Spain

Abstract

This article examines Spain’s neutrality during the Great War, highlighting factors such as the lack of military resources; the division of public opinion and internal conflicts; and actors such as King Alfonso XIII (whose mediating role helped to determine Spain’s neutral position). It also analyses the impact of the war in Spain until the immediate post-war period – unequal economic growth, social mobilisation, and political crisis. Primary and secondary sources lead us to conclude that Spain had to maintain neutrality: the matter was simply non-negotiable. However, the final crisis of Spain’s political system was the result of the previously unseen social and ideological mobilisation.