The Second Spanish Republic (1931 – 1939) was the second and last period in Spanish history in which the election of both the positions of Head of State and Head of government were in the hands of the people. The First Spanish Republic was from 1873 – 1874.

The Second Republic began on 14 April, 1931 after the exile of King Alfonso XIII, following local and municipal elections in which republican candidates won the majority of votes. The departure of the King, led to a provisional government under Niceto Alcalá-Zamora. Under the provisional government, titles of nobility were swept away.

The Provisional Government issued a number of momentous decrees. These improved the wage-arbitration system, prevented landowners from hiring non-union labour during disputes with unionized workers, instituted the eight-hour day, widened the scope of collective bargaining, and established grounds for reasonable dismissal. These measures amounted to, in the words of one observer, ‘a revolution without precedent in Spanish rural life.’

On June 28, elections for the Constitutional Convention (constituent Cortes) were held and the Socialist party won the largest number of seats in the new assembly. The Convention assembled on July 14, amid the great enthusiasm of hundreds of thousands who lined the streets of Madrid. The draft of the Constitution was handed to President Alcalá-Zamora on August 18. On September 26, the Convention approved the first twenty-two articles of the new Constitution.

The Left Republicans and Socialists (October 1931-November 1933)

Protesting measures against the church, President Alcalá-Zamora resigned on October 14, and was succeeded by Manuel Azaña. At the conclusion of the Convention and the adoption of the Constitution on December 9, Alcalá-Zamora was elected President and Manuel Azaña became Premier in the new Cabinet. Some of the most important features of the Constitution were suffrage for women and the rejection of the Catholic faith as the state religion. Article 44 also allowed the redistribution of land by the state, with compensation for the landowners.

On January 23, 1932, Alcalá-Zamora published a decree providing for the dissolution of the Society of Jesus and the seizure of its property, estimated at $30,000,000 ($360,000,000 in 2005 dollars). To the expulsion of the Jesuits there was soon added an association law very drastic in character. This law provided that the heads of all religious orders had to be Spanish; furthermore, the central government reserved the right to approve or disapprove their appointment. The attitude of the hierarchy toward the anti-clerical legislation was exemplified by a pastoral letter of the Spanish episcopacy urging all Catholics to shun violence and to participate in political life for the purpose of defending by legal means the sacred rights of the Church.

Education was thus seriously crippled because of the withdrawal of the Jesuits and the attempts of the state to secularize education. Because of the shortage of teachers and of money it was found impracticable to secularize the entire school system at once. Although 7,000 new schools were built in the first year of the republic alone, most schools remained in the hands of the Church.

Royalist opposition to the republic was delivered a blow in 1932. Although Alfonso's manifesto of February 27, in which he summoned "all Spaniards of good-will, without distinction of kind, class, or condition . . . to reunite Spain under my holy banner," produced little or no stir, it nevertheless presaged a more serious monarchical threat. On August 10 a Royalist revolt broke out in Seville and the southern provinces under the leadership of General Jose Sanjurjo. Although momentarily threatening, the revolt was quickly put down with little bloodshed and General Sanjurjo and his chief aides were sentenced to life imprisonment. Many of Spain's proudest nobility, having been implicated in the revolt, were exiled to the African colony of Villa Cisneros, and their vast landed estates, of feudal origin, were seized.

The Second Republic was unfortunate to have come about during a world wide depression, which decreased the amount of money available for agricultural reforms, and made employers much less willing to pay their workers more, or offer them more job security

American trade with Spain was seriously crippled by an increase in Spain's tariffs, which were already the highest in Europe, coupled with the inability of the United States to obtain a favored-nation treaty. France and Italy, by favored-nation treatment, enjoyed tariff rates averaging 50 per cent lower than those accorded the United States.

On September 8, 1932, the Spanish Cortes voted for Catalan home rule. The charter approved by the Cortes had been drafted and endorsed by almost unanimous vote in Catalonia more than a year earlier. Premier Azaña thus forced a decision on the age-old Catalan problem even though there was violent Nationalistic and Separatist opposition.

