Publication: Alfonso el Regenerador. Monarquía escénica e imaginario nacionalista español, en perspectiva comparada (1902-1913)
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2013
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Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
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Este artículo analiza las relaciones entre monarquía y nacionalismo español en la primera década del reinado efectivo de Alfonso XIII. Y lo hace desde una perspectiva comparada, en el marco de las monarquías escénicas que se desplegaron en Europa entre 1870 y 1914. Para ello se centra en tres ámbitos: las grandes ceremonias monárquicas, en especial la jura de la Constitución; los viajes regios, que alcanzaron un desarrollo extraordinario; y los actos militares, entre los que destacaba la jura anual de banderas. A través de ellos, la corona se integró en un imaginario marcado por discursos y prácticas regeneracionistas, que consideraban al rey un motor imprescindible para la reconstitución de España tras el desastre colonial de 1898. Con menor pompa que otras coronas coetáneas, Alfonso XIII, calificado como el Regenerador, se convirtió en un símbolo nacional en el que diversos grupos sociales proyectaban sus expectativas. Sobre todo las élites locales, diversas asociaciones y un público heterogéneo que asistía a espectáculos de masas recogidos por los medios de comunicación. Estas representaciones contribuyeron a reforzar el papel político del rey, que, como la mayoría de los monarcas de su tiempo, disfrutaba de poderes constitucionales tan efectivos como polémicos.
This article studies the links between monarchy and Spanish nationalism in the first decade of Alfonso XIII’s reign. It uses a comparative perspective to analyse the Spanish case in the context of the performing monarchies than emerged in Europe in the period 1870-1914. It focuses on three different aspects: the great monarchical ceremonies, specially the royal oath to the Constitution —or coronation—; the royal trips, extraordinarily developed; and the military ceremonies containing a strong nationalist meaning as the annual swearing of loyalty to the national flag by new soldiers. Through those performances, the crown was integrated in a national imaginary dominated by discourses and practices of regeneration of the fatherland in the aftermath of the colonial disaster of 1898: in such a regeneration, the king was thought as a necessary force. In fact, Alfonso was known as el Regenerador (the regenerator). At a lower level of pomp and splendor than other european monarchies, the Spanish king was perceived as a national symbol by different groups. Among them, local elites, various associations and the heterogeneus public of the royal spectacles, shown by the mass media. Those performances reinforced the political role of a king that enjoyed constitutional executive powers, like most of the European monarchs, and whose decisions were highly controversial.
This article studies the links between monarchy and Spanish nationalism in the first decade of Alfonso XIII’s reign. It uses a comparative perspective to analyse the Spanish case in the context of the performing monarchies than emerged in Europe in the period 1870-1914. It focuses on three different aspects: the great monarchical ceremonies, specially the royal oath to the Constitution —or coronation—; the royal trips, extraordinarily developed; and the military ceremonies containing a strong nationalist meaning as the annual swearing of loyalty to the national flag by new soldiers. Through those performances, the crown was integrated in a national imaginary dominated by discourses and practices of regeneration of the fatherland in the aftermath of the colonial disaster of 1898: in such a regeneration, the king was thought as a necessary force. In fact, Alfonso was known as el Regenerador (the regenerator). At a lower level of pomp and splendor than other european monarchies, the Spanish king was perceived as a national symbol by different groups. Among them, local elites, various associations and the heterogeneus public of the royal spectacles, shown by the mass media. Those performances reinforced the political role of a king that enjoyed constitutional executive powers, like most of the European monarchs, and whose decisions were highly controversial.