Cultural diplomacy as a nation-building tool for stateless nationalisms: the search for recognition of Catalonia in Germany, 1901–1939

Abstract

This article addresses the role that cultural diplomacy has played as a tool of nation-building for sub-state public entities led by movements representing stateless nations. It exemplifies this with the case of Catalonia's search for recognition in Germany, 1901–1939. The analysis highlights the ambivalence that characterized the actions of the Catalan sub-state public entities, between resigning themselves to their status as regional actors and aspirations for a different political constitution. We argue that this ambivalence was a strategy to maximize the effectiveness of their cultural diplomacy policies considering state and international contexts reluctant to recognize sub-state entities as political actors.

KEYWORDS:

• Cultural diplomacy
• stateless nationalisms
• sub-state public entities
• Catalan national identity
• Catalan-German cultural relations

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 As Balcells (2022b, p. 9) has noted, 'there is no nationality without foreign action because the quest for recognition and participation in international circles is necessarily part of the emergence of a cultural nation that needs political institutionalization to perpetuate itself and normalize its existence among other nations' (all translations are mine). For a historical institutionalist approach to the role of sub-state governments as international cultural agents from the case of Wales, see Royles (2016). On science and culture as instruments of nation-building, see Ash (2021).

2 A general approach to Catalan-German cultural diplomacy of the time prior to the conceptualization proposed here, in Janué Miret (2020).

3 The terms most commonly used to refer to the diplomacy practiced by sub-state governments are ‘paradiplomacy’ and ‘protodiplomacy’. For a definition of these concepts, see Cornago (2018). For the application of these concepts to the Catalan case, see Duran (2020) and Núñez Seixas (2010), pp. 17–23, 82-89, who also uses the term 'parallel diplomacy'. However, in the historical context at hand, we consider them anachronistic, since, as Martín (2016, p. 50) underlines, they refer to a process of institutionalisation of decentralised international cooperation that did not become relevant until later, and in Catalonia not until after the democratic transition in the 1990s.

4 On centre-periphery cultural dynamics and their asymmetrical nature, see Nygård and Strang (2016).

5 The theoretical approach of this article keeps in with research on the history of soft power and of cultural diplomacy as a fundamental component thereof. Such research is interested in the use that government institutions have made of culture and science as a political resource in their international relations. It emphasizes the importance of considering cultural diplomacy in historical research on the last century for two main reasons. First, cultural diplomacy is an indicator of both the socio-economic development of the respective countries and the evolution of their influence in the international order. Second, it can potentially capture both the multidimensionality of culture and knowledge as political actors and the role of science and culture as a means of transnational communication, particularly in contexts of political and ideological tension (Gienow-Hecht & Donfried, 2010). Cultural diplomacy studies share the premise that, contrary to popular belief, culture and science are not essentially apolitical. Notwithstanding the universal validity attributed to them, historically their production and mobilization of resources have been primarily local (Ash, 2021, p. 25).

6 The ‘dual’ character of Catalan patriotism of the time has recently been underlined by Duyster Borreda (2022, p. 541). Fradera (1992, 1999) first applied the concept of ‘dual patriotism’ to the origins of Catalan nationalism. Martínez-Gil (1997, pp. 65–71) also insists on the ambivalence and ambiguity of the discourse of Catalan nationalism. In any case, the aspiration that prevailed in Catalan nationalism was autonomist, with independence remaining an option defended by tiny minorities (Balcells, 2022b, p. 39).

7 As Balcells (2022b, p. 9) has pointed out, 'For a modern nationality in the process of constitution, this projection is vital, beyond the limitations imposed by the state to which it belongs. On the other hand, the state apparatus is interested in the external invisibility of the minority nationality it dominates, to the point of not representing it, so that relations with the foreigner become a stage for the conflict between the official state nation and the differentiated but not institutionalized nationality’.

8 On the foreign policy of Constituent governments, see Requejo (2010).

9 On the influence of French culture on Catalan nationalist intellectuals, see Bayón et al. (1999; pp. 177–178) and Valverde (2019, p. 219, 247). In particular, on the reasons why some of these intellectuals nevertheless adopted a critical stance towards French nationalism, see Duyster Borreda (2022, p. 541, 550).

