Between a Hard Place and a Rock: A Carlist Spain in the 20th Century

[Kurt_Steiner]

Jaime III, king of Spain​

Introduction.

The celebrations of the 75th anniversary of the coronation of Carlos V (1) in 1914 were clouded by the ghost of the incomming Great European War. In spite of that, the conmemoration of the arrival of the first king of the Carlist branch to the Spanish throne were held amidst a explosion of official pomp, as if the days of the empire had never come to an end.

On May 15th, 1914, Madrid witnessed a grand procession of quasi-imperial glamour, as soldiers marched on the main avenues of the city. Then the parade of the Spanish nobility that the new dinasty had reated entered in the Cathedral of the Almudena. Leaded by the crown prince, Alfonso, a long line made up by twenty-six dukes and duchesses and one hundred and thirty five earls entered the cathedral while guns fired and bells tolled. Jaime III (2), Rex Catholicissimus (3), king of Spain, of Castille, of Leon, of Aragon, of the Two Sicilies, of Jerusalem, of Navarre, of Granada, of Toledo, of Valencia, of Galicia, of Majorca, of Seville, of Sardinia, of Córdoba, of Corsica, of Murcia, of Menorca, of Jaen, of the Algarves, of Algeciras, of Gibraltar, of the Canary Islands, of the East Indies and West Indies and of the Islands and Mainland of the Ocean Sea, Archduke of Austria Duke of Burgundy, of Brabant, of Milan, of Athens, of Neopatras and of Limburg, Count of Habsburg, of Flanders, of Tyrol, of Roussillon and of Barcelona, Lord of Biscay and of Molina (4) arrived to the Almudena to be greeted by a cheering multitude.

Hardly a month later the world was to be shocked by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo. Then, it was to be seen if the diplomatic detachment that Spain had followed since 1898 was to preserve the country. However, with Jaime III on the throne, everything was deemed to be possible in those days, to the discomfort of many.



(1) Carlos María Isidro de Borbón, Infante of Spain and the younger brother of Fernando VII of Spain.
(2) Jaime de Borbón y Borbón-Parma, son of Carlos VII (OTL Carlos María de Borbón y Austria-Este) and great grandson of Carlos V
(3) Most Catholic King and Most Catholic Majesty, a title awarded by Pope Alexander VI in the papal bull Inter caetera (1493) to Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castille.
(4) Most of those titles are historical ones which are only nominal and ceremonial.

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

1. The paper tiger.

"Calderote", by Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau​

War had ruled the fate of Spain for the last 75 years: the civil war of 1836-1838 (1), when Carlos V defeated his niece Isabel, the daughter of his brother Fernado VII and thus won the crown for himself; and the Spanish-American War of 1898, when the last remnants of the Spanish Empire fer lost for good. The cumulative impact of these shocks transformed the life of Spain.

Spain had undergone a change in that time. From the neo-absolutist kingdom of Carlos V the country had moved to the administratively decentralized but politically centralized Spain of Carlos VII (2), as some small degree of autonomous government was given to the Basque Country and Navarre in 1891 in an experiment that was later on reproduced also in Catalonia. This process of decentralization had many enemies at the time and many more since then. For the Catalan and Basque nationalists, the "autonomous government" thing was a trap that denied them their full national independence. Thus, this issue was to plague the Spanish political life from time to time, and since 1905 it was increasingly dominated by the struggle for national rights.

Under Jaime III a change of guard took place. The new prime minister, Juan Vázquez de Mella y Fanjul, earl of Monterroso, inagurated a new phase in Spanish external relations, but this ‘new course’ was dominated by irresolution and drift, as de Mella was a germanophile and the king an anglophile. Thus the Foreign minister, Matías Barrio y Mier, tried to fill this kind of vacuum by reinforcing the Spanish ties with France and by trying to reach agreements with London, even if he did not favour a full alliance with Britain, as he tried to preserve, as much as possible, the independence and the political freedom of Spain. It was crucial, then, that Spain did not become dependent on any foreign power.