Conservative Government (November 1933-February 1936)

By 1933, opposition was developing among the Anarcho-Syndicalists and the Conservatives. The former were dissatisfied with the "moderation" of the Socialists and consequently provoked strikes and made several determined efforts at revolution. Two such revolts occurred in 1933, the first in January and the second in December, both of which were suppressed by the government with great severity. Martial law was frequently declared and arbitrary arrests and the holding of persons without charge became common. In the summer of 1933 some nine thousand political prisoners were in jail.

The Conservatives resented the "radical" tendencies of the government. Further, the women of Spain, more attached to the Church than the men, disapproved the anti-clerical legislation, and, now that they enjoyed the right of suffrage, were a factor to be reckoned with. On June 2, a law was signed which completed the separation of Church and state, nationalized Church property, and eliminated clericals from all educational activities. In an encyclical dated June 3. Pope Pius XI protested against the anti-clerical legislation of the Spanish Republic and called upon the Spanish people to use "all legitimate means to nullify the hateful legislation."

After local elections showed support for the left was waning, President Zamora demanded the resignation of the government.

The Cortes, which was under the control of the Socialists, was dissolved, and in the general elections of 19 November, 1933, the Conservatives triumphed. The right's victory was at least partially a result of a disunited left, in an electoral system which favoured coalitions. The rightist coalition was led by centrist radical Alejandro Lerroux but dependent on the parliamentary support of the CEDA, a party led by José María Gil-Robles y Quiñones with support ranging from Christian Democrats to fascists. The program of the victorious Right called for revision of the Constitution, repeal of the agrarian reform, repeal of the anti-clerical legislation, and limitation of the power of labor.

Signs of the developing reaction under the Conservative government included: (1) a clerical pensions act; (2) amnesty to political offenders convicted before November 19, 1933; (3) weakening of educational measures harmful to the Church; (4) weakening of land reform; and (5) the dispatch of the Republic's first ambassador to the Vatican. The traditional Easter procession in Seville was revived after two years of suppression. Also, priests in clerical garb began to make their appearance on the streets.

These signs of reaction alarmed the Socialists and Communists. Largo Caballero, an important Socialist leader, and much of the rank and file of the UGT and PSOE began to lose faith in the Second Republic. Claiming that the Cortes was undermining the Republic, they fomented more strikes and riots. To combat the widespread unrest and threats of insurrection, the government proclaimed "a state of alarm," a modified form of martial law. In the face of Socialist threats of revolution, Premier Lerroux announced that as long as the left wing threatened class war the extraordinary police measures would continue.

Disagreement over the Amnesty Bill, by which nearly 9,000 political prisoners were to be freed and lands to be restored to the nobles, caused the overthrow of the Lerroux cabinet on April 25. The new ministry under Ricardo Samper Ibanez, was selected entirely from the parties of the Right and Center.

Asturian Uprising

The entry of three CEDA ministers into the government on 1 October 1934 led to violent uprisings by socialists and anarchists in Asturias and Catalonia on 6 October. That day President Companys proclaimed Catalonia a free and independent republic. In this he was supported by former Premier Azaña. Miners in Asturia revolted, occupying Oviedo, leading to the death of about 40 people. That city was later almost destroyed by bombardment. The attempt of rebels to seize the government offices in Madrid was defeated. The most severe fighting, though, occurred in Catalonia and Galicia. By the middle of October, however, the revolt had been completely suppressed by General Francisco Franco. This Uprising and its suppression divided the nation.

During the revolt 3,500 people were killed, 10,000 wounded, and $500,000,000 ($7,100,000,000 in 2005 dollars) worth of property was destroyed. The Socialist party was said to have been largely responsible for the revolt and was ordered dissolved. Consequently, there remained in the Cortes no Left representatives other than a few moderate Republicans. The revolt also resulted in a severe setback to Catalan and Basque home-rule aspirations. The Madrid government announced that the Catalan Statute would be subjected to thorough revision.

