Agrarian Crisis in Spain's Second Republic: Land Reform Failures

Agrarian Crisis in Spain's Second Republic

The Second Republic in Spain faced a significant agrarian crisis. The primary issues were landlordism and a large population of landless laborers. The land reform aimed to:

• Socially: Distribute land to peasants, securing their support for the new republican regime and preventing rural unrest.
• Politically: Diminish the economic influence of large landowners, many of whom opposed the Republic.
• Commercially: Boost agricultural production and raise peasant incomes, fostering industrial and commercial growth.

In 1932, the Law of Agrarian Reform was enacted after extensive debates, reflecting bourgeois interests. However, its implementation was slow. By 1934, only about 8,000 farmers had received land. Spanish farmers had high expectations for the Republic to address their problems. Agriculture was the backbone of the Spanish economy in the 1930s, and farmworkers, often underpaid and underfed, hoped for immediate and substantial reforms.

Andalusia, characterized by vast estates and wealthy landowners, exemplified social and economic disparities. This fueled resentment among over 700,000 impoverished laborers. Tensions in rural Spain posed a major threat to the Republic. The 1932 land reform, complex and cautious, disappointed both laborers and landowners. Laborers desired immediate land seizures, but the reform proved impractical in the short term.

The Agrarian Reform Institute was established to manage the plan, but its progress was slow. Compared to the projected 60,000 farmers settled annually, only 12,000 were settled after two years. Disappointment among peasants and alarm among landowners grew. Hunger and poverty fostered revolutionary violence, exemplified by events in Castilblanco, Arnedo, and Casas Viejas.

In Castilblanco (Badajoz), a general strike erupted on December 31, 1931. When authorities attempted to suppress it, farmers violently retaliated, killing four Civil Guard members. Disillusioned with the Republic's failure to deliver promised land, laborers turned to anarchist solutions. Landowners also expressed dissatisfaction, as many lost their land.