To achieve this goal, Barrio decided to expand the defensive capacity of the country. The military bill of 1910 brought the strength of the army to 350,000 and the military expenditure in that year reached double the 1900 figure as the Plan Ferrándiz tried frantically to modernize and reconstruct the Spanish fleet, which had been decimated in 1898. However, these increases were only aimed to achieve deterrence. How could affect this quest or military self-reliance the diplomatic chances of Spain. Should Spain remain focused in seeking a deal with Britain and France or the solution lied in improving relations with Germany? With the different views of the king and the first minister dominating the political scene, both options were followed. The only results of these measures was the Spanish-German Trade Treaty of 1911 and the Spanish-French Treaty of 1912 that turned the Spanish sphere of influence on Northern Morocco into a protectorate.

However, after the crisis of 1911 and 1912 and the growing threat presented by the Wilhelmite Germany, London began to increase its interest on Spain, as it offered a chance to attack Italy, the disgruntled member of the Triple Alliance.

(1) OTL 1st Carlist War
(2) OTL Carlos María de Borbón y Austria-Este (1848-1909), great grandson of TTL Carlos V

 

[Noblesse Oblige]

Neo-Absolutist? What do you mean by that, in that regard?

I know that there were a lot of absolute monarchies during the timeframe of the First Carlist War and leading up to the 1848 Revolutions (with the only ones left being the few Italian states, the Two Sicilies chief among them) and Russia, but I felt they were more absolute monarchies in the classical sense.

 

[Ramontxo]

If Carlists won the war the four territories of Araba Gipuzkoa Bizkaia and Nafarroa would have retain full foral rights, or rather foral soberanity. As in all threads that touch political questions so close to me I think I will abstain myself of posting here, but am very interested in a time line whit the Carlists winning so please keep the good job.

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

Neo-Absolutist? What do you mean by that, in that regard?

I know that there were a lot of absolute monarchies during the timeframe of the First Carlist War and leading up to the 1848 Revolutions (with the only ones left being the few Italian states, the Two Sicilies chief among them) and Russia, but I felt they were more absolute monarchies in the classical sense.

When I mentioned Neo-Absolutist I Was think in the Austrian Empire pre-Ausgleich 1837 and in the Spain of Ferdinand VII pre-1820 and during the Ominous Decade.

If Carlists won the war the four territories of Araba Gipuzkoa Bizkaia and Nafarroa would have retain full foral rights, or rather foral soberanity. As in all threads that touch political questions so close to me I think I will abstain myself of posting here, but am very interested in a time line whit the Carlists winning so please keep the good job.

Yes, those foral rights were going to be back once the Carlist pretender was sitting on the throne. Here they have grown into a commonwealth of municipalities, as the Catalan one instituted at the beginning of the 20th century.

I'll hope that you'll post from time to time if I don't touch political questions too close to your heart .

 

[Ramontxo]

When I mentioned Neo-Absolutist I Was think in the Austrian Empire pre-Ausgleich 1837 and in the Spain of Ferdinand VII pre-1820 and during the Ominous Decade.



Yes, those foral rights were going to be back once the Carlist pretender was sitting on the throne. Here they have grown into a commonwealth of municipalities, as the Catalan one instituted at the beginning of the 20th century.

I'll hope that you'll post from time to time if I don't touch political questions too close to your heart .

I will try. With the "fueros" on, I see the four territorys merging in a "Confederación Vasco Navarra" with each of then keeping its own juntas generales (and yes they were based on municipal representation) and a new one (a national junta general) convined for the confederation.

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

I will try. With the "fueros" on, I see the four territorys merging in a "Confederación Vasco Navarra" with each of then keeping its own juntas generales (and yes they were based on municipal representation) and a new one (a national junta general) convined for the confederation.

A very interesting idea, Ramontxo... Very interesting... I like it very much, thank you!

 

[Ramontxo]

A very interesting idea, Ramontxo... Very interesting... I like it very much, thank you!

