Is there a revolution without women? The influence of the female collective action during the Tragic Week on the Revolutionary General Strike of 1917

Abstract

This article analyses the influence of women’s revolutionary collective action on the Revolutionary General Strike of 1917 following the events of the Tragic Week in 1909, also known as the Revolution of July 1909, initially led by women. According to the central thesis of the text, the activists of the Radical Republican Party and the women of the lumpenproletariat, known as the “petroleras”, were not only crucial in the mobilisation against the colonial war and the massive reservist embarkation, but they also marked a precedent in how women became involved in politics that is unchallenged to this day. In this sense, it is of special interest to highlight how, based on the events of 1909, various associations of women, particularly socialists, were boosted in the intent of trying to channel social and labour unrest in terms of class and gender perspective. The influence of this political work was frustrated in the Spanish revolutionary movement of 1917, itself largely inspired by the Russian Revolution of February-March, as the anti-dynastic parties and class trade unions offset the role of women. Based on testimonies in the press of the time, this paper provides a diachronic analysis that contributes to the discussion on the significance of the presence of women in revolutionary movements.