José Bullejos y Sánchez (7 December 1899 – 25 March 1974) was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

politician. He served as the second General Secretary of the

Communist Party of Spain The Communist Party of Spain (; PCE) is a communist party that, since 1986, has been part of the United Left coalition, which is currently part of Sumar. Two of its politicians are Spanish government ministers: Yolanda Díaz (Minister of L ...

from 1925 to 1932.

Early life and political activities

Bullejos earned a university law degree. Gaining a job as a postal clerk in

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

he joined in the postal strike of 1918-19 and joined the ''

Unión General de Trabajadores The Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT, General Union of Workers) is a major Spanish trade union, historically affiliated with the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). History The UGT was founded 12 August 1888 by Pablo Iglesias Posse i ...

'' (UGT)

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

. He also participated in the original

Spanish Communist Party The Spanish Communist Party (in ), was the first communist party in Spain, formed out of the Federación de Juventudes Socialistas (Federation of Socialist Youth, youth wing of Spanish Socialist Workers' Party). The founders of the party, that ...

formed in 1920 and remained with the party after it merged with another communist organization, the Spanish Communist Workers' Party, in 1921 (forming the new

or PCE). Heading the party's Vizcayan section, he advanced to the leadership position upon the arrest of the first general secretary,

Antonio García Quejido Antonio García Quejido (16 February 1856 – 13 June 1927) was a Spanish politician, trade unionist, the first president of the Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT) and the first general secretary of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE). Biograp ...

, in January 1925. Bullejos would continue to hold the top post for nearly eight years.

General secretary of the PCE

Inheriting a politically divided party, Bullejos attempted to unify the disparate factions, achieving greater unity in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

but having less success with the PCE-affiliated FCC-B in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. He also conducted a purge of politically suspect members, which weakened the already divided party further. Bullejos was himself arrested in 1928 and temporarily replaced as leader of the PCE by Gabriel León Trilla. Bullejos struggled to maintain PCE relations not only with other Spanish leftists, but with the Soviet Union. Visiting

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

with other PCE leaders in May 1931, Bullejos was astonished when asked by

Comintern The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internatio ...

official

Dmitry Manuilsky Dmitriy Zakharovich Manuilsky or Dmytro Zakharovych Manuilsky (; ; 3 October 1883 – 22 February 1959) was an important Bolshevik revolutionary, Soviet politician and academic who was Secretary of the Executive Committee of Comintern, the Co ...

whether in Spain feudal lords still forced Spanish peasants to do unpaid labor; he was further told that, "there is more feudalism in Spain than you think." Bullejos told Manuilsky that there were no overt remnants of feudalism in his country but failed to convince him that the "revolution" in Spain was opposed not by feudal monarchists but by a modern

bourgeoisie The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and aristocracy. They are traditionally contrasted wi ...

. He was re-confirmed as general-secretary at the PCE's fourth party congress in

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

in March 1932. When Bullejos and other PCE leaders backed the Republican government against the ''sanjurjada'' coup in August and produced pro-Republic slogans,

Victorio Codovilla Victorio Codovilla, born ''Vittorio Codovilla'' (8 February 1894 – 15 April 1970), was an Italian-born Argentine socialist and later communist politician. At first a member of the Italian Socialist Party, he emigrated to Argentina in 1912 and we ...

, the Comintern advisor in Madrid, denounced him and two other leaders as

counter-revolutionaries A counter-revolutionary or an anti-revolutionary is anyone who opposes or resists a revolution, particularly one who acts after a revolution has occurred, in order to try to overturn it or reverse its course, in full or in part. The adjective "c ...

. Bullejos resigned his post. When an initial vote failed to officially condemn him as counter-revolutionary, he was called to Moscow. In his absence, Codovilla arranged a new vote which settled the matter and completely denounced Bullejos and the others, who were then expelled from the PCE in October. The general secretaryship passed to José Díaz Ramos.

Post PCE

Following his expulsion from the PCE and Comintern, José Bullejos joined the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( , PSOE ) is a Social democracy, social democratic Updated as required.The PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * List of political parties in Spain, political party ...

(PSOE). With the end of the

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

and the defeat of the Second Republic by the forces of

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

he fled to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. There in 1945 he published a book entitled ''Europa entre dos guerras, 1918-1938''. Later he wrote several more works including: ''Movimiento y Doctrina Sociales'', ''La Comintern en España'', and ''Espana en la segunda Republica''.

References

External links

* http://www.gutenberg-e.org/kod01/kod26.html

* http://de.scientificcommons.org/magdalena_garrido_caballero * :es:José Díaz Ramos {{DEFAULTSORT:Bullejos, Jose 1899 births 1974 deaths People from Granada Spanish Comintern people Spanish Communist Party politicians Spanish Socialist Workers' Party politicians Spanish people of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction) Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in Mexico Spanish expatriates in Mexico