Glad to help
Edited to add that my Shitphone (TM) apparently is so enraged with my tring to post in English (which he is doing quite a good job un sabotaging) that he does'nt let me post Smilies so just imagine a lot of them...

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

Glad to help
Edited to add that my Shitphone (TM) apparently is so enraged with my tring to post in English (which he is doing quite a good job un sabotaging) that he does'nt let me post Smilies so just imagine a lot of them...

Glad to know. I feared that mine hated Catalan and English...

 

[Bob Gump]

Glad to read another of your histories Kurt. Very interesting Pod. Will be the history from 1914 onwards with flasbacks to the past?. By the way, what about galician nationalism?

 

[Unknown]

Hope Spain avoids the turmoil of OTL...

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

Glad to read another of your histories Kurt. Very interesting Pod. Will be the history from 1914 onwards with flasbacks to the past?. By the way, what about galician nationalism?

I don't plan to go back in time, as I think that the essential parts of the story had been explain, but... who knows?

I'm improving my knowledge about Galician nationalism, as I'm still trying to figure out how to put them into the TL.

Hope Spain avoids the turmoil of OTL...

I hope so. Somehow, all of my TL have this purpose in mind, to avoid the present situation.

 

[Bob Gump]

I'm improving my knowledge about Galician nationalism, as I'm still trying to figure out how to put them into the TL.

I'm from Galicia, so if your have questions or need help, feel free to ask and send me a PM.

 

[Ramontxo]

You may found this ("la Gamazada"*) of interest as it was an OTL intent of taking out the Basque and Nafarroan cupo, quite a bit like today...

*https://www.google.es/url?sa=t&rct=...iki/Gamazada&usg=AOvVaw3HyaHPE4uwIdqXi9v_zZsn

 

[Ramontxo]

Now in the "Ofi" and I can post smileys so...

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

I'm from Galicia, so if your have questions or need help, feel free to ask and send me a PM.

Thank you!

You may found this ("la Gamazada"*) of interest as it was an OTL intent of taking out the Basque and Nafarroan cupo, quite a bit like today...

*https://www.google.es/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjj_9aX5YvYAhXFMBoKHU4GB2MQFggpMAA&url=https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamazada&usg=AOvVaw3HyaHPE4uwIdqXi9v_zZsn

Interesting... History repeats itself...

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

2. Naval race

The Spanish Battleship
Jaime III​

When Edward VII visited Spain in 1907, this event marked the apex of the British efforts to bring Spain to her side and the high water mark of the Spanish efforts to win the British help to reconstruct the battered Spanish fleet. Thus, Spain began to construct three Dreadnoughts in 1909, the España-class (1), of which only two were finished by the time tthat the war began. The first one, named España, was ready in 1913, and the second one, Carlos V, in 1914, while the third one was cancelled as the whole class was deemed to be too small and weak compared with the current dreadnoughts in service. Thus, by the time the Great War erupted, the efforts of the Spanish naval designers had moved, with British support, to construct a smaller version of the Queen Elizabeth-class, whose lead ship was to join the Royal Navy in late 1914.

Finally, the first two ships of the so-called Emperador class, the Carlos VI and the Jaime III, were laid down in 1915 and were not ready until December 1917; the works on the two last ships, the Fernando VII and the Felipe II, began in 1917 and were finished in 1919 and 1920. With a standard displacement of 20,000 tons, and overall lenght of 150 metres, a beam of 26.45 metres, a draught of 7,7 metres at deep load and a speed of 20 knots, the Emperador class ships were called mockingly the "Queenie class". To make it worse, they were only armed with 305 mm guns, twelve of them in four triple turrets, as Spain depended on Britain providing the main armament of the Spanish battleships and by 1917 there was a lack of materials from Britain as a result of the British own needs and the German submarine campaign.

