Spanish Civil War: Negrin’s Socialist Republic and Franco’s Regime
The Reconstruction Under Juan Negrín
In May 1937, the Socialist Republic, under Juan Negrín Lester, formed a government aimed at concentrating efforts to confront the plight of the Republicans. The new government rebuilt the authority by centralizing and directing state resources to win the war, which was endangered by Franco’s offensive in the Basque Country. Collectivizations were paralyzed, and the economy was nationalized to create a war industry. Major companies were militarized. The People’s Army became a reality through the introduction of discipline, the allocation of prestigious command units such as Lieutenant Colonel Vicente Rojo, and the integration of cadres from the militias, as in the cases of Enrique Líster, a communist, and Cipriano Mera, an anarchist.
Failure in the Aragon campaign led to a renewed governance crisis, and the socialist Prieto, Minister of National Defense, left the government. However, Negrín advocated for a policy of outright resistance, and the government was remodeled in April 1938 to include all political forces. The government introduced a 13-point program containing the basis for ending the war and the political principles that would govern the Republic in the future.
In the rear, the disasters of the prolonged war led to a desperate situation: inflation, decreased production, scarcity, and the rising cost of living. Rationing and the black market affected the population. The closure of the French border immobilized Soviet war material, further complicating matters.
The Consolidation of the Uprising
The military used the army as the backbone of military operations and the configuration of a new state. Franco conducted the political unification of the Falange and the Carlists, providing an ideological substrate to the new regime that progressively adopted the defining characteristics of fascism and authoritarianism.
Organization of the Uprising and Political Power
A unified command was created, which became the National Defense Board. The Board proclaimed a state of war and began repressing authorities and supporters of the Republican regime, as well as members of political organizations and unions in areas under their control. All members of the Popular Front parties and political activities of any union were banned. Generalissimo Franco was appointed head of the national land forces. Shortly after, he began to be called the “Caudillo of Spain” and concentrated more power in his hands. He formed a Technical Board of the State, comprising military personnel, which effectively acted as a government.
After submitting the Falangist and Carlist militias to discipline, Franco decreed, on April 19, 1937, their unification under the direction of the Falangists and traditionalists. Thus, the Traditionalist Spanish Falange and the Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FET y de las JONS) was born. This party collected the essential principles of the Falange and laid the foundations of a totalitarian state. After the execution of José Antonio Primo de Rivera in the Republican zone, his successor, Manuel Hedilla, who opposed unification, was sentenced to death by Franco, later pardoned, and banished.
In September, the church hierarchy issued a pastoral letter addressed to the bishops of the world, reaffirming the church’s support for the military uprising, justifying it as a crusade to eradicate the communist revolution. This originated National Catholicism, the ideological foundation of the new regime.
The Franco Regime: Consolidation of the New State
In January 1938, Franco culminated the process of dismantling the old political and administrative regime with the Central State Administration Law, which concentrated all powers in his hands: legislative power, supreme state authority, government, and leadership of the single party. This consolidated an authoritarian fascist dictatorship. He appointed a government made up of military and civilian members representing the Falange, monarchists, and traditionalists.
The new regime repealed all Republican social legislation related to civil marriage, divorce, and cultural promotion. It restored the Society of Jesus, made Catholic teaching mandatory, reinstated clergy remuneration, and exempted church goods from taxes. It forbade any union activity, and social policy took shape in the “Fuero del Trabajo” (Labor Charter). Strikes and protests were considered crimes against the fatherland. The Press and Printing Law was enacted. The Law of Political Responsibility allowed the persecution of those suspected of having supported the Republican cause. The defense of Spain’s unity was formalized by abolishing the Basque and Catalan governments.
This state, once the war ended, became a dictatorship that lasted almost forty years.
Vocabulary
- Army of Africa: Troops stationed in the protectorate of Morocco. The most professional military force in the Spanish army.
- Requetés: Armed Carlist militias.
- Black Market: The sale of consumer goods outside of legal controls.
- National Catholicism: The vision of Catholicism maintained by most of the ecclesiastical hierarchy that supported the dictatorship.
Key Figures
- Francisco Franco: Military and political leader who established a dictatorship in Spain.
- Indalecio Prieto: Deputy Prime Minister and member of the PSOE.
- Emilio Mola: Military leader who planned the coup d’état of 1936.
- Vicente Rojo: Army officer who led the defense of Madrid.