Primo de Rivera’s Dictatorship in Spain (1923-1930)
The Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera (1923-1930)
4.1. The Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera
Primo de Rivera’s coup of September 13, 1923, had the connivance of the King and the enthusiastic support of employers’ organizations and the extreme right.
A Fascist Regime: The Military Directory (1923-1925)
The Military Directory was proposed as a temporary solution that declared war on the state of the country. The new regime suspended the constitution and prohibited political parties and unions, and dismissed all elected officials. The repression especially reached the CNT, nationalists, and intellectuals. The press and civil governors were replaced by military personnel, military government representatives were appointed to the municipalities, and councilors were replaced with “associate members” chosen by lot among different taxpayer categories. This way, the administration was militarized and the regime moved away from the political charges of the Restoration.
From 1924, positions began to be occupied by civilians, mostly officials and some politicians from the Catholic and Maurist right.
b) The Civil Directory
In 1925, the military board was replaced by a civilian board that included young right-wing politicians like Calvo Sotelo. The dictator showed his intention to remain in power and establish a stable regime, against what he had initially stated. This radicalized the nationalist movement and created great difficulties for the Regionalist League leaders who had expressed understanding with the dictator’s intentions.
c) Completion of the War in Morocco
The military dictatorship addressed the Rif question through collaboration with the French army. The successful landing of Alhucemas (1925) allowed the control of the entire territory of the Protectorate by the summer of 1927. These operations consolidated the strength and influence of the military corps established in the Rif (Legion, Regulars…) and the generals (“Africans”).
d) The Formation of the Militia
A militia, founded in Barcelona by business owners and promoted for years by the right and employers to combat unionism, was extended by the dictator to the whole of Spain with the creation of the National Militia, subject to the army to control public order.
e) Economic Policy
The dictatorship intensified some of the basic tendencies of capitalism in the first third of the 20th century:
- Economic nationalism
- Monopolistic practices
- Financial concentration
- State interventionism
Economic nationalism was strengthened with the creation of the state monopoly on petroleum imports, refining, and distribution (CAMPSA), which was previously held by European companies. It provided broad monopolies: tobacco, telephone… and continued with the traditional protectionist policy.
With the new regime, the power of the financial oligarchy was stressed. The large banks continued to expand. They had some representation in Barcelona and were close to the extreme right. The years of dictatorship were, on average, years of economic growth due to the international situation and the creation of jobs generated by the public works policy. But, in return, the public works policy exacerbated the chronic crisis of the Treasury, the multiplication of debt, and the sharp drop in the price of the peseta. Furthermore, the low purchasing power of farmers harmed the cotton industry, which had lost markets during the World War. The arrival of the Great Depression (1929), with the collapse of foreign trade, inflation, and increased unemployment, showed that the success of the dictatorship’s economic policy had been only circumstantial. After the economic euphoria, many of the same organizations and the army stopped supporting the regime. Lacking this support, the dictator resigned on January 28, 1930.
4.2. Opposition to the Dictatorship
The dictatorship banned political parties and harshly repressed the opposition, resorting to censorship, judicial processes, isolation of some opposition leaders, and sometimes direct confrontation with politicians and intellectuals. Since 1928, the decline of the regime became clear, in addition to the dictator’s serious illness: conspiracies and republican mobilizations increased, and social unrest grew.
In January 1930, the dictator resigned and fled into exile in Paris, where he died shortly after.
5. From Dictatorship to Republic
The new government headed by General Berenguer, a confidant of Alfonso XIII and one of the main people responsible for the Annual Disaster, sought a return to constitutional normality. The Lliga and PNV were marginalized, while the UGT supported the coalition, while the CNT left the vote free to its members. On April 13, crowds began to take to the streets, while the army and civil guard did not intervene to restore order. Romanones (Minister of State) advised the king to leave the country. Early on April 14, the city of Eibar proclaimed the Republic, and at noon in Barcelona, Macià announced the establishment of the “Catalan Republic within the Iberian Federation.” At dusk, the movement had spread to the cities of Seville, Valencia, Zaragoza… King Alfonso XIII went into exile to Cartagena. At the same time, the revolutionary committee, composed of members of the Pact of San Sebastian, was constituted as the Provisional Government of the Republic, without bloodshed.