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Spain: dictatorship and democracy
The dictatorship of Primo de Rivera
In 1923, General Miguel Primo de Rivera led a military coup and established a right- wing dictatorship
The aim of this dictatorship was tu put an end to the problems which had emerged during the reign of Alfonso XIII
Alfonso XIII accepted the dictatorship and Primo de Rivera was named president of the government
The support that Primo de Rivera had
Business owners, the church and the army, believed it would restore order
The socialist trade unions hoped Primo de Rivera would introduce social and labour reforms
Measures that Primo de Rivera adopted
Domestic policy
the Patriotic Union became the official party of the dictatorship
It aimed to re-establish order by eradicating terrorism nationalism and suppressing demonstrations
Foreign policy
In 1925, the dictatorship won a definitive victory in the war in Morocco after the success of the landing of Spanish troops at Alhucemas
The economy
A plan was implemented to build large public works to help create employment
State monopolies were set up (for example,
From 1928 onwards, Primo de Rivera's dictatorship faced growing opposition
The army opposed him because he decreed a new promotion system based on merit rather than seniority
Political parties opposed him because they wanted to restore a parliamentary system
Because of the economic crisis in 1929 the situation was even worse and it cause unemployment and social unrest
The king withdrew his support for the dictator so, in January 1930, Primo de Rivera resigned and a constitutional monarchy was restored
The Second Spanish Republic
In April 1931, the constitutional monarchy of Alfonso XIII was restored and municipal elections were held
The Republican-Socialist coalition won and Alfonso XIII went into exile
On 14 April 1931, the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed
It was divided in three periods
The centre-right biennium
The Popular Front
The left-wing or reformist biennium
The left-wing or reformist biennium (1931–1933)
Niceto Alcalá Zamora was named president of the Republic, and Manuel Azaña became head of the government
First, they wrote a new Constitution (1931) which was one of the most progressive constitutions in Europe in terms of the extensive citizens' rights it contained
Some reforms were also made during those years
Military reforms
The law that Azaña imposed reduced the excessive number of army officers and prioritised promotion based on academic qualifications rather than military achievements
This reform was done with the aim of reducing the political power of the army and modernise it
This reform affected military leaders, which were opposed to it
Agricultural reform
Large agricultural estates were expropriated and the land was divided among landless peasants who became small landowners
Landowners were against this reform because they lost part of their land
The rural working class was not happy either because the lands were being slowly implemented
Territorial reforms:
Pais Vasco and Galicia were in the process of becoming autonomous and Cataluña was given again a statue of autonomy
The right-wing politicians were opposed to this reform because they thought that the measures were an attack on the integrity of Spanish territory
Labour reforms
the Law of Labour Contracts forced business owners to negotiate working conditions with the trade unions in order to avoid strikes. Moreover, an eight-hour working day, a minimum wage and paid holidays were established
This reform didn’t favour business owners because they lost money
Educational reforms
A secular, mixed gender, compulsory free education system was established. Pedagogical missions were also created, that consisted of taking culture to rural areas
The church was affected by this reform because until then they were the ones that provided primary and secondary education
This reforms caused discontent among the right-wing political groups and they weren't accepted by the most radical left-wing groups either
They were lost of strikes and confrontations with security forces
In 1933, as peasants were killed in some confrontations in Cádiz the government's unpopularity increased and Manuel Azaña resigned as head of government
The centre-right biennium (1933–1936)
Elections were held and the centre-right parties won, establishing a conservative government
Alejandro Lerroux was named head of government and with the support of the Confederación Española de Derechas Autónomas (CEDA) led by Gil Robles, he suspended the reforms made by the previous government
As a consequence, The PSOE and the PCE, with the main trade unions organised a general strike in October 1934 (October Revolution), in protest against the suspension of the previous government's reforms
Although it failed all over Spain, it managed to succeed in Asturias and Cataluña
In Asturias, it was a social revolution so, the miners took control of the coalfields and proclaimed a revolutionary government
In Cataluña, it was a political revolution so, the president of the autonomous community, Lluis Companys, proclaimed a Catalan state