10 On the influence of German Romanticism on Catalan cultural nationalism, see Casassas (2009, pp. 114–115) and Fleck Gatius (2021, pp. 199–202, 230-232).

11 On the idea of ‘Europe of peoples’ by Herder, see Piirimäe (2023). On Herder's influence on Catalan nationalism, see Llobera (1983), Neu-Altenheimer (1991) and Vega i Castellví (1991).

12 On the economic presence of Germany in Spain and Catalonia at the time, see Loscertales (2002).

13 On the German School in Barcelona, see Chamrad et al. (1994). On German Schools in Spain, see Herzner, 2019.

14 The ‘Noucentistes’ rejected previous cultural currents, such as modernism or romanticism, because these exalted extreme feelings and the breaking of norms, just as they were passionate about the medieval world.

15 We will talk about the Institut d'Estudis Catalans a little further on.

16 On the ideas and conception of politics of the Noucentisme intellectuals, see Balcells (2007), Bayón et al. (1999), and Ucelay-Da Cal (2003).

17 Although a more progressive Catalan nationalism would also develop, the Catalan labor movement remained confronted with the national movement, whose social base remained limited (Balcells, 2022b, p. 39).

18 On the role of science in the nationalist debate in Catalonia, see Roca Rosell (2021).

19 During the reign of Isabel II, the provincial division of 1833 was established in Spain. Catalonia was divided into four provinces, Barcelona, Tarragona, Lérida and Gerona. Two years later, two royal decrees formalized the creation of provincial councils (diputaciones provinciales) in accordance with this provincial division. Their fundamental function was to collaborate in the management of municipal activity and to manage the economic-administrative interests of the provinces.

20 For the history of the IEC, see Balcells & Pujol, 2002.

21 It was the first public body since the 18th century with competences over the entire territory of Catalonia and, therefore, the first to be able to claim representation of the country both inside and outside of it.

22 Although the Mancomunitat could not officially manage a body of this kind, between 1919 and 1928, Expansió Catalana, an information office for foreign countries, operated alongside the Mancomunitat. Its main interlocutors were the Catalans in Latin America, but it also maintained relations in the United States, Great Britain, Cuba, France and, above all, Portugal and Italy (Balcells, 2022b, pp. 49–55). See also Esculies Serrat (2022).

23 Given the severe limitations to which the University of Barcelona (UB) was subjected, the renewal and decentralisation of higher education was one of the cultural demands unanimously taken up by political Catalanism. On the EUCs, see Balcells (2011).

24 An honorary doctorate is a title awarded by the universities and in accordance with their own regulations to those persons who, in view of their exceptional academic, scientific or personal merits, are deserving of such distinction. On the influence of German culture on Rubió i Lluch, see Richert, 1936–1937 and Balcells, 2001.

25 On Francophile and Germanophile Catalan nationalist intellectuals during World War I, see Fuentes Cordera (2013) and Núñez Seixas (2010, p. 35, 42, 81).

26 However, he headed the article stating that, ‘I should give you a picture of Spanish party life on a historical basis with greater emphasis on the peculiar Catalan problem and some of its recent features’. We will come back to Finke later.

27 Llull was especially admired in Germany, being the most translated author from Catalan into German. (Briesemeister, 1988, pp. 27–28).

28 On Bosch Gimpera’s memoirs of his experience in Germany, see Bosch-Gimpera (1971) and (1980).

29 In the spring of 1921, the first intergovernmental conference of the League of Nations was held in Barcelona, its representatives being courted by the Mancomunitat directed by Puig i Cadafalch. According to Balcells (2022b, p. 27), 'With Barcelona becoming the epicenter of international diplomacy for a few days […] the desire was awakened among citizens for more events like that to be held in the City'.

30 On German-Spanish cientific and cultural relations in the interwar period, see Bernecker (2019), De la Hera Martínez (2002), López Sánchez (2003), Pöppinghaus (1999), Presas Puig (2010); and Rebok (2010, 2011).

