Fighting for the National Memory. The Commemoration of the Spanish "War of Independence" in...

Fighting for the National Memory

The Commemoration of the Spanish"War of Independence" in 1908-1912

JAVIER MORENO-LUZON

Commemorations reveal core characteristics of nationalism and nation-build-ing processes. This article studies Spanish nationalism by examining a series ofimportant commemorative events held from 1908 to 1912 to celebrate the firstcentennial of the Spanish "War of Independence." Three conclusions are sug-

gested by the analysis: first, that nineteenth -century nationalist myths still heldextraordinary sway at the beginning of the tventieth century; second, that mostlocal and regional identities did not run counter to Spanish identity but ratherreinforced it; and third, that the national memory constituted a battleground fordifferent political opinions, which used the past to support their own agendas.These conclusions cast doubt on the prevailing arguments concerning the weaknessof Spanish nationalism and nation building, while underlining the importance ofmemory politics in modern nationalist discourses in general.

Spanish nationalism, a subject that until a few years ago barely man-

aged to attract the attention of historians, is now a very popular field of

study. The traditional lack of interest for a phenomenon associated with

Francoism, and the resulting preference for retracing the genealogy of

peripheral nationalist movements-such as Catalan, Basque or Galician

nationalism-have given way to a new upsurge in historical research into

espafiolismo. As a result, we have learnt much about the nationalist dis-

courses of the intellectual elites, but somewhat less about how they were

adopted by political figures, and considerably less about how they fit in

with specific nationalist strategies maneuvered from positions of power.

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The most intense recurring historiographical debate has dealt withthe relative weakness of state-run nationalism and the alleged failure ofthe nation-building process in the nineteenth century. According to theprevailing interpretation, Spain-unlike other countries in Western Europesuch as France--did not complete this process due to an underfundedand ineffective central government and the lack of interest shown byits oligarchies in mass mobilization, which led to the survival of stronglocal identities and, in the long term, to the consolidation of alternativenationalist movements. These theses have faced some criticism as of lateand have been accused of being simplistic, relying on the ideas of failureand exceptionality that have bogged down Spanish historiography fordecades; they have also been criticized for idealizing the successful Frenchmodel and lacking a sound base in empirical research. 1 There is thereforea need for new approaches better able to understand the development ofnational identities in contemporary Spain, distinguishing among differentperiods and regional settings. These should incorporate other actors, aswell as methods of dissemination of nationalist ideals, in order to set theSpanish case within a wider international context.

This article proposes twvo fundamental changes in historiographicalwork on Spanish nationalism. First, it seeks to expand its scope to thefirst decades of the twentieth century in order to include the emergenceof political Catalanism and, to a lesser extent, Basque nationalism, whichprovoked acute reactions from Spanish nationalists and strengthened theircause. This period covers the eruption of the masses into public life, aprocess that slowly undermined the elitist scenario of classical liberalismand generated a demand for nation-building policies, and the consequencesof the Spanish defeat in the colonial war of 1898, known as el Desastre(the Disaster), which was followed by a proliferation of nationalist plansto "regenerate" a decadent Spain. Second, it analyzes one of the mostinfluential nation-building tools: the politics of memory; in other words,the massive use of the nation's past for political ends, to legitimize or toattack the ruling powers, and to pass on values to its citizens. Betweenthe 1890s and the 1920s cultural and educational initiatives of this naturebecame increasingly common in Spain, especially ceremonies honor-ing heroes or commemorating historical events, which were extolled innationalist accounts. 2 In this sense, we can speak of "centennial-mania" or"commemoration-itis." This article studies one such set of commemora-

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tions, of enormous importance as it celebrated the centennial of events

that had served as the founding myth for the Spanish nation since the

nineteenth century: what is known as the "War of Independence," a war

fought in the Iberian Peninsula between the armies of Napoleon and his

enemies between 1808 and 1814, reinterpreted by Spanish nationalism

as a war of national liberation.

These commemorations reveal the political culture of those who

organized them, their desire to maintain a particular version of history and

to affirm their own identity while giving a meaning to the past that was

still valid in the present. They demonstrate the coherence and contradic-

tions of nationalist projects and (although this is harder to determine)

their ability to reach the population who participated in them in whatever

manner. Their messages were tested in contact with the multiple preexist-

ing territorial identities-national, regional and local-which, as will be

demonstrated, did not always contradict but often mutually reinforced

each other. They provided a focus for disputes and the expression of

conflicts. Upon analysis, it becomes evident that there is no single col-

lective memory; we cannot seek any kind of finished object. It is more

appropriate to consider what is usually called national memory (the image

that a specific community has of its own past) as a game board in which

different political forces are constantly vying for space and dominance.

Accordingly, this article will describe how in 1908 and 1910-12 several

opposing versions of Spanish nationalism competed with each other.

These commemorative acts were supported not only by the authori-

ties in charge of public resources but also by different elements from

within civil society, figures who were often at the center of debate in the

public sphere. 3 In addition, they did not stop at the mere inauguration of

monuments; they used myths, symbols and rituals as well, thus allowing

us to conduct a deeper, more dynamic analysis of the politics of memory,

beyond the description of commemorative spaces. 4 In short, the study

of these events helps to winnow out superficial, simplistic or mechanical

conceptions of the nation-building processes.

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THE DIFFERENT MEANINGS OF A COMMEMORATION

The Napoleonic War of 1808-14, known in the English-speaking world asthe Peninsular Campaign, was the scenario of several juxtaposed conflicts,from the confrontations among the great European powers to the civilwar that split the Spanish political elites into the pro-French afrancesadosand the patriots. However, it was simplified and reinvented by nineteenth-century nationalists as a genuine and triumphant war of independence,fought by all of Spain against Napoleon's France. 5 According to themost widespread accounts, the Spanish people of 1808 had risen almostunanimously against the foreign invasion in order to defend the integrityof the nation. After countless sacrifices, their forceful reaction had givenrise to the final victory over the French in 1814, saved the homeland anddemonstrated the vigorous virtues that graced the nation and the braveryof a country that could unite above all regional differences to zealouslyguard its liberty. At the beginning of the twentieth century, this myth,which was essential for the creation of the modern Spanish national iden-tity, was still in full effect, and its core premises were shared by the greatmajority of opinion leaders with any presence at all in the media. In fact,it remained in good health until the Civil War of 1936-39, when it waswidely used as propaganda by both sides of the conflict, and continuedwell into the time of Franco's regime. 6

However, the interpretation and teachings that were extracted fromthat patriotic epic varied substantially according to the political positionsof each group. At least two visions of the Spanish nationalist conscience,the liberal and the Catholic, fought over the memory of those events.Formed in the nineteenth century, these two ways of interpreting thepast remained in bitter opposition at the beginning of the twentieth.7

For liberals (the more vociferously, the further to the left they stood) theconcept of nation tended to merge with the concept of "the people" (i.e.,populace), embodied in the heroes that arose from their midst and, at amore secondary level, in the military heroes associated with them. Thisproud, dignified "people" preserved almost eternal virtues and continuallyrelived the heroic deeds recorded in a long history brimming with rebel-lions against foreign invasions, such as those in Sagunto and Numancia,old Iberian cities whose inhabitants had immolated themselves ratherthan give in to the Carthaginians or the Romans. It was this people that

