The Second Spanish Republic: A Tumultuous Era

INTRO TO THE SECOND REPUBLIC

It was an attempt to modernize the state, taking as a model Western European countries such as France, Germany, or Britain. An attempt to approach European development. This attempt collided with the privileges and interests of the dominant class (an oligarchy linked to the church and the army who did not want to lose their privileges and opposed the Second Republic from the beginning, leading to the start of the civil war and the dictatorship, which meant 40 years of hardship). It is a reform project, it does not attempt to carry out a revolution. When it began on April 14, 1931, the first government of the Republic was led by a coalition of center-left groups and the PSOE. These first governments had a reformist and Europeanizing agenda rooted in progressive Republican ideology (which left-wing parties had received). Its social base was middle-class professionals (lawyers, doctors…). This middle-class sector of professionals was a very small minority of the population. The social base of the recipient could be just this sector and the PSOE (with a broader social base) which was part of an important sector of the working classes. This goal of modernization of the state was intended to be carried out through a reformist political life. This legislation focused on: 1. Land use: known as the Agrarian Reform Law. It tried to create a layer of peasant owners or farmers who, with a long-term contract, were in favor of the Republic. 2) Labor laws: it was a law regulating working conditions, such as mixed juries or arbitrations, whose intention was to arbitrate in disputes between employers and employees fairly. C) Social legislation: considerable effort in establishing a public, secular, and rationalist education system, thus removing the privilege of education from the church. They wanted to extend education to everyone. D) Military legislation: reducing the number of officers. There were more captains with soldiers than companies, therefore they wanted to reduce the number of officers. The difficulties were: 1. The conservative opposition of the dominant class linked to the church mobilized against the change. 2. Economic problems: due to all the debt inherited from the Primo de Rivera dictatorship and the Great Depression due to the international crisis, the Republic found financial problems to finance these reforms.

THE FALL OF THE MONARCHY

The Primo de Rivera dictatorship resigns on January 30, 1930. General Dámaso Berenguer takes over (until February 1931) and then Admiral Aznar (February-April 1931). Opposition: San Sebastian Pact (August 1930), an alliance of anti-royalist and republican forces – Catalanists – revolutionary formation of a committee chaired by Niceto Alcalá Zamora, the PSOE, and the UGT – joining the Pact – Jaca uprising (December 1930), Republican military uprising in December. The Aznar government (February-April 1931): Given the monarchical opposition, municipal elections are held on April 12, 1931. The elections were planned as a plebiscite to decide the form of the state (monarchy or republic). Republican victory in major cities: 50 wins in 41 provincial capitals. The results are interpreted as a censure of the monarchy. Many popular demonstrations demanded the republic.

THE PARTY SYSTEM DURING THE SECOND REPUBLIC

Political organizations during the 2nd Republic:

Left and Center Parties:

  • Republican Action: Left-of-center party. In 1934 it merged with the Radical Socialist Republican Party to form the Republican Left. Leader: Manuel Azaña (who would also be the leader of the Republican Left), with the same Republican ideology as Acción Republicana. Leader: Marcelino Domingo.
  • ERC: Left-of-center. Leaders: Francesc Macià and Lluís Companys.
  • Radical Republican Party: led by Alejandro Lerroux. Its social base was traders and industrialists.
  • PSOE: Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party, it was the largest party since 1931. Leaders: Francisco Largo Caballero and Indalecio Prieto.
  • CNT: National Confederation of Labor, of anarcho-syndicalist character, associated with the FAI (Iberian Anarchist Federation). The leaders were Federica Montseny, Joan García Oliver, and Ángel Pestaña.
  • PCE: Communist Party of Spain, founded in 1921. Leader: Dolores Ibárruri (La Pasionaria). Another leader who was in the Socialist Youth (which was dominated by the Communist Party) was Santiago Carrillo.
  • POUM: 1935, from the merger between the Bloc Obrer i Camperol (BOC) party and the Trotskyist Communist Left of Spain (led by Andrés Nin).

