Julián Besteiro Fernández (21 September 1870 – 27 September 1940) was a Spanish

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

politician, elected to the

Cortes Generales The Cortes Generales (; en, Spanish Parliament, lit=General Courts) are the bicameral legislative chambers of Spain, consisting of the Congress of Deputies (the lower house), and the Senate (the upper house). The Congress of Deputies m ...

and in 1931 as Speaker of the

Constituent Cortes The Constituent Cortes ( es, Las Cortes Constituyentes) is the description of Spain's parliament, the Cortes, when convened as a constituent assembly. In the 20th century, only one Constituent Cortes was officially opened (Cortes are "opened" in ...

of the Spanish Republic. He also was elected several times to the town council of Madrid. During the same period, he was a university professor of philosophy and logic, and dean of the department at the University of Madrid.

Early life

Born 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 ...

, he was educated in the

Institución Libre de Enseñanza La Institución Libre de Enseñanza (ILE, English: ''The Free Institution of Education''), was an educational project developed in Spain for over half a century (1876–1936). The institute was inspired by the philosophy of Krausism, first introd ...

, and studied in the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters at the University of Madrid, as well as at the Sorbonne in 1896, the Universities of

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

and

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

in 1909–1910. In 1908, he joined the

Partido Radical The Radical Party (Spanish: ''Partido Radical'') was a Chilean political party. It was formed in 1863 in Copiapó by a split in the Liberal Party. Not coincidentally, it was formed shortly after the organization of the Grand Lodge of Chile, and ...

(Radical Party) established by

Alejandro Lerroux Alejandro Lerroux García (4 March 1864, in La Rambla, Córdoba – 25 June 1949, in Madrid) was a Spanish politician who was the leader of the Radical Republican Party. He served as Prime Minister three times from 1933 to 1935 and held severa ...

. A member of the Republican Union, he was elected municipal councillor of Toledo on 8 November 1903. He became a member of the ''Agrupación Socialista Madrileña'' (the socialist circle in Madrid) in 1912. That year he was offered the Chair of Fundamental Logic in the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters at the University of Madrid. Soon after, Besteiro became a member of

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 ...

, and of 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).Jackson, Gabriel. ''The Spanish Republic and The Civil War, 1931-1939.'' Princeton University Press. Princeton. 1967. p. 470 In 1913 he married Dolores Cebrián, a professor of physics and natural science at the teachers' training college in Toledo. In 1917, after the

general strike A general strike refers to a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large coa ...

, Besteiro was among many members of the strike committee tried in Madrid; he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. Following his release under the amnesty campaign, he was elected as a member of the town council of Madrid. The following year, Besteiro was elected to the Cortes (the Spanish Parliament) as member of the Congress of Deputies for Madrid. During the dictatorship of

Miguel Primo de Rivera Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja, 2nd Marquess of Estella (8 January 1870 – 16 March 1930), was a dictator, aristocrat, and military officer who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 1923 to 1930 during Spain's Restoration era. He deepl ...

, Besteiro favored collaboration by the socialists with the leader. Primo de Rivera offered UGT participation in governing the country. To a certain extent, the arrangement in the mid-1920s appeared to be a success. Opinion within the PSOE turned against Besteiro as the Primo de Rivera regime became more unpopular during the economic downturn as part of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. By the mid-1930s, Besteiro became politically isolated in his opinions on collaboration. This was opposed by the republican front established by the Pact of San Sebastián. Bestiero had also opposed the participation of UGT in the 15 December 1930 general strike. At a joint meeting of the PSOE and UGT in February 1931, Besteiro resigned as President of both the party and the union. (Note: Paul Preston writes that Besteiro resigned as president of the union in 1934.Preston, Paul. ''The Spanish Civil War. Reaction, Revolution & Revenge,'' Harper Perennial, 2006, p. 71) In 1931 he was elected a councillor of the Madrid town council.

