Electoral Carlism (Second Republic)

In terms of electoral success Carlism of the Second Spanish Republic remained a medium-small political grouping, by far outperformed by large parties like PSOE and CEDA though trailing behind also medium-large contenders like Izquierda Republicana. During three electoral campaigns to the Cortes combined the Carlists seized less than 50 seats, which is below 3% of all seats available. Disorganized during the 1931 elections, the Carlist candidates were a first-choice political option for some 50,000 voters; following re-organization in successive campaigns the number grew to 420,000 (1933) and 365,000 (1936), respectively 4.9% and 3.8% of active electors. In the mid-1930s as a second-choice option the Carlists were acceptable candidates for some 1.8m voters (18%). The movement enjoyed support mostly in the Northern belt of Spain; the party stronghold was Navarre, the only region where Carlism remained a dominating force; it was a minority group still to be reckoned with in Vascongadas, Old Castile and Aragón, with rather testimonial presence in some other regions. The best known Carlist Cortes personality was Tomás Domínguez de Arévalo, who held the mandate during all three Republican terms.

Background

Carlism has been known for waging wars rather than for electoral efforts, and the principal Carlist tool when striving for political power has always been a rifle, not a ballot paper. When competing for parliamentary mandates the party calibrated its efforts as means of political mobilization and the way to maintain momentum before the next opportunity for a violent overthrow arises. This is how the Carlist contingent in the Cortes operated in the Isabelline period and during the Restoration era; usually reduced to a tiny group, only periodically it was growing to a sizeable yet still minoritarian parliamentary force. It was most numerous in the early 1870s, when 50 Carlist MPs made up 13% of the entire chamber; in the later Alfonsine monarchy era they were reduced to 1-4% of all deputies. The Carlist strategy and position in the parliamentarian realm of the Second Spanish Republic was not very much different; the Carlists viewed the republican system as a transitory regime to be toppled one way or another. They engaged in all three electoral campaigns to the Cortes, yet their efforts were formatted as means of political mobilization rather than as a path to power.

In Spain of the early days of the Republic Carlism was generally considered "already dead, though not buried yet". The phrase expressed a popular belief that in the early 1930s the movement was nothing but an archaic relic of the Spanish past. Born hundred years earlier as epigone of feudalism, pathetically obsolete already in the late 19th century, it was supposedly delivered a mortal blow by the 1919 breakup. If there were still Carlist periodicals issued and some politicians active, it was – the theory went – only because few old partisans of the cause refused to acknowledge the new times. With their passing away Carlism was expected to be laid to rest on the ash heap of history; poor results of the 1931 elections seemed to confirm this view.

The years to come proved that with over 2m votes gained in each electoral campaign the movement demonstrated a revival. Scholars offer differing explanations of the phenomenon. According to one theory, sectarian Republican milieu drove many voters to extremes, and Carlism as an extreme Right-wing party was beneficiary of the process. According to another reading, in turbulent times Carlism has always thrived as an amalgamating force; in the 1830s it attracted absolutist defenders of the ancién regime, in the 1870s it attracted neocatólicos, in the 1930s it attracted all these anxious to prevent revolution. However, there were limits to Carlist appeal. As defenders of Catholic values they were outperformed by modern large Christian parties like CEDA. As advocates of the royal rule they struggled against the mainstream monarchist grouping, the Alfonsists. As campaigners for de-centralization and separate regional establishments they were no match for Basque and Catalan nationalists. A combination of the above features, plus issues related to electoral strategy, are deemed responsible for overall Carlist performance at the polls.

Performance at the polls: Carlism and around

Scholarly works provide various numbers of Carlist candidates and Carlist deputies between 1931 and 1936; depending upon a combination of sources, aggregate figures might range from 32 MPs to 50 MPs (2.3% to 3.5% of all seats available in 3 legislatives combined). In case of the 1931 campaign only 3 mandates are beyond doubt and the other 8 remain debated, which brings the share of mandates gained to a range between 0.6% and 2.3%. In case of the 1933 balloting the number of Carlist deputies listed by various authors ranges from 19 to 24 (4.0% to 5.1%) and in case of the 1936 elections the discrepancy is between 10 and 16 (2.1% to 3.5%). Regardless of the differences, the Carlist performance at the polls lagged far behind that demonstrated by the most successful parties, CEDA, PSOE and the Radicals, who in all three campaigns combined seized around 200 seats each; the Carlists were outperformed also by medium-large parties like Esquerra or various breeds of Republicanism, who between 1931 and 1936 won between 50 and 100 mandates each. The Carlists rank in the group of medium-small contenders claiming 25-50 seats each, like the Agrarians, Lliga, Renovación Española or PNV. In turn their score was above the results obtained by minor Republican parties, PCE, other workers’ organizations and various ephemeral groupings.

Differences in number of Carlist mandates reported result mostly from categorization issues, as a deputy in question might have been listed in one or another political rubric. By and large the question is about telling Traditionalism from Carlism. Some scholars discuss candidates related to various breeds of Traditionalism as Carlists, other students also group them together but ignore the Carlist denomination and prefer the Traditionalist heading, one more group of authors reserve the Traditionalist name for the Jaimistas only. In 1931 three Traditionalist branches, the Integristas, the Jaimistas and the Mellistas, were in transition, drawn together yet not formally re-united. The united Carlist organization which co-ordinated electoral efforts of 1933 and 1936, Comunión Tradicionalista (CT), formally took shape in early 1932. However also after that date the numbers are subject to doubt. Some hopefuls remained ambiguous in their party allegiances, while in 1936 Comisión de Actas cancelled few Carlist mandates; some scholars quote original results and some opt for these announced after the by-election.

Categorizing candidates and deputies in terms of their political identity is a major problem for historians of the Second Republic. Javier Tusell

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