Spain’s Second Republic: Reforms, Conflicts, and Downfall
The Rise and Fall of the Second Spanish Republic (1931-1936)
Initial Opposition and the Proclamation of the Republic
From 1928 to 1929, opposition to the regime began to mount, and Primo de Rivera lost support from many landowners and the army. He resigned in 1930, and the King appointed General Berenguer to continue. Intellectuals opposed the political system. Republican parties signed the Pact of San Sebastian to overthrow the turno system and the monarchy. A failed pronunciamiento occurred in 1930. In 1931, Republicans won in major cities and municipalities, and popular demonstrations proclaimed the Republic. The government resigned, and the King left the country. Power was handed to the parties of the Pact. This raised expectations of landless laborers and industrial workers. It meant a historical shift in power and wealth for the vast majority of society. It was the first democracy in Spain. The more traditionalist viewed the Republic as a threat to their own interests, and for most conservatives, democracy was also anti-Spain. In Europe, constitutional regimes were succumbing to dictatorships and fascism. The entire world was plunged into the most dramatic economic crisis ever known.
Three Periods of the Second Republic
- The Reformist Biennium (1931-1933)
- The Government of the Right (1933-1936)
- The Popular Front (1936)
The Reformist Biennium (1931-1933)
Provisional Government and the New Constitution
The provisional government of the San Sebastian Pact consisted of Alcala Zamora as President and Manuel Azaña as head of the government. Elections to the Constituent Cortes were held in 1931, with every citizen over 23 allowed to vote. The left achieved victory, while the right was disorganized and defeated. The new constitution was drafted and discussed. Alcala Zamora and Maura resigned in protest against Article 26.
Constitutional Government and Reforms
After issuing the Constitution, reforms were implemented. Efforts were made to build a lay state through the Constitution and decrees. Divorce and civil marriage were allowed. Religious symbols were eradicated from public buildings. Religious education was not compulsory. Catholicism was no longer the official religion. The left and the right had different opinions about these reforms and about the burning of churches.
Azaña modernized the army and made it an apolitical institution. Officers had to take an oath of loyalty to the Republic.
The agrarian problem was one of the main social problems. In the south, latifundiae were the main landowning structure, and the situation of landless people was appalling. Largo Caballero drafted the Law of Municipal Labor. Agrarian reform was attempted through the Agrarian Reform Law, whose objective was to give land to landless laborers. However, it was a failure, resulting in the exasperation and radicalization of land laborers.
The socialist Minister of Labor, Largo Caballero, introduced a series of reforms to improve the living conditions of workers. Salaries were increased, an eight-hour workday was established, along with paid holidays and sickness benefits.
Religious orders were banned from education. A school building program was initiated, along with the Teaching Missions.
The Constitution granted autonomy to Catalonia after approving their statute. In the Basque Country, a first draft (Estella-Lizarra Statute) was not passed by the Cortes as it included the autonomy to sign treaties with the Holy See. A new statute was drafted and approved by most municipalities, except for those in Navarre. In the Cortes, the right blocked it. It was approved in 1936, once the Civil War had started. In Galicia, a statute was approved in a referendum but not in the Cortes.
Problems and the End of the Biennium
General Sanjurjo launched a pronunciamiento that was suppressed. He was the director of the Guardia Civil. Opposition from the left arose, with the FAI being hostile to the Republic. The government crushed them on some occasions. Division among the coalition parties occurred.
Alcala Zamora dismissed Azaña, appointed a radical cabinet, and was then forced to dissolve it and call for general elections, which were won by the right.
The Government of the Right (1933-1936)
Alcala appointed Lerroux as Prime Minister, but he did not have a majority in the Cortes and had to govern in coalition with the CEDA. All the main reforms of the previous government were reversed. This led to social unrest. Violent street demonstrations were held, the CNT declared a general strike, and massive mobilizations occurred in the countryside.
The October Revolution
The October Revolution was held because the socialists and the right thought that CEDA wanted to destroy the Republic and establish an authoritarian regime. The socialists threatened an armed rising if the CEDA joined the cabinet. In October, Lerroux formed a new government that included CEDA ministers.
The Uprising: The socialists called for a general revolutionary strike. The President of the Generalitat proclaimed the Catalan State within the Spanish Federal Republic, but it was suspended within a few hours. In Asturias, a united front of all leftists was established, and the miners held out for a fortnight. The government declared a state of war and used elite troops to break the resistance of the Asturian workers after two weeks of heavy fighting.
The CEDA increased its participation in the government, and Gil Robles, as Minister of War, transformed the army into a counter-revolutionary bulwark. Franco was appointed Chief of the General Staff, and Generals Goded and Mola were promoted to key positions. The Asturian Revolution became an important issue. The right believed repression had been mild, while the left thought it had been savage.
At the end of 1935, a series of financial scandals involving leading members of the Radical Party came to the surface, and Lerroux had to leave office. Alcala Zamora dissolved the parliament and called for new elections in 1936.
The Popular Front (1936)
The right united in the National Bloc, and the left in the Popular Front. The electoral campaign was conducted in a frenzied manner. For the left, it represented the defense of democracy and the Republic against the threat of dictatorship and fascism. For the right, it was to save the traditional values of Catholicism against revolution and Bolshevism.
The Popular Front won by a narrow margin. Gil Robles tried to persuade some generals that the victory of the Popular Front meant anarchy and tried to annul the results. Rightist groups started preparing a military coup.
The Socialist Party was divided between moderates (Indalecio Prieto) and radicals (Largo Caballero). Largo Caballero announced a proletarian revolution, making it impossible to form a government. Alcala Zamora was impeached, and Azaña was appointed President of the Republic. The government was fully republican, with no socialist representation. Casares Quiroga was appointed Prime Minister.
The left resumed the reforms abandoned in 1933. Industrial strikes rocked the cities, and landless laborers began to occupy land. The government had no option but to legalize the seizures.
Political violence escalated dramatically, with socialist militants, Falangists, and Carlists clashing in the streets. Finally, the stage for the outbreak of the Civil War was set.