A New Dawn Campaign
The Campaign of the Partido Popular in the General Election of 1890, better known under the name of the Populares' manifesto, A New Dawn Campaign, was the first of its kind in its size and practices in Spain. Unlike ever before, the Partido Popular organized itself as a single unified political party with a single manifesto of promises and a central election committee to lead the Party to victory in the upcoming election. This revolutionary campaign was the brainchild of Leonardo Forlani, an upper class Populares' MP and Campaign Manager, who had, on his travels to Europe in the late 1870s, witnessed the Midlothian Campaign of Gladstone, which has been widely credited by historians to be the first modern campaign and on which popularity, the Liberal Party was carried to victory in the following general election, with Gladstone at its helm. Forlani believed that with the expansion of the franchise in large parts of the nation, the Partido could be carried to victory on a campaign of popular discontent with the oppressive Occupation of Portugal and the lack of national reform of the press and the judiciary, much like Gladstone an his Liberals.
However, he needed a central figure of the campaign, who would become the associated with the message of prosperity, peace and democracy and could translate the public's opinion into speeches piercing the ultra-reactionary, inefficient and corrupt government and the Royalist League, with which it was highly intertwined. He found his central figure in Francisco de Valle, the founder and chairman of the Partido Popular. Although this choice seemed obvious in retrospect, the Andalusian Father and democrat was a far from obvious choice at the time, although he was Party Chairman, he held little influence over the various factions that made up the Populares and at the start of the parliamentary democracy, many believed that, if gradual reform continued to be supported, the Partido Popular would have chosen a new chairman, of a far less confrontational nature than de Valle. This was all to change with the intervention of Marquess de Pontevedra, whose interventions against the Partido strengthened de Valle's position in the party and steadily moved the party from the anti-reformist right to the democratic left, while Andalusia and Valencia, long heartlands of Spanish liberalism and democratism, found themselves increasingly aligned with the christian democratic Partido.
When Forlani approached De Valle in his constituency in Seville with the idea of the campaign, the Portuguese Occupation had just entered its most violent phase and daily the Seville newspapers reported the dead sons of local families, while the Assembly was besieged with Pontevedra's ultrareactionary proposals to shift attention from the national legislature away from the regime's failure to truly defeat the democratically elected Liberal Government and their following in Portugal. De Valle agreed, frustrated in his attempts to establish a pan-democratic coalition in 1882 by an aristocratic leadership in the Yellows, with strong ties to the Royalist League, and in 1886, by the appearance of a radical monarchist "Socialist" Party, the collapse of the Movement for Liberty and the expansion of the Autonomous Party, which focused less on democracy and more on regionalism. The way was now clear for Forlani to set the national tone and message of the election campaign with the Partido's manifesto.
Although the manifesto was short and written completely by De Valle - to allow for its message to be spread quickly and be remembered - its adoption by the Partido Popular was one of the largest events in Spanish democratic history, with De Valle reading the Manifesto to a large audience of members of the Christian Labourers' Movement and other Christian Democrats. This was the opening shot of the election campaign. However, many obstructions remained, mainly the censorship bureau, which, although it was less efficient than many ultra-reactionary believed due to the large surge in printed material in Spain due to increasing literacy, and the less than independent police force.
The solution came from Forlani, who, after publishing the Populares' manifesto, A New Dawn for Spain, in many national newspapers and periodicals, organised a National Congress of Populares and Democrats in Madrid, where centrally organised speech tours of (prospective) MPs of the Partido were planned to spread the message of the manifesto and De Valle's speeches, for although the Censorship Bureau could, with a lot of effort censor some parts of the message, the MPs would spread it across the nation by voice. Important to understand, for contemporary readers, is that the franchise was at this moment still very small, thus the large attendance of audiences across Spain meant that De Valle and his fellow Populares could address large portions of electors in their districts. The solution to possible persecution was the Christian Labourers' Movement, which lead rally across towns and cities and protected audiences from ultra-reactionary militants.
But with polling day closing in, it remained to be seen whether popular support would translate in the same sweeping victory as Gladstone and the Liberals enjoyed.
However, he needed a central figure of the campaign, who would become the associated with the message of prosperity, peace and democracy and could translate the public's opinion into speeches piercing the ultra-reactionary, inefficient and corrupt government and the Royalist League, with which it was highly intertwined. He found his central figure in Francisco de Valle, the founder and chairman of the Partido Popular. Although this choice seemed obvious in retrospect, the Andalusian Father and democrat was a far from obvious choice at the time, although he was Party Chairman, he held little influence over the various factions that made up the Populares and at the start of the parliamentary democracy, many believed that, if gradual reform continued to be supported, the Partido Popular would have chosen a new chairman, of a far less confrontational nature than de Valle. This was all to change with the intervention of Marquess de Pontevedra, whose interventions against the Partido strengthened de Valle's position in the party and steadily moved the party from the anti-reformist right to the democratic left, while Andalusia and Valencia, long heartlands of Spanish liberalism and democratism, found themselves increasingly aligned with the christian democratic Partido.
When Forlani approached De Valle in his constituency in Seville with the idea of the campaign, the Portuguese Occupation had just entered its most violent phase and daily the Seville newspapers reported the dead sons of local families, while the Assembly was besieged with Pontevedra's ultrareactionary proposals to shift attention from the national legislature away from the regime's failure to truly defeat the democratically elected Liberal Government and their following in Portugal. De Valle agreed, frustrated in his attempts to establish a pan-democratic coalition in 1882 by an aristocratic leadership in the Yellows, with strong ties to the Royalist League, and in 1886, by the appearance of a radical monarchist "Socialist" Party, the collapse of the Movement for Liberty and the expansion of the Autonomous Party, which focused less on democracy and more on regionalism. The way was now clear for Forlani to set the national tone and message of the election campaign with the Partido's manifesto.
Although the manifesto was short and written completely by De Valle - to allow for its message to be spread quickly and be remembered - its adoption by the Partido Popular was one of the largest events in Spanish democratic history, with De Valle reading the Manifesto to a large audience of members of the Christian Labourers' Movement and other Christian Democrats. This was the opening shot of the election campaign. However, many obstructions remained, mainly the censorship bureau, which, although it was less efficient than many ultra-reactionary believed due to the large surge in printed material in Spain due to increasing literacy, and the less than independent police force.
The solution came from Forlani, who, after publishing the Populares' manifesto, A New Dawn for Spain, in many national newspapers and periodicals, organised a National Congress of Populares and Democrats in Madrid, where centrally organised speech tours of (prospective) MPs of the Partido were planned to spread the message of the manifesto and De Valle's speeches, for although the Censorship Bureau could, with a lot of effort censor some parts of the message, the MPs would spread it across the nation by voice. Important to understand, for contemporary readers, is that the franchise was at this moment still very small, thus the large attendance of audiences across Spain meant that De Valle and his fellow Populares could address large portions of electors in their districts. The solution to possible persecution was the Christian Labourers' Movement, which lead rally across towns and cities and protected audiences from ultra-reactionary militants.
But with polling day closing in, it remained to be seen whether popular support would translate in the same sweeping victory as Gladstone and the Liberals enjoyed.
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