"...the practical distinction between serranista and primista had largely died with the two men behind the Glorious Revolution and instead had come to simply infer a vague description of fluid factions within the dominant National Liberals, with the former generally suggesting the more moderate, conservative wing of the liberal movement and the latter its more progressive inclination, but both claiming to speak for the intellectual bourgeoisie and that class's ideological obligations to the working class. According to who one asked, Canalejas was either the most democratic and reformist of serranistas or a reactionary hiding in the clothes of primismo; as was the case in the sclerotic big tent of the Prime Minister's party, he was of course a bit of both and more, something to everyone, ideologically flexible but committed to suffrage, the peaceful and longstanding political settlement with the Church and democratic constitutional monarchy.
The progressist inclination of primismo had never gone away fully, however, even with the rise of Serrano in the wake of the wars of the early 1870s and the Count of Reus' own death in 1887 or the political failure of his chief protege, Cristero Martos. Interior Minister Segismundo Moret had been a key cabinet officer in every government since the Revolution save that of Montero Rios, which had influenced his inclusion in government by Canalejas, and was most famous for being the key figure behind the abolition of slavery and the incorporation of the insular Caribbean as autonomous provinces of Spain rather than colonies. As such, he was a figure of profound standing within the National Liberal Party and had genuine progressive and anti-imperialist credentials, and had been one of the few men in his party to support Philippine reforms during the controversy over the matter after the Weyler Memorandum. This was Moret's hour.
Canalejas, per dispatches from Foreign Minister [Miguel] Villanueva, had stayed on top of developments in Amsterdam even as the Spanish streets came alive in outrage. Anarchist, syndicalist, socialist, nationalist, Carlist, separatist - if there was an oppositionist group to the broad but thin centre of Spanish politics, it was out protesting, rioting or threatening to bring down the regime. Canalejas promulgated a draft plan of constitutional reform to be submitted to the Cortes after the negotiations with the Great Powers was finished and in the meantime unleashed the Guardia Civil and Army, only to find that many gendarmes and soldiers refused to put down the riots this time. Barcelona was effectively lawless, and Valencia, Havana and Cordoba were not far behind. The risk of a putsch as humiliated Spanish soldiers and sailors returned home haggard and well-aware that their government was treating with a Japan that had gleefully beheaded their countrymen for sport [1], and angrily demanded that the government stand firm. "Es necesito que nos muerte por algo!" went the chant - It is necessary that we died for something!
Canalejas had little choice - he elected to stand firm and telegraphed Villanueva his "reservations" regarding several provisions of the draft treaty, thus prolonging the negotiations and hopefully earning time with the Spanish street. Moret and his cadre of ascendant primista insurgents had seen enough: with internecine warfare within the National Liberals just as bad as the ugly violence now occurring even in Madrid, it was time to act. He presented Canalejas with a letter informing him that as many as ninety members of the party, nearly half the majority in the Cortes, would immediately exit the National Liberal organization and form a coalition government with the Radicals and the regionalists and independent socialists if he did not immediately either accept the provisions of the Amsterdam Treaty as is and at last end the war, or resign as Prime Minister if his honor dictated he could not and allow Moret to take over instead. Canalejas was stunned and insulted, and immediately went to see the King. Leopoldo, tired and exhausted and unwilling to sack an entire Cabinet again, encouraged Canalejas to do whatever he felt "just." The Prince of Asturias - no longer the handsome young cavalry officer who Spanish ladies swooned over but now a middle-aged, pudgy and reactionary Germanophile - had a different suggestion, which was for Canalejas to sack Moret and his instigators from Cabinet, call his bluff on the assumption that "not even half of ninety" would cross the floor and instead rule in a coalition with Maura's Conservatives and Nocedal's Integrists until the matter could be settled at the next election.
Canalejas may have been a moderate, perhaps even a conservative in a temperamental sense, but he was stunned at the suggestion and by the heir's wading into politics beyond what his father had down a decade prior during the Salmeron Affair. Such a coalition was perfectly permissible under the statutes of Spanish law but Canalejas was old enough and liberal enough to remember the final Carlist conflict and its impact on politics, and he'd be damned if he let Nocedal within even earshot of power as some kind of ad hoc confidence and supply arrangement. Honor demanded neither signing his name to the document that would complete the collapse of the Spanish Empire or allowing the wolves into the flock, but if Moret wanted to knife him, he would have to follow through and knife him and then own whatever consequences came next. Canalejas announced to the Cortes to a mix of cheers and boos that his government could not accept the treaty as "per the voices of the people of Spain" and that negotiations would continue. Moret, it turned out, was not bluffing; he requested a vote of no-confidence as he and half the Cabinet resigned, and Canalejas was defeated on that vote, and Moret would be called reluctantly by Leopoldo to the palace to form a government, for no more crises could be afforded.
Moret kept Villanueva in his role so as to not interrupt the negotiations but commanded him to accept the French compromise, and the Treaty of Amsterdam passed the Cortes of Spain by a margin of two votes; its failure would have triggered an even greater crisis than that of its passage. Moret now entirely owned what a large segment of the Spanish public viewed as a betrayal and a substantial majority saw as a national humiliation, and his takedown of Canalejas after only four months only further destabilized the previously placid Spanish politics and deepened his unpopularity with National Liberal supporters even though he had retained the confidence of half the party's caucus..." [2]
- Hispania, Hispania!
