Spain’s Tumultuous Path: Politics, Catalonia & Second Republic
Early 20th Century Spanish Political Landscape
The Spanish political system was divided. Within the established system were the dynastic parties: the Conservative and Liberal parties. Outside this system were several groups:
- Carlists
- Catalan nationalists (Regionalist League – Lliga Regionalista)
- Basque nationalists (Basque Nationalist Party – PNV)
- Republicans (Radical Republican Party, Republican Union)
- Working-class movements: Socialists (PSOE, UGT) and Anarchists (CNT)
The Radical Party, with a Republican ideology, was created by Alejandro Lerroux. The National Confederation of Labour (CNT) emerged as the primary trade union in Catalonia. During the first third of the twentieth century, the Regionalist League won elections in Catalonia, leading a coalition of Catalan political forces (excluding Lerroux’s party and the dynastic parties). They aimed to achieve self-government for Catalonia.
Reform efforts by liberal governments initiated a process of state decentralization. In 1914, the Commonwealth of Catalonia (Mancomunitat de Catalunya) was established. Its work involved creating infrastructure and public services, and initiating new cultural and educational projects.
Social Unrest and Primo de Rivera’s Dictatorship
Political instability fueled the growth of trade unions (like the CNT and UGT), which launched demonstrations demanding better wages and working conditions. Key leaders included Salvador Seguí, Ángel Pestaña, and Joan Peiró. The most significant conflict was the strike at the Barcelona Traction, Light and Power Company (known as La Canadiense) in 1919, which paralyzed industry and services for over forty days.
Employers took a hard stance against workers (treballadors), leading to a period of intense social violence (pistolerismo). Employers helped create more compliant unions (yellow unions) and supported armed counter-revolutionary groups.
Supported by employers’ organizations (patronales) and conservative political groups, General Miguel Primo de Rivera led a coup d’état in 1923. He established a military dictatorship inspired by Italian Fascism. Key actions included:
- Suspending the Constitution
- Dissolving Parliament (Cortes)
- Banning political parties and trade unions
- Dismissing elected officials
- Imposing rigid press censorship
- Suppressing the Commonwealth of Catalonia
- Banning public expressions of Catalan nationalism
The Proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic
Municipal elections were announced for April 12, 1931, and were framed as a plebiscite between monarchy and republic. Opposition parties formed a coalition (the Republican-Socialist Conjunction), while monarchist parties were divided. The Republican-Socialist coalition triumphed in major cities and industrial regions.
Faced with this situation, King Alfonso XIII suspended royal power and went into exile on April 14, 1931. The Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed amid popular enthusiasm.
Initial measures of the Provisional Government included:
- Amnesty for political prisoners.
- Freedom for political parties and trade unions.
- Social laws to improve workers’ conditions, such as the 8-hour workday law and the Law of Mixed Juries (Jurados Mixtos).
- Establishment of a provisional Generalitat of Catalonia, paving the way for autonomy.
The new Constitution of 1931 established:
- A secular state (aconfesional).
- Universal male and female suffrage.
- A declaration of individual rights and liberties.
- The right to private property (subject to social utility).
- Separation of powers: Legislative power resided in the Cortes (parliament), executive power in the Council of Ministers and the President of the Republic, and judicial power in independent courts.