Two Spain

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The juxtaposition of the two Spain (Spanish: las dos Españas ) is used to describe social and political problem areas and axes of conflict that arose in Spain in the 19th century and led to the Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939.

In its simplest form, the thesis of the existence of “two Spain” is based on the division of the country into two opposing political-ideological camps: one on the left and one on the right. Such a simplification does not do justice to the complex social division in Spain in the 19th and 20th centuries. For this reason, historians have expanded their considerations to include social and cultural fields in particular. The expanded theory of the two Spain locates on the one hand an urban-progress-oriented, anti-clerical-liberal, republican-democratic and on the other a rural-conservative, Catholic-traditionalist and authoritarian-monarchist camp.

The concept of the two Spain was spread by the Generación del 98 . It is traced back to the 53rd and last stanza of the poem Proverbios y cantares (“Proverbs and Chants”) by the republican poet Antonio Machado . This reads: Ya hay un español que quiere / vivir ya vivir empieza, / entre una España que muere / y otra España que bosteza. / Españolito que vienes / al mundo, te guarde Dios. / Una de las dos Españas / ha de helarte el corazón ("There is a Spaniard who wants to live and is beginning to live, between a Spain that is dying and a Spain that is yawning. Little Spaniard you are born, may God protect you. One of the two Spain will make your heart freeze ”).

causes

  • Unjust land distribution: A small group of large landowners faced a large group of landless day laborers in the south of the country, who increasingly turned to Spanish anarchism . The traditional Catholic peasantry in the north of the country sympathized with the Carlist . There was practically no middle peasantry. The failure to implement comprehensive land reform led to numerous social conflicts.
  • Role of the military: The politicized army intervened repeatedly in politics since 1808 and was involved in numerous changes of government through coups. While the military was more on the side of liberalism in the 19th century, from 1874 there was a shift towards the authoritarian camp. The pre-eminent military influence fueled the instability of Spanish politics.
  • Regionalism: The conflict between the central Spanish government and the industrialized coastal regions favored regionalism and the aspirations for autonomy in the Basque Country and Catalonia .
  • Influence of the Church: The late secularization and dominance of the Church in education led to a cultural division. Because of its turn to the conservative, authoritarian and monarchical movements, the Church favored the anti-clerical orientation of various political groups.

See also

literature