SPAIN n 37 



strike spread to Santander and Asturias, and the General Labour Union decided on a 

 general strike. In many parts of the country the labour disturbances assumed a 

 revolutionary character; rioting and bloodshed were of daily occurrence, and Barcelona, 

 Heulva, Saragossa, Malaga and Valencia appeared to be on the eve of insurrection, the 

 disorder being worst in the last-named province. In the north, General Aguilas, the 

 Captain General of Burgos, took command at Bilbao, with all the troops at his command. 

 The city was placed under martial law, and the strikers dispersed by cavalry charges and 

 the threat of artillery. At Valencia, however, the rioters succeeded in gaining the upper 

 hand (Sept. i8th) and at Cullera and Alcira the Commune was proclaimed. The 

 exceptionally brutal murder of a magistrate (Senor Lopez Rueda) at Cullera, and of his 

 secretary and the clerk of the court, brought about some revulsion of public feeling and 

 strengthened the hands of the government. 



On September igth martial law was declared throughout Spain, the Constitutional 

 Guarantees not being restored until October 22nd. On the night of the igth, 300 arrests 

 were made; within a few days the prisons were full and the barracks converted into 

 gaols. The publication of two Republican newspapers was suspended; the others de- 

 cided to cease until the Constitutional Guarantees were restored. These measures 

 succeeded. The funds of the strikers were almost exhausted; the revolutionary organi- 

 sation was paralysed by the loss of its leaders, and the strikers reluctantly returned 

 to work. Minor outbreaks occurred sporadically after the collapse of the great strike, 

 and in June 1912 much anxiety Was caused by the widespread symptoms of unrest. At 

 Oviedo the Civil Guard intervened in a strike of miners, shots were exchanged, and the 

 whole mining population ceased work as a protest. In the district of Almeria a general 

 strike was threatened, and great dissatisfaction was shown throughout Spain by the rail- 

 waymen, who demanded higher wages and shorter hours. This culminated on October 

 4th, when the railwaymen decided in favour of a general strike by 65,409 votes to 1418. 

 The companies refused to accede to their demands, and the government issued a mobili- 

 sation order, recalling to the ranks many reservists who were on strike. This, together 

 with the organisation of a provisional service of trains and the promise of a bill to better 

 the conditions of railway employes led to the collapse of the movement. 



Politics and Legislation. Senor Canalejas, who had become Prime Minister on 

 February 10, 1910, remained in office until he was assassinated on November 12, 1912. 

 His policy aimed, it has been said, at " Europeanising " Spain. While maintaining order 

 under many difficulties, he worked for the betterment of the agricultural and industrial 

 classes. During his tenure of office, the government reduced the power of the church 

 in secular affairs, solved numerous financial problems, carried on military operations in 

 Morocco and also conducted a most intricate series of negotiations with France. 



The anniversary of the execution of Francisco Ferrer (Oct. 13, 1910) was the 

 occasion of many Republican demonstrations, but it was not until March 27, 1911, that 

 the debate on the Ferrer trial opened. Meanwhile there had been a 

 I* e split in the Republican party and the government had gained in strength. 



question. The Republican leader in Barcelona, Senor Lerroux, had been accused of 

 complicity in certain municipal scandals. He was formally expelled from 

 the party by its chief, Senor Azcarate, who then joined forces with Senor Pablo Iglesias, 

 the Socialist leader, forming a new group in the Cortes the Republican Socialists. This 

 was in December 1910. On January i, 1911, Senor Canalejas resigned, desiring a free 

 hand, which his return to power would give him. He received the royal confidence, 

 and reorganised the Ministry; the new Ministers being Senores Alonso Castrillo (Interior), 

 Amos Salvador (Education) and Gasset (Public Works) the last-named a leader of the 

 Moret group who had served in five previous cabinets. Before the Cortes opened on 

 March 6th, the Republicans had been further weakened by the exclusion of the Catalin- 

 ists, and now consisted of three mutually hostile factions Catalinists, Radical Repub- 

 licans and Republican Socialists. 



The Ferrer debate lasted until midnight of April Sth-gth, ending in the rejection of 

 the Republican motion which asked the government to modify the Code of Military 



