Spain’s Second Republic: Politics, Reforms, and Downfall
The Second Spanish Republic (1931-1936)
The Proclamation of the Republic and the Constitutional Period
The Elections and the Provisional Government
On April 12, 1931, municipal elections were held in Spain by universal male suffrage. The Socialists won the Republican nomination. On the morning of April 14, local councilors of Eibar, Gipuzkoa proclaimed the Republic, and throughout the day, the councilors of Valencia, Sevilla, Oviedo, Zaragoza, Barcelona, etc. followed suit. King Alfonso XIII fled the country. In Madrid, representatives of the signatories of the Pact of San Sebastian formed a provisional government, proclaiming the Second Spanish Republic on the same day, the 14th. Members of the Republican and Socialist parties included: conservative Republicans, leftists, radicals, socialists, and Catalan and Galician nationalists. Apart from the coalition were the right-wing monarchists, the Basque nationalists, and the more radical workers’ movements (communists and anarchists). The provisional government convened a Constituent Assembly election on June 28. The government announced measures of extreme urgency: a general amnesty for political prisoners, the proclamation of political and union freedom, army reform, negotiations with the Catalans and Basques, and measures to protect farmers evicted from land they could not pay rent for. It had broad popular support, but also the enmity of the large landowners, the financial oligarchy, the military, and the Church. The general elections of June 28 had high participation. The victory went to the Republican-Socialist coalition.
The Constitution of 1931
The elected members formed the new Republican Parliament and the executive was in the hands of the winning coalition, which confirmed the positions of the chief minister, Niceto Alcalá Zamora. The courts appointed a commission to prepare a draft constitution, approved in December 1931. The Constitution of 1931 was very advanced for its time; it was democratic and progressive, defining Spain as “a republic of workers of all classes that are organized under a Freedom and Justice.” Its principles were: accepting the possibility of setting up autonomous governments in some regions, with the legislature fully residing in Parliament, the executive in government, and the judiciary being independent. It included a broad statement of rights and freedoms, absolute equality before the law, education, and work without discrimination on national origin, gender, or wealth. Work was defined as a social obligation. It granted the vote from the age of 23 and, for the first time, gave the vote to women. It established a secular state, declaring no official religion and recognizing civil marriage and divorce. Although it was approved by a majority, there were discrepancies between the left and right, especially regarding religious and regional issues. Manuel Azaña replaced Alcalá Zamora as head of government, and Alcalá Zamora became president.
Parties and Unions in the Second Republic
The Left-Wing Formations
On the political left, two state-level Republican parties stood out: the Radical-Socialist and Republican Action. At the regional level, there were the Republican Galician Autonomous Organization and Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya. There were also parties and trade unions: the strongest and most structured party on the left was the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party). Within the PSOE, there were two streams: a social-democratic one that sought to delay the revolutionary approach, led by Julián Basteiro, and a revolutionary one led by Largo Caballero, secretary-general of the Socialist UGT trade union center. Further to the left was the Communist Party of Spain (PCE). In 1936, the POUM (Workers’ Party of Marxist Unification) was created. Special mention deserves the anarchist union CNT, which had two streams. On the one hand, the “trentistas,” a more moderate direction, believed the revolution had to be a collective effort of organized labor unions. On the other hand, a more radical revolutionary sector around the Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI) advocated armed insurrection, led by figures like Durruti.
The Right-Wing Groups
There were some center-right Republican formations, such as Lerroux’s Radical Party or the Liberal Republican Right, and right-wing parties like the Agrarian Party and Spanish Action. The major player on the right was the Spanish Confederation of Autonomous Rights (CEDA), led by José María Gil Robles. It defended land ownership, the traditional weight of the Church and the army, and the interests of the owners. There were also regionalist parties: in Catalonia, conservative groups were represented by the Regionalist League, and in the Basque Country by the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV). Finally, there were parties opposing the Republic: monarchists of Spanish Renewal led by José Calvo Sotelo, Carlist groups grouped in the Traditionalist Communion, and the Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista (JONS), which later joined the Spanish Falange party led by José Antonio Primo de Rivera, son of the dictator, with an anti-democratic ideology.
