THE DICTATORSHIP OF PRIMO DE RIVERA AND THE SECOND SPANISH REPUBLIC IN THEIR RELATIONS WITH PAN-ARABISM AND PAN-ISLAMISM (1923-1937)

THE RESEARCH PROJECT IS FOCUSED ON THE UNPUBLISHED AND SCARCELY STUDIED BIOGRAPHY OF TWO SPANISH ARABISTS, JAIME AND MARCELO DE ARGILA. FATHER AND SON, JAIME AND MARCELO WERE IN THE CENTRE OF THE PAN-ARABIST AND PAN-ISLAMIST MOVEMENTS THAT HATCHED IN GENEVA ALONG THE 1930S AROUND THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS SOCIETY. THEIR ACTIVITIES CONVERGED IN A TRIAL TO RAISE A NATIONALIST REVOLT IN THE PROTECTORATE OF MOROCCO, AIMING TO DAMAGE THE LOGISTICS OF FRANCO'S REARGUARD. THE PROJECT INTEGRATES THE STUDY OF THE FOLLOWING EVENTS, IN A PERIOD COMPRISING FROM 1900 TO 1937: A) THE HISTORIC EVOLUTION OF PAN-ARABISM, FROM EGYPT TO THE REST OF MAGHREB AND MIDDLE EAST, SPREADING ACROSS THE NET OF ABUNDANT PERSONAL AND POLITICAL CONNECTIONS OF THE ARGILA FAMILY. SOME OF THOSE RELATIONSHIPS WERE ESPECIALLY INTERESTING, LIKE THEIR BOND WITH THE EMIR SHAKIB ARSLAN, A KEY FIGURE IN THE MOBILIZATION OF PAN-ARABISM AND PAN-ISLAMISM. A PROLIFIC AUTHOR OF BOOKS AND ARTICLES, ARSLAN OFFERED HIS SUPPORT TO THE REPUBLIC OF THE RIF AND TO THE SYRIAN UPRISING OF 1925, WHILE HE KEPT A BELLIGERENT ATTITUDE TOWARDS COLONIAL POWERS, SPECIALLY FRANCE AND GREAT BRITAIN - ALTHOUGH NOT TOWARDS SPAIN, AS HE WAS ALWAYS ON GOOD TERMS WITH THE SECOND SPANISH REPUBLIC. B) THE LINKS THAT EMERGED BETWEEN THE LERROUXISM OR THE RIGHT-WING SPANISH REPUBLICANISM AND THE PAN-ARABISM AND PAN-ISLAMISM MOVEMENTS, PROMOTED BY JAIME DE ARGILA, WHICH RESULTED IN THE CREATION OF THE HISPANIC-ISLAMIC ASSOCIATION IN 1932 (THE AHI). THE AHI INCORPORATED IMPORTANT ACTIVISTS OF THE PAN-ARABIST AND PAN-ISLAMIST MOVEMENTS WITH PERSONALITIES FROM THE CATALAN BUSSINESS WORLD; A PHENOMENON WHICH WAS STUDIED BY THE MORROCCAN HISTORIAN MOURAD ZARROUK. C) THE ROLE PLAYED BY FREEMASONRY AS A PERMANENT OPEN BRIDGE FOR POLITICAL NEGOTIATIONS, WITH A REMARKABLE CAPACITY TO REACH A WORLDWIDE DIVERSITY OF SECTORS ACROSS SOCIETY: FROM RIGHT-WING SPANISH LIBERALS TO MOROCCAN NATIONALISTS, PAN-ARABISTS FROM A VARIETY OF BACKGROUNDS, REPUBLICAN MILITARS, ANARCHO-SYNDICALISTS OR BUSINESSMEN OF ALL KIND. THE RESEARCH OF THIS PHENOMENON FOR THE SPECIFIC CASE OF MOROCCO WAS APPROACHED BY THE RESEARCHER VALERIA AGUIAR IN HER DOCTORAL THESIS AND RESEARCH ARTICLES. D) THE CASE OF MARCELO DE ARGILA, WHO AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR LED A PLAN TO UPRISE THE PROTECTORATE OF MOROCCO, IN THE REARGUARD OF THE NATIONAL BAND, IN AGREEMENT WITH THE COMITE DE MILICIAS ANTIFASCISTAS DE BARCELONA. MARCELO DE ARGILA BECAME BY THEN THE HEAD OF THE RECENTLY FOUNDED SECRET INFORMATION SERVICE (SSI) OF THE GENERALITAT DE CATALUNYA, IN SEPTEMBER 1936. HIS DISAPPEARANCE SOME MONTHS LATER, IN MARCH 1937, INTRODUCES THE NEED FOR THE INVESTIGATION OF THE UNFOLDING OF THE NKVD AGENTS IN BARCELONA BY THAT TIME, AND THEIR POSSIBLE IMPLICATION IN HIS DISAPPEARANCE, AS WELL AS A DIRECT IMPLICATION IN THE MOROCCO CASE. IT IS ALSO NECESSARY TO CONSIDER THE POSSIBLE INFLUENCE OF THESE EVENTS IN THE ARAB UPRISING OF 1936-1939 IN PALESTINA, AS SOME OF THE REVOLT LEADERS WERE ALSO MEMBERS OF THE AHI. ARGILA'S BIOGRAPHIES ARE THE PERFECT NARRATIVE THREAD FOR THE STUDY OF THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SPAIN AND THE ARAB COUNTRIES UNDER A NEW PERSPECTIVE, REVEALING UNKNOWN ACTORS AND IDENTIFYING KEY SCENARIOS FOR THE COURSE OF THE EVENTS OF THE FIRST THIRD OF THE 20TH CENTURY.