Peace in War (Spanish: originally Paz en la Guerra, in recent editions Paz en la guerra, the title sometimes translated into English as Peace of War) is a mid-size novel by Miguel de Unamuno. Having been written since the mid-1880s, it was published in 1897. The narrative is set mostly in Bilbao and surroundings during the Spanish civil war of 1872-1876, with particular focus on the siege of the city in 1874. The protagonists are mostly Bilbao dwellers, some of Carlist and some of Liberal political preferences. The plot revolves around the fate of Ignacio Iturriondo, a man in his early 20s, who volunteered to Carlist troops. The book was generally well received by the press and the critics, but it failed to make a major impact and was not re-published until 1923. Issued in Latin America in the 1910s, in the inter-war period the novel was translated into German and Czech, and afterwards into some other European languages.
Author
The 1874 siege of Bilbao, which forms the narrative framework of Paz en la Guerra, was witnessed from the inside by Unamuno, who at the time was a 10-year-old boy. Juan Bautista Avalle-Arce, Las novelas y sus narradores, Salamanca 2006, ISBN 9788496408265, p. 336 When commencing work on the novel, he was in his early 30s; following a university spell in Madrid he lived in Bilbao and worked as a teacher of Latin in the local Instituto. Colette Rabaté, Jean-Claude Rabaté, Miguel de Unamuno: biografía, Madrid 2009, ISBN 9788430607617, pp. 50-57 His literary record was null: at about this time he started publishing articles in local papers, and some of them resembled the format of short stories. In 1891 he got married and assumed the chair of Greek at the University of Salamanca, where he moved with his wife; the couple would have first 3 children during the following 5 years. The scale of his press contributions became significant, and he started to make a name for himself in the local Biscay and Salmantine ambience. In 1895, during final period of editing Paz en la Guerra, Unamuno published his first book, En torno al casticismo, a set of sophisticated essays on Castillan self, tradition and history; this volume gained him attention among Spanish intellectuals, though initially it did not make a major impact in terms of popular discourse. Herbert Ramsden, Weak-pronoun Position in the Early Romance Languages, Manchester 1963, p. 101
Spain of the mid-1890s
When the novel was published Spain has been enjoying some 20 years of political stability, the first such period in the 19th century. The regime, usually named "Restoration", was monarchy combined with parliamentarian liberal democracy; two key parties were interchanging at power and fundamental flaws of the system – its elitism, corruption and caciquismo – were not clearly visible yet. see e.g. Rosa Ana Gutiérrez, Rafael Zurita, Renato Camurri, Elecciones y cultura política en España e Italia (1890-1923), Valencia 2003, ISBN 9788437056722 For few years the country has already been fighting the war in Cuba against local independentists, but at the time no-one knew that within a year it would develop into the war against the United States and would produce a massive disaster, a cultural shock that would be one of major milestones of Spanish history. Carlism, defeated in the civil war 22 years before, appeared to have been a threat long gone, reduced to a second-rate party which abandoned its insurgent ideas. Jordi Canal, El carlismo, Madrid 2000, ISBN 8420639478, pp. 231-255 The Basque nationalism was merely in its nascent phase, with scarce following and reduced to very few institutional outposts. Cameron Watson, Modern Basque History: Eighteenth Century to the Present, Reno 2003, ISBN 9781877802164, p. 191 First republican parties started to win seats in the parliament, while the socialist ones failed to do so; Manuel Tuñón de Lara, Transformaciones políticas e ideológicas de España durante el primer tercio del siglo XX (1898-1936), [w:] Historia contemporánea 4 (1990), pp. 239-245 the level of social tension was moderate.
Writing the novel
According to his later claim Unamuno was writing Paz en la Guerra for some 12 years, in preface to the second, 1923 edition of the novel, Unamuno wrote: “Aqui, en este libro – que es el que fui – encerré más de doce años de trabajo”, Miguel de Unamuno, Paz en la guerra, Madrid 1923, p. 5 which points to the mid-1880s as the moment of its inception. J. J. Macklin, Julia Biggane (eds.), A Companion to Miguel de Unamuno, London 2016, ISBN 9781855663008, p. 215 It seems that it was written in the late 1880s in Bilbao, and then edited in the early 1890s in Salamanca. At that time Unamuno was influenced by Herbert Spencer.Joxe Azurmendi, Bakea gudan. Unamuno, historia eta karlismoa, Tafalla, 2012, ISBN 978-84-15313-19-9, pp. 57-81 Some of his essays published in Biscay newspapers in the late 1880s and early 1890s contained images which later appeared in the novel, mostly related to depictions of Bilbao. The most evident case is an 1887 story Solitaña; it features a fictional character which bears some resemblance to Pedro Iturriondo and contains “themes and preoccupations” developed in Paz en la Guerra. Macklin, Biggane 2016, pp. 215-116 In 1891 the author confessed in a private letter that initially he intended “una novelita corta” which he planned to finish in 3-4 months; later it grew to “novela histórico-político-religiosa-etc-etc” and there was still 1-2 years needed to complete it. Jesús Gutiérrez, Unamuno entre la épica y la intrahistoria: Relectura de "Paz en la guerra", [in:] Actas del IX Congreso de la Asociación Internacional de Hispanistas 18-23 agosto 1986, vol. II, Berlín/Frankfurt am Main 1989, pp. 265, 268 Though Unamuno partially relied on his own infantile memories from the times of war, he also extensively consulted archival copies of newspapers issued during the siege, e.g. La Guerra. Colette Rabaté, Jean-Claude Rabaté (eds.), Miguel de Unamuno, Epistolario, Salamanca 2017, ISBN 9788490127711, p. 1088 It seems that his narrative was mostly completed in the early 1890s, and later years were dedicated to editing. Rabaté, Rabaté 2017, p. 1088 The novel was considered ready in early 1896. in March 1986 he was already discussing publication details, J. Ignacio Tellechea Idígoras, José María Soltura y Unamuno. Noticias sobre ‘Paz en la guerra’, [in:] Cuadernos de la Cátedra Miguel de Unamuno 39 (2004), p. 121