The Biennium of Leftist Reforms (1931-1933)
The Religious Issue
One of the primary goals of the Republic was to limit the influence of the Church, which was embodied in the Constitution: freedom of religion, elimination of the budget for worship and clergy, divorce, and civil marriage. Moreover, fear of the influence exercised by religious orders, especially in education, led the government to ban them from teaching. The process was completed with the Law of Congregations in 1933, which limited the possessions of religious orders. The Church hierarchy did not hesitate to express their antagonism toward the Republic and to mobilize Catholics against it.
The Modernization of the Army
Manuel Azaña pushed an amendment that sought to create a professional and democratic army, end macrocephaly (one officer for every three soldiers), ensure their obedience to civilian authority, and end the traditional military intervention in politics. The Retirement Act of 1931 was passed, requiring all serving officers to pledge their commitment to the Republic and giving them the opportunity to retire with full pay if they wished. The Assault Guards were created, a force of public loyal to the Republic. The reform had limited results. It achieved the reduction of military spending, but budget cuts hampered the modernization of the material. Moreover, the reform was welcomed by some sectors as an assault on the military tradition. The right took advantage of this discontent to encourage the military revolt against the Republic.
Agrarian Reform
It was intended to end the dominance of landlordism and improve the living conditions of the rural poor. The first decrees established the prohibition to terminate leases, set the eight-hour workday in the field, and determined minimum wages. But the real reform was the establishment of a Land Reform Act. The law allowed the expropriation without compensation of land belonging to the nobility, as well as poorly cultivated or irrigable land that was not being irrigated; these could be expropriated by compensating their owners. The initial results of land reform were limited. The reasons for this failure would be in the complexity of the law itself, the slow pace of implementation, and the lack of budget for compensation. The implementation of the Agrarian Reform Act resulted in a considerable increase in social tension. On the one hand, large landowners opposed the reform and allied with the enemies of the Republic. On the other hand, the farmers were disappointed with the results and, seeing their hopes in the Republic dashed, turned to more revolutionary positions.
Centralized State Reform
The configuration of a state that would allow regions with nationalist sentiments to have their own organization and gain autonomy was a pending matter in Spanish political life. In Catalonia, the negotiation between the Provisional Government of the Republic and the Catalan political leaders allowed the formation of a provisional autonomous government (Generalitat), whose first task would be to develop a Statute of Autonomy (Statute of Nuria). The Constitution provided a legal framework for the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia. The scheme had a Catalan regional government and a parliament of their own. The first Catalan Parliament elections were won by Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, and Francesc Macià was elected president of the Generalitat. In the Basque Country, the nationalist PNV and Carlists approved a draft statute (Statute of Estella). But its approval was delayed indefinitely due to opposition from the Left Republicans and the Socialists, who regarded this project as undemocratic and inconsistent with the Republican constitution. In 1936, a statute was passed, and José Antonio Aguirre was elected the first Lendakari. In Galicia, the statutory process was much slower, and in 1936, a draft statute was put to a referendum but was never approved by Parliament.
Educational and Cultural Work
Another important reform was that of teaching. The primary objective was a liberal and secular education extended to the entire population. A mixed model of school was adopted: secular, compulsory, and free. Moreover, Republican leaders were convinced of the need to improve the cultural level of the population. With the support of intellectuals and artists, cultural campaigns aimed at the poorest sectors were promoted. These included the Pedagogical Missions, mobile groups formed by leading rural libraries, choirs, lectures, movies, and theater groups like La Barraca, organized by Federico García Lorca.
