Alfonso XIII's 1931 Exile: The Document That Marked a Turning Point

The text reproduced here discusses the document that King Alfonso XIII gave to the president of the last Council of Ministers of the monarchy, Captain General Juan Bautista Aznar. This paper was published on the front page of the monarchist newspaper ABC on April 17, 1931, three days after the Second Republic (1931-1936) had been proclaimed in Spain. The delay in publication was due to doubts of the Republican interim government about the desirability of making public the statement of the king, who was already in exile, through the press. Admiral Aznar had been appointed in January 1931 by Alfonso XIII to replace General Dámaso Berenguer, at the end of the soft dictatorship (as the short period following the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera was derisively called).

The 1931 Municipal Elections and Their Consequences

Aznar's government, the last chief of Alfonso XIII, was commissioned to convene municipal elections on Sunday, April 12, 1931. The election call was an attempt to save the image of the Spanish monarchy, which for seven years had relied on and supported a military dictatorship. But Alfonso XIII's project of becoming a parliamentary king again failed: the elections became a plebiscite against the Crown, with the Republican-Socialist coalition succeeding in major provincial capitals (including Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and in major cities, where voting was free. As the results were confirmed, thousands of people took to the streets to celebrate the advent of the Republic, which was implemented from Madrid for the entire state on Tuesday, 14.

Analysis of the King's Manifesto

This document should therefore be considered a direct or primary source. Its main idea is contained in the first few lines that summarize the essential royal manifesto: "The elections held on Sunday clearly show me that I no longer have the love of my people." Indeed, the new regime was a popular decision that the king's advisers understood very well, and therefore advised him to leave Spain with his family on the 14th to make way for the new republic.

Alfonso XIII's Mistakes and Support for the Dictatorship

There are, however, other important ideas that complement the main idea. For example, Alfonso XIII recognized in the second paragraph that "I have undoubtedly made mistakes", a statement that contains the root cause of his failure as monarch, his big mistake: to support the military coup of 1923 and the dictatorship of General Miguel Primo de Rivera. Hence, when in 1931 he wanted to return to being a king who respected the parliamentary system and the bipartisan model of the Restoration, the people distrusted his democratizing intentions and turned their backs on him.

The King's Reluctance to Abdicate

In the central paragraph, the tone used reflects a certain arrogance, stating that, if he wished, he could impose himself by force ("I would find more than enough means to maintain my royal prerogatives, in effective struggle against those who fight them"). Then, with resigned paternalism, he shows his decision to sacrifice himself by going into exile to avoid a "fratricidal civil war."

But he immediately makes it clear that he is "not giving up any of my rights" and, a few lines later, he adds: "I deliberately suspend the exercise of Royal power." It should be stressed this point to undo mistakes: Alfonso XIII never abdicated because he did not waive his right to the crown, he only temporarily suspended the exercise of his office, hoping that Spain would restore the monarchy as soon as possible. In fact, when the Civil War broke out in July 1936, he was in exile on the side of the military Junta that starred in the coup against the democratic republic.

The Aftermath and Franco's Dictatorship

However, as we know, the Civil War (1936-1939) did not bring back the monarchy as Alfonso XIII initially imagined, but eventually led to General Franco's dictatorship (1939-1975). The grandfather of the present King of Spain died in Rome in 1941, and never returned to the throne he thought he had left only vacant for some time.