The Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera: A Historical Analysis
The Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera
The coup led by Primo de Rivera occurred a year after Mussolini’s rise to power in Italy and preceded other dictatorships in Southern and Eastern Europe. It emerged from the era of fascism and regeneration. Primo de Rivera justified his actions by the need to combat the old problems of the Restoration, particularly the political dominance of caciques (political bosses) and the oligarchy.
Supports and Opposition
Initial acceptance of Primo de Rivera gradually decreased over time, although it persisted in rural Spain, controlled by caciques, landowners, and the financial bourgeoisie. Opposition arose among the urban middle classes, students, and intellectuals like Ortega y Gasset, Unamuno, and Blasco Ibáñez. It progressively extended to republican and socialist forces. Primo de Rivera faced opposition from peripheral nationalist movements (Basque, Galician, and Catalan). Initially hostile, his government became increasingly repressive, leading their representatives towards republicanism, radicalizing, and promoting nationalism. The CNT and the Communist Party viewed the dictatorship as a threat due to its links with reactionary sectors. The PSOE and the UGT initially opted to wait, after collaborating with Primo de Rivera in a corporate structure similar to fascist Italy, where the UGT represented the working class. This collaboration lasted until 1928 when the PSOE shifted to the opposition.
The Work of the Directories
Primo de Rivera’s regime lasted seven years, featuring two periods: a Military Directory and a Civil Directory. The dictatorship’s economic and social achievements garnered some popular recognition, but this was not matched politically, hindering its transition beyond a temporary dictatorship.
Military Directory
- Constitutional guarantees were suspended, and the military controlled the administration.
- An attempt was made to organize the state politically around a national party. The Unión Patriótica (Patriotic Union) was founded in 1924, imitating Italian Fascism.
- A Municipal Statute was issued to regulate municipal powers, and tax reform was attempted, including an income tax that faced opposition from conservative governments.
- The most significant action was resolving the Moroccan problem in 1925 through an agreement with France.
- Social unrest was reduced due to the economic prosperity of the 1920s, but there was a lack of freedom and repression of the labor movement’s radical sectors.
Civil Directory
- The focus shifted to creating corporations based on employment, replacing political parties.
- Efforts were made to institutionalize the regime by creating a National Constituent Assembly, not democratically elected but through corporate votes of municipal representatives and a census of partnerships with voting rights. Members primarily came from the agrarian oligarchy.
- Initial regeneration attempts did not translate into effective action.
- The government was relieved of the financial burden of the Moroccan War and focused on educational policy: increasing elementary schools and creating vocational training to meet industrial manpower needs.
- Infrastructure projects included road construction, modernization of the railway network, and building dams and irrigation canals. Public works, financed by increasing public debt, helped lower unemployment.
- The state promoted the creation of monopolies in key economic sectors, such as CAMPSA (oil monopoly).
The Fall of Primo de Rivera
Growing opposition and confrontations with the military proved decisive in Primo de Rivera’s downfall. Hostility towards Catalonia and privileges granted to the Church in higher education provoked significant social responses. The economic crisis of 1929, causing the devaluation of the peseta and a growing trade deficit, further fueled discontent. Facing widespread opposition, in 1930, he consulted military commanders for support. Lacking it, he resigned in January and went into exile in Paris. King Alfonso XIII then commissioned Dámaso Berenguer to form a new government. Berenguer attempted to normalize the situation constitutionally, but the opposition perceived his reforms as evasive. Meanwhile, the CNT reorganized, the UGT and PSOE opposed the monarchy, and republicanism and peripheral nationalism united in a common front to establish the Republic through the Pact of San Sebastián, promoted by Alcalá-Zamora and Maura. They formed a revolutionary committee, in contact with militia groups, planning a military coup to establish the Republic, supported by a segment of the army and many intellectuals.