Labor Reforms
The socialist Francisco Largo Caballero initiated, from the Ministry of Labor, a series of reforms to improve labor conditions. These included the Employment Contracts Act, the Jury Act, the establishment of a 40-hour work week, and the stimulation of wage increases. Social insurance was also created. These measures resulted in the irritation of employers’ organizations, who opposed their enactment and managed to stop some projects, such as worker intervention in enterprises.
Problems of the Republican-Socialist Coalition
An Economic Downturn
The regime change coincided with the acute phase of the global economic downturn. This crisis had a weaker impact on the Spanish economy but made economic growth impossible. Moreover, the global crisis halted emigration to America, which had been a safety valve for chronic unemployment in regions such as Galicia and Andalusia. The international crisis exacerbated the already traditional internal problems, and chronic problems were joined by the Republican government’s economic policy. Thus, the general increase in wages was not matched by productivity growth and lowered corporate earnings. This led to increased discontent.
Social Conflict
The slowness of the reforms led to disappointment and impatience among the workers. The revolutionary will of the leftist parties and unions intensified the fighting. The CNT saw the perfect opportunity for their revolutionary project and encouraged labor unrest. Since 1933, the revolutionary attempts of the CNT were joined by the more radical socialist UGT led by Largo Caballero. Strikes, uprisings, and land seizures were progressively increasing. In 1932, anarchists led a miners’ uprising in Catalonia (Alt Llobregat), and in 1933, farmers revolted in Andalusia (Casas Viejas). These riots claimed libertarian communism and ended with the arrival of troops from the Civil Guard and Assault Guard. These events were an enormous drain on the government, which was discredited because of the harsh police measures taken to establish public order.
The Reorganization of the Right
Republican reforms and social unrest upset the economic, social, and ideological elites. The center-right Radical Party restructured around Lerroux. The right-wing monarchists, Catholics, and conservatives made important progress and achieved major campaigns against religious reform, land reform, and the Statute of Catalonia. Spanish Renewal and fascist groups like JONS and Falange conducted activities against what they considered the advancement of Marxism and the threat of a Bolshevik revolution. Some sections of the army tried to take advantage of the discontent. General Sanjurjo staged a coup with the aim of forcing the Republic to the right, but it failed. In 1933, the Spanish Military Union (UME) was created as a clandestine organization of rightist and anti-reform military personnel, which would take an active part in the coup of 1936.
The Conservative Biennium (1933-1935)
In the fall of 1933, the crisis was evident in the Republican-Socialist coalition. The chief minister, Manuel Azaña, resigned, and President Alcalá Zamora dissolved the Parliament and called elections for November.
Elections of 1933: The Right-Wing Government
These were the first elections in Spain in which women voted. The left appeared disjointed. By contrast, the right had united and organized. The result was the victory of center-right parties, which opened two years of conservative rule, also known as the Black Biennium. Two political forces obtained the best results: the Radical Party of Lerroux and the CEDA of Gil Robles. President Alcalá Zamora, just a supporter of the anti-Republican mood of the CEDA, entrusted the formation of the government to the Radical Party, which had the parliamentary support of the CEDA.
The Stoppage of Reforms
The new government began shutting down much of the reform project. In the countryside, agrarian reform stalled. The owners expressed their will, and the peasants responded with strikes. The agricultural issue also faced the central government with the Generalitat of Catalonia, in the hands of the Republicans on the left, following the enactment in 1934 of the Contract Law of Cultivation. This law allowed tenant farmers of vineyards (rabassaires) access to land ownership by paying the owners price controls. The government did not accept the cancellation and approved a new law virtually identical. The central government also antagonized the Basque nationalists by paralyzing the discussion of the draft statute led by the PNV in Parliament. It also tried to counter religious reform by passing a budget for worship and clergy. As for the army, no reform was overturned, but an amnesty was passed for the rebels who supported Sanjurjo and collaborators with the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera. In education, the changes of the former government were respected, but the budget was decreased. This resulted in a radicalization of the PSOE and the UGT. Its left wing, led by Largo Caballero and the anarchists, declared open war against the new government, which materialized in the proliferation of strikes and conflicts. In this situation, the CEDA hardened its position, demanding direct involvement in the government and threatening to withdraw its parliamentary support. The chief minister, Lerroux, agreed to these requests.
