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62-460: Its beginnings come from the sagramental , whose origins are found in the compilations made by the Comital Court (Catalan: Cort Comtal) of Barcelona, in 1068 and in a usatge ('feudal usage') called Princeps namque . Both legal texts define the police (at the local level) and military (at the general level) character conferred to the sometent. Another of the tasks of the sometent was to alarm

124-654: A successful military operation in Al Hoceima , Spain and France pushed back Abd-el-Krim's forces and regained some control of the Spanish protectorate. After the dictatorship's victory, the Military Directory organised celebrations country-wide. It awarded Primo de Rivera a high honour in the Spanish military, the Gran Cruz Laureada de San Fernando . In December 1925, Primo de Rivera's dictatorship transitioned from

186-404: A campaign mass officiated by the bishop or the parish priest in the main square with the attendance of the garrison forces, if any, of the personalities of the town and the region (mayor, secretary, town councilors, teachers, doctors, etc.), and even of the youth organizations of the town and of the region (mayor, secretary, councilors, teachers, doctors, etc.), and even of the youth organizations of

248-565: A large scale. Primo de Rivera ordered the termination of all local governments as he attempted to remove political corruption in Spain, replacing the civil officials with military supervised positions. In April 1924, Primo de Rivera created the Unión Patriótica (UP). UP was the official party of the dictatorship, and it united around vague patriotic ideas, taking the motto: Nation, Church, and King. The party's creation aimed to give

310-562: A new government led by General Francisco Aguilera, president of the Supreme Council of Military Justice, but they ultimately chose Primo de Rivera to lead this new government. On 13 September, Primo de Rivera staged a successful coup d’état in Barcelona in the mould of 19th-century pronunciamientos . With the army's support, he ousted the parliamentary government of Marquis Manuel García Prieto . Primo de Rivera stated he would create

372-569: A permanent seat in the League of Nations in 1926, leaving and re-joining the League of Nations in the process, still as a non-permanent member. Primo de Rivera's dictatorship nationalised Spain's economy throughout the Civil Directory. It suppressed free trade and strictly supervised all economic activity in Spain. In 1927, the dictatorship created CAMPSA , a Spanish oil monopoly , by confiscating

434-485: A right that derived from the ancient formulas of patronage ". The mass mobilization of citizens was called general sometent and reached its peak during the 12th and 13th centuries. During the following two centuries it was still frequent. In the 16th and 17th centuries it acquired a fundamentally police role —against bandits , Huguenots and pirates — defined by the Catalan Constitution of 1561, effective until

496-413: A temporary government to save Spain from the corrupt politicians that had been mismanaging it since 1898. Shortly after, on 14 September, King Alfonso XIII declared his support for Primo de Rivera's coup and dismissed the civilian government, suspending the 1876 Spanish constitution . He made Primo de Rivera the head of a new Military Directory, with powers to propose "whatever decrees are convenient" to

558-605: A temporary increase in economic growth . Originally, the dictatorship was going to fund these improvements by implementing a progressive tax system, where Spain's wealthiest people would pay more in tax. This plan was dropped after much resistance from the upper classes . In 1929, Spain experienced an economic downturn that coincided with the start of the Great Depression , and Spaniards lost confidence in Primo de Rivera's dictatorship. The dictatorship also struggled to maintain

620-562: A tradition of usus terrae (local custom), approached the Catalan Courts in 1251 to establish the primacy of the Usages. Though the Usages applied legally only to the Barcelonan county, in practice they were applied to the entire Principality of Catalonia . The Usages incorporated several other competing codes of the same era: The oldest manuscript containing the Usages dates from the end of

682-644: Is possible to differentiate between the rural Somatén, directed to the repression of common crimes, such as thefts, and the urban Somatén that acted under the tutelage of the Army and the Police in the repression of the so-called "social crimes", such as strikes . On the other hand, joining the Somatén —and also the Unión Patriótica , the only party of the Dictatorship— became an important starting point for political advancement in

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744-598: Is to do away with the old politics. Their goal is so excellent as to preclude reservations." The Catholic Church and the wider Spanish public also showed their backing of the dictatorship, and the stock market rising immediately after the coup is indicative of the confidence Spaniards had in the new regime. Some of the only detractors of the coup were the small Communist party ( Partido Comunista de España ) and Anarchist trade unions. The Military Directory consisted of eight generals and one admiral. They were subordinate to Primo de Rivera, who could alone approve Decrees for

