(Reuters) - Spanish unions have called a general strike this week, the latest in a line of European industrial action that dates back more than a century. But it’s unlikely the Spanish strike will be as big as some of those in the past:

* EARLY YEARS:

-- General strikes in Europe begin with the growth of large trade unions late in the 19th century.

-- Two large general strikes occurred in Belgium in 1893 and 1902 in support of universal male suffrage. A large-scale strike in Sweden in 1902 over similar issues, was followed by one in Italy in 1904 protesting the use of soldiers as strikebreakers.

-- The general strike that gripped Russia during the Revolution of 1905 forced the Czar to issue the October Manifesto, in which he promised to create a constitution and a national legislature.

-- In 1909 another general strike was staged in Sweden, this time in response to the wage-freeze and lockout policies adopted by employers who faced falling profits. Nearly half of the country’s total workforce struck, and the stoppage lasted a month before a settlement was reached. The strike showed that major economic reforms could be achieved without resorting to violence.

* POST WORLD WAR ONE

-- A general strike in Berlin thwarted a right-wing takeover of the German government in 1920.

-- In 1926 Britain faced a massive general strike by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in support of the nation’s coal miners, who were in a bitter dispute with mine owners seeking to reduce their wages and increase their shifts.

After nine days, the TUC called off the strike, arguing the government was better prepared for the strike than the unions, and accepted a compromise. Miners resented the move and stayed out on strike but were eventually driven back to work by starvation. Trade union funds dropped by 4 million pounds by the end of 1926 and union membership fell by over half a million in 1927 alone.

-- Capitalizing on its victory, the government rushed through parliament the Trades Disputes and Trades Union Act in 1927 under which general strikes and most sympathy strikes became illegal. It was repealed by the Labour government in 1946.

* POST WORLD WAR TWO

-- General strikes have been infrequent in Europe since World War Two. Notable exceptions were the outbreak of a general strike in France in May 1968 that almost toppled the government. It was touched off by student demands for educational reform.

-- President Charles De Gaulle eventually turned the situation around with a dramatic address to the nation, a pro-government demonstration on the Champs-Elysees and a snap general election that gave him an enormous majority.

-- Nationwide strikes for social security and educational reform also took place in Italy in November 1968 involving more than 12 million workers.

-- British miners helped bring about the fall of Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath in 1974 after a strike that forced the government to put industry on a three-day working week.

-- Mining communities across Britain went on a bitter year-long strike 10 years later in 1984, hoping to scuttle Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s plan to shut mines and eliminate 20,000 jobs. Thatcher won the epic showdown, and Britain’s mining industry has since been virtually wiped out.

-- France was the scene of 24 days of public sector strikes in late 1995. The strikes shut public transportation, hospitals, mail delivery, and many other public utilities and services in protest against the French government’s plans to cut welfare and other social benefits.

-- Spain has had several general strikes -- of varying effectiveness -- since democracy was restored in 1977 following the death of dictator General Francisco Franco. The January 1994 strike had 50 percent worker participation at most.

Sources: Reuters/TUC/BBC/www.britannica.com/Penguin Dictionary of Twentieth Century History.