Prelude to chaos

During the 14th to the 18th century Spain was one of the major European powers; it had built a world empire that stretches from Argentina to the Netherlands. Throughout the 18th and 19th century however, the Spanish empire crumbled down. In 1898 its last colonies, Cuba and Puerto Rico, were lost to the Americans.

Mostly because of the reconquista the development of Spanish society was out of synch with the rest of Europe. At the start of the 20th century Spain was a largely agricultural society with a handful of advanced industrial centres scattered across the country, most notably Barcelona and Madrid. During the First World War–in which it remained neutral–Spain saw a huge economic revival as it could trade with both the enténte and the central powers. Booming exports however did not improve working conditions in factories or at farm lands, and food was scarce. In 1917 labour unions called for general strikes across the country. It failed as the unions failed to mobilize rural workers.

Industrialisation and a highly inefficient agricultural system made for a severely skewed economy, dominated by great landowners and corrupt politicians. Most of the rural workers were starve close to starvation, while labour unions–the socialist UGT and anarchist CNT being the largest–enjoyed disproportionate power in urban areas. Many Spanish workers found hope in the Russian revolution, but workers’ increasing demands and militarisation was often violently oppressed by assassinations of union leaders, and military intervention.

The first half of the 20^th century in Spain is characterized by chaos, unrest and anger. Next up: the Spanish army.