The Spanish Second Republic: A Historical Analysis (1931-1936)
The Spanish Second Republic
The Spanish Second Republic was proclaimed on April 14, 1931, in a very difficult international situation. The world was in the midst of the economic crisis of 1929, and fascist dictatorships were emerging everywhere. In Spain, however, there was a deep spirit of democracy in society, but it was not immune to the economic crisis affecting the world. The Republic featured three stages: an anti-caciquista electoral law, Parliament and the Constitution of 1931, as well as recognition of the regional character of Catalonia (in 1932) and the Basque Country (1936).
The Electoral Law
The reform aimed to allow voting in the new Constituent Assembly without the pressures of cacique coercion or vote buying. The most important aspect of the new law was universal suffrage, granting the vote to women and allowing them, for the first time, access to the courts, in which they became involved from the beginning. It also extended to the entire province the same electoral system that applied to cities; that is, they voted for as many deputies as were assigned, restricted voting against previously dominated.
The Republican State
From the outset, the Constitution promised self-government to those provinces that reached agreements to seek autonomy. The Catalans in Nuria proclaimed the Statute, which ultimately became the Catalan statute, but significantly shortened. Catalonia accessed autonomy on September 9, 1932. The Basque Country also obtained its autonomous status, but during the Civil War, on October 1, 1936, so it was never implemented. In other regions, there were draft statutes of autonomy, as in Galicia and Andalusia, but they were never adopted.
The Parliament
The Parliament had the primary task of creating a constitution, the fundamental law. This was a novelty in the Spanish Constitution; it was the first time that all laws had to be subject to the Constitution. The religious question created tensions with the first President of the Republic, Niceto Alcalá Zamora. In the Constitution, the Executive was subject to the Courts, which had a vote of censure and could cause the dismissal of a minister by an absolute majority.
Political Actors
A multitude of political parties came together in the Republic, although few had the possibility of governing following the proclamation of the new regime. Basically, only the Radicals and the Socialists had serious aspirations to lead the country. There were also many anarchists, who did not fall within the electoral process.
The Constitutional Government
The Republic was proclaimed after general elections, but after municipal elections, which were mostly won by left-wing Republican parties, especially in the main cities of Spain. After the crisis caused by this victory, Alfonso XIII went into exile, and the Republic was proclaimed, with Alcalá Zamora as the first President and Miguel Maura as interim Prime Minister of the Interior. This was a Republic of the intelligentsia, the middle classes, and the proletariat, where the traditional oligarchy, which had come to dominate the country, was outside of political power, and even more so economically. Immediately after the Republic was proclaimed, there were two crises: one in October, when Zamora and Maura resigned due to explicit constitutional secularism; and a second crisis that had as protagonists the radicals of Alejandro Lerroux and the socialists of Largo Caballero, who were fighting for power. It was the social-time feat, in which the Socialists were within power. But not everything changed in the Republic; continuity persisted in many areas, such as the Army, the peripheral administration, the Church, etc. Despite actions against them, the expulsion of the Jesuits, decreed in 1932, was not carried out.
The Radical-CEDA Biennium or Black Biennium (1933-1935)
After the euphoria of the first moments on the left, the Republic shifted to the right and stopped all the reforms that had been launched. The CEDA, a coalition of right-wing Republicans led by José María Gil Robles, won the elections in 1933. Alcalá Zamora instructed Alejandro Lerroux to form the government, leader of the Radical Party, one of the parties of the CEDA. Alcalá Zamora considered Lerroux more committed to the Republic than Gil Robles.
But it was not from the right that the Republic felt most threatened, but from the left. It was at this time that the October 1934 revolution took place in Asturias and Catalonia, and the events of Casas Viejas. During this period, Victoria Kent had an important job as director of prisons.
The Triumph of the Popular Front: 1936
The right-wing government was not stable and called new elections in 1936 to consolidate. But the elections were won by a coalition of the left: the Popular Front. The new government quickly launched reforms that had been suspended and those demanded by society. One of the first actions it took was the release of political prisoners. But their methods were not as fast as the people wanted, at least the anarchists. The people took to carrying out reforms on their own, occupying land, and the government limited itself to legalizing factual situations. The traditional oligarchy felt more threatened than ever. In addition, it had long been plotting secretly against the Republic.
Social Change
The right sought to consolidate the liberal revolution with a democratic parliamentary regime, far from the constitutional monarchy, and in line with the rest of the world. The left sought to promote social change to create conditions conducive to a social revolution. It sought to follow the example of the USSR, and the highlights were the revolution in Asturias in 1934 and also the Casas Viejas events. But, and the shadow of the economic crisis, fascism developed, both in Spain and the rest of Europe.
The Constitution of 1931
In June 1931, elections to the Constituent Cortes were held in an atmosphere of relative tranquility. The polls gave a clear majority to the Republican-Socialist coalition. The new Constitution, adopted in December 1931, reflected the ideas of the majority. These are its main characteristics:
- Popular sovereignty: The new Spanish state was defined as a “democratic republic of workers of all kinds.”
- Male and female universal suffrage: After a long and complex debate in the Cortes, Spanish women gained the right to vote.
- Comprehensive statement of rights and civil liberties: Rights to divorce, matching legitimate and illegitimate children, and the right to education.
- Powers of the State:
- Legislative power was left unicameral in the Cortes.
- Executive power: President of the Republic with limited powers.
- Head of Government, appointed by the President but must be approved by the Cortes.
- Judicial power in the hands of the courts of justice.
- For the first time in our history, the right of regions to establish Statutes of Autonomy was established.
- Regarding the “religious question,” a secular state was established:
- Separation of Church and State.
- Disappearance of the budget for worship and clergy.
- Prohibition of the practice of education by religious orders.
- Freedom of conscience and religion.