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had impelled the country toward the modern age, opposing the social

and political elites who had surrendered to the tyranny represented byNapoleon's supporters. In the words of a Republican member of Parlia-ment in 1910: "in Spain there was a great, colossal people, the greatest inEurope, the greatest in the world. There was nothing but the people." 8

The populist nature of the liberal narrative reached canonic status in BenitoP6rez Gald6s's cycle of historical novels National Episodes (1873-1912),which he conceived as an instrument for the nationalist socialization of

citizens, so it was no coincidence that an abridged version of the Episodes,adapted for children and covering the period 1805-14, was published in1908. That year also saw the premi&re of the opera Zaragoza, based onthe Episode of the same name. In 1910, Gald6s himself participated incommemorating the centennial of the first assembly of the modern SpanishParliament (the Cortes) in Cddiz.9

To liberals, whether monarchist or republican, the War of Indepen-

dence bore two main messages, since it had not only demonstrated thevirtues of the people but also engendered the revolution that had put

an end to absolutism, establishing the principle of national sovereignty

in the Cortes, which had crafted and enacted the first Spanish Constitu-tion in 1812 in Cidiz. As one liberal newspaper proclaimed, the tasks

of "liberating the Motherland from foreign oppression and freeing thepeople from slavery" were inseparable according to the liberal view. 0 TheCortes of Cidiz marked the culmination of patriotic achievement, andits task was none other than the reconstitution of Spain, a nation thathad been dying as a result of its absolute monarchy, splintered into local

governments that needed the common ideal that the members of thisParliament were prepared to offer them. All national energies convergedthere, recovering the best of Spanish traditions because, in the opinion ofliberal nationalists, the 1812 Cortes had not imitated foreign examples,

such as the French Revolution, but rather followed the path already laiddown by the medieval Cortes of Castile.II

However, the commemoration of Cfidiz lent itself to different

interpretations and political goals among the different liberal parties.The monarchists viewed 1812 as a direct precedent for the constitutionalmonarchy that had reigned in Spain since 1876, which they saw as harmo-niously combining order and liberty and allowing gradual reform. In otherwords, they sought to legitimize constitutional powers.12 Republicans,

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located to their left and without any chance of governing, preferred to

accentuate the democratic aspects of the C,idiz heritage, contrasting the

moral purity of the martyrs of freedom to the rampant corruption of the

ruling political system, which was in great need of drastic regeneration.

Republican politicians were more aware of the nation-building potential

of the centennial and aimed to turn the Cortes of Cddiz into a founding

myth for a new potent and democratic Spain.13

In the opposite field were the forces of the Catholic right, for whom

the most important aspect of the War of Independence was its demonstra-

tion of the faith of the Spanish people, a people who had fought against

the revolutionary innovations coming from France for the sake of their

traditional Hispanic monarchy, closely tied to the Church. According

to this religious nationalism, Spanish identity was inseparable from the

Catholic faith, and Spain's most glorious days were those in which it had

defended that faith. Spain was only Spain if Catholic. Hence, the war

against Napoleon had essentially been a continuation of other Spanish

religious struggles, such as the medieval Reconquest against the Muslims

or the evangelization of America in the sixteenth century. For this reason,

the Cortes of CUidiz had not culminated patriotic endeavors but had in fact

diverted them. Servile to the ideals of the French enemy, the Cortes had

been devoted to attacking the Spanish people's real motivations, with the

objective of destroying the Church. Although the Constitution of 1812

had declared Catholicism the official religion, that had merely been a

hypocritical scheme conjured up by the same mindset that had abolished

the Inquisition and approved freedom of the press, thus opening the door

to a century of civil wars, class struggles and separatist hatred. The circles

closest to the Church therefore wanted to separate the celebration of the

War of Independence from the memory of the Cortes of CAdiz, which

they rejected as inadmissible and verging on diabolical. At the beginning

of the twventieth century, feeling threatened by the secularizing waves of

the country's modernization, the Catholic Church set the commemo-

ration within a wider campaign to mobilize public opinion in favor of

rechristianizing Spain. 14

Thus, in 1908-12, there were several central actors willing to use

the celebration of the centennial of the War of Independence to glorify

their own positions. The historical interpretations of the events being

commemorated had immediate partisan repercussions.

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The Spanish political system, which was an elitist system that didnot promote the political mobilization of the people, in principle did notencourage the masses to actively wave the nationalist flag."5 Under theconstitutional monarchy, power alternated between the ConservativeParty and the Liberal Party, composed of cliques that distributed publicresources without much concern for ideological campaigning. In addition,those who participated in this "peaceful turnover" (turnopacifico) systembenefited from widespread rigging of elections which, despite universalmale suffrage, allowed them to fabricate friendly parliamentary majori-ties without having to depend too much on voters each time the king, asreferee in the political game, called on them to govern.16

However, by 1908, there were some notable incentives for whippingup support through nationalist measures. The Disaster posed a deep chal-lenge to the notion of Spanish identity, and some sectors thought that thecentennial should show the world that Spain had not died but was poised torecover her place among the other European powers. Meanwhile, as we willsee, Catalanism influenced the attitude of the Spanish parties, inhibitingthe conservatives and stirring up the liberals. Moreover, just as the urbanelectorate was also beginning to emancipate itself from clientele habits,the Spanish political scene was becoming polarized around the conflictbetween clerical and anticlerical groups, between those who supportedthe mobilizing efforts of the Church and those who wanted to reduceecclesiastical influence in order to make Spanish society truly Europeanonce and for all.17 This clericalism/anticlericalism split deeply affectedthe governing parties and the nature of the centennial celebrations. TheConservative Party, in power between 1907 and 1909, faced the militantopposition of monarchist and republican liberals, who acted together inthe commemoration and ended up forming what was known as the LeftBloc, accusing conservatives of throwing themselves into the arms of theChurch. When the Liberal Party returned to power between 1909 and1913, liberal monarchists and liberal republicans separated their optionsmore clearly, although they still collaborated in some celebrations.

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ACTORS AND INITIATIVES IN 1908

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Spanish press had an enor-

mous influence in the public sphere.18 Liberal newspapers-monarchist

or republican-constantly encouraged their readers to attend the 1908

commemoration, giving detailed coverage of all the festivities and publish-

ing special issues filled with news, chronicles, poetry, lyrics of anthems,

prints and photographs. According to one of the journalists most active

in such nationalist pursuits, intellectuals had to inform the citizens about

the achievements of their ancestors in order to introduce them to the"worship of race and history." 19 Meanwhile, conservative newspapers, with

rare exceptions, limited themselves to brief reports of the celebrations.

Traditionalists even accused the liberal press of being hypocritical in its

praise of a crusade that had been inherently antiliberal. 20 However, other

media closer to the monarchist left or to the republican parties regarded

attendance at national festivities as almost obligatory, since this was the

way to check the vitality of the Spanish nation after the years of decadence

that had ended with the defeat of 1898. In the words of the republican

newspaper El Liberal, the idea was to "attest to the life of our people":

"let us celebrate the Centennial and recover our dignity, our personality

and our strength.",2' The commemoration thus served to prove the value

of Spain, as well as to link past, present and future in a populist, nationalist

and forward-looking discourse.