31 The UAI is an international federation of Academies, or groups of Academies having a national character, and national scientific institutions comparable with them. It was founded in 1919 in Paris with a general secretariat based in Brussels. Its purpose is to encourage cooperation in the advancement of studies through collaborative research and joint publications in those branches of humanities and social sciences promoted by the Academies and Institution represented in the UAI: philology, archaeology, history, moral and political sciences. Initially, it was composed by representatives of the National Academies of eleven countries (Belgium, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia and the United States) and the National Academies of three other countries had given their agreement without being represented (Spain, Norway and Romania). http://www.unionacademique.org/en/uai/history (consulted 2024.02.11)

32 During his stay, Einstein gave (in French) a series of lectures presenting his research at the Palace of the Generalitat, then the seat of the Diputació de Barcelona and the IEC. During his stay, his hosts took him to visit the monastery of Poblet, where some kings of the Crown of Aragon are buried. The then president of the Mancomunitat, Puig i Cadafalch, accompanied him to Terrassa to visit the paleochristian and Romanesque complex of Ègara and organized a dinner for him at the Ritz. He also visited the Escola del Mar and the Baixeras School Group, two examples of the pedagogical renovation promoted by the Barcelona City Council. At the official reception at the City Hall, the accidental mayor, Enric Maynés, welcomed him as a representative of universal science. Einstein was also offered a reception at the Escola Industria [Industrial School], one of the most outstanding projects of the Mancomunitat, where he was presented with records of popular Catalan songs and dances, which he had the opportunity to see performed. Likewise, Rafael Campalans, responsible for public instruction of the Pedagogical Council of the Mancomunitat, presented him with an honorary dinner. The German Consul in Barcelona, Ulrich von Hassel, wrote a report on the visit in which he emphasized that Einstein had been received as a representative of German culture. After Barcelona, Einstein went to Madrid and Zaragoza. In 1934, the Generalitat of Catalonia would grant him the title of honorary citizen of Catalonia, although in the end he did not travel to collect it. On the significance of Einstein’s visit to Catalonia for Catalan cultural and scientific diplomacy, see Balcells (2007) and Roca Rosell (2005).

33 In the 1930s, Grossmann was co-author of the acclaimed Slaby/Grossmann dictionary of the Spanish and German languages.

34 In 1925, Finke wrote for the first volume of the Catalan journal of ecclesiastical history Analecta Sacra Tarraconensia an article on the relations between Church and State in Catalonia in the last half of the Middle Ages, which was published in Catalan (Finke, 1925). From 1928 onwards, the GG published the Spanische Forschungen der Görresgesellschaft [Spanish Research of the Görres Society, SFdG], which included contributions on Catalan culture. At the end of 1929, Finke spoke on diplomatic relations in the time of James II at the International Congress of History held in Barcelona on the occasion of the International Exposition of that year (10/18).

35 He also corresponded with prominent Catalan intellectuals who spent time in Germany, such as Rubió i Balaguer or Bosch Gimpera. A compendium of this correspondence, in Peláez et al. (1997).

36 On the German Book Fair held in Barcelona in 1925, see Praesent (1925), Klaiber (1937, p. 458), and De la Hera Martínez (2002, p. 77).

37 With Catalan Romanesque art and architecture having become a crucial feature of Catalonia's identity since the early 20th century, Puig i Cadafalch placed it in a vast European context that included the Rhine valley (Mallart, 2021, p.153). Documentation on the intellectual relationship between Richert and Puig y Cadafalch, as well as on the latter's research on German Romanesque art, is available at, Richert (ca. 1925, May 4–1927, Mars 30) and Puig i Cadafalch (ca. 1912, April 9–1926, February 26).

38 Riba also kept in touch with Grossmann.

39 In an interview published in that same newspaper, Vossler declared that, although he had never been to Barcelona, ‘culturally speaking, I know your country. I don't speak Catalan, but I read it’ (Navarro Costabella, 1929).

40 Further research on this topic can be found in Janué Miret (2007).

41 In Germany, the opera Tiefland, based on Terra Baixa, with a libretto by Rudolf Lothar and music by Eugen d'Albert, premiered in 1903 and achieved worldwide fame (Neumann, 1998, pp. 133–162; Robles Sabater, 2005, p. 221). In 1922, a film based on the same text was made under the direction of Adolf Edgard Licho.

