Spain’s Turbulent Years: From Crisis to Republic (1917-1931)
Introduction
After the crisis of 1917 began the most difficult times of the reign of Alfonso XIII. The economic crisis, the worsening social situation, the radicalization of nationalism, and the military disaster in Morocco all shook the monarchy, which resorted to a military dictatorship.
The Bankruptcy of the Parliamentary Monarchy (1918-1923)
The Decomposition of the Political System of the Restoration
After the crisis of 1917, the dynastic parties fragmented internally into cliques around their leaders. Attempts were made to form governments of national concentration, with the leaders of all parties except the left and the Republicans. The participation of the nationalists did not help to bring stability, and the political involvement of the military altered the functioning of civil institutions.
The year 1921 was instrumental in discrediting the Canovist system: the assassination of Dato was a blow to the Conservative Party, and the failure of the war in Africa would weigh on the last governments of the parliamentary monarchy.
The Economic Crisis
The advantages of being a neutral country vanished with the peace.
The industrial powers regained their former markets, and Spanish industries, which had not invested their substantial profits in improving technology, were unable to compete and maintain the market share they had captured during the war. Exports plummeted. Rising unemployment and falling wages brought social unrest.
Social Unrest
This was a common phenomenon across Europe, partly due to the resonance of the Soviet Revolution of October 1917 among the working class.
Later that year, news of events in Russia reached Spain: the Bolsheviks expropriated the landowners. The years 1918-1920 became known as the “Bolshevik Triennium.”
In Andalusia, rural poverty caused by rising prices and declining wages, land hunger, and the example of the Russian Revolution led to revolts of day laborers.
In Catalonia, the CNT, in its two versions, dissociated itself from the political system of the Restoration.
Nationalist Claims
In January 1919, the Lliga presented an autonomy plan that resulted in serious clashes in the courts. The radical nationalists then separated, forming Acció Catalana in 1922, and a new pro-independence party, Estat Català.
The Military Coup
The situation was difficult for the Spanish monarchy, and many were already supporters of the Republic.
On the night of September 12-13, 1923, the Captain General of Catalonia, Miguel Primo de Rivera, issued a statement in Barcelona, declared martial law, and suspended the 1876 Constitution. The king endorsed the coup, and Primo de Rivera was appointed chairman of a board that ruled the country for the next seven years.
Political and Economic Development Changes
Since 1923, the “iron surgeon,” Primo de Rivera, imposed new twists on the regime. The coup came a year after Mussolini’s accession to power in Italy, but Primo de Rivera’s dictatorship was not fascist; it drew much from regenerationism and was presented as an interim solution that would last only long enough to restore order in Spain.
The Military Directory (1923-1925)
The establishment of the dictatorship led to the suspension of the Constitution of 1876.
The dictator acted on three fronts: the labor movement, nationalism, and the war in Morocco:
- Regarding the labor movement, he pursued the CNT.
- Regarding the nationalist movement, he was uncompromising.
- In Morocco, Primo de Rivera was initially in favor of leaving the territory, but Africanist officers persuaded him to continue the war. In September 1925, the warlord’s troops were completely defeated.
The Civil Directory (1925-1930)
Encouraged by this success, General Primo de Rivera tried to stay in power, creating a new political system. In some ways, it mimicked the fascism that Mussolini had just established in Italy: a state with a single party, the Patriotic Union.
In December 1925, he formed a new Council of Ministers that included political figures in addition to military personnel.
Economic Interventionism
This coincided with a period of expansion of the European and international economy.
New roads, railways, and waterworks were built, with the construction of dams and irrigation channels that contributed to the development of the steel and cement industries and to lower unemployment figures. These works were funded through a massive increase in public debt. The government also subsidized corporations.
As a triumphant demonstration of this economic development, in 1929, the International Exhibition was held in Barcelona and the Ibero-American Exposition in Seville.
The End of the Dictatorship and the Monarchy
The Opposition and the Fall of the Dictatorship
During the dictatorship, an opposition formed from different groups:
- Within the Army, some generals disagreed with the dictator on various issues.
- The opposition of intellectuals was led by Miguel de Unamuno and others, some of whom had initially agreed to the coup.
- The Republican parties and trade unions rallied. In 1929, an alliance was formed between Lerroux and Azaña. The UGT and the PSOE finally joined the opposition.
King Alfonso XIII, aware of the situation, felt that in late 1929, General Primo de Rivera was an obstacle to a return to the constitutional and parliamentary legality that existed before 1923.
When the Army denied the support he had requested, the general presented his resignation to the king, who immediately accepted it. Primo de Rivera died soon after in exile in Paris.
The Fall of the Monarchy
The Government of Dámaso Berenguer
Alfonso XIII, following the fall of dictator Primo de Rivera, entrusted the government of General Dámaso Berenguer with the task of rebuilding the old constitutional order. Berenguer’s government was called the “soft dictatorship.”
It was a very difficult task, and he had lost the confidence of the majority of Spaniards.
The Pact of San Sebastián
In August 1930, in semi-clandestinity, representatives of the Republican parties, socialists, monarchists reticent about the monarchy, and nationalists gathered in San Sebastián, where they agreed on the abolition of the monarchy, the proclamation of the Republic, and the creation of a Provisional Government that would commit to convening the Constituent Cortes to approve a new constitution and a statute of autonomy for Catalonia.
A Revolutionary Committee emerged from the pact. Its strategy to overthrow the monarchy combined two lines of action: a revolutionary one and a political one.
The Municipal Elections of April 12, 1931
In these circumstances, the last government of the monarchy, headed by Admiral Aznar, called elections for April 12, 1931.
If they won, it would mean that the Spanish people preferred the Republic to the monarchy.
65% of eligible men voted, and on April 13, the election results began to be known.
The Proclamation of the Republic
In a climate of euphoria and without violence, many municipalities, upon learning the outcome of the election, proclaimed the Republic. Eibar, in the Basque Country, was the first to do so, followed by Barcelona, Valencia, Zaragoza, Seville, Oviedo, and others. The monarch hesitated for a few hours but, to the dismay of most of his ministers, ended up leaving Madrid for Cartagena.