We explain what the Second Republic was in Spain. In addition, what were its stages, its characteristics and how this stage ended.
The Second Republic lasted eight years and ended after Franco’s victory in the civil war.
What was the Second Republic in Spain?
The Second Republic It was the democratic government regime that was proclaimed in Spain on April 14, 1931 and ended on April 1, 1939.Its beginning was determined by the triumph of the republican candidates in the municipal elections of April 1931, which forced King Alfonso XIII to go into exile. It is called the Second Republic because there was a first republican experience in Spain between 1873 and 1874.
The Second Republic had a series of stages. During the first stage a provisional government was established and the Spanish Constitution of 1931 was promulgated. The next stage is known as the reformist biennium (1931-1933) and was characterized by the formation of a republican-socialist government that implemented an important reform program.
This was followed by the radical-cedista biennium (1933-1936), headed by a right-wing government. In February 1936 he triumphed the Popular Front, a left-wing coalition that had to face the military uprising July 1936, which gave rise to the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939).
The Popular Front, chaired by Manuel Azaña, governed the republic during the Civil War until the victory of the rebel or “national” side, led by Francisco Franco, on April 1, 1939. This event marked the end of the Second Republic in Spain.
The proclamation of the Republic and the provisional government (1931)
On April 12, 1931, municipal elections were held that led to the triumph of republican candidates in the major cities of SpainThis event took place a year after the end of the dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera, which had been supported by King Alfonso XIII, and It led to the flight of the king and the proclamation of the Republic on April 14, 1931.
The first republican government was a provisional government headed by Niceto Alcalá Zamora and made up of left-wing and right-wing republicans.
During this government, reforms were implemented (agrarian, labor, military, educational), a provisional statute for the autonomy of Catalonia was promoted and a few measures were adopted to separate the Church from the State, after the manifest opposition of conservative sectors, such as Cardinal Pedro Segura, and the burning of convents in May (these events motivated the rejection of the Republican government by many Catholics).
Besides, Elections for the Constituent Cortes were held which, in June 1931, gave the majority to a coalition of republicans and socialists and led to the promulgation of the Constitution of the Republic Spanish Constitution on December 9, 1931. This constitution established:
- universal male and female suffrage
- the separation of Church and State (especially in education)
- the recognition of statutes of autonomy
- broad political and civil rights
- the compulsory and free nature of primary education
- protection of work
- the adoption of the red, yellow and purple flag.
The reformist biennium (1931-1933)
The reforms of the republican-socialist government
Once the 1931 Constitution was approved, the reformist biennium began with a government headed by Manuel AzañaPresident of the Council of Ministers, and made up of left-wing republicans and socialists. Niceto Alcalá Zamora was elected president of the Republic and remained in office until April 1936.
The reforms of the Republican-Socialist government were implemented in a context of economic difficulties and unemployment. Among the most important reforms were: the regulation of labour relations, mixed education, the elimination of religion as a compulsory subject in schools and agrarian reform for the resettlement of landless peasants on large estates.
Some of these measures provoked opposition from conservative sectors (such as businessmen and ecclesiastics) or criticism from workers’ movements (such as the National Confederation of Labour or CNT). In addition, The failure of the agrarian reform provoked discontent among the peasantry.
In this context, the opposition in the Cortes was led by the Radical Republican Party of Alejandro Lerroux, aligned with the centre-right, while the CNT, which brought together a large number of members and was linked to the FAI (Iberian Anarchist Federation), increasingly expressed his discontent with the republican government.
Social and political tensions
The economic crisis caused strong social tensions since the beginning of the Republican-Socialist government. Between December 1931 and January 1932, violent clashes between striking workers and the Civil Guard took place in places such as Castilblanco, Arnedo and Alto Llobregat.
In the Cortes, the opposition of the right-wing forces to the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia and the Agrarian Reform Law provoked an attempt of a coup d’état led by General José Sanjurjo in August 1932. The coup failed and was unable to prevent the passage of both laws.
In January 1933, there were The events of Casas Viejas: a anarchist peasant uprising It was put down by the Assault Guard, leaving twenty-six dead.