Right-Wing Parties:

  • Popular Action: right-wing party (the most reactionary and Catholic right). In 1933 it merged with the Valencian Regional Right and formed CEDA (Spanish Confederation of Autonomous Right-wing Groups). CEDA is a party with fascist characteristics. The leaders are: Ángel Herrera Oria and José María Gil Robles.
  • Falange Española y de las JONS (Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista) are two parties that merged. The leader is José Antonio Primo de Rivera. The party is similar to the Italian Fascist party.
  • Monarchist groups: it brings together different parties within a sector whose importance was the oligarchy.

Left and Center Parties:

Left-wing parties during the Second Spanish Republic had things in common:

  • Political system (they preferred a republican system of government). Some also included the possibility that governments existed with regional autonomy.
  • They also shared a distrust of the influence of the church and the army, particularly the influence of these sectors within the government. For this reason, the separation of church and state, as it existed in many countries like France, was very important to these parties.
  • Many members of these parties also advocated the recognition of intellectual and rationalist education, and secular education was very important to carry out social change.

The 2 main left-wing parties were:

  • Republican Left: led by Manuel Azaña. Left-of-center party. They were not revolutionaries.
  • PSOE: social democrats linked to the UGT. Within the party there were two tendencies: a moderate tendency, led by Indalecio Prieto, and another, more radical, led by Francisco Largo Caballero. During the Republic, Largo Caballero had a pro-revolutionary discourse, which is why he was called the Spanish Lenin. He wanted to appear radical but in practice did nothing to achieve what he said, therefore, he was not as radical as he seemed.

Within the Socialist party in Spain, there was the Communist Party (PCE), founded in 1921. At the beginning, it had very little influence and was a very small party, although it had a very important leader: Dolores Ibárruri (La Pasionaria). It followed Stalin’s guidelines.

  • USC: Catalan Socialist Union. Leader: Joan Comorera. They were Catalanist socialists who did not have a great relationship with the PSOE. In 1935 it merged with other small parties (PSUC), Communist: Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia.
  • Trotskyists: POUM, important in Catalonia during the civil war, supported the collectivization of the means of production. – Permanent Revolution: criticism of and against bureaucracy (we have to start from the bottom up).
  • Anarchists: especially in Catalonia and Andalusia. In 1937 the CNT had one and a half million members, 250,000 in Catalonia. Main trends: anarcho-syndicalists (more moderate): trentistas. Characteristics: they agreed with agreements with left-wing parties and unions. – They included Ángel Pestaña and Joan Peiró. FAI or faístas: anarcho-communists. Characteristics: methods for a hard revolution (terrorism). Los Solidarios. Leaders: Buenaventura Durruti, Francisco Ascaso, and Juan García Oliver. In Catalonia – nationalist parties: 1st: Regionalist League, formed by the Catalan bourgeoisie. 2nd: Republican Left: Federalists, Republicans, and separatists.

Center Parties:

  • Liberal Republican Right: leader: Niceto Alcalá Zamora, a Republican. The only center-right party.

Right-Wing Parties:

Things in common: maintaining the status quo (landowning oligarchy), they were monarchists and religious, reluctant to change. In 1931, in response to the beginning of the Republic, the most Catholic sectors, with Ángel Herrera Oria, a priest, with support from the Vatican, founded a party.

  • CEDA: 1. The leader is José María Gil Robles, a Catholic and confessional state party. It is the most important right-wing party of the 2nd Republic and had ambiguous positions to get more votes. 2. Characteristics similar to fascism: authoritarian political positions. The young followers called him El Jefe. In 1933 they got many results. Ministers begin to enter the party. The party’s workers went on strike and the Asturias Revolution broke out: strongly repressed. They said they were the real enemies of the Republic. 3. Spanish Renovation: a reactionary and very Catholic party. The leader was José Calvo Sotelo (known for his speeches calling for the army to intervene against the Republic). In 1934 it joined the Carlists to form the National Bloc.
  • National Bloc: brought together Catholics, monarchists, and Carlists.
  • Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista: It is a blatantly fascist party (inspired by German and Italian fascism). Leaders: Ramiro Ledesma Ramos and Onésimo Redondo. Formed in 1931.
  • Spanish Falange: 1933: leader, José Antonio Primo de Rivera. Fascist. 1934: it joins the JONS and forms the Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las JONS.
  • Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las JONS: Very small until 1936: during the civil war it expands through areas controlled by Franco.


