Key Historical Events: Early 20th Century
World War I
Fueled by German attempts to alter the European balance maintained in the last third of the 19th century, Germany’s attitude unleashed an arms race between the major European powers and the formation of rival military alliances. The game of alliances in Europe implied that if only one of the countries entered the war, it could drag everyone else in, as indeed happened.
Russian Revolution
It was an empire with a huge territorial extension but with a social structure and politics far behind in relation to the European powers at the time.
Federico García Lorca
Born in Fuente Vaqueros (Granada) in 1898, he studied philosophy and law and passed by the student residence in Madrid. He met artists such as Buñuel and Dalí. A trip to the USA in 1929 changed his literary trajectory. In 1936, at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, he was imprisoned and executed.
Antonio Machado
Born in Seville in 1875, he moved with his family to Madrid, where he studied at the Institución Libre de Enseñanza. Influenced by the spirit of freedom that characterized it, in 1932 he moved to Soria as a French professor, where he met Leonor, whom he married.
Crisis of Democracy
The victors of World War I had a long democratic history since the 19th century, and they extended their political system to new countries that emerged from the peace of Versailles. But this triumph of democracy was disturbed by two new political phenomena: the consolidation of Russian communism and fascism.
Stalin’s Dictatorship
The USSR went from being an underdeveloped country to being the third industrial power in the world in just ten years. However, the methods used to achieve this were atrocious.
Nazism
Following the 1929 crisis, the German economy fell rapidly. The Nazi party, until then a minority, took the opportunity to accuse the democratic system of the evils that Germany suffered. The democratic system in Germany was suffering serious internal problems; there were many parties in parliament and none had a majority to form a government.
Hitler in Power
The night of February 27-28, 1933, was the starting point for the destruction of the democratic system. Six days before a new election, the persecution of Communists began, accused without evidence of having caused the fire.
Emancipation of Women
In the 19th century, with the progress of democracy, women had been ignored, so there was talk of the conquest of universal suffrage when it only referred to the male half of the population. In late 19th-century England, the so-called suffragettes began their struggle to get the right to vote for women. Women began to vote in the Second Republic.
Alfonso XIII
His reign began with his coming of age in 1902, representing a first step in the continuity of the political system of the Restoration. After the disaster of 1898 and the disappearance of the two great leaders, Cánovas and Sagasta, it became necessary to reform the political system to avoid electoral distortion.
USSR
The first years of the communist revolution were difficult. There was a civil war between the White Army and the Red Army. France, Britain, and other capitalist countries helped the Whites, and communist Russia underwent an economic blockade. International support for the USSR was low.
Italian Fascism
After the war, national public opinion was disappointed by the limited territorial gains achieved after the peace of Versailles. A nationalist group soon emerged and was organized in a military fashion. Many capitalists had contributed to the success of the operation.
Fascist Dictatorship
For one year, Mussolini had to live with the other political parties. He finally succeeded in 1925, after the murder of Matteotti, in killing democracy. The characteristics of his dictatorship were:
- Absolute power
- Suspension of trade unions and strikes
- Ideological manipulation of the population
Economic Crisis
The 1920s in the United States were a time of spectacular economic growth that spread across the world thanks to loans granted to many countries. But in 1929, the dream of unlimited prosperity vanished, and the capitalist system entered its gravest crisis. The causes were:
- Negligence in stock market investments
- Industrial overproduction
Second Republic
After the collapse of the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, King Alfonso XIII had no choice but to call for municipal elections on April 14, 1931. The triumph of the Republican parties made it clear that the Spanish wanted a radical change. Alfonso XIII understood this and left Spain.
Spanish Civil War
The military uprising began, headed by Franco in the Canary Islands and the Spanish cities of Morocco. On July 18, it was extended to the peninsula with mixed results depending on the region. Where the insurgents took control, strong repression was unleashed against Republicans and the left, such as the murder of Federico García Lorca.