The pact of San Sebastian (1)

On August 17, 1930, representatives of the Spanish republican formations and the Catalan nationalist parties met at the premises of the Unión Republicana in San Sebastián, in order to join forces.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
16 December 2022 Friday 18:36
9 Reads
The pact of San Sebastian (1)

On August 17, 1930, representatives of the Spanish republican formations and the Catalan nationalist parties met at the premises of the Unión Republicana in San Sebastián, in order to join forces. They were all there: Lerroux and Azaña, for the Republican Alliance; Albornoz and Galarza, for the Radical Socialist Party; Alcalá-Zamora and Maura, for the Liberal Republican Right; Carrasco, by Acció Catalana; Mallol, for Republican Action; Aiguader, for Estat Català, and Indalecio Prieto and Fernando de los Ríos individually, since the PSOE had not wanted to join until the result of the meeting was known. Felipe Sánchez-Román and Eduardo Ortega y Gasset attended as guests.

An agreement was soon reached to establish a plan to proclaim the Republic, including the general strike and the need to count on the collaboration of socialists and cenetistas. But the discussion with the Catalans was hard. “Catalonia –said Aiguader– is more interested in its national freedom than in the Republic”. Maura asked for clarification, which Carrasco gave her, stating that the mere proclamation of the Republic would de facto mean absolute independence for Catalonia. "So," Albornoz replied, "you plan to take advantage of the revolution to proclaim independence."

The debate ignited until Lerroux and Alcalá-Zamora – who, according to him, "guided the discussion towards concord" – gave satisfaction to the Catalans at the cost of leaving the commitments made to the interpretation of those present, which was the object of multiple subsequent discussions, "since there was no written statement of the meeting -according to Josep Contreras", although Prieto wrote a summary.

In reality –according to Contreras– “the concession was due to the fact that neither the Catalanists had sufficient strength to consider formulas close to independence, nor the Spanish republicans could do without Catalonia in the process of wearing down the monarchy”. But the vagueness of the conclusions caused the appearance of disparate interpretations. The republicans insisted on the authority of the future Constituent Cortes to approve or reject the Statute of Catalonia, while the Catalan nationalists upheld the popular right to self-determination.

During the months of September and October, Alcalá-Zamora and Azaña met with a representation of the PSOE and the UGT made up of Besteiro, Cordero and Saborit, and it was agreed that both formations would support a republican revolutionary movement. And finally, on October 20, a joint meeting of the executive commissions of the PSOE and the UGT was held, in which they decided to join the San Sebastián pact and participate in the future provisional government of the Republic with three ministers. . The resolution was approved by eight votes to six. They voted in favor of Largo Caballero, De los Ríos, Ovejero, Santiago, Gana, Henche, Cordero and Carrillo; and they did it against Besteiro, Saborit, Anastasio de Gracia, Lucio Martínez, Aníbal Sánchez and Trifón Gómez. Largo Caballero, De los Ríos and Prieto were appointed to join the revolutionary committee and later the government. The die was cast.

On December 12, the Jaca garrison rose up, promptly dominated by forces loyal to the government; and at two in the afternoon on the 14th, after being sentenced in a summary trial, captains Galán and García Hernández were shot. Then, events precipitated and, after the elections that the Popular Front won, the Republic was proclaimed on April 14.

I remember it to keep in mind two useful facts to understand the present and envision the future: 1) The San Sebastián pact generated a powerful and lasting coalition that, despite its internal conflicts, remained firm throughout the Second Republic and the Civil War . 2) What united this coalition of interests was only the opposition to a common enemy (the Restoration regime, including the monarchy), since the objectives of its members were diverse and even conflicting.