Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, known as Partido Socialista Obrero Español, or PSOE, is a prominent Spanish political party. It advocates for a social democracy, which draws on parts of socialist and democratic political philosophies. Socialism involves the government funding and maintaining programs to help ensure that all of a nation's citizens can live comfortably. Democracy involves a government whose leaders are elected by votes from its citizens.

The party arose in 1879, when Spain was experiencing an industrial revolution. It was during this time that many laborers had to endure long hours working with dangerous machinery and receiving relatively little compensation. The party was formed partially as a response to these conditions, with its founders wanting to give more voice and influence to the working class. The PSOE was very influential in the early twentieth century. It was officially banned under the dictatorship that ruled Spain from 1939 until 1977, but it returned to prominence during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

Brief History

The PSOE was officially founded in Madrid in 1879. Pablo Iglesias, a major figure among the Spanish working class of the time, started the party. He followed many of the philosophies taught by Karl Marx. Marx, most famous for his writing of The Communist Manifesto, believed that it was the natural order of economics for the working class to eventually gain more political power. He theorized that capitalism would eventually give way to socialism, which would in turn lead to more rights and freedom for a greater number of people. In the early twentieth century, the PSOE was a major force in organizing and participating in labor strikes. In 1910, Iglesias was elected to the Spanish legislature, becoming the first socialist figure with a seat. The party went on to become a member of the Labour and Socialist International, a group of like-minded political organizations throughout Europe.

Beginning in 1936, Spain became embroiled in civil war. Spain's democratic Republicans came into conflict with its fascist nationalists. The nationalists won in 1939, and the leader Francisco Franco established a dictatorship. Franco's regime began oppressing opposing groups, including the socialists. Franco officially banned the PSOE, and nationalists persecuted known socialists and those who attempted to spread socialist viewpoints.

Following World War II (1939–1945), the Cold War began. This was primarily a non-armed conflict between capitalist, democratic nations and communist ones, with the United States and the Soviet Union at the heart of hostilities. Since Franco so openly opposed communism and socialism in Spain, the United States and many Western European countries sided with his administration.

In 1975, Franco passed away. Under his successor, Spain transitioned back into a democracy. The PSOE was reinstated as a legitimate political party in 1977. Under the leadership of Felipe González, the party shifted from its Marxist roots to embrace a social democracy model. This was a gradual change, but neighboring nations had similar government affiliations, and they provided incentives and support for the party to transform. The party grew in prominence, becoming the primary opposition party (the largest party aside from the one presently in control of the government) by the end of the decade.

Topic Today

In the wake of World War II, the United States and several European nations formed NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which was designed to help protect its members from threats. After reemerging in the 1970s, the PSOE voiced strong opposition to joining NATO. Despite its objections, Spain joined the organization in 1982.

Later that year, the PSOE enjoyed a major victory, securing nearly half the total vote to become Spain's leading party. González became the nation's prime minister. Many members of the party changed their stance on NATO, supporting Spain's membership.

Under the party's leadership, Spain joined the European Economic Community in 1986. This alliance was founded with the intent to help European nations trade and conduct business with one another more easily, boosting their economic growth. Its name eventually changed to the European Union.

González remained in office and his party stayed in power throughout the 1980s. In 1991, the United States entered the Gulf War, an effort to engage Iraq and prevent its forces from invading Kuwait. Spain publicly supported the US cause and provided aid for the conflict.

After four consecutive general election wins, the PSOE was defeated by the conservative People's Party in 1996. The PSOE failed to win in 2000 as well. New party leadership emerged in the form of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. When the United States and United Kingdom declared war on Saddam Hussein's forces in Iraq, the PSOE declared its opposition to the conflict. However, the People's Party supported the war, and pledged troops to help Spain's allies.

In 2004, the PSOE reentered power with a general election victory. Zapatero became the new prime minister. The government soon ordered Spanish troops to be pulled from Iraq. The party enjoyed another election victory in 2008, but soon afterward, Spain entered a sharp economic downturn. The PSOE lost significant popularity, and while support for the People's Party dropped, there were enough conservative voters to defeat the PSOE in the next election. Seeking a new direction, the PSOE elected Pedro Sánchez as its new leader. Despite the change, votes for the PSOE continued to drop in subsequent, smaller elections.

With declining public support, party leadership disagreed on how to move forward. Sánchez advocated stalling elections from going forward to prevent their conservative opposition from becoming even more powerful. However, some of the political groups they had aligned with to achieve this raised a great deal of controversy among many PSOE members. The party split into factions, with Sánchez and his supporters saying they had an obligation to do what they could to prevent Spanish government from growing more conservative. The other faction argued that the country needed the electoral process to play out. PSOE members also believed that the parties Sánchez was gaining support from were just as incompatible with social democracy as the conservatives. That faction suggested the party concede for the time being, regroup, and devise a new strategy to take government control back. It also made efforts to remove Sánchez from power.

Bibliography

Berman, Sheri. "Understanding Social Democracy." Harvard University, www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~ces/conferences/left/left‗papers/berman.pdf. Accessed 24 June 2017.

Field, Bonnie N., and Alfonso Botti, editors. Politics and Society in Contemporary Spain: From Zapatero to Rajoy. MacMillan, 2013.

Gibbons, John. Spanish Politics Today. Manchester UP, 1999.

Graham, Helen. Socialism and War. Cambridge UP, 1991.

Kennedy, Paul. The Spanish Socialist Party and the Modernisation of Spain. Manchester UP, 2013.

Murado, Miguel-Anxo. "What's Happened to Spain's Socialist Party? Well, It's Like Britain's Labour." Guardian, 30 Sept. 2016, www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/30/what-happened-spain-socialist-workers-party-like-labour. Accessed 24 June 2017.

"Partido Socialista Obrero Español." PSOE, www.psoe.es/. Accessed 24 June 2017.

"Spain Profile – Timeline." BBC, 9 May 2017, www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17955805. Accessed 24 June 2017.

"Spanish Socialist Worker's Party (PSOE)." Democratic Society, www.demsoc.org/2014/05/20/spanish-socialist-workers-party-psoe/. Accessed 24 June 2017.