Political Forces of the Second Spanish Republic: Parties & Constitution
The Second Spanish Republic: Political System
The essence of the new political system:
The key elements of the political system of the Second Republic are parties and the Constitution of 1931.
Political Forces
A large number of newly established political parties mobilized huge masses of members and supporters.
A) Fascist Groups:
- JONS (Juntas of the National-Syndicalist Offensive). Emerged in 1931 and led by Ramiro Ledesma Redondo.
- PHALANX. Founded in 1933 by José Antonio Primo de Rivera, son of the dictator, who managed to be elected. JONS and Falange joined in 1934.
B) Right-Wing Political Forces:
- Carlists: Monarchist traditionalists who refused to accept the republican regime, led by Manuel Fal Conde. They organized a paramilitary group.
- Spanish Renewal: Group created in 1933 bringing together the royalist alfonsinos. Some of its ideological characteristics later inspired the Francoist State: the will to destroy the Republic with a coup; rejection of democracy and universal suffrage; defense of authoritarianism; exaltation of the greatness of Spain. Leaders belonged to the aristocracy and finance. Among them, Jose Calvo Sotelo and Ramiro de Maeztu.
- CEDA (Spanish Confederation of Autonomous Rights). Its program included: 1) conservatism and defense of the Catholic Church, the Army, and the family; 2) opposition to land reform and socialism; and 3) rejection of Catalan and Basque nationalism. It had 700,000 members and was led by Jose Maria Gil Robles.
C) Political Center:
- Radical Republican Party: Defended order, feared the revolutionary workers’ movement, and curbed socio-economic reform. Their support came from the middle and petty bourgeoisie. Alejandro Lerroux was their leader.
D) Left Group:
- Radical Socialist Party: Directed by Marcelino Domingo, who held ministerial portfolios in various governments (1931-1936).
- Republican Action: A progressive and pacifist party that reached agreements with the PSOE to launch reforms. Its leader was Manuel Azaña. In 1934, this party and the Socialist P.Radical merged into the Republican Left.
E) Proletarian Parties:
- PSOE: Very powerful, gained 116 deputies in the elections of 1931, 58 in 1933, and 99 in 1936. Caballero, Prieto, and Besteiro were its top leaders.
- PCE: Revolutionary, pro-Soviet, and insignificant numerically, with only 400,000 votes in the 1933 elections.
- Anarchists: Indifferent to republican and democratic legality, always willing to revolutionary upheaval.
F) National and Regional Parties:
- Basque Nationalist Party: Conservative Catholic. José Antonio Aguirre became the first lehendakari of the Basque government in 1936.
- Galicianist Party: Autonomist left.
- Catalan League: Conservative.
- Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya: Leftist and nationalist party led by Lluís Companys, who was president of the Generalitat.