Alejandro Lerroux (1864-1949), the leader of the Radical Republican Party, combined verbal and anti-clerical radicalism that was close to the politics of revolution with a political approach that was pro-Spanish. In 1905, he championed the army and was the enemy of Catalan Solidarity. His confused and demagogic discourse impressed the working and middle classes in Barcelona. His electoral strategy and brilliant public speaking turned the sector of republicans that he led into a modern party of the masses. He was accused by Catalanists and the libertarian movement of being paid by the Spanish Ministry of Administration.