[1] Exaggeration and the Spanish walked into it with their butchery in the islands but this is the live perspective on the Spanish street
[2] So for those keeping track at home, the serranistas have basically collapsed thanks to getting into the war with Japan and now the primistas have made it worse by accepting the shit deal for Spain that the Treaty of Amsterdam represents, even though practically there was no way for them to keep the Philippines at all. Of course, geopolitical nuance is often lost on angry rioters!
The progressist inclination of primismo had never gone away fully, however, even with the rise of Serrano in the wake of the wars of the early 1870s and the Count of Reus' own death in 1887 or the political failure of his chief protege, Cristero Martos. Interior Minister Segismundo Moret had been a key cabinet officer in every government since the Revolution save that of Montero Rios, which had influenced his inclusion in government by Canalejas, and was most famous for being the key figure behind the abolition of slavery and the incorporation of the insular Caribbean as autonomous provinces of Spain rather than colonies. As such, he was a figure of profound standing within the National Liberal Party and had genuine progressive and anti-imperialist credentials, and had been one of the few men in his party to support Philippine reforms during the controversy over the matter after the Weyler Memorandum. This was Moret's hour.
Canalejas, per dispatches from Foreign Minister [Miguel] Villanueva, had stayed on top of developments in Amsterdam even as the Spanish streets came alive in outrage. Anarchist, syndicalist, socialist, nationalist, Carlist, separatist - if there was an oppositionist group to the broad but thin centre of Spanish politics, it was out protesting, rioting or threatening to bring down the regime. Canalejas promulgated a draft plan of constitutional reform to be submitted to the Cortes after the negotiations with the Great Powers was finished and in the meantime unleashed the Guardia Civil and Army, only to find that many gendarmes and soldiers refused to put down the riots this time. Barcelona was effectively lawless, and Valencia, Havana and Cordoba were not far behind. The risk of a putsch as humiliated Spanish soldiers and sailors returned home haggard and well-aware that their government was treating with a Japan that had gleefully beheaded their countrymen for sport [1], and angrily demanded that the government stand firm. "Es necesito que nos muerte por algo!" went the chant - It is necessary that we died for something!
Canalejas had little choice - he elected to stand firm and telegraphed Villanueva his "reservations" regarding several provisions of the draft treaty, thus prolonging the negotiations and hopefully earning time with the Spanish street. Moret and his cadre of ascendant primista insurgents had seen enough: with internecine warfare within the National Liberals just as bad as the ugly violence now occurring even in Madrid, it was time to act. He presented Canalejas with a letter informing him that as many as ninety members of the party, nearly half the majority in the Cortes, would immediately exit the National Liberal organization and form a coalition government with the Radicals and the regionalists and independent socialists if he did not immediately either accept the provisions of the Amsterdam Treaty as is and at last end the war, or resign as Prime Minister if his honor dictated he could not and allow Moret to take over instead. Canalejas was stunned and insulted, and immediately went to see the King. Leopoldo, tired and exhausted and unwilling to sack an entire Cabinet again, encouraged Canalejas to do whatever he felt "just." The Prince of Asturias - no longer the handsome young cavalry officer who Spanish ladies swooned over but now a middle-aged, pudgy and reactionary Germanophile - had a different suggestion, which was for Canalejas to sack Moret and his instigators from Cabinet, call his bluff on the assumption that "not even half of ninety" would cross the floor and instead rule in a coalition with Maura's Conservatives and Nocedal's Integrists until the matter could be settled at the next election.
Canalejas may have been a moderate, perhaps even a conservative in a temperamental sense, but he was stunned at the suggestion and by the heir's wading into politics beyond what his father had down a decade prior during the Salmeron Affair. Such a coalition was perfectly permissible under the statutes of Spanish law but Canalejas was old enough and liberal enough to remember the final Carlist conflict and its impact on politics, and he'd be damned if he let Nocedal within even earshot of power as some kind of ad hoc confidence and supply arrangement. Honor demanded neither signing his name to the document that would complete the collapse of the Spanish Empire or allowing the wolves into the flock, but if Moret wanted to knife him, he would have to follow through and knife him and then own whatever consequences came next. Canalejas announced to the Cortes to a mix of cheers and boos that his government could not accept the treaty as "per the voices of the people of Spain" and that negotiations would continue. Moret, it turned out, was not bluffing; he requested a vote of no-confidence as he and half the Cabinet resigned, and Canalejas was defeated on that vote, and Moret would be called reluctantly by Leopoldo to the palace to form a government, for no more crises could be afforded.
Moret kept Villanueva in his role so as to not interrupt the negotiations but commanded him to accept the French compromise, and the Treaty of Amsterdam passed the Cortes of Spain by a margin of two votes; its failure would have triggered an even greater crisis than that of its passage. Moret now entirely owned what a large segment of the Spanish public viewed as a betrayal and a substantial majority saw as a national humiliation, and his takedown of Canalejas after only four months only further destabilized the previously placid Spanish politics and deepened his unpopularity with National Liberal supporters even though he had retained the confidence of half the party's caucus..." [2]
- Hispania, Hispania!
[1] Exaggeration and the Spanish walked into it with their butchery in the islands but this is the live perspective on the Spanish street
[2] So for those keeping track at home, the serranistas have basically collapsed thanks to getting into the war with Japan and now the primistas have made it worse by accepting the shit deal for Spain that the Treaty of Amsterdam represents, even though practically there was no way for them to keep the Philippines at all. Of course, geopolitical nuance is often lost on angry rioters!