The revolution was brought to an end when the army intervened
In Asturias, troops led by General Francisco Franco forcefully suppressed the revolutionary movement
In Cataluña, the statute of autonomy was removed
Finally, political tension and social discontent caused by the military repression of the working class, forced the government to hold new elections
The Popular Front (1936)
the Socialists, Communists and Republicans formed a coalition called the Popular Front and won the elections in February 1936
Manuel Azaña became the president of the Republic, and Casares Quiroga became head of the government
The agricultural reforms were renewed and with new expropriations and the statute of autonomy of Cataluña was re-established
The reforms provoked protests and violent clashes between extreme right-wing militants and extreme left-wing groups
Right-wing
Was supported by landowners, the church and the army
The parties were
Spanish Falange
Radical Party
National Block
PNV
Lliga Catalana
They were no trade unions
The Coalition of parties was called CEDA
Left-wing
It was supported by intellectuals, workers and peasants
The parties were
PSOE: Socialists
PCE: Communists
Esquerra Republicana Catalana (ERC)
Izquierda Republicana
The trade unions were the UGT (Socialists) and CNT and FAI (anarchists)
The Coalition of parties was called Popular Front
The Spanish Civil War
The two sides and the international support
As the military rebellion of 18 July 1936 turned into a civil war because of the Republican resistance to the uprising, Spain was divided in two
The Republicans
They were represented by Manuel Azaña, the president of the Republic, and were loyal to the Republican government
They had international support
Stalinist USSR supported a workers' revolution
They provided advisers, planes and military equipment
The International Brigades from various European parties and United States supported them
Mexico sent food and healthcare supplies
The Nationalist
They were led by General Francisco Franco, who were in favour of the military uprising
They had the support of
Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy
They supplied a great quantity of planes, military equipment, tanks and well-provisioned troops
Portugal and Ireland
They supplied volunteers who joined the Nationalist army
Characteristics of the two zones
the Republican zone
The authority was split between the central government, who put together a Popular Army of militiamen, and the different revolutionary groups who imposed their authority in the areas not controlled by the government
The Nationalist zone
It was under the control of General Francisco Franco, who imposed an authoritarian regime
It was a unified area
The civil war was a military conflict which took place between 1936 and 1939
As a result, the government of the Republic was replaced with a dictatorship led by General Francisco Franco
Reasons for the outbreak of the war
On 17 July 1936, the most conservative and anti-republican section of the army rebelled in Morocco against the government of the Republic
On 18 July, the rebellion, led by Emilio Mola, José Sanjurjo and Francisco Franco, spread to the peninsula
The rebellion aimed to
End public disorder
There was also fear of a working class revolution in Spain which would establish a communist regime
End left-wing government reforms
The landowners were discontent with the expropriation of their lands
Business owners opposed the labour reforms
The church was opposed to the secularisation of education
The army were unhappy with their loss of political power
End the Republic and re-establish the political and social order
The development of the war
During the war, the fronts moved according to military objectives
Northern campaign
The next objective for Franco was to take Asturias, Cantabria and País Vasco, which had received its statute of autonomy in 1936
In this phase, Guernica (Vizcaya), was bombed in 1937 by the Condor Legion (Nazi air force)
Battle of the Ebro
The Republicans began the battle of the Ebro in order to stop the Nationalist advance towards Cataluña
Franco won the battle and in 1939 he entered Barcelona
March to Madrid
The Nationalists (led by Franco), tried to occupy Madrid, the seat of the Republican government, but they were defeated in the battles of Jarama and Guadalajara
The end of the war
In March, the Nationalist army took Madrid and on 1 April 1939, the war ended
The consequences of the civil war
The main consequences of the war
Political
Franco had set up a dictatorship that didn't want reconciliation with the Republicans, but their annihilation
Demographic
Half a million Spanish people died during the civil war, which drastically reduced the population
Half a million republicans were exiled to Latin America and France
Economic
Economic losses were high due to the destruction of infrastructure, transport systems, industrial areas and houses
Agricultural and industrial production fell by 25% and many people were living in extreme poverty
Cultural
Ideological repression was implemented through education and culture
Many teachers were dismissed or even executed; intellectuals were assassinated or exiled