806-745: The Rif War , where Spanish forces fought Riffian tribes in Morocco. Primo de Rivera's dictatorship established the Civil Directory in 1925. During the Civil Directory, Primo de Rivera created the National Assembly , where Spanish corporations had their interests represented. The dictatorship formed good relationships with Italy and increased its interactions with countries in Latin America . It invested heavily in Spanish infrastructure, such as roads and railways, and expanded labour laws to assist nursing mothers in

868-468: The Spanish parliament inquired into assigning responsibility for the loss. Right before Primo de Rivera took over, the results of this inquiry were going to be released to the public, and they implicated many high-ranking military officials. This exacerbated the deteriorating relationship between the politicians and the military, who felt the politicians were to blame. The military at first planned to install

930-682: The dictatorship of Primo de Rivera , the Militar Directory issued a royal decree extending the Catalan institution of the Sometent (referred in Spanish as Somatén ) to all the provinces of Spain. According to the Royal Decree, the Somatén Nacional, which was the first official name it received, would be recruited within a month by the captains general , under the command of a Brigadier General . In

992-409: The exchange rate of Spain's currency, the peseta , and no economic policy it tried stopped the peseta from falling in value. In 1924, the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera gave unmarried women the right to vote in local elections if they were older than 23 and not subject to any parental authority. Women were also allowed to run for office in town councils, and fourteen women were invited to be on

1054-479: The 12th century. Between the 15th and 18th centuries, they were copied frequently. The Nueva Planta decrees superseded them with the central legislation of the Bourbons , though continued to have some force. Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera General Miguel Primo de Rivera 's dictatorship over Spain began with a coup on 13 September 1923 and ended with his resignation on 28 January 1930. It took place during

1116-599: The Andorran territory, of Spain and France. Usages of Barcelona The Usages of Barcelona ( Catalan : Usatges de Barcelona , IPA: [uˈzadʒəz ðə βəɾsəˈlonə] ; Latin : Usatici Barchinonae ) were the customs that form the basis for the Catalan Constitutions . They are the fundamental laws and basic rights of Catalonia , dating back to their codification in the twelfth century. The Usages combined fragments of Roman and Visigothic law with

1178-557: The Decree, Primo de Rivera explained that the Somatén was not only an auxiliary force for the maintenance of public order but also a "spur of the spirits" to stimulate citizen collaboration with the new regime. In spite of the fact that Primo de Rivera in a speech pronounced before Mussolini on November 21, 1923, pretended to equate it with the Fascist " black shirts ", the Somatén "was an armed corps of bourgeois of order, created from, by and for

1240-558: The Directory and present them to the king to sign. Primo de Rivera framed the formation of his dictatorship as a patriotic action against the ineffectiveness of Spain's liberal system. Through this, Primo de Rivera presented himself as Joaquín Costa's ' Iron Surgeon ,' who would perform surgery on Spain to cure the political corruption and social chaos that plagued it. He stated: "I have no experience in government. Our methods are as simple as they are ingenious. They are methods for which

1302-551: The Military Directory that he would find a quick solution to the Rif War , where Riffian rebels opposed the Spanish colonial presence in northern Morocco. Primo de Rivera initially aimed to negotiate with Abd-el-Krim , the Riffian leader, to end the conflict. He withdrew 29,000 recruits from Spain's Moroccan Protectorate by the end of 1923 and an additional 26,000 by March 1924. In total, Primo de Rivera abandoned 180 military bases by mid-December. In doing so, he also aimed to reduce

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1364-556: The Military Directory to the Civil Directory. During the Civil Directory, Primo de Rivera created the National Assembly, where corporate interests were represented rather than voters' individual interests. Groups such as the UP, the Church, and the army were represented in the National Assembly, along with local governments and various economic organisations. Primo de Rivera also decreed that

1426-473: The National Assembly in 1927. However, Primo de Rivera made his view on the role of women clear, saying: "Women can do as much good as men, and undertake and accomplish all the tasks performed by men. But there is one that is essential in women: housekeeping, and that is what really underscores their importance." The dictatorship encouraged large families, and in 1926 it started subsidising families with more than eight children. The dictatorship also protected

1488-578: The Rif War, Primo de Rivera's dictatorship pushed for Tangier to be included in the Spanish protectorate in Morocco. A conference with France in 1927 failed to settle the matter, as did a 1928 conference with France, Italy, and Britain. All the dictatorship gained was the post of the city's chief of police and improvements in the protection of arms trafficking in Tangier's international zone . Primo de Rivera also launched an unsuccessful campaign for Spain to have

1550-761: The Union during the Roussillon War (1793-1795), mainly due to the poor situation of the army. It was used again during the Spanish War of Independence (1808-1814), against the French in Roses , Barcelona and Tarragona . It was reconstituted in 1855 by the large rural landowners, under the name Sometent Armat de la Muntanya de Catalunya and adopted the motto Pau, pau i sempre pau (in English: "peace, peace and always peace"). From then on,