Publication
Unamuno’s key advisor in publishing matters was José María Soltura Urrutia, a wealthy Biscay intellectual who eventually financed the edition.Soltura Urrutio, José María, [in:] Aunamendi Eusko Entziklopedia Having finished writing, in March 1896 Unamuno intended to get the book published as soon as possible, but was advised to wait until the summer or perhaps even later; eventually the book appeared on the market in early 1897. Initially he wanted to release it with one of the Bilbao publishing houses, but he was persuaded to rely rather on a Madrid company. The book was printed in December 1896 Ramsden 1963, p. 101, Manuel Ma Urrutia, Evolución del pensamiento político de Unamuno, Bilbao 2009, ISBN 9788498308433, p. 312, Rafael Sánchez Mantero, En torno al 98, Huelva 2022, ISBN 9788418984525, p. 40. It was being printed in December 1896, and in January 1897 it was shipped to commercial recipients, Tellechea Idígoras 2004, p. 146 by the Bilbao firm Imprenta Muller y Zavaleta, El Lábaro 11.11.1898 but it got officially released in January 1897 the first press note identified comes from January 24, 1897, El ateneo de Orihuela 24.01.1897 by the Madrid publishing house Librería de Fernando Fé. Its print run was moderate 1.503 copies Tellechea Idígoras 2004, p. 150 (at the time novels of established authors like Galdós or Pereda had a print run of 3-5.000 copies). some quantitative estimates in Elisa Martí-López, Historia literaria y análisis cuantitativo: Ediciones, éxitos de venta y novela en España, 1840-1900, [in:] Bulletin hispanique 103 (2001), p. 683 During commercial negotiations in late 1896 Fé offered Unamuno the royalty of 2.000 ptas, Tellechea Idígoras 2004, p. 142 but eventually the writer earned 1.500 ptas Paul Aubert, La civilización de lo impreso la prensa, el periodismo y la edición en España (1906-1936), Zaragoza 2021, ISBN 9788413403038, p. 415 (his annual salary at the university was 3.500 ptas Miguel de Unamuno. Expedientes administrativos de grandes españoles, Madrid 1982, ISBN 8436909275, s. 80). The book was sold at the price of 4 ptas (above the usual price of 2 ptas) and enjoyed some sort of marketing campaign. La Esquella de la torratxa 12.03.1897 Single copies were sent out to various critics and institutions. Tellechea Idígoras 2004, pp. 151-152
First reception
The book sold out within a year; Actas del Congreso de la Asociación Internacional de Hispanistas, vol. 8, Roma 1962, p. 582 unlike novels of popular authors, re-issued every some time, e.g. Tormento, a novel by Perez Galdós, was first published in 1884 and re-issued 4 times until 1906. The total print run of all 5 editions was 16.000, on average 3.200 per edition, Martí-López 2001, p. 683 it would not be re-published for quarter of a century. In the press the novel was rather well received, both in daily papers and specialized literary magazines; some classified it as “obra literaria de verdadera importancia” and used it as a benchmark for other novels. La España moderna May 1897 One reviewer saw it as a tale about two conflicting protagonists: the city and the village. La Epoca 01.02.1897 Another focused rather on psychology of the characters and especially on Pachico, singled out as the key personality. La Oceania española 15.03.1897 One more described it as a “philosophical novel” La España moderna April 1897, p. 123 and warned readers not to expect torrid action, though he complained that protagonists are “demasiado razonadores y filósofos”. Crónica literaria, [in:] La España moderna April 1897, p. 127 Some viewed it as a novelistic analysis of the phenomenon of war and its impact, making references to Tolstoy’s War and Peace. El Imparcial 26.04.1897 Some had difficulty when trying to categorize the novel, and referred to “novela verdaderement inclasifiable”. La Esquella de la torratxa 14.05.1897 Among key figures of literary critique the reception was mixed. Marcelino Menéndez Pelayo reportedly liked the book; Tellechea Idígoras 2004, p. 160 Urbano González Serrano did not respond favorably. Roberta Johnson, Crossfire Philosophy and the Novel in Spain, 1900-1934, Frankfort 2021, ISBN 9780813184494, p. 44 Also some other reviewers, like Francisco Navarro Ledesma, remained rather critical. Rabaté, Rabaté 2017, p. 744
Characters
Major:
Ignacio Iturriondo,in Basque the surname might mean "next to the spring", "near the source", and by some scholars is considered meaningful, see Jon Juaristi, El bucle melancólico, s.l. 2022, ISBN 9788430624584, p. 44 born 1849, the only child of Pedro Antonio and Josefa Ignacia. When adolescent an apprentice in a trading business of a certain Aguirre, did not speak Basque well. Secretly adored Rafaela. As teenager naive and somewhat romantic, later rather inarticulate. Initially engaged in Carlist leafleting propaganda. Brainwashed by Celestino, following outbreak of the war he volunteered to Carlist troops. Took part in the siege of Bilbao. He asked for transfer to zone of intense combat, shot during the Battle of Somorrostro in 1874 Josefa Ignacia, wife to Pedro Antonio, of similar age, also ethnic Basque, called Pepiñasi by her husband, mother of Ignacio, simple, family-devoted, religious woman. During the war together with her husband they moved to his native village. Initially in despair following loss of her son, later somewhat reconciled. During final months of the war with her husband they returned to Bilbao, where she died shortly after