Alejandro Lerroux

He was initiated as Freemason around 1886 in Madrid's Vetonica lodge of the Grand Orient of Spain, but his activity was limited, among other reasons due to his disillusion with the prospects this membership offered to his immediate purposes.^[4]

Lerroux agitated as a young man in the ranks of the radical republicans, as a follower of Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla. He practised a demagogic and aggressive journalistic style in the diverse publications that he directed (El País, El Progreso, El Intransigente and El Radical).

In 1906, Lerroux rallied his followers with the following exhortation: "Young barbarians of today: enter and sack the decadent civilization of this unhappy country, destroy its temples, finish off its gods, tear the veil from its novices and raise them up to be mothers to virilize the species, break into the records of property and make bonfires of its papers that fire may purify the infamous social organization. Enter its humble hearths and raise the legions of proletarians that the world may tremble before their awakened judges. Do not be stopped by altars nor by tombs. Fight, kill, die".[6]^[8][9]

He was elected as a member of the

After returning to Spain, Lerroux agreed to join the Republican–Socialist Conjunction, and he was elected as a deputy again in 1910. Afterwards, he was involved in a series of scandals that moved him away from his Barcelona electorate, with corruption accusations forcing him into a change of district, appearing for Córdoba in 1914). From 1919 he was on the payroll of Barcelona Traction, part of the Anglo-Canadian Traction, Light, and Power Company.^[10]

Under the dictatorship of

Second Republic

Under the republican regime, Lerroux regained a leading political role, being appointed prime minister three times between and occupying the distinguished ministerial portfolios.

He was part of the coalition of leftists that supported the reforms of Manuel Azaña's government during the first biennium (1931–1933), during which time he served as Minister of State between 14 April 1931 and 16 December 1931. From 12 September to 9 October 1933, he was Prime Minister.

After the victory of the

After distinguishing himself in the repression of the attempted workers' revolution of 1934, he was discredited by the Straperlo affair (a case of corruption bound to gambling legalization), which completely broke his alliance with the right and even weakened his position within the party.^[11] This was followed by the Nombela scandal, where he participated actively by signing a contract paying a private company 3 million pesetas to perform a cancelled route, leading to his further discreditment.^[12]

In the elections of 1936, Lerroux was not even elected as a deputy. The same year, the Spanish Civil War broke out, and he preferred to place himself out of danger in Portugal. He returned to Spain in 1947.^[13]

See also

• Catalan nationalism
• ¡Cu-Cut! and El Be Negre

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Alejandro Lerroux.

• "Público" - La II República Española en su 80 aniversario: Protagonistas
• Poster of the Radical Republican Party with Alejandro Lerroux
• Illustrious Cordobese People Archived 2020-01-21 at the Wayback Machine
• Newspaper clippings about Alejandro Lerroux in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW

Political offices
Preceded by Álvaro Figueroa y Torres	Minister of State 1931	Succeeded by Luis de Zulueta
Preceded by Manuel Azaña	Prime Minister of Spain 1933	Succeeded by Diego Martínez Barrio
Preceded by Diego Martínez Barrio	Prime Minister of Spain 1933-1934	Succeeded by Ricardo Samper
Preceded by Ricardo Samper	Prime Minister of Spain 1934-1935	Succeeded by Joaquín Chapaprieta Torregrosa
Preceded by Juan José Rocha García	Minister of State 1935	Succeeded by José Martínez de Velasco
Party political offices
Preceded by Party created	Leader of the Radical Republican Party 1908–1936	Succeeded by Party dissolved