For this reason, it seems only natural that those same radical liberal

circles were disappointed by the officially organized activities and attacked

those that did not support their initiatives. They criticized the affluent

classes who disdained popular festivities, particularly the Conservative

government of Antonio Maura, who refused to meet the demands made

by so many festival commissions across the nation to sponsor their activi-

ties. Maura took cover behind the decisions taken by the previous Liberal

government, which had centered the commemoration festivities in the

city of Zaragoza, famous for having heroically endured two French army

sieges between 1808 and 1809.22 Conservatives even rejected the notion

of remembering the battle of Bail6n of July 1808, which marked the great

Spanish victory over Napoleon, alleging that the government feared an

adverse reaction from France, whose friendship was now indispensable

for a Spanish foreign policy that aspired to emerge from its post-Disaster

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isolation and was progressing toward permanent cooperation with theFrench in Morocco.23 This argument was dismissed outright by the left-wing press, which found it hard to understand how such a commemorationcould offend a fellow democracy which, by definition, should abhor tyrantssuch as Napoleon and accept its neighbor's legitimate displays of nationalpride without objection. 24

Given the government's reluctance, the bulk of the celebrations wereorganized by local initiatives. In Madrid, the monarchy's capital and thepowder keg that had ignited the anti-French rebellion on 2 May 1808,it took the Conservative city hall so long to mobilize and raise funds thatthe most dynamic initiatives were sponsored by Madrid's civil society andthe army. Institutions like the Circulo de Bellas Artes (Fine Arts Circle),whose president was a liberal, placed large plaques in memory of popularheroes at the sites of the uprising, while the Centro de Hijos de Madrid(Center for the Children of Madrid) erected a monument dedicated tothe people of Dos de Mayo (Second of May). Meanwhile, the artillerycorps organized a schools' festival with 10,000 children gathered aroundthe national flag. During these ceremonies, the army's pedagogical aspi-rations became evident, as it distributed books to young students aboutthe artillerymen and the Second of May events, providing them with rolemodels of youth willing to die for the sake of the homeland.25 Despite itslimitations, the commemoration had an enormous impact on the peopleof Madrid. Medium and small businesses, merchants, artisans and work-ers contributed to the fundraising efforts, while a pasodoble entitled "ElDos de Mayo" became a popular tune. The people of Madrid flocked tothe public ceremonies, which completely eclipsed the socialist workers'sober May Day celebration. The participation of Alfonso XIII in almostevery event greatly contributed to the success of the commemoration andenhanced its significance and resonance. The monarch's presence endowedthe commemorative rituals with symbolic power, as well as representinga significant nation-building force. 26

Although Maura did not seem to be very pleased with the king's par-ticipation, the latter, who was fully in tune with the centennial's sponsors,decided to attend the festivities nonetheless, overriding the prime minis-ter. King Alfonso unveiled the plaques in honor of the heroes, attendedfunerals for the victims, presided over parades, zarzuela (Spanish musicaltheater) performances and academic festivals, and inaugurated the monu-

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ment dedicated to the people of Dos de Mayo as well as a great historical

exhibition. Most importantly, he participated in a civic procession, which

paraded through the city amidst the loud cheers of crowds of people from

all strata of society, as well as in the schools' festival, where he made the

Crown Prince kiss the national flag, a gesture that was greeted with wild

enthusiasm. Naturally, the monarchist liberals interpreted these events

as proof of the ties between the king and the people, since the king was

merely the "first citizen" in a quasi-democratic monarchy. Obliged to

acknowledge his triumph, the republicans interpreted it as a display of the

indisputable vigor of the "Spanish soul." Meanwhile, Maura was severely

criticized by the liberal media for his reluctance to allow monarchy and

society to come closer to each other.27

The independence centennial followed similar lines in other cities:

funeral rites were organized for those who had died during the war, as

well as street parties, dances, civic processions, military parades, campaigns

to distribute aid to the poor and awards to school children, music and

theater performances, exhibitions of historical objects, homage to war

heroes around their statues, the unveiling of plaques, the placement of

cornerstones, and the inauguration of monuments. On 2 May alone, cer-

emonies were held in at least sixteen major towns, although usually each

town commemorated its own dates of glory, which were subsequently

celebrated every year and marked by the erection of several enormous

memorials. The tendency was to highlight local merits and deeds during

the War of Independence without questioning its nature as a nationalist

Spanish struggle. Different towns and cities would compete with one

another over which had contributed more to the patriotic effort. National

and local (and sometimes even regional) identities reinforced each other

in rituals that emphasized the cohesion of the community based on the

virtues of townsfolk who had opposed the French troops a century before.

The legacy of the dead strengthened the civic spirit of the living. In most

places, the festivities were initiated by the city hall or members of Parlia-

ment who had influence in their respective constituencies, while in others

a leading role was played by independent associations such as recreational

clubs. 28 In Seville, the locals responded to the increasingly strong forces of

Catalanism, which in 1906 had been organized into the Solidaritat Catalana

(Catalan Solidarity) movement, with a folkloric celebration, conceived as

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a kind of "Spanish Solidarity" that viewed the nation as a set of assembledregions. Regionalism and nationalism thus went hand in hand.29

In Catalonia the celebrations were marked by some distinctive fea-tures. Here too people celebrated the glorious episodes of what Catalansrather significantly often referred to as the "Frenchman's war," insteadof the War of Independence. The main celebration was that of the vic-tory of June 1808, when the local militias had prevailed over Napoleon'sarmy in the mountains of El Bruch. The festivities had strong Catholicovertones and were presided over by the king's sister. In other parts ofCatalonia, however, attempts to revive what had happened a centurybefore were half-hearted, involving only a minority of the population, sinceBarcelona's political landscape, like much of the region's, was dominatedby Catalanist parties that rejected the nationalist character of the warand the Francophobia its memory was still liable to arouse. Accordingly,they had prepared an alternative commemoration to the first centennialof 1808: the seventh centennial of the birth of King James I of Arag6n,whom many regarded as the father of the Catalan nationality, founderof municipal liberties and creator of an empire that was able to feed thehopes of twentieth-century Catalanism. 30 The celebrations included tripsto Majorca, the erection of a statue at the junction between medievalBarcelona and the new avenue that divided the old city center-"a pointof contact between the thirteenth century and the twentieth century,not only physically, but also morally" 3 I-_and, most strikingly, a historicalparade in which the army took part. A mausoleum was prepared for themonarchs of the Catalan-Aragonese confederation, where the conquerorking would be buried-a kind of Catalan Escorial.32 In this region, unlikeelsewhere, there was a clear opposition between Catalan patriotism andSpanish nationalism.