PHASES OF THE REPUBLIC

4.1. Progressive or Reformist Biennium (1931-33):

After April 14, a provisional government was formed by the parties of the San Sebastian Pact. First steps: a) call constituent elections for June 28, 1931. b) amnesty for political prisoners. c) as an emergency measure, prevent the expulsion of peasants from the land. The elections in June were won by a coalition of left-wing Republicans and Socialists. The 1931 Constitution was approved on December 9.

4.1.1. Constitution of 1931:

There were several debates on women’s suffrage in the Constitution (Clara Campoamor) and it was approved. It is the first with universal suffrage. Popular sovereignty. Extensive declaration of rights and freedoms. Certain civil rights that were later developed in laws in other countries (equality of children inside or outside of marriage, divorce, and education). Secular state, therefore, true separation of church and state. The clergy gradually disappeared from the budget. Monastic orders outside the state were abolished (the Jesuits). Prohibition of teaching, promoting public education. Freedom of conscience and worship in the private sphere. Religious tolerance. Unicameral, guarantees court. It is a constitutional right not to apply certain laws. Division of powers: executive (President and government), legislative (Parliament), and judicial (courts of justice). Right to establish autonomous regions. The process will lead to the establishment of self-government for: Catalonia, the Basque Country, and Galicia.

4.1.2. Main problems and how they were addressed:

1) Nationalism:

Nationalism from the 19th century demanded their own rights (Basque Country and Catalonia). In Catalonia: Lluís Companys proclaimed the Catalan Republic within the Iberian Federation in Barcelona with Francesc Macià. This proclamation was seen as the last straw by the central government. After the rest, Alcalá Zamora went to Barcelona to speak with Macià and Companys, telling them that they could not do that. An autonomous government was recovered, the term Generalitat, and the Statute of Núria was drawn up, which was approved by the Generalitat, but Madrid made cuts to it. In 1932 the Statute was approved in Madrid. The 1st President of the Generalitat of Catalonia was Francesc Macià. In the Basque Country: the Basque Nationalist Party (Christian Democrat). They did not agree with the terms of the religious issue, they did not accept the Constitution. They wanted the powers of the church and the state to be autonomous decisions. The draft statute was postponed.

2) Land reform:

The Compulsory Cultivation Decree forced landowners to cultivate the land more efficiently or it could be transferred to peasant organizations to cultivate. The Agrarian Reform Law was approved in 1932. It had 3 objectives: 1) end thousands of hectares of uncultivated farms. 2) punish absentee landlords, forcing them to cultivate under the threat of expropriation. 3) try to provide farmers with means of subsistence and increase the number of consumers to drive industry. The Agrarian Reform Institute (IRA) was created, which was in charge of making an inventory of the land, analyzing the expropriated land, and raising the necessary funds for compensation. 80,000 hectares of the estates of the Grandees of Spain were expropriated without compensation. For the rest, it was a long and complicated process. It was difficult to comply with this law. The farmers began to worry, they wanted faster reforms. The possibility was given to cultivate the lands of Extremadura for 1 year. More than 30,000 farmers received 7,000 hectares. The lack of money also slowed down the reform. The state budget for the reform was half that of the Civil Guard. The IRA, in 2 years, spent the equivalent of the estates. Land reform was abandoned and it was not resumed until 1936 when the Popular Front won.

3) The problem of the church:

The church was privileged. With the Republic there were tensions because the church wanted to continue being linked to the state and maintain its privileges. The ecclesiastical hierarchy in general had a very rigid position to maintain privileges. They identified with the dominant class, as they were right-wing. It had many properties: 21,000 rural estates in the Spanish state (especially in the north), 12,000 urban estates, 6,000 censuses, debts, and other assets. The state received 67 million pesetas annually. It dominated education, influencing society and politics through its actions, institutions, and confessional organizations. The Catholic Agricultural Confederation was a means of exposing ecclesiastical ideas from a non-ecclesiastical perspective. Leader: Gil Robles. They did not like Articles 26, 27, and 3, which spoke of the separation of church and state, promoted public, secular education, and said that the church’s budgets would be limited. They had many conflicts, some due to the Republic’s attempt to get closer and reach an agreement. A Catalan bishop, Vidal i Barraquer, was more open and accepted it, he did not express himself either for or against. He had to flee to France because they did not support him. From the Civil War, especially in 1937, there was religious persecution in the Republican zone. The President of the Republic tried to reconcile with the church but did not succeed. In 1938, Mariano Irujo, Minister of Cults, who was Catholic, tried to restore normalcy of worship throughout Spain.

