Causes and Consequences of Primo de Rivera’s Dictatorship
The Causes of Military Coups: The Case of Primo de Rivera
Primo de Rivera, and his supporters (military, political parties close to the monarchy, and the ruling classes of the nineteenth century) defended his actions as a solution to end the political crisis and social unrest across the country. The reasons justifying the coup include:
- Instability and blockage of the parliamentary political system, as well as its lack of prestige due to ongoing election fraud.
- Fear of a social revolution among the upper classes due to the rise of worker and peasant unrest.
- Increased influence of peripheral nationalism and republicanism.
- Discontent within the army after the disaster of Annual.
The decision of Primo de Rivera, along with the support of the army and the king’s approval, was also influenced by the desire to avoid the Courts holding them accountable for their actions in the war in Morocco. The dictator justified his military coup with claims of regeneration, even moralistic ones, focusing on criticism of the “old politics” and had a clear populist component to gain popular support. Thus, in his opening manifesto, Primo de Rivera announced his determination to cleanse the country of warlords and banditry, to end political and social indiscipline, and threats to national unity.
Some historians suggest that Primo de Rivera did not intend to end an outdated regime, but rather to prevent the political system from democratizing. Indeed, the military concentration of García Prieto, members of the Reform Party, sought to reform the constitution, electoral law, the party system, and working relationships, while limiting the powers of the king. Closing the Parliament prevented this. In any case, the dictatorship was an unconstitutional solution to curb the possible reform of the system, which could be threatening to certain sectors and interests.
The Reorganization of the State
The dictatorship of Primo de Rivera had two phases. Until 1925, the military ruled the Directory, but from that year, the dictatorial government included personalities from civil ministries, such as Jose Calvo Sotelo, the Treasury, and Eduardo Aunós, the Ministry of Labour. Then came the Civil Directory, although the weight of the military remained important and the character of the regime did not abandon its authoritarian style. The first military action of the Board showed its dictatorial nature: suspension of the constitution, dissolution of the legislative chambers, dismissal of civilian authorities, banning the activities of political parties and trade unions, etc. All this was accompanied by the militarization of public order and repression of the radical working class (anarchists and communists). Furthermore, as one of the intentions of Primo de Rivera was to eliminate caciquismo, a statute for Municipal and another for Provincial governments was drafted. They also dissolved the councils, which were replaced by members of boards, built by taxpayers in every major town and civilians appointed by the governors. The promise of regeneration remained a farce because they suspended all electoral mechanisms and political renewal was limited to a few warlords replaced by others. During the first stage of the dictatorship, the conflict of interest was focused on Morocco. Primo de Rivera took over as High Commissioner of Morocco in 1924.
The following year, in collaboration with France, the disembarkation of Alhucemas (1925) was organized, which ended with great success. In 1927, the Spanish army terminated its effective employment of all protective forces in Morocco. Primo de Rivera tried to institutionalize his regime to give it continuity and permanence. Undoubtedly, the model and influence of Italian fascism was very clear. The road to an authoritarian regime began with the convening of a National Consultative Assembly (1927), of a corporate character, because its members would not be elected but appointed among citizens belonging to the large public institutions (municipalities, universities, governments, employers, and workers representatives). Universal suffrage was totally forgotten. To promote adherence to the new system, a single party was created, called the Patriotic Union. It was a ruling party without any defined ideological program that had as its primary mission to provide social support to the dictatorship and follow the guidelines of power. The new party members came mainly from the ranks of Catholicism, officials of the administrations, and rural warlords. They also reactivated the old institution of subjecting (armed citizen volunteers) to collaborate in the maintenance of public order.
Economic and Social Policy
The dictatorship benefited from the international economic boom that started in the “happy” twenties after the First World War. In this context, the regime began a building program of the Spanish economy in the industrial and infrastructure sectors. The guiding idea was the nationalization of important sectors of the economy and state intervention. The state played a significant role by promoting public works (railways, roads, hydroelectric schemes, etc.). The government approved the Decree on the Protection of National Industry, which provided for the granting of state aid to companies that could not compete with the outside. They also gave great monopolies, like the telephone, to the Compania Telefonica Nacional de España, and exclusivity in the import, refining, distribution, and sale of oil to the company Campsa. All this was financed by so-called Extraordinary Budgets, so that the regular budget of the state each year appeared well balanced, but largely accumulated a large debt outstanding. The world of agriculture remained in the hands of large landowners and no reforms were made. Instead, irrigation was promoted through the creation of the river basin confederations. In the social sphere, the dictatorship launched a model of labor regulation that sought to eliminate disputes through the intervention of the state, the integration of the labor movement, and the moderate repression of the more radical organizations. To this end, he created the National Corporate Organization, which grouped employers and workers in large corporations (vertical union) and regulated disputes through peer committees, composed of an equal number of employers and workers. Its mission was the regulation of wages and working conditions, and mediation and arbitration in case of conflict. The system was well-received, but not in all respects, by a part of the labor movement represented by the UGT, which was able to move with some freedom under the regime. Meanwhile, the anarcho-syndicalists and communists were persecuted and forced to remain in hiding.