42 Stresemann had visited the Mies van der Rohe pavilion in Barcelona on June 18 returning from a tour of Spain. Considered by Catalan nationalists as a natural ally because of his reputation as a defender of nationalities in the League of Nations - which Germany joined in 1926 -, he had received public displays of support from Catalan personalities during the visit. The acclaim followed his statements to a journalist who had asked him what he thought about the issue of minorities. He had replied that he did not know whether the Executive Council of the League of Nations would take any initiative at its meeting in Madrid because he was unaware of the Spanish government's attitude towards the Catalans and Basques. Primo de Rivera responded with an unofficial note which strongly disagreed with Streseman (Balcells, 2022b, p. 66). On the role of Stresemann in the League of Nations, see, Fink, 1972.

43 The previous year had succeeded in bringing the 4th International Congress of Classical Archaeology to Barcelona, where no other country was as well represented as Germany (Gracia Alonso, 2011, pp. 233–236).

44 The Generalitat soon decreed the creation of the Consell de Cultura [Council of Culture] within the Department of Public Education to organize its cultural work. With the entry into force of the Statute of Autonomy in 1932, the Department of Public Education adopted the specific name of Department of Culture, and the Council of Culture became very active.

45 On Mirador, see Singla (2006).

46 The new statute allowed the UAB for the first time to incorporate the Catalan language in its teaching and to introduce subjects on Catalan specificities in the syllabus, as well as to award doctoral degrees and regulate study trips. On the UAB, see Gracia Alonso et al. (2009).

47 Although in his case he had already broken with Catalan nationalism in 1920.

48 The DSG became under National Socialism the most influential society for the promotion of Spanish-German cultural relations, see Janué Miret (2008). On the IAI under National Socialism, see Liehr et al., 2003. During the Second World War, and after having contributed to the German Book Fair held at the UB in 1941, early the following year Valls Taberner visited Germany following an invitation of the IAI and the DSG.

49 It was Richert who, from her post as head of art at the IAI and DSG, managed the invitation of (the ideologically non-adherent) Gimpera to Germany in 1935 (Janué Miret, 2008).

50 Bobrik would shortly afterwards become cultural attaché to the embassy in Madrid.

51 That same autumn, the Archaeological Museum of Catalonia was inaugurated, of which he was the promoter and first director.

52 This it was time translated by another influential archaeologist with whom Schulten maintained a close and enduring friendship, Lluís Pericot, a disciple of Bosch Gimpera and full professor at the UB/UAB.

53 According to Balcells (2022b, p. 79), 'The Civil War was a war against autonomous Catalonia but also a civil war between Catalans who had shared until then the will of self-government of the country'.

54 After the World War II he spent five years in Tarragona.

55 On his argumentation in these works, see Janué Miret (2019).

56 Kincaid explains that rather than assuming by default a position of subordination to states, in doing so they ‘place[d] the constituent political community on a plane of at least symbolic equality with the nation-state and the national political community of which it was a part’.

57 On the ‘asymmetrical nature of centre-periphery cultural dynamics’, see, Nygård and Strang (2016).

58 Forced into exile after the Spanish Civil War, Bosch Gimpera would confess to his students at the Autonomous University of Mexico that he had discovered Catalonia in Berlin, referring to how essential it had been for him to learn about German culture in order to discover his own historical national identity (Marichal, 1988, p. 54).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Agencia Estatal de Investigación, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (Spain) under [grant number PID2020-120301gb-100/MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033].

Notes on contributors

Marició Janué i Miret

Marició Janué i Miret is Professor of Contemporary History in the Department of Humanities at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) in Barcelona. She has researched the political and social history of Catalonia, Spain and Germany in the 19th and 20th centuries. She has specialised in Spanish-German relations in the period 1870–1959, particularly in cultural diplomacy. She is currently PI (with A. Presas i Puig) of the project ‘Strategies of Spanish cultural diplomacy in the field of academic culture and science (1918–1975)’ (2022–2024). She has edited (with A. Presas i Puig), Science, Culture and National Identity in Francoist Spain, 1939–1959 (2021). She is now working on two monographs, respectively on the role of culture in Spanish-German relations in the period of National Socialism and on the revival of Spanish-German cultural diplomacy in the post-war period after World War II. For more information and publications, see: https://www.upf.edu/web/nexus/investigadors/-/asset_publisher/q283uWYHmzYq/content/janu%C3%A9-miret  – marici%C3%B3/maximized.