The government's reluctance to finance other commemorative proj-ects gave way to lavish support when it came to the centennial of the birthof James I. The conservative idea of nation had more to do with the imageof a benevolent king reigning over a group of autonomous regions thanthe disturbing spectacle of the people rising in arms against an emperor.In addition, it suited their immediate political strategy: to push through aseries of reforms to the local administration with the support of moderateCatalanism. Predictably, this move infuriated the liberal and democraticSpanish nationalists. Republicans compared the centennial of the War of

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Independence, the living memory of Spanish nationality, with the hon-

oring of "the mummy of King James" and accused the government and

the Catalanists of promoting one celebration in order to undermine the

other.33 Around that same time, an alliance (the Left Bloc) was taking

shape between the liberal monarchists and the liberal republicans, who

were willing to celebrate the liberal-progressive memory of the nineteenth

century with ceremonies honoring both the minister who had disentailed

ecclesiastical property, Juan Alvarez Mendizibal, and the president of the

First Republic, Emilio Castelar. During the anniversary of the democratic

revolution of September 1868, which was commemorated in 1908 after

years of relative oblivion, tens of thousands of demonstrators marched in

Madrid from the Second of May obelisk to the statue of Castelar. Thus,

the 1808 War of Independence was symbolically linked to the 1868 revo-

lution and the Left Bloc of 1908, thereby reinforcing the identity of the

heirs of progressivism, who were immersed in a battle against a so-called

clerical and doctrinaire epidemic. The battle over the national memory

was a substantial element in the political conflict.34

But of all the different social groupings involved, it was perhaps the

army that was most devoted to commemorating the war. It was clear to

all that the army regarded itself as a bastion of Spanish unity, especially as

its violent attacks against Catalanism had led to a law in 1906 granting the

military courts jurisdiction over certain crimes of opinion, inadvertently

contributing to the emergence of Solidaritat Catalana. 35 Several officers

and soldiers were involved in organizing civic ceremonies such as the ones

in Madrid and Seville, but at the same time different branches of the army

held their own celebrations. The artillery and the infantry commemorated

their heroes, erecting statues in their honor with the support of the king,

who was always willing to tend to the needs of the barracks. The army

thus presented itself as the center of the rising against Napoleon. Although

this was a distortion of history, it nevertheless basically accorded with the

secular and populist approach of liberal nationalists in a "close consortium

between the people and the military." 36 Like the monarch himself, they

had not yet entered the reactionary drift of the years to come that would

lead to the military coup of 1923.

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ZARAGOZA AND THE TRIUMPH OF LIBERAL REGENERATIONISM

The city of Zaragoza, capital of the region of Arag6n, was at the epicenterof the centennial celebration in 1908. The success of the festivities there,the only ones that had substantial financial support from the government,turned the city into a focus for all the conflicts surrounding the events. Forthe nationalists, Zaragoza symbolized the Spanish Homeland, not only byvirtue of its glorious past-as El Liberal put it, during the sieges of 1808and 1809 "just one city [Zaragoza] was the whole of Spain" 37-but alsobecause of its present potential, since it embodied the hopes of an entirenation. The most demanding nationalists thought that Zaragoza was theonly place worthy of the centennial celebration, and indeed, the festivitiesthere were particularly intense. 38

The plan to commemorate the Sieges had already begun in 1809,when the Junta Suprema (the Spanish government opposed to the French)had ordered the restoration of all public buildings destroyed during thebattle and the erection of a monument in Zaragoza to honor "the perpetualmemory of the valor of its inhabitants." 39 However, it was only at the endof the nineteenth century that measures were taken to implement theplan when a struggle over the commemoration took place between twogroups: on one hand, the liberals, led by Minister Segismundo Moret (amember of Parliament and an advocate of the local interests of Zaragozain Madrid) and republican businessman Basilio Paraiso; and, on the otherhand, the conservatives and Catholics who controlled Arag6n's Real Socie-dad Econ6mica Aragonesa de Amigos del Pais (Royal Economic Societyof Friends of the Country), led by Florencio Jardiel, a priest who wasthe designer of the Catholic nationalist memorial program. Both sectorsfiercely competed for support in order to realize the localist objectivesthat they both shared, battling to control the commemorative processand to impose their own ideas. At first, the Catholics were more success-ful in mobilizing support for their projects, such as the construction ofthe first great monument dedicated to the War of Independence, whichwas consecrated in 1904 to the Martyrs of Religion and Motherland.This monument was dominated by a large cross that placed faith aheadof nation by linking the memory of the Sieges with that of the Christianswho had been executed in the city during the Roman persecution of thefourth century.40 Nonetheless, the liberals subsequently succeeded in

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persuading the national government to generously sponsor the centennial

celebration in Zaragoza, which could thus be organized with a certain

degree of financial freedom.4 1

The nature of the ceremonies was deeply influenced by the power-

ful local Church, which worked diligently to permeate everything with

Catholicism. Not only did clergymen carry out holy rituals during the

commemoration, with a generous sprinkling of religious funeral rites and

blessings; they also designed the programs and exploited the circumstances

to promote messages in keeping with their agenda, placing patriotism on

a par with the protection of Church interests. In Zaragoza, the Church

had an enormous symbolic asset in the patron saint of the region, the

Virgin of Pilar, who provided a focus for several identities, superimposed

like the layers of an onion: those of Zaragoza, Arag6n, Spain and Span-

ish America. The apparition of the Virgin to St. James the Apostle, the

evangelist of the Iberian Peninsula, constituted one of the most popular

myths inspiring Spanish Catholicism. This myth, combined with the pro-

tection that the defenders of Zaragoza during the Sieges had attributed tothe Virgin, enabled the clergy to associate patriotic feelings with Marian

devotion. Their most ambitious project was to illuminate the Basilica of

Pilar, creating symbolic displays that included allusions to the history of

Arag6n, its heroes and its Virgin. It was conceived as a lighthouse show-

ing the way to Christians, and in 1908 the displays attracted numerous

regional pilgrimages and one international one.4 2 To conclude the religious

program, Catholics from the Spanish-spcaking American republics offered

the Virgin flags that had been blessed by the Pope, for the holiday of the

Virgin of Pilar, 12 October, was also the anniversary of the discovery of

America and thus served to mark Spain's role as the motherland (Madre

Patria) of Spanish America. 43

The leitmotif of most of the celebrations was the homage to the

heroic men and women from Zaragoza whose legacy, in the words of a

general, "was the supreme example of integrity, selflessness, and dedication

to the Motherland.",44 Their deeds demonstrated the eternal virtues of a

nation that was always ready to repeat such brave feats. The local media

and speakers constantly cited these exemplary lives, and memorials were

erected throughout Zaragoza in their memory in order to demonstrate

that people from all walks of life within the community had contributedto shaping its best historical legacy. The civic pantheon included military

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figures, noblemen, landowners, peasants and clergymen alike, but the high-est honors went to the heroines, the townswomen who had made such acontribution to the strength of the race, such as Augustine of Arag6n, thefamous woman who had tirelessly shelled the French army and was theobject of special devotion. During his visits to the city, the king devotedmuch time to these model citizens, not only visiting their plaques andstatues one by one but also presiding over a civic procession, made up ofrepresentatives from all sectors of society, that transferred the remains ofthe heroines to a mausoleum specially built for the occasion. Throughthese ceremonies, along with those in Madrid, King Alfonso furtheredhis goal of making the monarchy truly national.45

The monuments reflected the liberal-populist interpretation put forthby Gald6s in his National Episodes. Naturally, one of these monumentswas dedicated to Augustine, while the most spectacular was the monu-ment to the Sieges that had been promised since 1809, highly praised forconveying patriotic emotions to the public. Scenes depicting the Siegeswere arranged in ascending order over a great stairway, with a noblematron at the summit-representing the Motherland-watching over herself-sacrificing offspring. The Virgin of Pilar only appeared at the back ofone scene (somewhat indistinctly moreover), so the most striking featurein the sculpture group was "the streams of people escalating an ideal, themix of age, sex and class of the defenders" 46 -in other words, the blessedpeople, the true heroes of the national war. Such a strong feminine presencegenerated some anxiety among those who viewed Arag6n's struggle assomething essentially virile, 47 but the popular success of the monuments,reported by the media on a daily basis, was undoubted.

