The Second Spanish Republic: Constitution, Reforms, and Challenges
The Second Spanish Republic and the 1931 Constitution
The new government was composed of parties that had signed the Pact of San Sebastian, presided over by Alcala Zamora. Immediately, the government began a series of reforms and called for elections to the Constituent Cortes, which the Republican parties won. The Cortes devised the 1931 Constitution. This introduced a fully democratic regime in which all parties could be represented. Its main innovations were:
- The broad recognition of individual liberties such as freedom of speech, assembly, and association. It also recognized new rights including the right to divorce.
- Universal suffrage without distinction of sex.
- The secular State without religion, which recognized the freedoms of conscience and the right to practice any religion and to receive a secular education.
- The decentralized territorial organization, which recognized several possibilities of creating autonomous regions. It also recognized the particular languages of these regions together with Castilian, considered the official language of the Republic.
- The importance of social welfare. The Constitution allowed the government to expropriate property deemed of public interest and encouraged enhancing public education.
This constitution was the first fully democratic in the history of Spain but was born conditioned by not having achieved a broad consensus, especially on matters such as the religious question or autonomy, provoking strong social controversy. This meant that part of the country did not identify with the new regime. Thus, the atmosphere tensed: there were stray incidents with anticlerical excesses, and plotting against the Republic began. In December, more moderate Republicans left the government, unhappy with articles of the constitution relating to religion. Alcala Zamora became chair of the Republic, and Azana was appointed Prime Minister.
Reforms of the Second Republic
Agrarian Reform
Land reform was intended to transform the Spanish agricultural structure to improve agricultural production and livelihoods of farmers. This provided for the expropriation of large, uncultivated estates and the distribution of lands among the laborers. The agency responsible for carrying out the reform was the Agrarian Reform Institute (ARI), which did not have enough money to achieve their goals. The farmers were disappointed and rekindled conflict in the field.
Autonomy to Catalonia
Autonomy was granted to Catalonia, with the approval of the Statute of Nuria in 1932 and the establishment of the Generalitat.
Military Reform
Military reform was essential, given the political influence that the army had. Officers were required to swear allegiance to the Republic, and unpaid retirement was provided for those who did not. This was expected to reduce the number of officers and ensure their loyalty.
Labor Reforms
Important labor reforms were also addressed, which established minimum wages and accident insurance, among other measures, to improve the lives of workers.
Education Reform
One aspect to which the Second Republic gave priority was education reform, because it was thought that education was the way to social improvement. It built 10,000 new primary schools in two years and increased the education budget by 50%.
Civil Marriage and Divorce
The Second Republic also regulated civil marriage and divorce.