The Commemorations of Nacional Héroes in Restoration Spain. The Centenary of El Greco in 1914.

Abstract

It seems that the process of the nationalisation of the masses in Spain, which started at the end of the nineteenth century, was not very success-ful. In the first part of this article some of the major commemorations that were organized during the period of the Restauration are analysed in or-der to know more about the causes of this relative failure. The first com-memorations of national héroes were organised primarily as an answer to similar festivities abroad. Only after the humiliating defeat in the Spanish-American War of 1898 mainstream politicians started to become aware of the need to actively stimulate the national feelings of the population. Ho-wever, this awareness did not last. Particularly after 1909 the liberáis started to lose their interest in this type of nationalist mobilisation, leaving the field to conservatives and traditionalists. This also became manifest with the third centennial of El Greco in 1914, which is analysed in the second part. Although from the end of the nineteenth century innovative intellec-tuals and artists had converted El Greco into one of their main national héroes, they were almost completely absent during the commemoration. The centennial in fact was dominated by the traditional élites, who used it to encourage the adhesión and admiration of the population to the great achievements of the Spanish nation and the central state.