1612-466: The Unión Patriótica are perfectly organized and have such a force of cohesion, such a decision to act nobly and civically, that I no longer believe that with the existence of these entities the days of turbulence, unrest and anxiety, such as those we have all known, can return to Spain. After the fall of the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera and the end of censorship, a good part of the press denounced

1674-450: The costs of the campaign to Spain and the dictatorship. This withdrawal displeased many africanistas in the army, who encouraged a more aggressive policy in Morocco. The pressure from the africanistas, along with an escalating Riffian offensive in 1924, persuaded Primo de Rivera that continuing his withdrawal would have severe political consequences and could endanger his regime. His dictatorship secured French aid in 1925, and following

1736-591: The dictatorship credibility and maintain the public's conformity under Primo de Rivera's dictatorship. Once in power, Primo de Rivera's dictatorship quickly enforced laws against separatism , which banned teaching the Catalan language , singing the Catalan national anthem , and displaying the Catalan flag . After the coup, the dictatorship also imposed rigid censorship on the press. It censored all publications, telephones, and telegraphs and encouraged them to promote patriotic ideas. Primo de Rivera promised early into

1798-449: The dictatorship. A few months after its foundation it had about 175,000 men, which increased to 182,000 at the end of 1925. It reached its maximum in August 1928 with 217,584, and from then on it began a gradual decline, due to the fact that it lost much of its purpose in improving public order and that it failed to take root outside of Catalonia; "the caciquesque springs of local power prevented

1860-714: The excesses, and even the crimes committed by its members, and demanded its dissolution. This took place, except for rural Catalonia, by an order of the Provisional Government of the Second Spanish Republic issued on April 15, 1931, only one day after the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic . On April 15, 1931, it was dissolved, except in Catalonia , by the Government of the Second Republic , although it

1922-581: The floods of 1982 or in official acts such as the visit of the President of the French Republic and the Bishop of Urgell as Co-Princes of Andorra , all male Andorrans over 18 years of age being called to the levée. However, it has no other major use or permanence, since internal security is the responsibility of the Andorran police and, in case of violation or threat to the sovereignty, independence or integrity of

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1984-405: The fulfillment of their missions," concludes historian Eduardo Gonzalez Calleja . To promote enlistment and encourage social support for the institution, innumerable civic acts were organized, the rites of which González Calleja describes as follows: "popular reception of the military representative of the Directory (civil or military governor or government delegate); a review of the local Somatén;

2046-509: The good of the [homeland] dictates and our resolutions are taken while we are kneeling at the shrine of the national spirit." Primo de Rivera connected many of his speeches with religious themes, and Catholicism was integral to his dictatorship's discourse. Primo de Rivera stated how disseminating patriotism was 'preaching', and he collaborated with the Catholic Church throughout his dictatorship to promote patriotism and patriotic ideas on

2108-432: The groups. Women's participation in the workforce as skilled workers also increased rapidly from 1925 to 1930, as did the percentage of women in apprenticeship programs , which rose from 32.6% to 36.4% throughout the late 1920s. James Rial notes that these changes in women's status occurred without any political undertakings from the dictatorship. The economic struggles of 1929 and the dictatorship's failure to stabilise

2170-456: The independent development of a civic and truly apolitical organization for protection", affirms González Calleja. Another reason for its decline was the cold reception it received from the popular classes due to its bourgeois component, since it was made up almost exclusively of "respectable people" (merchants, industrialists, lawyers, doctors, engineers, landowners, etc.). Thus the Somatén progressively became "a simple choreographic adornment of

2232-764: The installations and sales outlets of private oil companies in Spain, including large foreign firms like Shell . Primo de Rivera also raised tariffs on foreign goods, with the League of Nations labelling Spain the most protectionist country in the world in 1927. Spanish goods were promoted over foreign goods, and the dictatorship launched campaigns that presented buying Spanish goods as patriotic while it criticised Spaniards who assumed that foreign goods were better quality than Spanish goods. Primo de Rivera's dictatorship increased spending on public infrastructure and worked to improve roads, railways, irrigation networks, and more. The dictatorship paid for these improvements by taking on large amounts of debt , and this led to

2294-422: The king appointed General Damaso Berenguer as the new Prime Minister of Spain. Berenguer prepared to return to the parliamentary monarchy that existed before Primo de Rivera's dictatorship. This plan was opposed by republicans, socialists , and people like Niceto Alcalá‐Zamora , who no longer supported Alfonso XIII or the monarchy. In Spain's next elections in 1931, republicans and their coalition (including

