base, they had to fight for the popular vote in competition with the PSOE.
Among the social forces of the Restoration regime that it was unable to incorporate were the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party, the UGT, and the National Labor Confederation. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the PSOE was still a relatively small force, but with a solid foundation that allowed steady growth. In 1905, the PSOE won council seats in Madrid, and Pablo Iglesias secured a seat as a deputy in 1910. With regard to the socialist UGT union, its growth was even greater. The link between the PSOE and the UGT was very narrow, and its top leaders were usually militants from both formations. Therefore, the rise of socialist unionism was accompanied by the growth of the socialist party. However, the outbreak of the Russian Revolution gave rise to some militant socialists who favored the Bolshevik line and split from the PSOE in 1921, founding the Communist Party of Spain (PCE).
Republicanism in Spain
Republicanism: After the failure of the Six-Year Democratic experiment, Republicanism had to face the disappointment of some of their followers and the suppression of the monarchical governments. The most rapid adaptation to new conditions was led by the old Republican leader Emilio Castelar, who evolved into increasingly moderate positions and created the Republican Possibilist Party. A contrary case was that of Ruiz Zorrilla, a progressive politician who turned to radical republicanism and founded the Progressive Republican Party. Universal male suffrage stimulated the formation of electoral alliances (Republican Union) that grouped the different families, with the exception of Republican Possibilism. Republicanism lost some of its former social base and had to fight for the popular vote in competition with the new unionism represented by the PSOE.
Republicanism was the main opposition to the dynasty’s reformism and was the largest parliamentary group in the early twentieth century, but it always faced the problem of fragmentation into different groups. In order to give uniformity to Republicanism, the Republican Union was formed in 1903, led by Nicolás Salmerón and Alejandro Lerroux, which achieved several electoral successes. In 1906, Salmerón joined the Catalan Solidarity coalition, but this orientation was rejected by a sector of the party led by Lerroux, who founded the Radical Party in Barcelona (1908), which had an anti-Catalanist character.