Before commencing on the history of the Republic it will be necessary to stop and give some account of the position of the peasants and working classes in Spain at this time. I shall begin with a discussion of what is really the fundamental problem in Spain – the agrarian question – and its relation to industry, and shall then in succeeding chapters trace the history of the two great working-class movements, the Anarcho-Syndicalists and the Socialists, who between them comprise the great majority of the workers in the country. Finally, I will give a brief account of the Carlists, who if not exactly a working-class movement, are to a certain extent an agrarian one.

The first thing to notice is that Spain is one of those countries with an undeveloped, primitive economy which is divided by a fairly definite line into two sections. Above are the upper and middle classes, say one-fifth of the population, who vote, read newspapers, compete for Government jobs and generally manage the affairs of the nation. Beneath are the peasants and workmen, who in ordinary times take no interest in politics, frequently do not know how to read and keep strictly to their own affairs. Between these two completely different worlds there is a gulf, imperfectly filled by the small shop-keepers and artisans.