4) Military threat:

Right-wing conspiracies against the Republic began in December. The 1st coup attempt was in 1932 by General Sanjurjo, it failed and he went into exile in Portugal. But the trial against the conspirators was quite benevolent, without major penalties. They tried to reform the army because it was very old-fashioned and depended on civilian power. Reduce the number of officers. Objective: to reduce the total number by 50% and the number of officers by 40%, early retirement.

5) Other reforms:

Education project, predominantly public, secular, and national school, which reached the working classes. More than 13,000 new schools and 7,000 new teacher positions, and the education budget doubled. Project to bring culture to the people with Pedagogical Missions, mobile libraries and teachers, cultural events such as theater (Federico García Lorca, La Barraca) that went to different towns, etc. Intense improvement of health. Construction of hospitals and creation of social assistance and welfare services so that the population could access them. The Law of Compulsory Insurance and the Labor Councils. Employment Contracts Law, provides for the reduction of working hours, etc. Law of Mixed Juries, to influence arbitration in contracts. Trying to be fair (workers judged workers). Divorce Law, giving importance to women. Equality in marriage law and the power of women to have custody of children.

4.1.3. Conflicts:

1 – Cardinal Segura (church): On May 7, 1931, he wrote a pastoral letter declaring war on the Republic. He called on Catholics to take up arms against the destroyers in a collective letter. Segura stated that popular sovereignty went against the doctrines of the church. This created controversy and he became the symbol of ecclesiastical intransigence. After the May letter, he was exiled and conspired against the Republic from France. He re-entered the country but conspired clandestinely from within. He was discovered and expelled. The government asked Rome to replace him. The replacement was the same or worse than him, Gomà. While this was happening, the government tried to reach an agreement with the church. 2 – Military threat: failed coup attempt (1932) by General Sanjurjo, who was prosecuted, but the penalties were very benevolent. The policy adopted was to disperse those who continued to conspire. 3 – Burning of convents: May 1931: there was an altercation in front of the ABC newspaper. The monarchists killed 2 people in the Plaza del Sol and uncontrolled groups burned 10 convents in Madrid and other capitals. The government reacted and declared a state of war. 4 – Anarchist riots:”due to the impatience of the workers to see changes in the reforms. The anarchists told the workers that the reforms were timid and slow -> wave of unrest. CNT: revolutionary reform program. The association of land workers in Andalusia became radical. Causes conflict in the Alt Llobregat and in Andalusia (Casas Viejas) – In 1932 in the Alt Llobregat there is a strike called by anarchists and repressed by the government. There were arrests and deportations. Causes discontent! The left demanded reforms while the right demanded more repression of the workers’ movement. – In 1933 in Andalusia, the CNT called a general strike at the state level for January 8, 1933. In Casas Viejas there was a lot of unemployment (45%) which the employers took advantage of. Many workers had to live from sporadic jobs (hunting rabbits, picking asparagus…). – On January 10 and 11, the peasants declared libertarian communism, killing 4 civilians. They were repressed until only one refuge remained, a house where a military man killed the family inside. Those responsible for the repression were killed and 12 people were killed by the army and part of the left condemned it. 2. The right blamed the government and later launched a campaign against the Republic based on these events. 5 – Land occupations: – Workers illegally occupied lands but were expelled. – In 1936, they occupied lands again, the government sent the Civil Guard, but then the state legalized it. CNT members and the land workers’ association would be involved.

