Spanish Republic Reforms and Political Instability (1931-1936)
The Second Spanish Republic: Reforms and Political Instability (1931-1936)
Educational Reforms
The educational reform focused on establishing a primary school system that was compulsory, free, secular, and co-educational. Government investment in education increased by 50%. Approximately 10,000 schools were built, and 7,000 teaching positions were created with better pay. Pedagogical missions brought culture to backward rural regions.
Regional Reforms
Catalonia was granted autonomy in 1932 with a Statute of Self-Government (Estatut d’Autonomia). The Generalitat (Government of Catalonia) gained competencies in culture, public works, and public order. Francesc Macià was its president. A Statute for the Basque Country was drafted by the Basque Nationalist Party, but it was rejected by Carlists and traditionalists for being too democratic. The Statute of Autonomy was not approved until 1936, just before the start of the Civil War.
Agrarian Reform
In September 1932, a law was adopted to reform land ownership, opposed by right-wing parties. The aim was to end landlordism and absentee ownership, benefiting approximately two million impoverished day laborers. The law allowed for the expropriation of land without compensation from the largest landowners in Spain. Land could also be expropriated with compensation if it was poorly cultivated or systematically leased. The expropriated land was to be distributed to peasants. The Agrarian Reform Institute (IRA) was established to implement the reform. However, the pace of reform was slow and the results were limited, leading to disillusionment among peasants who turned to revolutionary anarchism, particularly in Aragon and Andalusia. Landowners were openly hostile to the reforms.
The Radical-CEDA Biennium (1933-1936)
The Azana government resigned. The November 1933 elections resulted in a victory for the right-wing parties. The CEDA (Spanish Confederation of Autonomous Rights) became the largest party (115 seats) and formed a coalition government with the centrist Radical Party led by Lerroux (102 seats). This period, known as the Radical-CEDA Biennium (1933-1936), was characterized by political instability and reactionary policies.
Main Measures of the Radical-CEDA Biennium:
- Amnesty Law for all those involved in the failed coup led by Sanjurjo.
- Repeal of laws and adoption of a budget favorable to the clergy.
- Revision of agrarian reform, canceling expropriations, increasing compensation, and cutting the budget for its implementation.
- Problems with regional autonomy: the Catalan Statute was suspended after the events of 1934, and the Basque Statute was not adopted.
The slowdown of reforms led to increased social unrest. In October 1934, three ministers from the CEDA joined the government, leading the left to believe that Gil Robles intended to eliminate the Republic through legal means. Socialists called for a general strike on October 5, which failed except in Asturias. There, the Workers’ Alliance of socialists, communists, and anarchists took control and initiated a revolution. In Catalonia, Companys, the president of the Generalitat, proclaimed the Catalan State within the Spanish Federal Republic. Both uprisings were suppressed by the Moroccan army, resulting in a bloody repression.
Gil Robles took the portfolio of War. The Extraperlo scandal discredited Lerroux, leading to the fall of the government. Gil Robles sought to become prime minister, but Alcalá Zamora, fearing both a right-wing dictatorship and a leftist revolution, appointed a centrist (Portela Valladares) who dissolved parliament and called for elections in February 1936.
The Popular Front and the Slide to Civil War
The Popular Front, an electoral alliance of all left-wing parties from Republicans to Communists (with the support of Anarchists), won the February 1936 elections. The right-wing parties, grouped in the National Bloc (CEDA, monarchists, and traditionalists), secured 139 representatives compared to the left’s 257.
The new government, headed by Azana and composed exclusively of Republicans (Socialists refused to participate), decreed an amnesty for political prisoners, restored the Generalitat of Catalonia, and resumed progressive reforms, including land reform. This caused discontent among the oligarchy, who perceived it as a threat to their power. Unions organized strikes and land seizures. In May 1936, Alcala Zamora was replaced by Azana as president of the republic, and Casares Quiroga was appointed Prime Minister.
Political life became increasingly radicalized. Militants from the Spanish Falange engaged in acts of violence and murder to destabilize the situation, leading to frequent street battles with militant workers. Calvo Sotelo was murdered in a settling of accounts. On July 17, 1936, a military uprising began in Melilla, triggering the Spanish Civil War.