The October Revolution of 1934
The left interpreted the entrance of the CEDA into the government as a drift toward fascism. On the initiative of the UGT and with low participation from the CNT, there were strikes and demonstrations in some cities to defend social reforms. The national movement failed, but the events were particularly severe in Asturias and Catalonia. In Asturias, the miners led a social revolution; armed miners occupied the towns, took much of the Civil Guard barracks, and replaced them with revolutionary committees and councils. The government sent the Legion from Africa, commanded by General Franco, to suppress the uprising. The resistance lasted for ten days but was finally defeated. The repression was very harsh. In Catalonia, the revolt was more political. It was supported by the President of the Generalitat, Lluís Companys, who intended to prevent the entrance of the CEDA into the government, given its anti-autonomy stance. Therefore, he proclaimed the Catalan Republic within the Spanish Federal Republic, while an alliance of leftist parties and trade unions organized a general strike. The refusal of the CNT, the majority workforce, to participate in the strike caused the failure of the insurrection. A state of war was declared, and the army occupied the palace of the Generalitat. Members of the Catalan government were arrested. Several leftist leaders, including Largo Caballero, were arrested in Barcelona and Madrid.
The Crisis of the Second Biennium
The CEDA increased its influence in government. The Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia was suspended, the Contract Law of Cultivation was canceled, Gil Robles was appointed Minister of War, and Francisco Franco was appointed Chief of Staff. A strong government crisis erupted in the autumn of 1935. The Radical Party was hit by a series of corruption scandals, such as the “estraperlo” affair (a rigged roulette game that was attempted to be implemented in several Spanish casinos through bribery). Gil Robles tried to have himself appointed Prime Minister, but Alcalá Zamora refused and decided in late December on new elections for February 1936.
The Triumph of the Popular Front
The Elections of February 1936
To stand for election, the left-wing parties were grouped in the Popular Front, an electoral coalition based on a common agenda that advocated an amnesty for those jailed for the October Revolution of 1934 and the implementation of reform legislation suspended by the radical-CEDA coalition. Right-wing parties formed various coalitions, including monarchists and traditionalists. In the elections, the Popular Front became the winning force. In accordance with the Popular Front program, the new government was formed exclusively by Republicans, while the Socialists and other coalition parties agreed to provide parliamentary support. Manuel Azaña was named president, and Casares Quiroga, head of government.
The Popular Front in Power
The new government quickly set up the program agreed upon in the electoral coalition. The new government resumed the reform process stopped in 1933. Hopeful about the new prospects for change, the left-wing parties and trade unions launched a popular movement. The new situation was received by the right with absolute rejection: many landowners opposed government action, some industrialists closed factories, and the Church launched campaigns against the Republic. Spanish Falangists took a strong role. Falangist groups formed armed patrols that began violent actions against leftist leaders, answered in the same way by the most radical on the left.
Towards the Coup
Creating a climate of violence was a strategy favored by sectors that decided to organize a military coup against the Republic. At first, the conspiracy had little military strength and poor organization until General Emilio Mola took over, becoming the true leader of the coup until July 1936. His plan was to organize a military coup simultaneously in all possible key locations, especially Madrid and Barcelona, with special prominence of the African army, the better prepared, under General Franco. To stop the coup rumors, the government moved the generals most directly involved in the plots but did not dare to dismiss them. The military conspiracy had the support of right-wing political forces. Contacts were also established with Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. The discrepancies between the conspirators regarding the type of regime to establish after the coup postponed the date of the uprising. The uprising started in Morocco on July 17, giving rise to a civil war that lasted for three years.