Second Spanish Republic and the Civil War

Still serving in the

after the establishment of the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 ...

in 1931, Besteiro was elected Speaker of the

, empowered to draft a new constitution. The Cabinet offered him first the job of state delegate to CAMPSA, the state petrol monopoly, and then the post of Ambassador to France, both of which he rejected. During his period as President of the Cortes, he seemed to become more

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

in his political views. In January 1934, he resigned as President of the UGT. Opposing the radicalization of the Socialist movement, he disapproved the socialists' taking part in the armed uprising of October 1934. In February 1936, Besteiro won the highest number of votes of any candidate in Madrid in the

Popular Front A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault". More generally, it is "a coalition ...

elections. Throughout this period, Besteiro had continued to work in the University of Madrid as a Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, as well as to carry out his duties as a parliamentary deputy and councillor of the town council in Madrid. After the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936, and against the urgings of friends, he refused to leave Madrid and seek exile.

Manuel Azaña Manuel Azaña Díaz (; 10 January 1880 – 3 November 1940) was a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1933 and 1936), organizer of the Popular Front in 1935 and the last President of the Re ...

, the Spanish Republican president, chose Besteiro as the representative to the coronation of the new British

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of I ...

in London on 12 May 1937. Besteiro believed it was to be a peace mission. There he met with Sir

Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1955 until his resignation in 1957. Achieving rapid promo ...

to seek British aid in ending the war, which had attracted German and Russian support of the opposing sides, but no significant results followed. After the failure of his mission in London, Besteiro returned to work on the town council of Madrid but withdrew from other official public life. He stopped attending the ''Agrupación Socialista Madrileña'' and the parliamentary group meetings. With the news of the fall of

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 c ...

on 26 January 1939 and Azaña's resignation as President of the Republic, Besteiro decided to work to achieve peace and stop the resistance. He contacted Colonel

Segismundo Casado Segismundo Casado López (10 October 1893 – 18 December 1968) was a Spanish Army officer; he served during the late Restoration, the Primo de Rivera dictatorship and the Second Spanish Republic. Following outbreak of the Spanish Civil W ...

. On 5 March Besteiro announced the

creation Creation may refer to: Religion *''Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing *Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it *Creationism, the belief that ...

of the National Defence Council (''Consejo Nacional de Defensa''). The uprising against the government of

Juan Negrín Juan Negrín López (; 3 February 1892 – 12 November 1956) was a Spanish politician and physician. He was a leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español, PSOE) and served as finance minister and ...

and its

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 a ...

allies succeeded, at the cost of nearly 2,000 lives. (See Beevor (2006), Chapter 34, ''passim,'' ''The Battle for Spain''.)

Death

After the fall of Madrid to the

Nationalists Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

on 28 March 1939, Besteiro was arrested by

Francoist Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

forces. On 8 July he faced a

court martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

and was sentenced to thirty years. He was imprisoned first in the

Trappist The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance ( la, Ordo Cisterciensis Strictioris Observantiae, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a ...

monastery in

Dueñas, Palencia Dueñas is a municipality in the province of Palencia, Castile and León, Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(E ...

, until the end of August 1939. He was transferred to the prison of

Carmona Carmona may refer to: Places Angola * the former name of the town of Uíge Costa Rica * Carmona District, Nandayure, a district in Guanacaste Province India * Carmona, Goa, a village located in the Salcette district of South Goa, India ...

. He died in prison the following year.Preston (2006), ''The Spanish Civil War'', p. 319 Besteiro was buried in the Cementerio Civil of Madrid.

Notes

References

*''Comrades! Portraits from the Spanish Civil War'' by Paul Preston, HarperCollins Publishers *''Spain's First Democracy: The Second Republic, 1931-1936'', by Stanley G. Payne, University of Wisconsin Press *Beevor, Antony. ''The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939.'' Penguin Books. London. 2006. *Jackson, Gabriel. ''The Spanish Republic and The Civil War, 1931-1939.'' Princeton University Press. Princeton. 1967. *Preston, Paul. ''The Spanish Civil War. Reaction, Revolution & Revenge.'' Harper Perennial. 2006. *Thomas, Hugh. ''The Spanish Civil War.'' Penguin Books. London. 2003.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Besteiro, Julian 1870 births 1940 deaths Politicians from Madrid Spanish Socialist Workers' Party politicians Members of the Congress of Deputies of the Spanish Restoration Members of the Congress of Deputies of the Second Spanish Republic Unión General de Trabajadores members Spanish people of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction) Members of the Executive of the Labour and Socialist International Spanish philosophers University of Paris alumni Madrid city councillors Presidents of the Congress of Deputies (Spain) Spanish people of Galician descent People from Toledo, Spain Spanish municipal councillors Spanish people who died in prison custody Spanish expatriates in France