The retrospective patriotism of the centennial was accompanied inZaragoza by an upsurge of prospective nationalism. While some wereparticularly interested in reviving the deeds of the past, others preferredto take advantage of the opportunity offered by the celebrations of 1908to urge the modernization of the country. Modernity was associated witheconomic development based on the application of scientific advances inagriculture, industry and commerce. The relatively backward Spain thathad suffered the Disaster had to be brought up to date to emulate its moreprosperous neighbors through a formula that an Aragonese liberal definedas "Work guided by Science." 48 This formula required complete peace,since peace favored progress and fraternity among people everywhere

82


and was an ally of commercial cooperation. If the heroes of the past had

fought amongst ruins to defend national independence, present-day heroes

had to work to drive their homeland forward and to "conquer economic

independence. 4 9 Therefore, it was not enough to unveil monuments and

organize parades; the commemoration had also to leave something useful

behind. Inspired by the example set by other Western countries, such as

the World's Fair held in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French

Revolution, they expected 1908 to bring a great fair to Zaragoza.

Promoters of the fair, who came from the business world, theindustrial sector, the media and the academic world, generally shared

liberal values. Prominent among them was Basilio Paraiso, an indus-

trious self-made man and an astute investor, who was the head of the

Progressive Republican Party in the city, although he was fairly moder-

ate and collaborated with monarchist liberals during election time. But,

more importantly, he had led the "regenerationist" movement that had

supported the protests of the "productive classes" against the political

establishment immediately after the colonial defeat. 50 In his view, a fair

would symbolize the posthumous victory of the regenerationist mobiliza-

tion after 1898 because it reflected the same entrepreneurial patriotism

and demonstrated that, in the end, Spain had finally learnt lessons from

its disgrace and was on its way to redemption. 51 The fair, which was

known as the Hispano-French Exposition, was finally inaugurated after

the liberals had managed to overcome the obstacles set in their way by the

Francophobic conservatives, for whom France, in addition to being the old

enemy, was also the embodiment of revolutionary secularism. The event

was intended to replace the old war with peace and modern commerce,since good relations with France were a necessary first step in any effort

to open up Spain to the world. As defined by the official catalogue of the

exposition: "these flags, united to memorialize a date of ferocious hatred

and fierce battle, have a significance that can be summarized in one word:

Progress!" 52 The exposition prompted a great town-planning project, and

a number of buildings were built in the neo-mud&jar (neo-Moorish) style,

a regional but also national style. It housed numerous conferences and

served as a showcase for Spanish art treasures and advances nationwide in

science, industry and agriculture, a national inventory of all the resourcesavailable to make Spain a European power once again. 53

83

* Javier Moreno-Luz6n

The public greatly enjoyed the Zaragoza festivities. People attendedthe theater performances, ceremonies, parades and firework showsdedicated to the heroes of Independence in a city filled with waving flagsand patriotic music. They also flocked to the popular festivities in differ-ent neighborhoods of the city, where local and national symbols wereintertwined. Schoolchildren played a special role in the processions andrituals. So many visitors were lured by the attractions and dances that theexposition had to be extended.54 Naturally the centennial reinforced theregional identity of Arag6n represented by the popular stereotype of thebaturro--the ideal peasant, noble and patriotic-which was featured at allthe festivities and on the monuments. However, this "Aragonesism" didnot run counter to Spanish nationalism. Quite the contrary, as was pro-claimed at one of the Aragonese festivities during the exhibition, "regionallove ... ran like a fertile river toward the heart of the great Motherland,intangible and one." 55 This burgeoning Aragonese regionalism was char-acterized by its loyalty to Spain and its opposition to Catalanism. In theeyes of Spanish nationalists it was a good kind of regionalism, as opposedto the bad kind, since it did not engage in egoism or regard itself as bet-ter than the rest. Instead, it toiled in silence toward a common good: thegreatness of the nation. 56

THE CENTENNIAL OF THE CORTES OF CADIZ AND THE LIMITS

OF LIBERAL NATIONALISM

Unlike the majority of the 1908 festivities, the celebration of the centennialof the Cortes of Cftdiz, held between 1910 and 1912, was fully supportedby the government, now headed by a Liberal cabinet presided over by Jos6Canalejas, the most important Spanish Liberal leader in the first quarterof the twentieth century. This celebration was initiated by prominentorganizations and individuals in Cfidiz, such as the Liberal mayor, localbusinessmen, professionals, and associations ranging from the Royal Span-ish-American Academy to the local Economic Society of Friends of theCountry, who wished to take advantage of the opportunity to revitalizetheir urban economy. In 1910, members of Parliament from Cfidiz hadalready requested a credit from the government to commemorate thecentennial, a motion that had obtained initial support. 57 Almost at the

84


same time the republican parliamentarians stepped in and requested thehomage to be organized by Congress: "We would deserve to be declaredunfit for reverence and worship, which is to say unfit to love the libertiesthat were conquered by the offspring of distinguished, honest, authenticconstitutional Spaniards, if such an important and memorable date were topass unnoticed," read their proposal, which was approved without opposi-tion.58 Following this decision, a national commemorative council, headedby the president of Congress and including among its members bishops andgenerals, was formed to take over all the existing local initiatives.5 9 Finally,24 September 1910 was declared a national holiday-a remarkable eventin a country that lacked any civic holidays of this nature-even if only forthat year. The local initiative became a governmental enterprise, and therepublican project one that was undertaken by official institutions. 60

The first aim was to honor the centennial of the first meeting of theCortes of Cadiz in September 1910. The city of San Fernando, wherethat first meeting had taken place, was decorated with nationalist symbolsthat associated, in the liberal manner, the War of Independence with therevolution against absolutism. The celebrations included a great civicprocession, a ritual that was enacted at every commemoration, serving toendow secular ceremonies with a solemn, quasi-religious character. Therewere also several religious ceremonies, a parliamentary session that washeld in the old theater, which was decorated in the style of the time whenthe Cortes had met, and a military parade at which the crowds applaudedthe soldiers who were fighting in Morocco to create a new Spanish colo-nial empire. 61 The program was completed with an awards ceremony forstudents from the public schools; according to the minister of education,"the only way to be a citizen was to be educated in the sacred love forthe Motherland.', 62 The organizers of the centennial celebrations wereparticularly concerned to propagate the patriotic role of CUdiz in orderto "enrich the poor political culture of our fellow citizens." 63 Between1907 and 1912 the liberal-controlled Ateneo of Madrid, a prestigious andinfluential cultural institute, organized an ambitious series of patriotic andeducational conferences on the modern political history of Spain, an ideathat was also taken up by universities, public institutions and various pri-vate cultural centers on the government's initiative. 64 Many of the books,brochures and even doctoral theses that circulated during that time werededicated to eulogizing the deputies who had represented each region

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Javier Moreno-Luz6n

in the Cortes of Cidiz, thereby expressing a mixture of regional/localpatriotism and Spanish nationalism. 65

