The Second Spanish Republic: 1933-1934
The Second Spanish Republic (1933-1934)
Azaña’s Government and the Statute of Autonomy
1933-1934: The Azaña government focused on implementing the new Constitution, continuing military and agrarian reforms, and granting the Statute of Autonomy to Catalonia. To appease the middle class, the government moderated some reforms, hindering their overall impact.
The agrarian reform, while redistributing land to the state, proved disappointing for peasants and laborers. Landowners, horrified by the reforms, viewed them as excessively revolutionary. This fueled conflict between landowners and rural workers in Catalonia.
Francesc Macià, President of the Generalitat of Catalonia, had initially sought national sovereignty and a federal government (April 14, 1931). However, an agreement was reached, establishing the Generalitat and promising an autonomous status. The Statute of Autonomy (Estatut de Núria), enacted in June 1931, defined Catalonia as an autonomous state within the Spanish Republic, granting it control over areas like language and education.
This statute clashed with the republican constitution, which defined Spain as a unitary state. Debate began in 1932 within the Spanish Courts, marked by intentional delays and anti-Catalan sentiment. General Sanjurjo’s attempted coup further complicated the situation. Azaña’s skillful arguments against monarchists secured Republican support for the Statute, which was finally approved in September 1932.
The final Statute granted Catalonia significant legislative powers but allowed the central government to maintain control over education (though the Generalitat could establish its own schools) and the authority to suspend the Statute.
Social and Political Divisions
The Catalan working class was divided between anarcho-syndicalists and anarchists within the FAI (Federación Anarquista Ibérica). Some supported autonomy within the Republic, while others viewed it as a continuation of the monarchy and advocated for an anarchist society. By 1932, anarchists within the FAI controlled most unions, contributing to the radicalization of the labor movement.
The Republic faced significant opposition: from the Catholic Church, through unrest in the Andalusian countryside (particularly between 1932-1933), and from the anarchist uprising of 1932. This uprising, a worker’s revolt against the perceived capitalist policies of the Republic, further destabilized the government.
The attempted military coup led by General José Sanjurjo in 1932 added to the growing instability. In September 1933, the Azaña government fell due to disagreements with President Alcalá-Zamora and political fallout from the Casas Viejas incident (a massacre following a peasant revolt near Cádiz).
The Rise of the Right
In November 1933, Alcalá-Zamora called for new elections, favoring center and right-wing parties that had reorganized during the preceding two years. Alejandro Lerroux, leader of the right-wing Radical Republican Party, was appointed Prime Minister.
These parties avoided openly declaring their preferred form of government, but threatened a socialist revolution if the left won. In October 1934, Largo Caballero of the UGT (Unión General de Trabajadores) prepared a general strike and armed insurrection. The uprising lasted two weeks, achieving temporary success in Asturias before being brutally suppressed by the Army of Africa under General Francisco Franco. Other uprisings were quickly quelled, and labor leaders were arrested or exiled.