In any case, this help was not for free, as King Jaime III of Spain promised to join France and the United Kingdom in case that a war with Germany were to break up, going as far as planning how to use the Spanish ports and merchant fleet to help to move the French troops deployed in North Africa to France in case of a war and to prepare a 50,000 strong expedition against Italy if Rome were to join hands with Germany and Austria. However, even if Italy did not declare war to the Entente Powers, these plans were to cause the first troubles between the King and his First Minister. (2)

(1) Just like the OTL España battleships.
(2) Edward VII's visit, the British help to build the failed España battleships, the plan to use Spanish ports to move French troops from North Africa to France and to use Spanish troops to invade Italy if it went to war against the Entente are real OTL events, by the way.

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

3. Political interests, national obligations.

Juan Vázquez de Mella​

When the Spanish Prime Minister, Juan Vázquez de Mella, was later on asked how began his feud with his king, Jaime III, the Spanish politician simply answered: "he wanted to be the all-mighty ruler of Spain" In that, he was just stating part of the truth. It was true, indeed, that Jaime III was more interested in politics than his father, Carlos VII, but it was just part of the whole issue,

Since the end of the Civil War, Carlos V and his successors relied in a body of noblemen that who were in a state of economic decline and were unable and unready to lead a modern industrial state; and a bourgeoisie that had become irresponsible after being spoilt by the crown but, since the defeat of 1898, lacked the strength and the nerve to help to rule the country.

In May 1909, a number of officers in the Spanish Army felt tempted to follow the example set by Young Turk movement to reorganize the Spanish government and the armed forcez. Thus, they created the short-lived Military League, that was dissolved after they tried to defy the government and to cause its fall in August that year. The civil faction of the League joined the Conservative Party, becoming hard-core supporters of Vázquez de Mella. After he won the elections of December 1910, he started to reorganize the economic, political, and national affairs of the country, following some of the ideas of the League. In that, he was supported by Jaime III, who called Vázquez de Mella to be "his own Bismarck".

In that he was following the line set by his grandfather and his father, but they had chancellors who were senior civil servants and not seasoned politician-statesmen like Vázquez de Mella. Thus, while the interests and goals of both the King and the Prime Minister followed the same path, everything seemed to be just fine, just as the so-called "Reform period" of 1910-1913. However, when the time came to set a foreign policy, Jaime's anglophilia derailed all the attempts of Vázquez de Mella to get close to Berlin and both men parted ways.

Then Vázquez de Mella tried to assert his supremacy in political matter by building a parliamentary bloc defined by loyalty to him, but he never managed to achieve his goal. Thus, both the king and his prime minister had their eyes set in the next General Elections, to be held on May 1915.

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

4. Landings and upheavals.

The Gallipoli landings​

After Salandra annouced that Italy would not commit its troops, maintaining that the Triple Alliance had only a defensive stance and Austria-Hungary had been the aggressor, the AngloFrench interest in Spain waned a bit. Vázquez de Mella, then, began to try to find a way to enter the war on the side of the Central powers using the awe caused by the German advance to Paris. However, much to his own changrin, even if the national mood was close to join the German side, the atittude of the king and of intellectuals like Ortega y Gasset and Valle Inclán made the situation unclear.

Jaime III had family ties with both the German and British Royals (his wife was a granddaughter of queen Victoria -1-). Even if the Spanish monarch did rebuff the Allied efforts to bring Spain into the war on their side, Jaime had then offended Austria and Germany by blocking popular efforts by his Prime Minister to bring the country into the war on the side of the Central Powers. Jaime's insistence on neutrality, however, was based more on his judgement that it was the best policy for Spain, as he felt that the popular opinion was divided on the sisue. So, in spite of his own ideas or his British dynastic connections, Jaime III was fully determined to keep Spain out of the war.