The second stage of the centennial, celebrated in March 1912 tocommemorate the first Spanish Constitution, had an almost exclusively

local feeling as the veteran Liberal Party leader and former prime minister,Segismundo Moret, went on a triumphant parade through C•diz. Moretwas an influential figure not only in Zaragoza but also in this Andalusiancity where he had been born. 66 But the highlight of the celebrations wasplanned to take place in October 1912, and the government decided to

spare no resources in order to make a memorable event, designed to reflectthe multiple meanings of the commemoration. The king and the high-est government figures were scheduled to arrive for a three-day program

organized by Cidiz with at least five main themes: a military theme, withan open-air mass parade and a retreat; a political-parliamentary theme,with a civic procession and a parliamentary soir6e; an educational theme,with poetry competitions; a local-popular carnival with sports, dances,food for the poor, and bullfights; and an international theme, based on theattendance of foreign delegations. Preparations were made to receive the

thousands of visitors who were expected.67 The bishop, who was unableat this point to tell the difference between the ceremonies commemorat-ing the war and those celebrating the Cortes, lifted the prohibition on

participating in the festivities that he had imposed on his parishioners. 68

However, two unexpected events spoiled these plans: the suddendeath of the king's sister, which forced the monarch to cancel his atten-dance, despite local protest, and the beginning of a general rail strike thatkept Prime Minister Canalejas and most of his cabinet busy in Madrid.Alfonso XIII evidently did not regard celebrating the origins of the con-stitutional monarchy a sufficient stimulus for attending the events, and theidea of social unity turned out to be less popular than the ruling national-ists had assumed. Catholics claimed that the Spanish people had showntheir indifference to all the fanfare of the liberal regime. 69 The festivities

took place nonetheless, but almost all the media reported a certain lackof enthusiasm, verging on melancholy, in the society hosting them, thatcast a shadow on most of the events. 70

The best-attended ceremonies, which had the greatest impact, were

those that addressed the American dimension of the centennial, highlight-ing the American deputies' participation in the Cortes of Cýdiz that had

86


defined the Spanish nation in 1812 as the "reunion of all Spaniards inboth hemispheres." 7 1 The beginning of the twentieth century saw theemergence of Hispanoamericanismo, a version of the Spanish nationalist

discourse that sought to endow Spain with a relevant international role byemphasizing its cultural ties with Spanish-speaking American countries.This coincided with the desire on the part of some Latin American govern-ments to free themselves from the Pan-American aspirations of the United

States.7 2 Hence, on the occasion of the centennial of the cornerstone ofliberalism on both sides of the Atlantic, Spain was called upon to welcomeher daughters and help them confront the Yankees who had humiliatedthe motherland in 1898.v3

The Spanish government sent invitations to all Spanish-speakingAmerican republics, some of which dispatched high-level delegationsand promised future commercial joint ventures. But the main promoterof this Hispanic-American aspect of the celebrations was the RepublicanMember of Parliament Rafael Maria de Labra, who was convinced that"these commemorations are not only acts of justice and debts of gratitude.They have a first-rate educational value." 74 Labra enlisted the support of

Cidiz civil society and launched the main unofficial ceremony that tookplace in October 1912, which became known as the festival of the plaques.

Hispanic-American associations, in particular social centers founded bySpanish emigrants in countries like Cuba, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Chile,Mexico and the United States, also participated by ordering plaques to beplaced on the walls of the Church of San Felipe Neri where the Constitu-

tion of 1812 had been promulgated and which was intended to become acommemorative mausoleum. These plaques celebrated the liberal principles

of the constitution-from national sovereignty to the freedom of theIndians-and joined others honoring the first Spanish parliamentarians.Together they created a ceremonial space and a privileged memorial siteof the beginnings of Spanish and Spanish American liberalism. 75

The promoters of the centennial celebrations sought to leave a lastingreminder of the festivities by building memorial sites. The memory of theCortes of Cddiz was materialized in the renaming of streets and squaresacross Spain, while Congress inscribed the names of the first deputies onits walls and reburied their remains in the National Mausoleum of Distin-

guished Men in Madrid.76 Cdidiz city hall built a museum to honor boththe Cortes and the heroism of the city during the war against Napoleon. 77

87

Javier Moreno-Luz6n

But the main task was to carry out the mandate of the Cortes themselvesand erect a great monument, which was to be dedicated "to the Cortes,the Constitution, and the Siege of Cdidiz," with allusions to America andto the help that Spain had received from England and Portugal during theWar of Independence. 78 The winning project evoked the parliamentarymeetings by means of two friezes, set in a large semicircle, one depictingwar, and the other peace, dominated by the statue of a matron representingthe Constitution standing in front of a high pedestal crowned by allegoricalfigures holding the same immortal book: Liberty, Justice, Democracy and

Progress. The enormous monument, which was significantly located onthe new Plaza de Espafia in the city, next to the harbor so that it could beseen by incoming vessels, took over fifteen years to be completed. Despite

the continuous efforts of liberal- monarchist and republican members of

Parliament, there were numerous delays and obstacles resulting from thelack of consensus over the themes it should commemorate, mainly because

of the scant enthusiasm displayed by conservative sectors. 79

CONCLUSIONS

The first centennial of the Spanish War of Independence clearly showsthe relevance of considering historical memory as a playing field open tocompetition among different political actors, and not as a concept simplycreated by intellectuals and then delivered to the people by the authori-

ties. This seriously complicates the study of the nation-building processes.The Spanish defeat during the colonial war of 1898 (the Disaster) fueledthe memorial agenda of Spanish nationalists, who saw the centennialcelebrations as a perfect opportunity for restoring national pride throughremembrance of past glories from the war of liberation fought againstNapoleon. There was a certain degree of agreement regarding the generalmeaning of this patriotic celebration, but not regarding its fundamental

details. Catholic nationalists viewed it as a reminder of the everlastingrelationship between Spain and the Church. Liberal nationalists preferredto see it as an opportunity to update popular myths, emphasize the birthof modern Spanish constitutionalism in the midst of war and, above all,to demonstrate Spain's regeneration on the road to modernity. The rul-ing parties in the "peaceful turnaround" system thus adopted different

88


attitudes toward the centennial commemoration. The Conservative Party,

under pressure from its alliance with emerging Catalanism, preferred to

reduce official involvement to a minimum during the festivities, while the

Liberal Party encouraged the celebrations both when in opposition and

when in government. The republicans, who as democrats were aware of

the importance of creating a civil religion surrounding national myths and

symbols, were the most enthusiastic about the centennial.

The active involvement of different agents of civil society such as the

liberal press and a variety of cultural associations made up for the lack-

luster nature of governmental initiatives, which disappointed many. Also

remarkable was the attitude of the army, which turned itself into a bas-

tion of national unity, determined to create a successful commemoration.

Finally, the involvement of the king was surprising. Deeply immersed in

nationalist myths and aware of the nation-building power of the crown, he

presented himself as "first citizen" of the nation as he honored the heroes

of independence, who were closely linked to the army. His presence was

crucial to the success of the festivities in Madrid, while his collaboration

played a major role in Zaragoza. Similarly, his absence marred the cer-

emonies commemorating the Cortes of CAjdiz. The Church, for its part,

attempted to harness the centennial celebrations to its own campaign for

a spiritual "reconquest" of the country in the face of advancing secular-

ization, while opposing glorification of the liberal origins of the modern

Spanish nation.

