The Impact of Industrialization on Workers in 19th Century Bizkaia: An Analysis of “El Intruso”
1. Introduction
- Type of Text: Primary source. As a novel, El Intruso is a literary, narrative text with a social theme.
- Author: Written in Valencia in 1904 by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, initially a manners author who later focused on social themes. He was also involved in politics and lecturing.
- Addressee: Readers; therefore, it is a public text.
- Objective: To reflect the social consequences of industrialization by describing the living conditions of workers in the mines of Bizkaia at the end of the 19th century.
Location and Date
The text is historically located during the industrialization of Bizkaia, specifically during the exploitation of the iron mines.
2. Content
In the novel El Intruso, Vicente Blasco Ibáñez reflects and synthesizes the sudden change and clash between two worlds and the social conflicts in the industrial environment of Bilbao: the pre-industrial, peasant society, rooted in tradition and Catholicism, transitioning to a new, proletarianized society of immigrants (“maketos”) who favored new ideologies.
The first line places the story in a specific space: “the house of the Labourers/peons”.
The second and third paragraphs explain the situation of workers through three main ideas:
1. Description of the Scarce Living Conditions
The text describes the scarce living conditions of the low-class laborers in the iron mines of the Encartaciones of Bizkaia, including poor food and clothing (lines 4-6), inappropriate residential buildings (barracks) that were small, cold, unprepared, dirty, lacked hygiene and healthcare, and suffered from overcrowding, leaving workers without privacy (lines 6-12).
2. Description of the Working Conditions
The text describes the work done by the low-class laborers (lines 2-4) and mentions the places of work, the abundant iron mountains of the Encartaciones (line 20). It compares work in open-pit mines and underground mines, highlighting that underground work was a qualified and more difficult job, while working in the quarry required only physical strength and no special skills.
3. The Problem of Immigration
The text addresses the problem that arose with immigration (lines 24-27). The continuous flow of poor workers who accepted any type of working conditions hindered efforts to extend the demands of the workers’ movement and improve conditions in open-pit mines. Workers expelled from the quarries for demanding labor improvements were quickly replaced, preventing them from fighting for their rights. This idea is linked to the principles of trade unionism.
3. Context
Precedents
- Beginnings of Industrialization in Bizkaia: The appearance of the Bessemer converter, which utilized the iron from Bizkaia with excellent characteristics for the steel industry. This, combined with open-pit mines, unskilled workers, very low production costs, and proximity to means of transport (the Bilbao estuary), made industrial development offer excellent opportunities for the new industrial bourgeoisie to develop steel companies in Bizkaia.
- Growth of Mining Exploitation: The exploitation of the Encartaciones mines grew due to favorable conditions: cheaper prices, easy transport due to proximity to the Bilbao estuary and the development of the railway, and excellent quality iron.
- Influence of Colonial Exploitation: The way entrepreneurs organized mining operations, which led to an accumulation of capital in a few families of the Biscay oligarchy.
Present Moment
- Consequences of Development on Workers: Emergence of the working class and the conditions of their life and work.
- Immigrant Workforce: The Basque Country’s workforce was largely composed of immigrants.
- Subhuman Living and Working Conditions: Immigrants endured subhuman living conditions and poor working conditions, with mine workers facing the harshest conditions: crammed into barracks, working days of over 12 hours, no labor agreements, and forced to buy from company stores using a voucher system. This painful panorama led to the emergence of the first socialist groups (Bilbao, Ortuella, La Arboleda…), and Bizkaia saw the most active and important socialist movement at the state level.
Consequences
- Beginnings of the Workers’ Struggle: The mining strike of 1890 strengthened the PSOE, which gradually became the representative of the workers in Bizkaia. Important historical figures of socialism were related to the workers’ movement in Bizkaia: Pablo Iglesias, Facundo Perezagua, Indalecio Prieto, Tomás Meabe… This strike ended with the signing of the Loma agreement, achieving the implementation of the 10-hour workday, the elimination of the obligation to buy from company stores, and freedom of choice of housing, not in barracks. However, the measures were not guaranteed, and strikes continued in the following years.
4. Conclusion/Importance of the Text
- Influence of the Bessemer Converter: The text highlights the influence of the Bessemer converter on the growth of mining activity in Bizkaia due to the excellent quality of the iron ore suitable for the converter, marking the starting point of industrialization.
- Consequences of Industrialization: The text explains the consequences of the industrialization process:
- Social: Appearance of the working class, crisis of the traditional society, replaced mostly by an unskilled and immigrant workforce.
- Demographic: Increase in immigration mainly from provinces bordering the Basque Country, and a significant increase in population.
- Abandonment of Workers’ Conditions: The text emphasizes the abandonment of working and living conditions of workers, leading to the emergence and expansion of the workers’ movement.
kers’ movement.