The Conservatives were in full control and there was danger of immoderate action in dealing with the revolutionists. However, the punishment meted out to participants in the uprising was moderate. President Zamora threatened to resign rather than sign death warrants and there were very few executions.

Spanish nationalists later pointed to the uprising as an indication that left-wing republicans only supported democracy when they won elections, thus justifying a similar approach from the right.

After the Uprising

In 1935, Alejandro Lerroux had to reform his cabinet many times due to disputes with his coalition's more-conservative partners. The first difficulties appeared on March 28 because of disapproval of Lerroux's conciliatory and moderate policy toward the "October rebels." A new cabinet was formed on April 3 with the CEDA unrepresented. Then on May 6, the cabinet was reorganized with five posts given to the CEDA. Gil Robles, the Catholic leader, was made Minister of War, his first cabinet post. From this position he was able to withdraw many loyal Republicans and promote generals like Franco and Mola. The entry of Gil Robles into the cabinet and his apparent willingness to support the Republic was a blow to the royalists who had given him their support. This break between Gil Robles and the monarchists caused Count Romanones to organize the Liberal Monarchist Democratic party.

On September 20 Premier Lerroux and his coalition cabinet resigned after being in office since April 3. The issue was forced by the Agrarians because of a too conciliatory policy toward Catalonia. In the new ministry, headed by Joaquin Chapaprieta, Gil Robles continued as Minister of War, and Lerroux became Minister of Foreign Affairs. However, Lerroux was soon forced to resign because of a bribery charge in the Straperlo scandal. This later undermined the confidence in centrist republican parties and led to more polarization. Although he was voted not guilty by the Cortes, his political prestige was seriously weakened.

The demand of Premier Chapaprieta that the Cortes approve his proposal to raise 200,000,000 pesetas by increasing taxes on the rich caused the overthrow of his cabinet on December 10. The Catholic party, opposing new taxes, withdrew its support. Another stop-gap government, thoroughly unrepresentative of the Cortes, was formed by Manuel Portela Valladares.

In June, 1935, martial law was restored in Catalonia because of lawlessness and failure of the police to deal with the local situation. Civil law was not restored in Barcelona until October. This was followed by a state of siege which continued until the end of the year.

Zamoras successors were less forgiving of political dissidents. Thirty thousand political prisoners were held for trial in 1935 alone. Thousands had been kept in custody over a year pending trial. There were many notable cases. On June 5 the Tribunal of Constitutional Guarantees sentenced Luis Companys, former president of the Catalan Generalitat, and six of the former members of the Catalan Executive Council, to thirty years imprisonment each for complicity in the rebellion.

Ex-Premier Manuel Azaña, who was accused of gun-running in Asturias prior to the October rebellion, was acquitted, as was also Francisco Largo Caballero, Socialist leader and former Minister of Labor.

The Italo-Ethiopian conflict in 1935 placed Spain in an awkward position. Although Spain was a member of the League of Nations and had been faithful to its obligations in imposing League sanctions against Italy, the Catholics and Monarchists were traditionally friendly to Italy and wished to preserve a strict neutrality. In the mean time, trade relations with France and the United Kingdom soured as all three began imposing higher tariffs on each others' goods.

The Popular Front Government (February 1936-April 1939)

President Alcalá dissolved the Cortes on February 16, 1936, and called an election to try to unite the republic. Under the insistence of the Komintern, the Communist Party of Spain joined the Socialists and other parties of the Left in an alliance called the Popular Front and won the election by a slight margin, which was translated into a large victory by the electoral system.

Because of a technicality of the constitution, Zamora was removed by the newly elected Cortes, who replaced him with Manuel Azaña. Prieto, the moderate Socialist leader, who championed the dismissal of Zamora in the belief that he would be made Prime Minister, was unable to gain enough support from more radical elements in the PSOE under Largo Caballero, and Santiago Casares Quiroga was made Prime Minister.

