Catholic politics of the past. Culture war, National Catholicism, and commemorations in Spain, 1881-1908

ABSTRACT This article aims to analyze the politics of the past implemented by Spanish Catholics during the so-called “age of anniversaries.” The promotion of Catholic commemorations in Spain was a reaction to the culture war which was waged around the role of religion in the public sphere during the Spanish Restauration (1874–1923). Historiography has tended to analyze these commemorations in the light of the political tensions that existed between factions of the Spanish right. This focus has obscured, however, the important role that these commemorations played in the development of a Catholic reading of the past, as well as in the formation of a National Catholic political culture. This essay offers a complete study of the catholic commemoration in Spain from the pioneering celebration of Calderón de la Barca in 1881 to the first centenary of the War of Independence in 1908. By doing so, the paper aims to demonstrate the role played by these politics of the past in the construction of a National Catholic political culture in Spain.