2356-423: The king. There was initially a lot of support in Spain for the coup. Not only were conservative newspapers like La Vanguardia supportive, liberal media such as El Sol also stated their support for the regime on the understanding that Primo de Rivera would leave power in three months, as he initially declared. In El Sol , Jose Ortega y Gasset wrote: "The alpha and omega of the military directory's task

2418-606: The middle of the 17th century. Following the defeat of the Catalan supporters of Archduke Charles in the War of the Spanish Succession (1714), Philip V promulgated the Nueva Planta decrees , one of the effects of which was the suppression of the sometent, led by General Moragues during the war. Despite this temporary suppression, the sometent was reestablished in 1794 by the Count of

2480-445: The military officials still holding government positions must return to their military duties, and civil governors were appointed to replace them. With the creation of the Civil Directory, Primo de Rivera rejected returning to a parliamentary system , as promised in 1923, and oriented towards a long-term rule for his dictatorship. Primo de Rivera's dictatorship formed good relationships with Fascist Italy . The dictatorship banned

2542-426: The neighboring villages. This was done by means of bonfires lit from summit to summit, the sound of a horn, a trumpet blast or the ringing of bells. This last method, the ringing of bells (or so emetent , in Catalan ) is the origin of the later name, which prevailed over the name sagramental from the 16th century onwards. The members of the sometent were all the neighbors in conditions to render such service. They had

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2604-401: The obligation to keep weapons in their houses and to be instructed periodically in their handling. According to Jaume Vicens Vives , in the medieval sometent "when the king or his officials thought it convenient and necessary, the royal people of a certain district or vegueria were summoned to come with arms in defense of their lord. The monarch had the right to claim this armed assistance,

2666-515: The power", although some workers from the Sindicatos Libres were also integrated into it. As Primo de Rivera said, the Somatén "has as its motto peace, justice and order, which are the three postulates of true democracy". According to the Royal Decree, the Somatén was open to men over 23 years of age of proven morality. Its structure and mission –initially, the model of the Catalan Somatén

2728-731: The press from attacking Fascist Italy, and Primo de Rivera spoke of his admiration for Italy's Prime Minister , Mussolini . Primo de Rivera also linked his dictatorship to Spain's former colonies in Latin America. The dictatorship organised many initiatives to further these relations, such as the 1929 Iberian-American Exhibition in Seville, where it invited Latin American countries to attend. It signed commercial treaties with Argentina and Cuba, and established radio-telegraph links with Uruguay and Brazil, among other Latin-American countries. After

2790-406: The regime or for the defense of certain interests, and also for the maintenance of acquired positions, so that many caciques of the old political parties of the time also enlisted, giving rise, according to González Calleja , to the formation of armed groups at the service of the big landowners, which undermined the social valuation of the Somatén. The number of Somatén members varied throughout

2852-468: The regime's pomp and ceremony, parading with their badges, weapons and flags in every celebration or official commemoration that required their presence", states González Calleja. However, Primo de Rivera, only two and a half weeks before presenting his resignation , continued to believe in the validity of the Somatén when in an act with Somatenistas held in Madrid on January 12, 1930, he assured: The Somatén and

2914-517: The region such as the Exploradores de España ; speeches by the godmother of the Somatén, the corporal of the district and the concurrent civil or military authority; blessing of the flags of the Institution; parade of the Somatén (care was taken to avoid excessive identification with military customs, discouraging the execution of any step rhythm or the uniform holding of the long weapon, and prohibiting

2976-507: The resolutions of the comital court of Barcelona and the religious canons of ecclesiastic synods. The first Usages were compiled and codified by Ramon Berenguer I, Count of Barcelona (1035–1076), to repair the deficiencies of Gothic law . However, the evidence for Ramon's work dates from the codes of James the Conqueror of a later date (reigned 1213–1276). James, seeing that some judges ruled by Gothic law and some by Roman law, according to

3038-525: The rights of individual workers with its 1926 labour code . It introduced maternity benefits and allowed nursing mothers a paid hour each day to feed their babies. In November 1926, the dictatorship created the National Corporative Association, where committees representing trade and industry would meet with an equal proportion of employers and employee representatives. They discussed legislation and aimed to solve labour conflicts between

3100-729: The somatén, who had their rifles assigned in the Civil Guard posts and a short weapon license (very limited in Spain), could not act alone, but they could remain in charge of the Guardia Civil barracks if it was necessary for all the guards to go to an emergency, go on duty forming a pair with a guard, etc. It was disbanded by the Government in 1978. At present, the Sometent is only recognized in Andorra as an official institution, although it only comes into service during national emergencies such as during