One of the first acts of Azaña was to free over 30,000 political prisoners held after the Leftist revolt of October, 1934. With respect to the pledge of agrarian reform, Azaña moved too slowly to satisfy the impatient peasants, who seized extensive landholdings. Many of these seizures were retroactively legalized.

The victory touched off increased violence in Spain, in which about 300 were killed and 1,500 injured. Churches, newspaper offices, and political headquarters were burned. Rightists and Leftists fought in the streets. Armed bands dragged opponents from their homes and murdered them. In addition to mob violence and political assassination, the country was almost paralyzed by strikes. By June 4, for example, 250,000 workers were out on strike, and between that date and July 15, there were called 145 additional strikes.

In an effort to "republicanize" the army, many officers were either arrested or dismissed, and several high generals were sent to posts outside the country. The Falange Española (Spanish Fascists), with a program modelled after that of Italian Fascism, was ordered dissolved, and hundreds of its members were thrown into prison, among these being Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, son of the late dictator, and one of the organizers of the movement in Spain.

The Spanish Civil War (July 18, 1936–April 1, 1939) was a conflict in which the incumbent Second Spanish Republic and political left-wing groups fought against a right-wing nationalist insurrection led by General Francisco Franco, who eventually succeeded in ousting the Republican government and establishing a personal dictatorship. It was the result of the complex political, economic and even cultural divisions between what Spanish writer Antonio Machado characterized as the two Spains. The Republicans ranged from centrists who supported capitalist liberal democracy to communists or anarchist revolutionaries; their power base was primarily secular and urban (though it also included landless peasants) and was particularly strong in industrial regions like Asturias and Catalonia. The conservative Basque Country also sided with the Republic, largely because it, along with nearby Cataluña sought autonomy from the central government which would later be suppressed by the centralizing nationalists. The ultimately successful Nationalists had a primarily rural, wealthier, and more conservative base of support, were mostly Roman Catholic, and favoured the centralization of power. Some of the military tactics of the war -- including the use of terror tactics against civilians -- foreshadowed World War II, although both the nationalists and the republicans relied overwhelmingly on infantry rather than modern use of blitzkrieg tactics with tanks and airplanes.

 

A Republican soldier seeks cover on the Plaza de Toros in Teruel, north-east of Madrid

While the war lasted only about three years, the political situation had already been violent for several years before. The number of casualties is disputed; estimates generally suggest that between 300,000 and 1,000,000 people were killed. Many of these deaths, however, resulted not from military operations but the brutal mass killings perpetrated on both sides. The war started with military uprisings throughout Spain and its Colonies, which were followed by Republican reprisals against the Church, which Republican radicals viewed as an oppressive institution supportive of the old order. There were massacres of Catholic clergy and churches, and monasteries and convents were burned. Twelve bishops, 283 nuns 2,365 monks and 4,184 priests were murdered. ^[1] In the wake of the war, the winners began a program of mass killing of opponents where house searches were carried out, and unwanted individuals were often jailed or killed. On all sides, brutality was common.

The impact of the war was massive: The Spanish economy took decades to recover. The political and emotional repercussions of the war reverberated far beyond the boundaries of Spain and sparked passion among international intellectual and political communities, passions which still are present in Spanish politics today.

Republican sympathizers proclaimed it as a struggle between "tyranny and democracy", or "fascism and liberty", and many young, committed reformers and revolutionaries joined the International Brigades, which thought saving the Spanish Republic was the front line of the war against fascism. Franco's supporters, however, especially the younger members of the officer corps, viewed it as a battle between the red hordes (communism and anarchism) versus "Christian civilization". These dichotomies were inevitably oversimplifications: both sides had varied and often conflicting ideologies within their ranks, and motivations for involvement in the hostilities differed.