20th Century History: From the Restoration to the Cold War
UNIT 11
WHY DID THE RESTORATION GO INTO CRISIS?
Unsatisfactory reforms and growing opposition
The government of Alfonso XIII tried to implement measures to regenerate the country. Conservative Partí member Antonio Maura launched a revolution from above. Jose Canalejas Liberal Party tried to reduce the influence of the church in public life and education. They also introduced the first laws protecting workers and a first step in political decentralization. However, caciquismo and the manipulation of electoral data continued to weaken the system.
The tragic week
The revolt was originally caused by opposition to the recruit of soldiers for the war in Morocco, it became a spontaneous anti-military and anti-clerical revolt, the result of decades of social tensions. The resulting repression was disproportionate, leading to the resignation of the conservative prime minister.
The crisis of 1917
Political forces were unhappy with the way the conservative Eduardo Dato was governing. Army sectors protested the system of promotion, which favored soldiers who had participated in the campaigns in Morocco. The working classes endured worsening living conditions because of the rise in prices brought on by the First World War. Calling for a revolutionary general strike. Spain was clearly going through a serious political, social and economic crisis.
THE DICTATORSHIP OF PRIMO DE RIVERA
Causes
- Problems in Morocco —> Occupation of the Rif and Disaster of Anual
- Social crisis —> Confrontations between Unions and armed groups supported by capitalists.
Characteristics
- King’s conformity ‘My little Mussolini’
- Non-democratic
- Promotion of infrastructure
- Military directorate (1923-25)
- Civil directorate (1925-30)
Crisis
- The global economic crisis of 1929
- The climate of political opposition
THE SECOND SPANISH REPUBLIC
The proclamation of the Republic
The municipal elections on 12 April 1931 were seen by the public as a choice between a monarchy and a republic. Although the elections results gave a greater number of councilors to the monarchist parties, the Republican victory in large cities and in industrial regions showed a desire for political change. In cities around the country, there were demonstrations calling for the proclamation of the Republic. Alfonso XIII fled the country to live in exile.
The provisional Government and the Constituent Cortes
In June 1931, elections to the Constituent Cortes were held and most seats were taken by the Republican-socialist coalition.
THE REFORM UNDERTAKEN BY THE REPUBLIC
The modernization of the State
The Second Republic undertook some reforms that had been pending for decades. First, Manuel Azaña wanted to reform the army, whose organization was backward and over-staffed, to create an efficient institution loyal to the fledgling Republic. Another initiative included in the Constitution was the separation of the Church and state. Reforms attempted to reduce the Church’s influence on public life and education. The decentralization of government was also initiated. This process, which was established by the Constitution, recognized the existence of historical nationalities with their own language and identity and allowed regions to develop statutes of autonomy and establish autonomous governments.
Land reforms
The Republic addressed the problem of land ownership. In some parts of Spain, there were hundreds of millions of landless workers living in extreme poverty, while property was concentrated in the hands of a few hundred landowners. In 1932, a government law decreed that large estates (latifundia) that were not being cultivated would be expropriated and distributed among the landless peasants.
THE CONSERVATIVE BIENNIUM AND THE POPULAR FRONT
The conservative Biennium put a stop to the reform process between 1933-1935, but it was reestablished by the Popular Front organized in 1936. Military officers opposed to the Popular Front organized a coup in 17 July 1836, which began in North Africa and the Canary Islands and moved to the Peninsula.
THE CIVIL WAR: THE OPPOSING SIDES
After the coup, the Nationalist insurgents focused on military victory and establishing a fascist state. At the same time, some factions on the Republican side wanted to promote radical, social and economic change.
INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR EACH SIDE
The conflict was seen as a confrontation between democracy and fascist regimes. Political parties, social groups and intellectuals lined up on the other side. Proof of this can be found in the international social mobilization that brought about 30,000 volunteers from over 50 countries to Spain to join the International Brigades, who fought alongside the Republicans between September 1936 and 1938. Italy was the first to support the Nationalists. They sent war supplies and soldiers. Hitler’s Germany followed, seeing their aid as a way to experiment with new weapons. Portugal supported the rebels. The Soviet Union was the only country that supported the Republican government. Its support included weapons, tanks and aircraft as well as Soviet officials to help train people’s Republican Army.
UNIT 12
HOW DID EUROPE COME TO BE DIVIDED BY AN ‘IRON CURTAIN’
After the war, Soviet influence in Europe had increased significantly its former allies, the United States and Britain, leered wary of the USSR’s expansionist intentions and how this could lead to the rise of communism around the world. Similarly, the Soviets accused their former allies of wanting to maintain their imperialist domination over the whole of Europe.
