The Second Spanish Republic I

Posted on Oct 22, 2024 in History

The Second Spanish Republic I

The Configuration of the New Regime

After the Covenant of San Sebastian, the provisional government set elections for the Constituent Cortes on June 28. Alongside some members of the government enacted a series of decrees to undertake urgent reforms considered that they could not wait for the constitutional debate.

Largo Caballero, Socialist and Labor Minister, issued a decree which affected farm workers:

  • The minimum wage away agricultural industrial wage.
  • The eight-hour workday in the field.
  • The law of municipal (which prevented recruit workers from other towns while workers were unemployed in the council itself).
  • The Law of Forced Machining (forcing owners to continue farming the farms).

Manuel Azaña, Republican and Minister of War, issued the Retirement Law of the officers in the states that officers and commanders of the army that does not make an explicit oath of allegiance to the new Republican regime will be retired with full pay.

The new republic had to cope with a growing hatred by employers and large landowners (dissenting on the measures taken by the interim government) and a large part of the army. It also opposed from the start to the new regime the Catholic hierarchy. The Archbishop of Toledo and primate of Spain, Cardinal Segura, expressed opposition to the Republic. This brought to an appearance among the most radicals of the CEDA, the old popular anticlericalism, and several fires of religious buildings in Madrid, Seville, Murcia, etc. Moreover, anarchists continued their strikes and conflicts in Asturias, Barcelona, and Seville demanding deep reforms without delay to the new republican government, which created problems for the new political regime.

The June 28 elections gave a majority to the Socialist Republican coalition (the parties supporting the interim government) and have made a victory of the CEDA while rightist parties won representation in the lower courts. Therefore the Constitution drafted by the House was much more progressive than some of Spain wanted.

The Constitution of 1931

The courts appointed a commission in charge of drafting a constitution that was approved in December 1931. This constitution had a marked and progressive democratic character and defined the Spanish state as a “republic of workers of all classes.” The Constitution established these principles:

  • The State was set integral, but accepting the possibility of constructing self-government in regions that there was a nationalist consciousness.
  • The executive power rested with the Council of Ministers and the President of the Republic (elected by the Congress of Deputies). Its powers were under the control of the House who could dismiss him, e.g., if the President ever called for elections in the course of his mandate.
  • The legislative power resided in Parliament, consisting of 1 chamber (Congress of Deputies), whose powers were beyond the other institutions.
  • Suffrage was established universal for males and females aged 23. The electoral law was paramount. The largest party (which derived 80% of the seats in the constituency) favored the coalition of parties (to siphon votes).
  • It presented a comprehensive bill of rights and personal freedoms and expressing the equality of all citizens to the right to education and work.
  • It declared the separation of church and state and recognized civil marriage and divorce.
  • It allowed possible expropriation of any property, with compensation, because of public interest and set plans to nationalize public services.

The two most discussed items were:

  • The article in which it was established that religious orders could not engage in industry, commerce, or education. It also dissolved the Society of Jesus and set a deadline for ending the financing of the Church. The adoption of this article caused the first crisis of the republican government and the two Catholic members who resigned from the government (Miguel Maura [Minister of the Interior] and Alcalá Zamora [President of the government]).
  • Other controversial discussion was the enfranchisement of women. The socialist lawyer Victoria Kent’s position was contrary, arguing that women’s votes could be conditioned by their religious principles and traditional forces, which would suppose the Right. Clara Campoamor (Member of the Radical Party) made an impassioned defense in the Courts indicating that women have equal political rights as men and their vote is necessary for a modern and progressive society that Spain intended to be.
  • The possibility of establishing political autonomies was discussed as the right was in agreement with a centralist state. The constitution was approved by a vast majority (but did not manage to identify all the political forces), giving evidence of the deep differences between the left and right political forces.

Once approved, the new government headed by Manuel Azaña tried to put it into practice. As Alcalá Zamora (a man of the Right and Catholics) would be President of the Republic, the political forces reached an agreement to appoint him to that office, which he served until 1936.

The Reforms of the Republican-Socialist Biennium (1931-33)

During the two years of government of the Republican-Socialist coalition, led by Manuel Azaña and with three Socialist ministers in the Cabinet, they tried to make a series of reforms that intended to modernize Spain and put it in an equal position with other countries. Many of these reforms were blocked by the forces of the right, who looked at their interests at risk, and also by the left, which considered that the change promised by the Republic was very slow.

One of the problems that the republican government had to face was the religious question in an attempt to secularize the life of society. It proclaimed freedom of cults, announced the abolition of state budget funds to finance the cults, allowed divorce and civil marriage, secularized cemeteries, ordered the dissolution of the Jesuits, and prohibited education to other religious orders. Most Catholic sectors perceived this legislation as an assault on the Roman Catholic religion and the church moved against the Republic. On the other hand, the most radical sectors responded with violence (burning of religious buildings), which contributed to increasing tension.

Another problem was the issue of autonomy. The Constitution of 1931 had recognized the right to political autonomy to regions with nationalist features. In Catalonia, a Charter was approved in a referendum by 99% of the Catalans (who voted). In August of 1931, it was presented to Parliament to discuss it. The project drew opposition from the right, which put all sorts of obstacles and amendments to delay approval. In 1932, it was adopted (taking advantage of the situation of the coup of General Sanjurjo). It established a Catalan regional government with a government and a parliament with economic, social, cultural, and educational powers, with a recognition of the Catalan language. After elections were called for the Catalan regional parliament, which gave victory to the Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, the leader Francesc Macià was elected president of the Generalitat.

Besides these issues, the three most important reforms that Azaña’s Republican-Socialist government tried to carry out were:

  • The land reform
  • Education reform
  • Reform of the army

The land reform was the largest project undertaken by the Republic. 8.5 million people, half of the population, worked in agriculture (2 million were laborers). Moreover, in Andalusia, Castile, and Extremadura, more than 50% of the land was held by large landowners. To solve the misery of the landless and prevent that many lands were uncultivated, the Azaña government presented to Parliament the Agrarian Reform Law, which stated:

  • The expropriation by the state of all farms of more than 200 hectares of upland or more than 10 irrigated.
  • Farms (of any extension) which were uncultivated for more than 20 years also passed to the state.
  • Badly cultivated farms, ranches that could be watered and were not, and rented land also passed to the State.

This law was approved in 1932 (thanks to the failed “Sanjurjada”) despite the rejection of the forces of the right. A budget of 50 million pesetas was set to mandate compensation and start-up to the IRA (Agrarian Reform Institute) which would be responsible for facilitating the settlement of rural families. The results of the reform were limited. Less land was expropriated than expected and only some 12,000 farming families were settled.