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 Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

politician. He served as the second General Secretary of the

Communist Party of Spain The Communist Party of Spain ( es, Partido Comunista de España; PCE) is a Marxist-Leninist party that, since 1986, has been part of the United Left coalition, which is part of Unidas Podemos. It currently has two of its politicians serving as ...

from 1925 to 1932.

Early life and political activities

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

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

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 ...

'' (UGT)

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

. He also participated in the original

Spanish Communist Party The Spanish Communist Party (in es, Partido Comunista Español), 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). Th ...

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. Biography An ...

, 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 most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

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

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern 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 ci ...

. 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 Gabriel León Trilla (3 August 1899 – 6 September 1945) was a Spanish communist leader who was one of the founders of the Spanish Communist Party while in exile in Paris in the 1920s. He was expelled from the party in 1932 for supporting the Rep ...

. Bullejos struggled to maintain PCE relations not only with other Spanish leftists, but with the Soviet Union. Visiting

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

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

Comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet Union, Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to ...

official

Dmitry Manuilsky Dmitriy Manuilsky, or Dmytro Zakharovych Manuilsky (Russian: Дми́трий Заха́рович Мануи́льский; Ukrainian: Дмитро Захарович Мануїльський; October 1883 in Sviatets near Kremenets – 22 F ...

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 ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...

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

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

in March 1932. When Bullejos and other PCE leaders backed the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

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 in order to try to overturn it or reverse its course, in full or in part. The adjective "counter-revoluti ...

. 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 ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gov ...

(PSOE). With the end of the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same 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 ...

and the defeat of the Second Republic by the forces of

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...

he fled to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. 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://www.tdr.cesca.es/TDX/TDR_UM/TESIS/AVAILABLE/TDR-1215106-121642//MGarridoCaballero19de19Fuentesyreferenciasbibliograficas.pdf * 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