The deterioration of the republican-socialist government led to the call for New elections in November 1933in which the left was divided and the right, which had been organized into coalitions, won. Thus began the radical-cedista biennium (1933-1936), in which the Radical Republican Party and the Spanish Confederation of Autonomous Rights (CEDA) governed.
The cultural life of the Second Republic
Travelling theatre companies were part of the Republican cultural programme.
During the Second Republic, many intellectuals and artists played a leading role.Some republican leaders were part of the intellectual community of the time, such as Manuel Azaña or Julián Besteiro, and some thinkers and writers, such as Jose Ortega y Gasset or Gregorio Marañón, They formed the Grouping in Service of the Republic.
As time passed, some intellectuals, such as Ortega y Gasset and Miguel de Unamuno, began to criticize the Republican-Socialist government, and the Grouping in Service of the Republic ceased to function at the end of 1932.
Others continued to support the reformist policy of the Azaña government and its program of cultural extension. Were created traveling theater companies, such as La Barraca by Federico García Lorca, to bring the most important Spanish works to various towns.
Also notable were the Pedagogical Missions promoted by the government with the aim of bringing traveling libraries, poetry recitals, conferences, reproductions of works from the Prado Museum and film screenings to towns and villages.
During the years of the Second Republic The generation of 27 stood outespecially its poets and playwrights, such as Federico Garcia Lorca, Damaso Alonso, Pedro Salinas or Rafael AlbertiWhen the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936, some of these writers remained in Spain, others went into exile, and others, like García Lorca, were murdered.
The radical-cedista biennium (1933-1936)
The rectification policy of the radical-cedista government
After the 1933 elections, Lerroux (leader of the Radical Republican Party) formed a cabinet made up exclusively of members of his party. The CEDA supported the government from the Cortes, so Lerroux, who represented the centre-right, was forced to start a rectification policy of the reforms of the previous two years as demanded by right-wing groups.
This new policy was implemented in the paralysis of the reforms that have been initiated:
- The paralysis of agrarian reformwith the consequent expulsion of thousands of day laborers from the lands they had occupied.
- The paralysis of military reform and the appointment of clearly anti-republican military officers to key positions, such as Francisco Franco, Manuel Goded and Emilio Mola. This policy was complemented by an amnesty for those who participated in the Sanjurjo coup in 1932.
- Reconciliation with the Catholic Church.
- The paralysis of educational reforms, especially with the stagnation of the school building programme and the abolition of mixed education. An attempt was also made to reform the Constitution to allow religious orders to return to teaching, but the project did not succeed.
- The confrontation with peripheral nationalismsby stopping the Basque Statute of Autonomy project, presented by the PNV (Basque Nationalist Party), and clashes with the Generalitat Catalan, chaired by Lluís Companys, leader of the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC).
The radicalization of political confrontation
José Antonio Primo de Rivera was one of the main leaders of the Spanish right.
In a context of international economic crisis and the triumph of extremism in Europe, with the rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany in 1933 and the consolidation of the dictatorship of Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union (USSR), the political struggle became radicalized in Spain and led to a polarization between the “right” and the “left”.
Right:
- The CEDAdirected by Jose Maria Gil Robles, It brought together the Catholic middle and working classes. The Youth of Popular Action (JAP), the party’s youth organisation, had fascist-inspired features.
- Spanish Renewalthe party led by José Calvo Sotelo, brought together monarchists with increasingly extremist and anti-democratic positions.
- The Spanish Phalanx, led by José Antonio Primo de Rivera, merged in 1934 with the Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista (JONS) of Ramiro Ledesma Ramos. This formed the political nucleus of fascist ideology in Spain.
Left:
- The Republican Left Manuel Azaña’s party brought together the centre-left that had opted for a policy of reforms and alliances with the labour movement.
- The PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party)the largest workers’ party, was led by a group of leaders who were at odds with each other. Indalecio Prieto represented the most moderate wing and Francisco Largo Caballero, the most radical wing of the party. In general, the PSOE underwent a process of radicalisation during these years. The UGT (General Union of Workers) was the trade union organisation linked to the PSOE.
- The PCE (Spanish Communist Party) followed the new guidelines of the Comintern and sought an alliance of all the forces of the left and centre-left against fascism after the German experience and the rise of Hitler in 1933.
- The CNT remained linked to revolutionary action, although it had been dismantled after the failure of a…