Patria and Citizenship: Miguel Primo de Rivera, "Caciques" and Military "Delegados", 1923–1924
- Autores: Richard Gow
- Localización: Pulling together or pulling apart?: Perspectives on nationhood, identity and belonging in Europe / coord. por Susana Bayó Belenguer, Nicola Brady, 2020, ISBN 9781789976755, págs. 147-175
- Idioma: español
- Enlaces
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Resumen
In 1923, General Miguel Primo de Rivera seized power in Spain and established a dictatorshipthat would last until 1930. Obsessed by a belief in Spanish decline and the threat ofimminent national disintegration, Primo intended to reshape the Spanish national psycheand create a new, virtuous citizen. This chapter explores the rise and fall of the ill-fatedDelegados Gubernativos [Government Delegates], members of a corps of military inspectorsdispatched throughout Spain to reform local government and instil patriotism in thepopulation. By contrasting official regime discourse on the Delegados with an originalselection of letters sent to the government by ordinary Spaniards, the chapter shows thatthe Delegados’ work proved to be unreliable and, often, damaging to the regime, a matterthat rapidly put paid to Primo’s messianic belief that the military could achieve his visionof national homogeneity from above.
