Spain’s Second Republic: Transformative Reforms (1931-1936)
The Second Spanish Republic: Transformative Reforms (1931-1936)
The Second Spanish Republic addressed Spain’s main problems through significant social and economic policy reforms.
Proclamation and Provisional Government
On April 14, 1931, the Republic was proclaimed following the Republican victory in the cities. This proclamation allowed access to power for the revolutionary committee, which emerged from the Pact of San Sebastián. This committee had been formed to prepare for regime change through a military uprising with civilian support, and it subsequently became a provisional coalition government, representing all signatories of the pact.
The Constituent Stage and the 1931 Constitution
During the first, constituent stage, the initial reform decrees of the Republic and the 1931 Constitution were drafted. Key early decrees included:
- Legal Status and Sovereignty: Established the legal status of sovereignty in the courts, freedom of belief and worship, freedom of association, and the right to private property.
- Agrarian Decrees: Driven by Largo Caballero.
- Educational Decrees: Driven by Marcelino Domingo, Minister of Education, who established a five-year plan to create thousands of school places.
- Initial Military Measures: Undertaken by the Minister of War, Manuel Azaña, these included:
- The Law of Retirement, which led to about 40% of officers leaving the army.
- The closure of the Zaragoza Military Academy.
- The repeal of the old Law of Jurisdictions.
- A decrease in the number of Captain-Generals.
Major Reforms of the Second Republic
Religious Reform
This reform aimed to curb the power and influence of the Church. Many provisions were contained in the Constitution, and measures taken included:
- Constitutional recognition of divorce and civil marriage.
- Secularization of cemeteries.
- Abolition of religious education.
- Removal of crucifixes from classrooms.
- Dissolution of the Jesuit Order.
These measures led many Catholics to feel persecuted.
Military Reform
Manuel Azaña led efforts to modernize and democratize the army. Its major laws included:
- The Law of Withdrawal for Officers, which allowed the voluntary retirement, with full pay, of all generals and officers who did not wish to swear allegiance to the Republic.
- The abolition of the Supreme Council of Military Justice, which had tried military personnel and civilians accused of crimes against the nation or the army.
- The closure of the Zaragoza Military Academy, which had been led by Francisco Franco.
- A ban on military-specific press that was controlled by conservative elements.
Land Reform
This was the most complex and important project of the Second Republic, aiming to end the chronic problems of the Spanish countryside: latifundismo (large estates), poor productivity, and the abundance of landless laborers. The reform had three main objectives:
- Social: To redistribute land to peasants to create a proprietary peasant middle class.
- Economic: To increase agricultural productivity, thereby raising the purchasing power of the peasantry and stimulating consumption and industrial production.
- Political: To diminish the economic power of the landed aristocracy.
Education Reform
Convinced that Spanish backwardness could be overcome by a robust education system, the government, under Azaña, commissioned the replacement of traditional methods and religious teachers with supporters of progressive education. The goal was to eradicate illiteracy and promote liberal and secular education.
Labor Reform
The Minister of Labor, the Socialist Francisco Largo Caballero, developed several laws to improve working conditions:
- The Employment Contracts Act, which governed collective bargaining agreements and set out rules on wages, maximum working hours, and 7 days of paid vacation each year.
- The Law on the Right to Strike.
- The Law of Mixed Juries, whose mission was to mediate labor disputes and establish conciliatory opinions.
- Reinforcement of pensions and insurance, including worker retirement insurance, compulsory maternity insurance, and occupational accident insurance.
Regional Autonomy Reform
The Constitution granted the possibility of autonomy to territories that requested it. In Catalonia, on the very day of the Republic’s proclamation, April 14, 1931, Francesc Macià, leader of Esquerra Republicana (the new party of the Catalan left), sought to create a Catalan republic within a federal state. Three days later, the provisional government of the Republic recognized the Generalitat de Catalunya.