The festivities gathered most support in those places where they

accorded with local initiatives. Instead of policies devised and carried

out by the government, there were local projects with ad hoc official

funding. This marked a important difference between Spain and France,

where the government played a much larger role in the nation-building

process. But the fact that in Spain many local and regional identities did

not challenge the national identity, but often strengthened it, reflected

similarities with other European countries like Germany and even with

France.80 This was the case in the centennial celebrations of Zaragoza,

where nascent Aragonese regionalism displayed significant overtones of

Spanish nationalism. The "small motherland," the city and region, yielded

to the "great motherland," Spain. The same happened in other Spanish

cities and regions that commemorated the War of Independence. The main

exception was Catalonia, where Catalanism rejected the idea of identity

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Javier Moreno-Luztn

created by Spanish nationalism and sought an alternative celebration inthe centennial of King James I. Nineteenth-century myths continued tofunction well in the rest of the country, regenerated by the confrontationwith the new Catalan nationalism.

Although the commemorations enjoyed remarkable popular suc-cess-a possible sign of the good health of the Spanish nation-buildingprocess-the initial plans were fully realized only in those places suchas Zaragoza where there was already a clear consensus over the mainelements of the celebrations. In towns where festivities were mainly (orexclusively) encouraged by particular political sectors and rejected by oth-ers, as in Cidiz, where liberal celebrations were opposed by Catholics andboycotted by conservatives, the general feeling was of failure. Moreover,the centennial of the War of Independence was the last great opportunityfor liberal Spanish nationalism to dominate the country's agenda. AfterWorld War I Catholic nationalism took the lead. The ongoing offensiveled by the Church, the emergence of a new radical right, along with thecounterrevolutionary and antiparliamentary tendencies of the Crown andthe army, brought an end to the turn-of-the-century dreams of regenera-tionist liberalism. 81 This is strikingly evident if we compare the sad fate ofthe monument to the Cortes of Cidiz- delayed for 15 years and erectedwithout the wholehearted support of conservative elements-with that ofthe monument to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which was initiated in 1914and inaugurated five years later with great fanfare in the presence of theking and the Conservative government at the Cerro de los Angeles southof Madrid, the symbolic and supposedly geographic center of Spain. Atleast in official circles, the Catholic version of Spanish nationalism haddefeated the liberal one.

NOTES

1. Xos6 Manoel N6ifiez Seixas, "Los oasis en el desierto: Perspectivas histo-riogrificas sobre el nacionalismo espafiol," Bulletin d'Histoire Contemporaine dePEspagne, no. 26 (1997): 483-533; Fernando Molina Aparicio, "Modernidade identidad nacional: El nacionalismo espafiol del siglo XIX y su historiografia,"Historia Social, no. 52 (2005): 147-71.

90


2. See Carolyn P. Boyd, "The Second Battle of Covadonga: The Politics of

Commemoration in Modern Spain," History &Memory 14, nos.1/2 (fall 2002):

37-64; Eric Storm, "La conmemoraci6n de h6roes nacionales en la Espaha de

la Restauraci6n: El centenario de El Greco de 1914," Historia y Politica, no. 12

(Nov. 2004): 79-104.

3. Cf. J. R. Gillis, ed., Commemorations: The Politics of National Identity

(Princeton, NJ, 1994). For specific examples, see Lyn Spillman, Nation and

Commemoration: Creating National Identities in the United States and Australia

(Cambridge, 1997); Henry Vivian Nelles, The Art of Nation-Building: Pageantry

and Spectacle at Quebec's Tercentenary (Toronto, 1999); and Maria Bucur and

Nancy M. Wingfield, eds., Staging the Past: The Politics of Commemoration in

Habsburg Central Europe, 1848 to the Present (West Lafayette, IN, 2001).

4. Pierre Nora, ed., Les Lieux de mimoire (Paris, 1984, 1992, 1997).

5. jos6 Alvarez Junco, "La invenci6n de la Guerra de la Independencia," Stu-

dia Historica-Historia Contempor•inea 12 (1994): 75-99. The title is naturally

inspired by Eric J. Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger, eds., The Invention of Tradi-

tion (Cambridge, 1992).

6. Xos6 Manoel N6fiez Seixas, "Nations in Arms against the Invader: On

Nationalist Discourses during the Spanish Civil War," in Chris Ealham and Michael

Richards, eds., The Splintering of Spain: A Cultural History of the Spanish Civil

War, 1936-39 (Cambridge, 2004): 45-67.

7. Jos& Alvarez Junco, Mater Dolorosa: La idea de Espafia en el siglo XIX

(Madrid, 2001).

8. Quoted in Rafael Salillas, En las Cortes de Ctidiz (Madrid, 1910), 20. For this

liberal narrative, see, for example, Jacinto Octavio Pic6n, "La santa indisciplina,"

El Liberal, 2 May 1908.

9. Paloma Aguilar, "P6rez Gald6s, Benito," in Andr6s de BIas Guerrero, ed.,

Enciclopedia del nacionalismo (Madrid, 1999), 608-11.

10. El Imparcial, 4 Oct. 1912.

11. Abc, 6 Oct. 1912.

12. Julio G6mez Bardaji et al., Cr6nica del Centenario de la instalaci6n de las

Cortes Generalesy Extraordinarias Ilamadas de Cddiz (Madrid, 1912).

13. Rafael Maria de Labra, El Pante6n Doceahista de Ctdiz (Madrid, 1913);

El Pais, 5 Oct. 1912.

14. Alvarez Junco, Mater Dolorosa, part 3. For the most extreme positions,

those of traditionalism, see Juan Maria Roma, Las Cortes de Ctdiz (con motivo de

su primer centenario) (Barcelona, 1910); El Debate, 8 March 1912.

15. Eric Storm, "The Problems of the Spanish Nation-Building Process around

1900," National Identities 6, no. 2 (2004): 143-57.

91

Javier Moreno-Luz6n

16. Mercedes Cabrera, ed., Con luzy taquigrafos: ElParlamento en la Restau-raci6n (Madrid, 1998).

17. Mercedes Cabrera and Javier Moreno-Luz6n, eds., Regeneraci6n y reforma:Espaita a comienzos del siglo XX (Madrid, 2002).

18. Maria Cruz Seoane and Maria Dolores SAiz, Historia del periodismo enEspafia. 3. El siglo XX: 1898-1936 (Madrid, 1996).

19. Mariano de Cavia in El Imparcial, 15 March 1908.20. El Siglo Futuro, 2 May 1908.21. El Liberal, 9 and 11 Jan. 1908.22. Diario de las Sesiones de Cortes: Congreso de los Diputados (hereafter DSC),

Leg. 1907, Appendix 10 to no. 55.23. Niceto Alcali-Zamora, Memorias (Barcelona, 1998), 51-52.24. El Liberal, 6 Jan. 1908; ElPais, 10 Jan. 1908.25. Christian Demange, El Dos de Mayo: Mito y fiesta nacional (1808-1958)

(Madrid, 2003), chap. 7.26. Abc, 3 and 30 April 1908, 11 May 1908; Morgan Hall, "El rey imaginado:

La construcci6n politica de la imagen de Alfonso XIII," in Javier Moreno-Luz6n,ed., Alfonso XIII. Un politico en el trono (Madrid, 2003), 59-82.

