Making Spaniards

The regime of Primo de Rivera in Spain was one of the major dictatorships of the interwar period. Making Spaniards examines how the military regime created nationalist doctrine, rituals and symbols and how these were transmitted throughout Spanish society in an attempt to 'make' new authoritarian Spaniards and halt democratic reform.

'...a crucial contribution to the literature on the nationalization of the masses.' - Eduardo González Calleja, Nations and Nationalism

'This book provides a detailed and informative historical evaluation of the various attempts of the Primo de Rivera dictatorship to politically indoctrinate the masses in nationalist values. It is based on in-depth research and makes good use of primary sources, particularly historical archives, as well as secondary sources. In doing so, this book makes a valuable contribution to the body of knowledge on the Primo de Rivera dictatorship. By placing this Spanish case firmly within its European context, moreover, the book will be of value not just to students and academics interested in Spanish history but also to those more widely interested in the European authoritarian regimes of the 1920s and 1930s.' - Georgina Blakely, International Journal of Iberian Studies

'An essential book on Spanish History...Alejandro Quiroga's work will not leave the reader unmoved. Making Spaniards is a seductive book, both in terms of analysis and findings.' - Historia Contemporánea

'A key work on the nationalization of the masses...A crucial book on Spanish history.' - Melanges

'Quiroga makes a notable contribution to the debate on the limits of the nationalization process in Spain, or the paths along which people went from 'peasants to Spaniards.' - European History Quarterly

ALEJANDRO QUIROGA is Lecturer in Spanish History at the School of Historical Studies, University of Newcastle, UK. He has previously taught at the London School of Economics and Political Science, King's College London and Royal Holloway. He is the author of Los orígenes del Nacionalcatolicismo (2006) and, with Sebastian Balfour, The Reinvention of Spain. Nation, Identity and Nationalism since Democracy (2007).