4.2. Black or Right-Wing Biennium (1933-35):

– November 1933 elections, won by the right-wing parties, Lerroux and CEDA. November 1933-1936: during this period there will be social instability, events will happen more quickly. There were more than 7 governments. – Niceto Alcalá Zamora continued as President and asked Alejandro Lerroux to form a government, who would be the 1st minister. CEDA did not enter until October 1934. – 1st they took 3 ministries and later 5. In October, Lerroux formed a government with people from CEDA who were known members of the landowning oligarchy. Reforms were stopped, including those of secular education or the divorce law. They did not want to suppress any rebellion or workers’ demonstration. There will be many workers’ strikes, student demonstrations, etc. Despite the repression, they did not manage to calm the people and there will be more revolts. The far-right parties, the Falange, increased violence in the streets. These were not repressed. Socialists and the left in general denounced the violence against trade unionists and Socialists of the UGT. The government itself influenced the Constitution. The PSOE turned increasingly to the right. It was worse when the landowners wanted to lower wages. Thousands of villagers were deported at gunpoint and the village houses (social and cultural centers where workers, left-wing people, unions, etc. met to read, discuss, etc. from the bottom up) were closed. – The tension between the Generalitat of Catalonia and the central government increased, reaching a climax when Companys approved the Law of Cultivated Contracts (1934) which allowed sharecroppers to have a 6-year contract and the opportunity to buy the land. The Catalan Agricultural Institute of San Isidro opposed it, which, together with the Regionalist League, went to the Constitutional Guarantees Court to annul the law. The court annulled the law. The government reintroduced the law with few modifications. This further increased the tension with the central government. In October 1934, President Companys proclaimed the Catalan State within the Iberian Federation. The consequences were: the central government closed the Generalitat and imprisoned Lluís Companys. The government was reshuffled and 3 CEDA ministers entered. Faced with the attacks, the socialists (UGT) and anarchists (CNT) formed the Workers’ Alliance and, allied with the UGT, called a strike. The strike failed in Madrid. In Asturias it became a revolt and from October 5 to 19 the Asturias Revolution took place. It revealed the possibility of a fascist government, it was brutally repressed. Franco was one of the leaders and many died and hundreds were imprisoned (political prisoners). During this right-wing government, they stopped internal reforms and sought a new Agrarian Reform Law (1935) which was later adopted by the Franco regime. 1935: a scandal involving the 1st Minister Alejandro Lerroux, the Straperlo scandal, which was a fraudulent and illegal roulette game in which he was involved. The government fell. Therefore, Lerroux resigned in January 1936, the Cortes were dissolved, and elections were called for February 16, 1936. A Popular Front was formed on the left and a right-wing front: the Popular Front and the Catalan Left Front, which was formed by center-left and liberal parties: Republican Union, Socialists, PSOE, and the Communist Party, Republican Left of Catalonia. The right also tried to reach an agreement between CEDA and the traditionalist monarchists, but it did not happen. There was a right-wing coalition that would be CEDA and the National Bloc of Calvo Sotelo. The Popular Front won because the CNT allowed its members to vote freely. The Popular Front triumphed in rural and urban areas. They won legitimately without much difference. The right was very influenced by fascism and the radical positions. February 1936: the Popular Front government takes over. Characteristics: it had pressure from the left, farmers, etc., because they wanted reforms. The President of the Republic, Zamora, was replaced by Azaña (less conservative). At first, it was quite moderate. The Prime Minister was Santiago Casares Quiroga (center-left bourgeois). In the first administration there was no union, Largo Caballero refused. Spirit: return to the 1932 program with non-revolutionary reforms. General amnesty for political prisoners: with the intention of continuing the agrarian reform. Developing autonomy for Catalonia, the Basque Country, and Galicia. From the beginning, there was a climate of confrontation. The Falange increased violence in the streets, so much so that the government had to arrest José Antonio Primo de Rivera. The people demanded wage increases, the farmers did not wait for the reform and occupied the lands. The excuse was the murder of a police officer on July 12 (José Castillo) by Falangists and/or right-wing people. Police officers in a similar van went to look for Calvo Sotelo and murdered him. At that time, the coup d’état began on July 17 in Africa (Ceuta and Melilla) and on July 18 in Spain.