TWO OPPOSING SYSTEMS
- The US proclaimed itself a defender of the free market and represented a liberal democratic system based on several political parties, respect for individual rights and the predominance of a capitalist market economy.
- The USSR considered itself a guarantee against the spread of ‘capitalist imperialism’ represented by the US. Its political system was based in the power of a single party, the Communist Party, and rejected free elections and individual freedom.
THE MARSHALL PLAN
It was an economic assistance program for Europe, which distributed aid and credits among participating countries over a period of four years. These countries created the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) in 1948 and received 13 billion dollars between 1947 and 1952.
DIFFERENT SYSTEMS OF ALLIANCE
-NATO is a military cooperation organization to defend against own foreign under leadership of US.
-OECD was created to promote economic development in free-market countries.
-COMECON (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance), was an organization offering financial assistance to the socialist bloc.
– A military alliance was founded through the Warsaw Pact, which united the USSR and eastern Europe.
THE CONFLICTS OF THE COLD WAR
What was the Cold War?
The Cold War was an extremely tense international situation which involved the US and the Soviet Union and their allies. It began between 1947 and 1948 and continued until the fall of the Soviet Bloc in 1990s. The two powers began an arms race and adopted a belligerent attitude towards each other.
The Korean War
After the defeat of Japan, North Korea was occupied by Russian troops, while the area South of the 38th parallel was occupied by the US. In 1959 North Korea invaded South Korea. The UN condemned the attack and agreed to sent a contingent of US troops led by General MacArthur. They stopped the inca soon and began to push north ward, but Chinese intervention forced them to retreat. To prevent the spread of the conflict, Truman dismissed the radical, anti-communism MacArthur, who wanted to bomb China with weapons.
THE VIETNAM WAR (1945-1975)
After the Second World War, a long war began in the French colony of Indochina, first against French and then against the US. In 1945, communist Vietminh forces led by Ho Chi Minh declared independence. France did not accept this, and a war began between Soviet-supported guerrillas in the north and the French army in the South, which had US support. The war ended in 1954 with the defeat of the French and the division of the country between a communist-led government in the north and a pro-western government in the south.
DECOLONIZATION PROCESS
A new international framework
In 1945, most of the world’s land was in the hand of the Europe’s colonial powers. However, conditions created by the Second World War initiated the decolonization process. Both USSR and US were against European colonial empires, although for different reasons. Decolonization developed within the contest of the Cold War and the two superpowers tried ti make their causes appeal for the new countries emerging from this process.
The causes of decolonization
People wanted independence from the ruling powers that exploited their economic resources. The rise of nationalists movement, inspired by different ideologies (communism, Islam). The expansion of international opinion against colonialism and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), which proclaimed people’s right to self-determination. Decolonization was supported by the two superpowers. NOWADAYS:
-Neocolonialism: new form of domination, respects the political sovereignty of states but involves economic dependence on the world’s richest states and companies.
CAPITALISM AND COMMUNISM
CAPITALISM BLOC
From an economic point of view it has high productivity and growth rate. The political system is characterized by political pluralism. A society with strong inequalities:
-US became the world’s leading economic and military power. Wester Europe confronted a post-war reconstruction. Help from US thanks to the Marshall Plan. Japan had great industrial growth with technological innovation.
COMMUNISM BLOC
The economy was totally planned by the government. The political system is based in the existence of one party. A society without capacity of consumption but almost all the people with the same means of living:
-The USSR was the leading country in their bloc but with an uneven economic growth. Eastern Europe adopted the Soviet model. There was a world expansion of the communist ideas due to the Cold War and decolonization.
UNIT 13
Dictatorship of Franco
Totalitarian regime, inspired by the Italian fascism, which governed Spain between 1939-1972. It was based on the denial of liberal democracy, defense of militarism, conservative Catholicism and the unity of Spain.
MILITARY DICTATORSHIP
Is suppressed all democratic freedoms. The 1931 Constitution was annulled. Political parties and unions were banned. A single political party was created: Traditionalist Spanish Falange and JONS. From it depends the only recognized union, the CNS. The dictatorship held the tittle or Caudillo and concentrated all powers. To give an image of legality, it was created the consultative Cortes and the labour Charter.
THE POST-WAR PERIOD (1939-1959)
Traces of the Civil War
Spain lost nearly a million people. The economy has been devastated, destruction of networks, factories, etc. Shortages of essential goods. Appearance of ration cards. Black market and contraband.