Spain’s Second Republic: From Revolution to Civil War (1931-1936)
October 1934 Revolution
In Spain, on October 5, 1934, monitoring irregular activities, suppressed militarily by the government, led to a declaration of a state of war. This only ignited the revolution in Catalonia, with the proclamation of the Estat Català, and in Asturias, where miners staged a workers’ revolution.
The Revolution in Asturias
The Workers’ Alliance, composed of socialists, communists, and anarchists, mobilized some 20,000 miners, arranged in columns or armed militias. These workers’ militias occupied mining towns and Oviedo, replacing them with revolutionary committees and councils.
The government decided to quell the popular uprising in an exemplary manner. They mobilized the colonial army stationed in Morocco; on October 10, the Legion landed in Gijón and the Regular Tabor – led by General Franco – arrived from Madrid. Within a week, the African troops defeated the workers’ militia. The revolution failed but served as a prelude to the events of the Civil War two years later.
Consequences and Political Crisis
Apart from Asturias, the revolution had serious consequences in Catalonia, where Companys, Macià’s successor, proclaimed a Catalan state within the Spanish Federal Republic. The Catalonian rebellion, with the support of the syndicalists, was easily suppressed, and the government suspended the Statute of Catalonia.
The conservative political crisis of the biennium became evident. The gap between the left and right had widened and deepened significantly.
The CEDA Enters Government
After the October Revolution of 1934, five CEDA ministers entered the government, including Gil Robles, who assumed the defense portfolio. Several coalition governments between the Radicals and the CEDA followed, characterized by their conservative nature and the decline of Agrarian Reform. However, these governments were notably unstable.
1935: Political Instability and Scandals
In 1935, the state government headed by the Radical-Lerroux CEDA coalition was no longer tenable. Internal differences and corruption scandals had destroyed its political credibility.
President Alcalá Zamora’s Dilemma
President Alcalá Zamora had limited options. He wanted to remove Lerroux, implicated in the black market political corruption scandal (not yet public knowledge), but also refused to appoint a Prime Minister from the CEDA, fearing backlash from the left.
Gil Robles and the Fall of the Biennium
The conflict between Gil Robles and the Presidency of the Republic emerged immediately. To discredit the Radical Party, it seemed logical to appoint Gil Robles as Prime Minister, as he was the leader of the most voted party. However, Alcalá Zamora, ignoring this request, named Manuel Portela Valladares instead.
This decision precipitated the end of the biennium. The Right interpreted it as a provocation by the President, especially as the imposed government included six non-party members. Gil Robles’s outrage led him to consider the possibility of a coup, believing the President was violating the Constitution. This possibility never materialized – Franco himself discouraged it – and Gil Robles withdrew parliamentary support from the Government. Consequently, new elections were called for February 1936.
The Popular Front and the 1936 Elections
The left parties (Republicans, Socialists, and Communists) formed an electoral coalition called the Popular Front in January 1936. The idea originated from a proposal by the Third International (Communist) directed from Moscow. To counter the threat of fascism, the Communist Party proposed a united front of all liberal, republican, and left-wing political forces. The CNT, while not signing the pact, recommended its members vote for the coalition.
The joint program advocated amnesty for prisoners and those affected by the reprisals of the 1934 revolution, reinstating them in their positions and jobs, and the recovery of the reform legislation of the first two years of the Republic.
The Popular Front victory was concentrated in most of Catalonia, in industrial regions, and in areas with southern landowners. The Right increased its representation at the expense of the sinking centrists and won in Castilla-León, Aragon, and Navarra. As the election law favored coalitions, the result was a large majority for the Popular Front (298 members) in the courts.
Popular Front Government and Escalating Tensions
Despite the goodwill of Azaña, called to form a government, political life could not regain its stability, stifled by proletarian radicalism and the degradation of public order. Monasteries and churches were burned, street gangsterism increased, and members of right-wing legal organizations deserted to extremist military movements. The Falange intensified their violent actions and attacks. Continuous rumors of a coup d’état fueled intense anti-militarism in the leftist press, contributing to the climate of violence. The situation was further complicated when Congress decided to depose Alcalá Zamora. In May 1936, Manuel Azaña became President.
Revolutionary Agitation and Military Conspiracy
During June and July, both rural areas and cities witnessed revolutionary agitation. Peasants occupied land, which the police barely managed to prevent. As a show of strength, the CNT called a strike that paralyzed construction in Madrid.
In this environment, a group of generals prepared an action against the Government. To preempt this, the government moved suspected generals away from Madrid:
- Mola was sent to Pamplona
- Goded and Franco to the Canary and Balearic Islands
The street environment became increasingly volatile, with frequent political assassinations and the breakdown of public order by both sides of the polarized Spanish political spectrum.
The Assassination of Calvo Sotelo and the Military Uprising
On July 13, Calvo Sotelo, the political leader of the monarchist right, was assassinated. This murder was the catalyst that accelerated the preparations for the military uprising. On July 17, the garrison in Melilla revolted.
Conclusion: From Republic to Civil War
The proclamation of the Republic in April 1931 represented the first attempt to establish a modern democratic system in Spain. This shift in political power from the traditional groups to the middle classes faced hostility and the threat of revolution from the popular classes. The international situation was unfavorable for the Republic: economically, Europe was impacted by the crisis of ’29, and politically, it was a period of weakness in democratic systems and the rise of totalitarianism on both the left (communism) and right (fascism). Spain succumbed to the wave of radicalism in July 1936, a situation it could not control or avoid.
Within days of the failed uprising in Spain’s major cities, fighting between insurgent forces and those loyal to the Government escalated into a civil war, in which General Franco soon acquired a decisive role.