Spanish Cinema: background

Political and social tensions: early 20th century

class landowners  landless peasantry
industrialists  working class
society poverty, education, machismo
politics anarchism  socialism
 republicanism 
conservatism  fascism
geography centre  periphery
language Castilian  Catalan, Basque, Galician
nation state  regions
Church institutionalised Catholicism  anti-clericalism
Army tradition of seizing power

Key dates
1896 first films: Lumière
1898 Spanish - American war: loss of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Philippines
1914-1918 World War 1: Spain neutral
1917-1920 revolutions in Europe: Russia, Germany, Italy; Barcelona
1923-29 military dictatorship - Primo de Rivera; wars in Morocco
1931-36 abdication of king – republic
elections: 1931: centre; 1933: right; 1936: centre
1936 military uprising
1936.39 Civil War: nationalists victors with support of Germany and Italy
1939.75 dictatorship of Franco; Spain not included in US Marshall Plan for post-war
recovery, banned from UN until mid 50s; tourist boom from late 60s
1975 death of Franco
1977 first free elections; relaxation of censorship
1981 attempted coup by elements of army
1982 Socialist government elected

Bibliography
Histories
Alberto Mira, The Cinema of Spain and Portugal, Wallflower Press, 2005
Nuria Triana-Toribio, Spanish National Cinema, Routledge, 2003
Antonio Lázaro-Reboll, Andrew Willis, Spanish Popular Cinema, Manchester University
Press, 2004

In Spanish
Emilio García Fernández, Historia ilustrada del cine español, Planeta, 1985

MS/16 November 2008 m.shade@bton.ac.uk