The World War and After

In the early morning of Sept. 13, the Government published the news that the captain-general of Catalonia had risen in arms.

The king was in San Sebastian. The military authorities of Bilbao and Saragossa had sided with the rebels and in Madrid, where the captain-general, General Munoz Cobos maintained a cautious, though dubious attitude, a council of military commanders were acting for Primo de Rivera. A manifesto published the same day by Primo de Rivera declared that it was indispensable to liberate the country "from the professional politicians, the men who, for one reason or another, are responsible for the period of mis fortune and corruption which began in 1898 and threatens to bring Spain to a tragic and dishonourable end." The general added that "the wide net of greedy politics has caught in its meshes and imprisoned the royal will itself." He announced the constitution of a military directorate in Madrid which was to find for the problem of Morocco a "quick, dignified and sensible" solution and was to bring home responsibility "promptly and justly" by the formation of "tribunals of recognized moral authority." Immediately after the king's arrival (delayed 24 hours) the prime minister called on his majesty and proposed strong action against the military rebels, but the king asked for time for reflection and the Government resigned. Two hours later a deputation of generals was received at the palace and the king requested Primo de Rivera, still in Barcelona, to take office. Upon his arrival in Madrid on Sept. 15, Primo de Rivera proceeded to transform the provisional military directorate both in its person nel and in its constitution in order to grant representation in it to all the branches and all the garrisons of the army.

From a constitutional and administrative point of view, the directorate struck an original note. The only minister was Primo de Rivera himself and ministerial departments were left in charge of permanent officials. The directors studied specific questions. The Home Office was entrusted to General Martinez Anido, with the rank of under-secretary of State. Public opinion received the change in absolute silence, save for a protest from the Socialist Party.

The directorate declared the country in a state of war. The press was put under a strict censorship and all public demon strations of a political character were forbidden. A few drastic measures enabled the new Government to gain control over the provincial and political machinery. In order to forestall possible trouble in the lower ranks of the army, a substantial rise in pay was granted to non-commissioned officers. A heavy budget, amounting to 54,000,000 pesetas, was set aside for Morocco.

On Nov. 13, two months after the

coup d'etat, Count Roma nones and Don Melquiades Alvarez, the presidents respectively of the senate and of the congress of deputies, called on the king in order to remind him that the Crown was under a personal constitutional obligation to call the tortes together within three months of their dissolution. They were promptly dismissed by both king and prime minister. The king and his premier went on an official visit to the court of Italy in Nov. 1923. Both recorded their approval of and good wishes for the success and methods of Fascismo. Thus the king declared to General Italo Balbo : "I admire Fascismo. You are happy here in being so near the end of your labours. We are just beginning." In the Vatican, the king read a sensational speech in which Spain was offered to His Holiness in the event of a new crusade being necessary. General Primo de Rivera held office until Jan. 30, 193o, when he re signed. He died at Paris on March 16, 1930. General Damaso Berenguer succeeded him as Premier.

Home Affairs.

The Government continued to repress all hostile expression of opinion. The agitation for an inquiry into the Moroccan campaign remained active and had for its centre the Ateneo de Madrid. The directorate closed the club—the first time since its creation in the second half of the 19th cen tury. Don Miguel de Unamuno (q.v.), the famous author and professor of Salamanca university, whose strong stand against the directorate, expressed in indignant and sometimes offensive articles in the press of South America, had greatly incensed the directorate, was exiled to the Canary islands.