The German failure on the Marne and then the stalemate brought by the Race to the Sea seemed to calm down the spirits of the Spanish public opinion and for a while the issue was put to rest. However, an unilateral action of Jaime III without consulting his Prime Minister heated again the relations between the two men. British, Australian and New Zealand ships and troops were allowed to use Spanish harbours during their attack on Gallipoli in 1915 and, later on, during the failed campaign, Spanish workers and porters were recruited by the Allied to serve in Gallipoli, much to the displeasure of Vázquez de Mella, who submitted his resignation on 21 May 1915.

General elections were called then. In a magnificient display of power, influence and organization, Vázquez de Mella managed to overcome the split of his party, as a great number of Conservative politicians led by Eduardo Dato, abandoned its ranks to create a new one, the Partido Nacional Conservador (National Conservative Party), while some others followed Antonio Maura. Vázquez de Mella was even able to put down a "rebellion" led by Enrique de Aguilera who, eventually, left the Conservative party to form the Comunión Tradicional Carlista (Traditional Carlist Communion), but soon became imbroilled in power struggles with Bartolomé Feliú Pérez. Also, Vázquez de Mella had also to deal with an attempt to form a purely Catalan branch of the party led by Miquel Junyet i Rovira, that in the end came to nothing.

Then, on September 1915, the General Elections were held.


(1) In OTL, in spite of the pressure of his followers, Jaime de Borbón refused to marry.

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

5. The Spanish crisis of 1915

The War reaches Kamerun​

Vázquez de Mella and his Conservative Party achieved a landslide victory, with almost a 50% of the votes and but going from the 215 seats in Parliament of the previous elections to 208 in this one. However, despite the victory. Vázquez de Mella's feud with Kig Jaime III was still going on. In the following months, the king insisted on his position and did not hesitate to confront his prime minister. By then, both London and Paris had their attention fixed in the volatile political situation in Madrid. Just as Italy came closer and closer to join the Entente, the actions of Vázquez de Mella puzzled and worried both the British and French government. Then the war took part on the issue.

In January 1915, in an attempt to convince the Spaniards to side with them, Britain offered Spain post-war concessions in Kamerun, but Vázquez de Mella seemed uninterested by the proposal but Jaime III attempted to force a bill throught the Spanish the Greek parliament to join the Allies, thus, he began to meet some influential members of the Conservative Party to ensure the support of the bill. Then, the king called for the Crown Council to meet and there he proposed to join the Allies. Of course, Vázquez de Mella opposed the very idea, but the Liberal leader, Alvaro de Figueroa, earl of Romanones, and Eduardo Dato, the bitter rival of Vázquez de Mella, supported the king. Thus, when the Crown Council was dissolved on June 3, after two futile days of negotiation, the events in Kamerun determined the fate of the Spanish government.

In the spring of 1915, the German forces were having troubles to repulse assaults by Allied forces (1). A German force under the command of Captain von Crailsheim was utterly crushed during a failed raid into Nigeria at the Battle of Gurin, just inside the Nigerian border, when the attackers where caught by surprise by a much larger British force. After this, General Frederick Hugh Cunliffe launched another attempt at taking the German fortresses at Garua, which fell in June. This success freed Allied units in northern Kamerun to push further into the interior of the colony and by the end of the month, Jaunde was under siege. By October 1915, the forces of Cunliffe and Dobell were in contact and ready to conduct an assault of Jaunde. Then, the German commander, Carl Zimmermann came to the conclusion that the campaign was lost. With Allied forces pressing in on Jaunde from all sides and German resistance faltering, he ordered all remaining German units and civilians to escape to the neutral Spanish colony of Rio Muni (2).

British troops entered Rio Muni chasing the German stragglers, and that caused an uproar in part of the Spanish governmeng. Vázquez de Mella strongly protested the British actions, but he was disown by the King himself. This and the staunch criticism by not only the King but also Army generals and their supporters reached a high point, and shortly after Jaime III invoked the Spanish constitution that gave him the right to dismiss a government. In November 1915 Vázquez de Mella was forced to resign and dissolved the parliament. New elections were ir order again.


(1) In fact, the German forces managed to hold out until 1916.
(2) The actual Equatorial Guinea.