From Mobilization to Civil War

This is a local study of the origins of the Spanish Civil War. It focuses on the relationship between organised political forces and 'the masses', and on how ordinary men and women participated in politics and in turn how the political struggles translated into the concrete concerns of everyday life. This is a social history of political polarisation as it evolved in one city over three and a half decades before the Spanish Civil War. As such it is a book about the long-term origins of the War as seen 'from below'. More broadly it is an analysis of the evolution of political culture during the transition from elite to mass politics. The book focuses on the interplay between the three main forces that competed for political control: the conservative monarchist/Catholics, the democratic republicans, and the revolutionary trade movement. It is different from other Civil War studies, in trying to understand the relationship between organised political forces and the 'masses' they sought to reach. In doing so it reveals a rich canvas of participants and activities, from trade unions and strikes to female consumer riots.