La derecha radical española y el pensamiento antiliberal francés en el primer tercio del siglo XX. De charles Maurras a Georges Valois

Abstract

The aim of this essay on the spanish radical right is to analyze the route followed by spanish conservatism, from its adherence to an oligarchic liberalism, that was characteristic of the beginning of the xx century, to the formation of an anti-liberal right, that reached its culmination with fascism during the second republic. In this evolution towards anti-democratic, corporative and authoritarian positions, a major roll was played by the influence of French anti- liberal thought, from the neo-traditionalism of the French action, to the fascist movements encouraged by Georges Valois, and continued by some of his disciples in the following years. The relation between that anti-liberal thought of French origin and the evolution of the spanish right-wing towards fascism constitutes the center of this paper. The article is organized in three main parts. In the first one, we will study the origins of European anti-liberal thought, considering two fundamental aspects: 1. the crisis of European conscience at the end of the xix century, which gave place to a set of anti-liberal, nationalist and corporative ideological elements amongst European conservative groups. This was the breeding ground for a radical right thought that culminated with fascisms. 2. The First World War and its consequences, which gave place to a new polarized world around bolshevism and fascism. The anti-liberal, nationalist, anti-democratic and corporative thought spread around Europe and pervaded in different ways the European conservative groups, driving them to increasingly authoritarian and dictatorial positions. This process has been denominated by some historians as the “fascistization” of the European right-wing. secondly, we will analyze the formation of the spanish radical right from its origins, at the beginning of the xx century, till Primo de rivera’s Dictatorship, stressing the contribution of French anti-liberal thought (from Charles Maurras to George Valois, including Georges sorel) in its doctrinal renovation. Finally, we will study the period from Primo de rivera’s Dictatorship to the second republic, when the process of “fascistization” of the spanish right- wing concluded. The project of the spanish radical right (based on a monarchic, authoritarian, anti-liberal, national-catholic and corporative government, that sympathised with the italian experience) was premature, since the social and political conditions necessary to its implementation were not present at that moment. in fact, spanish conservatism during the time of de rivera’s Dictatorship, was not concerned about social revolution and the loss of their privileges. it was the arrival of the second republic, with its modernizing reforms, that, breaking the hegemony of the dominant social groups, led the radical right to consider that the only way to bar a social revolution was insurgency against the republic.