Agrarian Problem in Spain During the Second Republic
The Agrarian Problem and Item 7
Classification
We have before us a policy document extracted from the book Causes of the War in Spain, published in 1939 (the end of the Civil War). The book was written by Manuel Azaña, a Spanish politician and writer, who held the posts of Prime Minister of Spain and President of the Second Spanish Republic. With this text of a public nature, the author wanted to justify the land reform.
Analysis
- If you look at the text, as we see in the first paragraph, by way of introduction, an explanation is given of how the arrival of the Second Republic was received by Spanish society, whose mission was to satisfy the most urgent demands of the people.
- The second paragraph names the major differences in Spanish society, such as “the urban centers, [with] a high living standard”. If we analyze these claims, in areas of large cities in Spain there was a good quality of life, and however, the “villages seem to have stopped in the 15th century”, that is, people living in total misery. This reveals the total inequality in the distribution of assets in the society of that time and alludes to the poor distribution of land. It is said that the land in the northwest is made up of small farms and, in contrast, in the south and west are the large estates.
- The third paragraph refers to the actions of the Republic, as it was its duty. It speaks of the “chronic” strike in the working of the land, as they see it is a constant problem that has always existed. It makes clear that the peasant is always the hardest hit and spends much time out of work, so they cannot eat and have no means to support their family. Finally, it suggests that, whether socialist or not, every government has to take care of this problem and solve it.
Contextualization
The proclamation of the Republic: when municipal elections were announced, opposition to the monarchy and the political system created a coalition to stand united in the elections. The elections were favorable for this coalition. Due to this, Alfonso XIII suspended the royalty and left for exile in 1931. The Republic was proclaimed. An interim government was formed with representatives of the parties of the Pact of San Sebastián. The Republican-Socialist coalition won a majority in the elections of 1931 and created a constitution, which was approved. It defined Spain as a democratic country that respects the different cults and religions, with universal suffrage. The government accepted the construction of autonomous regions. Niceto Alcalá Zamora was elected president of the Republic and the government was presided over by Manuel Azaña, with socialists, nationalists, and republicans. The new republican-socialist left initiated a biennium to address the democratic, modern, and secular military problem. Manuel Azaña said it was important to reduce the number of officers and military expenses. He elaborated a law; almost half of the army officers underwent civilian power. The constitution separated church and state, wanting to promote secular education. Regarding land reform, a law was decreed that would obtain the land from large estates for landless peasants.
When all the reforms started, there was an attempted coup, since many people were against the new regime, led by General Sanjurjo. But the right wing created the CEDA (Spanish Confederation of Autonomous Rights) that Gil Robles had at the front and the FE (Spanish Falange) led by José Antonio Primo de Rivera. The Alfonsine monarchists and Carlists joined with those who criticized the Republic. Manuel Azaña resigned, dissolved the Cortes, and called new elections, which the right won.
But there were problems:
- Revolts of Asturias and Catalonia (1934): Large riots occurred. In Asturias, anarchists, socialists, and communists held a mine, but were suffocated by the army. In Catalonia, the Generalitat of Catalonia was disbanded, the left was jailed, and new elections were called.
- Popular Front (1936): To face the right, an electoral front was formed by the left. The CNT (National Confederation of Labor) recommended that the Popular Front win, and Manuel Azaña was named president of the Republic.