Anarchism, Revolution and Reaction: Catalan Labor and the Crisis of the Spanish State, 1898-1923

417 Pages·2007·2.945 MB·English

by  Angel Smith

Anarchism, Revolution and Reaction
International Studies in Social History
General Editor: Marcel van der Linden,
International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam
Volume 1
Trade Unions, Immigration and Immigrants in Europe 1960–1993
Edited by Rinus Penninx and Judith Roosblad
Volume 2
Class and Other Identities
Edited by Lex Heerma van Voss and Marcel van der Linden
Volume 3
Rebellious Families
Edited by Jan Kok
Volume 4
Experiencing Wages
Edited by Peter Scholliers and Leonard Schwarz
Volume 5
The Imaginary Revolution
Michael Seidman
Volume 6
Revolution and Counterrevolution
Kevin Murphy

Volume 7

Miners and the State in the Ottoman Empire

Donald Quataert
Volume 8

Anarchism, Revolution and Reaction
Angel Smith
A , R
NARCHISM EVOLUTION AND
R
EACTION
Catalan Labour and the Crisis of the
Spanish State, 1898–1923
Angel Smith

Berghahn Books
NEW YORK • OXFORD
First published in 2007 by
Berghahn Books
www.berghahnbooks.com
© 2007 Angel Smith
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages
for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this book
may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information
storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented,
without written permission of the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Smith, Angel, 1958-
Anarchism, revolution, and reaction : Catalan labour and the crisis of the Spanish state,
1898-1923 / Angel Smith.
p. cm. -- (International studies in social history ; v. 8)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 1-84545-176-7 (hardback : alk. paper)
1. Labor movement--Spain--Catalonia--History. 2. Anarchism--Spain--Catalonia--History.
3. Syndicalism--Spain--Catalonia--History. 4. Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (Spain).
Comité de Catalunya--History. 5. Spain--Politics and government--1886-1931. I. Title.
HD8589.C32S64 2006
331.88'60946709041--dc22
2006019695

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Printed in the United States on acid-free paper

ISBN -10:1-84545-176-7 ISBN -13:978-1-84545-176-9 (hardback)
To my wife, Marga, and my daughter, Anna

C
ONTENTS
List of Figures and Tables viii
Acknowledgements ix
List of Acronyms x
A Note on Language Usage xi
Introduction 1
Part I: The Roots of Industrial Militancy
1. Industrial Structure, Technological Change and the Labour Process 11
2. Gender, Skill and Class: Hierarchy and Solidarity within the
Catalan Working-Class Community 36
3. The State, Employers and Organised Labour: Political
Marginalisation, Social Control and Resistance 67
Part II: Building the Anarchist-Syndicalist Movement, 1898 to 1914
4. Anarchism, Socialism and the General Strike, 1898 to 1909 103
5. Workers against the State: Anarchism, Republicanism, Popular
and Working-Class Protest, 1898 to 1909 146
6. The Foundation of the CNT, 1910 to 1914 189

Part III: The Gun and the Sword: The Catalan CNT from Revolution
to Repression, 1915 to 1923
7. The War-Time Economy and the Rise of the Sindicats Unics,

1915 to 1918 225
8. Between Reform and Revolution: The Catalan CNT and the

Left-Wing Challenge to the Restoration Regime, 1915 to 1918 259
9. 1919: The Apogee of the Catalan CNT and the Employer-

Military Counteroffensive 290
10. The Road to Dictatorship: The Destruction of the Catalan CNT

and the Fall of the Restoration Regime, 1920 to 1923 323
Bibliography 361
Index 379
L F T
IST OF IGURES AND ABLES
List of Figures
1.1. The Geographical Location of the Catalan Textile Industries 13
1.2. The Ter and Freser Valleys 15
2.1. Percentage of non-Catalan Spanish Population by District in 1900 46
2.2. The Neighbourhoods of Barcelona in 1911 52
2.3. Percentage of Industrial Workers by District in 1900 57
4.1. Front Page of the First Number of Solidaridad Obrera 133
List of Tables
1.1. The Geographical Location of the Catalan Cotton Textile
Industry in 1919 16
1.2. Number of Industrial Workers in the Principal Barcelona
Industries in 1905 and 1920 20

