The Second Spanish Republic: Proclamation and Reforms
The Second Spanish Republic
Proclamation and Constitutional Period (1931)
On April 12, 1931, municipal elections were held with universal male suffrage. The Socialists won the Republican nomination in large cities (41 of 50 provincial capitals). Given the new situation, King Alfonso XIII went into exile.
On April 14, a republic was proclaimed in several cities. In Madrid, the signatories of the Pact of San Sebastian formed a provisional government. The same day, the Ministry of Interior (in the Puerta del Sol) officially proclaimed the Second Spanish Republic.
The members of the provisional government were the main forces of the Republican Socialist movement and called elections for the Constituent Assembly on June 28. The victory went to the Republican-Socialist coalition, which won 250 deputies of the 464 seats in the House. Niceto Alcalá Zamora became the head of government.
His first goal was to draft a new constitution, the Constitution of 1931. This constitution was democratic and progressive. It established the following principles:
- The State was set on a “comprehensive” basis but accepted the possibility of setting up autonomous governments in some regions.
- The legislative power resided in Parliament with a single chamber, the executive in government, and the judiciary in a few independent judges.
- It recognized a broad statement of rights and freedoms.
- It affirmed the state’s secularism. For the first time, it gave the vote to women.
The Constitution did not get the consensus of all political forces, and although it was adopted by a large majority, there were significant discrepancies, especially regarding religious and regional issues. The adoption of religious articles led to the resignation of Catholic sectors of government. Alcalá Zamora was replaced by Azaña in the premiership and became president.
The Republican era inaugurated a period of great activity of political parties and trade unions. Parliament became the center of the country’s political life.
The political left was in favor of state secularism, democratization of the army, land reform, employment and social rights, and autonomy. The parties stressed the Radical-Socialists, the Republican Action (M. Azaña), the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE), where there were two streams, one Social (Besteiro and Prieto) and a more revolutionary one, the UGT (Caballero). Further to the left was the Communist Party of Spain (J. Diaz, D. Ibarruri). There was also the anarchist union CNT, where they faced two streams, the trentistas and the Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI).
The political right was in favor of a confessional state, the army enjoyed privileges in the defense of traditional land ownership, was opposed to labor reforms, and advocated a unitary state.
There were some formation center-right Republican Party and the Radical (Lerroux) or Liberal Republican Right (Alcalá Zamora). The great advantage of the conservative Catholic right was the Spanish Confederation of Autonomous Rights (CEDA), directed by José María Gil Robles.
Renewal groups were monarchists and Spanish (José Calvo Sotelo) and cutting small groups and fascist National Boards National Syndicalist Offensive (JONS) and the Spanish Falange (José Antonio Primo de Rivera).
Lefts Biennium (1931-1933)
Reforms Carried Out
The religious question, one of the first targets of the Republic, was to limit the influence of the church and secularization of Spanish society. The Constitution decreed the state non-denominational, religious freedom, and the abolition of the budget of worship and clergy. It allowed divorce and civil marriage. The Congregations Act limited the possession of property of religious orders and foresaw the possibility of its dissolution in case of danger to the state. The Society of Jesus was dissolved. In addition, anti-clerical movements resurfaced on May 11 and 12, 1931, and burned convents and religious buildings in several cities (Madrid, Seville, Cadiz, …). The church hierarchy did not hesitate to express their antagonism toward the Republic.