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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 December 2018
This article examines the collapse of the citrus industry in València, Spain during the last years of World War I. In it, I argue that the strikes represent a key moment in the proletarianization of the region's agricultural working classes. By 1914, citrus had become one of Spain's most profitable exports, and prior to the 1917 crash, the landed and monied interests in control of the industry had enforced the notion of inter-class cooperation, which broke down under the economic stress of the War. In the wake of the collapse and the strikes that followed, workers began to organize in earnest and began to work towards improving working conditions and establishing fairer work contracts.
Research Funded by: The Fulbright Commission, the Tinker Foundation, the Program for Cultural Cooperation between Spain's Ministry of Culture and United States Universities, and Penn State Altoona's Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.
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81. “La crisis de la Plana. Los sucesos de Burriana,” Heraldo de Castellón marzo 17, 1917, 1.
82. “Long live the Plana! Long live Burriana! Long live Villarreal! Long live the long-suffering and honrable Plana!” “La crisis de la Plana. Grandioso mitín en Villarreal,” Heraldo de Castellón marzo 20, 1917, 1.
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85. It is also an indication of the uncertain influence of organized socialist or anarchist activity in the countryside. José Antonio Piqueras notes that the PSOE, until 1918, “lacked a true agrarian program;” though there were other Socialist parties in the Valencian region, they did not have the presence of the UGT At this point, there is no indication that the CNT was active in the planning or execution of the spring 1917 strikes, though members from both unions could very well have been involved in strike activities. By August, the CNT took credit for continuing actions in the region, but the August rebellions were far more nation-wide—interestingly, the national economy was beginning to follow in Valéncia's footsteps, and the wartime boom was beginning to turn to bust. Piqueras, José Antonio, Kern, Robert, Red Years, Black Years: A Political History of Spanish Anarchism, 1911–1937 (Phildelphia, PA: Institute for the Study of Human Issues, 1978), 30Google Scholar.
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