1.3. Number of Industrial Workers per Unit of Production in
Barcelona City and Province in 1907 and 1923 21

2.1. Population Change in Barcelona, 1890–1920 44
2.2. Wages and Expenditure of a Working-Class Family (Husband,
Wife and Two Children), 1905–1917 48
2.3. The Social Structure of Barcelona by Neighbourhoods in 1900 55
3.1. Comparison of Strikes, Strikers and Working Days Lost in
Barcelona and the Rest of Spain, 1899–1914 84
3.2. Propensity of Workers in Barcelona to Strike by Industry,

1899–1914 86
7.1. Comparison of Strikes, Strikers and Working Days Lost in
Barcelona and the Rest of Spain, 1915–1923 227
A
CKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This project has its origins in a doctoral dissertation undertaken under the
guidance of Professor Paul Preston at Queen Mary College, University of
London. Professor Preston has, for a number of years now, been the major
figure for the study of modern Spanish history in Britain, and all of us who
have worked with him have benefited enormously from his insights, advice
and support. Pere Gabriel, who boasts an encyclopaedic knowledge of Cata-
lan anarchism, kindly pointed me in the direction of the major sources when
I began my research, has been unstinting in offering me both hospitality and
a forum in which to put forward my ideas. Francisco Madrid has aided my
search for anarchist press material, Joaquim Albareda helped me locate
archive sources in the Ter Valley, and Josep Mª Benaul guided me through
the Sabadell Municipal Archive. This book has also been improved by discus-
sions with several other historians. José Alvarez Junco and Angel Duarte have
helped me better understand Catalan republicanism. I have discussed the
practice and ideology of the Catalan industrialists with Soledad Bengoechea,
who has been generous with both her time and expertise. With Justin Byrne
I have held frequent and lively discussions on labour and the Left in early

twentieth century Spain. Carles Enrech has supplied me with material on
working-class living standards. I would also like to thank Joseph Harrison,

Richard Cleminson and Christopher Ealham for their comments on Chapters
One, Five, and Ten respectively. Finally, I am indebted to my wife, Margarita
Díaz-Andreu, for her encouragement during the years it has taken to prepare

this book. It is dedicated to her and to my daughter, Anna. Needless to say,
all remaining faults are my own.
L A
IST OF CRONYMS
ADM Associació de Dependència Mercantil/ Shopworkers’ and
Clerks’ Association.
CADCI Centre Autònomista de Dependents del Comerç i de la
Indústria/Shopworkers’ and Clerks’ Independent Centre
CGT Confédération Générale du Travail/ (French) General
Labour Confederation
CNT Confederación Nacional del Trabajo/National Labour
Confederation
CRT Confederació Regional del Treball/Regional (Catalan)
Labour Confederation
FRE Federación Regional Española/Federation of the Spanish
Region
FRESR Federación Regional Española de Sociedades de
Resistencia/Federation of Unions of the Spanish Region
FTE Federación de la Industrial Textil Española/Spanish
Textile Federation
FTRE Federación de Trabajadores de la Región
Española/Workers’ Federation of the Spanish Region

FOS Federació Obrera Sabadellenca/Sabadell Workers’
Federation
FTN Foment del Treball Nacional/ Federation to Promote

National Development
PSOE Partido Socialista Obrero Español/Spanish Socialist
Workers’ Party
PRC Partit Republicà Català/Catalan Republican Party
SO Solidaritat Obrera/Worker Solidarity

SU Sindicat Unic/Single Trade Union
TCV Tres Classes de Vapor/Three Steam Classes
UGT Unión General de Trabajadores/General Workers’ Union