Political Evolution During the Spanish Civil War: Republican & Nationalist Spain
Political Developments in Both Zones
Republican Spain
The rebellion triggered the immediate resignation of Santiago Casares Quiroga’s government. President Manuel Azaña tasked Diego Martínez Barrio with forming a new government, but his failure to halt the insurgency and reluctance to arm the populace led to his resignation on July 19th. Azaña then entrusted José Giral with forming a moderate Republican government and began distributing weapons to the people. Republican institutions continued to operate under the existing Constitution, despite wartime limitations. The dynamics of Republican parties and organizations resulted in government changes and internal conflicts.
A) The Largo Caballero Government
On September 5, 1936, President Azaña appointed Francisco Largo Caballero, a left-wing PSOE leader, to form a coalition government. It included Basque and Catalan nationalists, republican parties, the PSOE, the Communist Party, and later, anarchists. A notable achievement was the adoption of the Statute of Autonomy for the Basque Country. In early November, the government moved from Madrid to Valencia. Madrid was placed under the authority of a Defense Board led by General Miaja, who, with General Pozas, achieved a moral victory by repelling attempts to capture the capital. In the summer of 1936, Republican Spain experienced a social revolution with two main factions: communists, socialists, and moderate Republicans favoring a war economy, and anarchists, Trotskyites, and radical socialists advocating for collectivization and radical revolution. These factions clashed in Barcelona in May 1937, resulting in the death of POUM leader Andreu Nin. The popular mobilization demanded economic and social changes, which the Republican government implemented from the war’s outset.
However, the most significant transformations came from the collectivization of enterprises and farms.
B) The Negrín Government
Following the May 1937 crisis, Dr. Juan Negrín, a PSOE member supported by the Communists, led the Republican government. He aimed for maximum unity among Republican forces. Losses further strained relations between the Generalitat of Catalonia and the central government, which sought to unify the war effort. Negrín moved the government seat from Valencia to Barcelona and published his Thirteen Points, expressing his intention to win the war and uphold the democratic institutions under the 1931 Constitution. This last attempt to stop the war was categorically rejected by Franco. After the northern front fell in October 1937 and further defeats in 1938, Republican hopes dwindled. The Negrín government’s slogan to resist at any cost until a European conflict erupted was not universally accepted. The Republican State practically ceased to exist when Azaña resigned in February 1939. Franco ordered his troops to occupy the remaining Republican territory in late March 1939.
Nationalist Spain
Organizing power in Nationalist Spain proved challenging. Initially, a military junta led by General Cabanellas served as the highest governing body. However, generals and Africanist royalists soon pushed for a single leader. In October 1936, Franco was proclaimed Head of Government of the Spanish State and Generalissimo of the Armies. This marked Franco’s first step towards consolidating power. In 1937, the Decree of Unification established a single party: Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista (FET de las JONS). Franco became the absolute leader of this new party after the death of José Antonio Primo de Rivera in 1936.