27. Abc, 25 April-17 May 1908; La Correspondencia de Espafia, 4 May 1908;Ellmparcial, 3 May 1908; El Liberal, 3 and 4 May 1908.

28. El Imparcial, 2 May 1908; Abe, 3 May-22 July 1908; Carlos Reyero,La escultura conmemorativa en EspaFta: La edad de oro del monumento pziblico,1820-1914 (Madrid, 1999).

29. Sevilla en la Guerra de la Independencia (Seville, 1908).30. St6phane Michonneau, Barcelona: Mem6ria i identitat: Monuments, com-

memoraciones i mites (Vich, 2002); La 4poca, 6 April 1908.31. Jose Aladern, "Cr6nica catalana," Nuestro Tiempo, no. 116 (Aug. 1908):

194.32. The monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial near Madrid has been the

burial place of the kings of Spain since the sixteenth century.33. El Pais, 9 April 1908; El Liberal, 13 April 1908.34. El Liberal, 29 and 30 Sept. 1908; El Pais, 21-30 Sept. 1908.35. Joaquin Romero Maura, The Spanish Army and Catalonia: The "Cu-Cut!

Incident" and the Law of Jurisdictions, 1905-1906, Sage Research Papers in theSocial Sciences, no. 5 (Beverly Hills, CA, 1976).

36. Abc, 6 May 1908; El afiopolitico, 14 July 1908; El Imparcial, 15 July 1908.Quote from General Luque from Los Sitios de Zaragoza (Madrid, 1908), 93.

37. El Liberal, 18 Feb. 1908.38. El Imparcial, 19 April 1908; Faro, 3 May 1908.

92


39. Quoted in Jes6s Martinez Ver6n, Arquitectura de la Exposici6n Hispano-

Francesa de 1908 (Zaragoza, 1984), 199.

40. Natalia Juan and Jorge Arruga, "La Exposici6n Hispano-Francesa de 1908,"

Boletin del Museo e Instituto "Cam6n Aznar," no. 90 (2003): 115-220.

41. For the financing of the centennial, see Law of 22 Jan. 1907.

42. Centenario de los Sitios: Homenaje a la Santisima Virgen del Pilar (Zaragoza,

1908); El Noticiero, 20 May 1908.

43. La Ilustraci6n Espaiola y Americana, 8 Dec. 1908. For the significance of

the Virgin of Pilar for National-Catholicism, which continued until the times ofFranco, see Giuliana di Febo, Ritos deguerra y de victoria en la Espafiafranquista(Bilbao, 2002).

44. Mariano de la Sala, Obelisco hist6rico en honor de los her6icos defensores de

Zaragoza (Zaragoza, 1908), 5.

45. El Noticiero, 16 June 1908.

46. Revista Aragonesa, nos. 4-7 (1907): 305.

47. Sala, Obelisco, 5.

48. Jos6 Gasc6n in Revista Aragonesa, nos. 4-7 (1907): 261.

49. Basilio Paraiso quoted in Rafael Pamplona, ed., Exposici6n Hispano-Francesa

de 1908 (Zaragoza, 1911), 176.

50. Jos6 Garcia Lasaosa, Basilio Paraiso (Zaragoza, 1984).

51. Revista Aragonesa, nos. 16-21 (1908).

52. Heraldo de Arag6n, 29 May-17 June 1907; Album oficial descriptivo de la

Exposici6n (Barcelona, 1908), 4.

53. Martinez Ver6n, Arquitectura; Pamplona, ed., Exposici6n Hispano-Fran-

cesa.

54. El Gancho, Oct. 1908.

55. Pamplona, ed., Exposici6n Hispano-Francesa, 159.

56. El Imparcial, 23 July and 24 Oct. 1908.

57. DSC, 8 July 1910,454-55, Appendix 21 to no. 27 and Appendix 1 to no.

31, Archivo del Congreso de los Diputados (hereafter ACD), SG L411/2 and

GI L81/29.

58. DSC, 21 July 1910.

59. Royal Decree (hereafter RD) of 24 Aug. 1910.

60. Royal Order (hereafter RO) of 18 Aug. 1910.

61. G6mez et al., Cr6nica.

62. El Imparcial, 27 Sept. 1910.

63. Vipegon, Album politico, recuerdo del primer centenario de la Constituci6n

de Cudiz (Madrid, 1912), 16.

64. ElImparcial, 16 March 1912; Francisco Villacorta, ElAteneo Cientifico, Lit-

erario yArtistico de Madrid (1885-1912) (Madrid, 1985); RO of 6 Sept. 1910.

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Javier Moreno-Luz6n

65. See the bibliography included in La conmemoracitin de las Cortes de Cuidiz,compilado por un patriota (Madrid, 1913).

66. Abc, 19 and 20 March 1912.67. ACD, SG L413/26 and L640; J. G6mez Bardaji et al., Analesparlamen-

tarios: Cortes de 1910. Segunda legislatura (Madrid, 1915).68. La ipoca, 23 Sept. 1912.69. El Debate, 6 Oct. 1912.70. Abc, 24 and 25 Sept. 1912; El Pais, 5 Oct. 1912; El Imparcial, 27 Sept.

and 4 Oct. 1912; El Liberal, 11 Oct. 1912.71. Constitution of 1812, art. 1.72. Frederik B. Pike, Hispanismo, 1898-1936: Spanish Conservatives and

Liberals and Their Relations with Spanish America (Notre Dame, 1971); IsidroSep6lveda, El suefio de la Madre Patria: Hispanoamericanismo y nacionalismo

(Madrid, 2005).73. Rafael Maria de Labra, El Pante6n doceafista de C4diz (Madrid, 1913);

Revista de la Real Academia Hispano-Americana de Ciencias y Artes, no. 3(1914).

74. Rafael Maria de Labra, En honor de Canalejas (Madrid, 1913), 4.75. El Liberal, 15 March 1912. M.S.B., El Centenario de las Cortes de C4diz

(Madrid, 1912).

76. G6mez Bardaji et al., Analesparlamentarios.

77. Cattilogo del Museo Iconogrdfico e Hist6rico (Cidiz, 1917).78. Antecedentes hist4ricos que deben ser tenidos en cuenta por los artistas que

acudan al concurso para erigir un monumento conmemorativo de las Cortes, Con-stituci6n y Sitio de C4diz (Madrid, n.d.); Law of 7 July 1911.

79. ACD SG L640, Archivo General de la Administraci6n, Alcali de Henares,Presidencia, Subsecretaria L3620.

80. Xos6 Manoel N6ifiez Seixas, "The Region as Essence of the Fatherland:Regionalist Variants of Spanish Nationalism (1840-1936)," European HistoryQuarterly 31, no. 4 (2001): 483-518; Celia Applegate, A Nation of Provincials:The German Idea of Heimat (Berkeley, 1990); Alon Confino, The Nation as aLocal Metaphor: Wiirttemberg, Imperial Germany, and National Memory, 1871-1918 (Chapel Hill, NC, 1997); Anne-Marie Thiesse, Ils apprenaient la France:L'exaltation des rigions dans le discours patriotique (Paris, 1997).

81. Cabrera , ed., Con luz y taquigrafos.

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TITLE: Fighting for the National Memory: The Commemorationof the Spanish |DdW

SOURCE: History & Memory 19 no1 Spr/Summ 2007PAGE(S): 68-94

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