3162-637: The sometent acquired the character of an auxiliary body of public order in rural areas, destined to protect the domains of large landowners. It was abolished again in the First Republic , but was reestablished shortly after to fight the Carlists in the Third Carlist War . The Bases de Manresa reserved to the sometent an important task, which was not carried out because the Bases were not applied. Subsequently,

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3224-466: The sometent acted in collaboration with the authorities and ultra-right-wing groups on several occasions. Thus, for example, they collaborated in the arrest of Francisco Ferrer Guardia (1909), accused of complicity in the attack of the anarchist Mateo Morral against Alfonso XIII , and against the strikers in Alella , in the years prior to the military dictatorship of Primo de Rivera . The popular support of

3286-407: The sometent was scarce, due to its repressive activity and favored treatment of the upper classes, and a whole black legend grew up around it. On March 25, 1919, Joaquín Milans del Bosch decreed that any civilian who did not belong to the Sometent and who carried arms would be guilty of military rebellion . On September 17, 1923, only two days after the triumph of the coup d'état that established

3348-455: The use of bugle and drum bands), and civic banquet in the City Hall, in a public hall or in the home of a prominent neighbor, often a close relative of the godmother". The Somatén Nacional had a notable role in the "police of good manners", taking care of establishing a certain conservative bourgeois civic behavior, with a strong religious component. One of its competences as an agent of authority

3410-402: The value of the peseta were large hits to its reputation. According to Carr, "it was not, however, the collapse of prosperity 1929 that brought down the regime: the fundamental failure was a political failure." Primo de Rivera failed to establish political legitimacy for his rule. The 1876 constitution was suspended when he came to power, and the new constitution created by the National Assembly

3472-512: The wider reign of King Alfonso XIII . In establishing his dictatorship, Primo de Rivera ousted the liberal government led by Prime Minister Manuel García Prieto and initially gained the support of King Alfonso XIII and the army. During the Military Directory (1923–1925), the dictatorship created the official party of the regime, the Unión Patriótica (UP). It also censored the Spanish press and worked to eliminate separatism in Catalonia . Under Primo de Rivera's dictatorship, Spain won

3534-491: The workforce. Throughout the dictatorship, women became an increasing percentage of Spain's skilled labour . In 1929 an economic downturn occurred, and the value of the Spanish peseta fell. The army's grievances with Primo de Rivera grew, and seeing this, the King stopped supporting the dictatorship. Primo de Rivera resigned in 1930, ending his dictatorship, and General Dámaso Berenguer succeeded him before Spain's Second Republic

3596-618: Was copied– were established by a Royal Order of the Ministry of War of June 13, 1924 on the Organic Regulations for the Corps of Armed Somatenes of Spain, and in successive decrees the legal privileges of the agents of authority were extended to its members, even when they were off duty. Thus the Somatenes "achieved a practical exemption from civil or criminal liability for events that occurred during

3658-584: Was established in 1931. After the 1898 Spanish defeat to the United States, where Spain lost its remaining colonies in the Philippines , Cuba , and Puerto Rico , Spain experienced increasing social strife. Along with the defeat of Annual in 1921 against Riffian tribesmen in Spain’s Moroccan Protectorate , Spain was dominated by a desire for regeneration. Following the defeat at Annual,

3720-547: Was reestablished in 1936 after the uprising that originated the Civil War . After the Civil War, in 1939, the Sometent was dissolved again, but not for long, since in 1945 Franco's government reorganized it, now extended to almost all the Spanish territory, under the name of "Somatén Armado", with the main purpose of collaborating with the Guardia Civil in combating the maquis and the clandestine workers' organizations. The members of

3782-494: Was rejected by the monarchists , liberals , and republicans . The army also had grievances with Primo de Rivera and his dictatorship. These complaints mainly came from members of Spain's artillery corps, whom Primo de Rivera suspended in 1926. As the king saw Primo de Rivera lose support among the army, he could no longer support Primo de Rivera's dictatorship, and Primo de Rivera resigned on 28 January 1930, ending his dictatorship. Following Primo de Rivera's resignation ,

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3844-497: Was to persecute blasphemy , and some bishops, such as the Bishop of Pamplona , Mateo Múgica , encouraged his parishioners and the priests of his dioceses to collaborate with the Somatén. In fact, it was placed under the invocation of the Virgin of Montserrat , who was already the patron saint of the Catalan Somatén, and in its "civic acts" the campaign mass was never absent. In practice, it

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