Political Parties and Unions of the Second Spanish Republic

The Second Republic saw a surge in political party and trade union activity. Parliamentary debates significantly influenced the press and public opinion.

Left-Wing Formations

The Republican Left (1934) emerged from the union of the Republican Action Party of Manuel Azaña and the Radical Socialist Republican Party of Marcelino Domingo. It garnered support from the popular and middle classes, as well as intellectuals.

The Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE) was influential among workers, encompassing social democratic and revolutionary factions, led by Largo Caballero, secretary general of the UGT union.

Further to the left was the Communist Party of Spain (PCE).

The CNT, an anarchist association, had two main factions: the trentistes, who advocated for moderate unionism and supported the Republic, and the more revolutionary sector, the Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI), led by Buenaventura Durruti, Francisco Ascaso, and Juan Garcia Oliver, who favored armed insurrection.

Right-Wing Groups

The Radical Party, led by Lerroux, and the right Liberal Republican groups opposed Republican reforms and moved towards conservative positions.

Traditional Catholic and conservative parties declined after the Republic's proclamation, with only a few surviving, some of which supported the monarchy as a defense against social revolution.

The major conservative Catholic right-wing party was the Spanish Confederation of Autonomous Derechas (CEDA) (1933), created by José María Gil Robles, which represented large agricultural landowners and the Church.

Monarchist groups like Spanish Renewal (led by Jose Calvo Sotelo) sought to eliminate the Republic and formed electoral alliances with the traditionalist Carlist Communion.

In 1931, the fascist Juntas of the National Syndicalist Offensive (JONS) were created, later merging with the Falange party led by Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera. These groups promoted Spanish nationalism.

Catalan Parties

The Catalan Regionalist League, a right-wing party, accepted the Republic with the support of major industrial and farm owners. In 1933, it became the Catalan League.

Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (1931), a radical nationalist party, attracted the petty bourgeoisie, peasantry, and industrial workers with its comprehensive reform program. It had a large membership and charismatic leaders like Macià.

Marxist parties included two socialist groups (Socialist Union of Catalonia and the Catalan Federation of the PSOE) and four communist groups (Bloc Camparol, Left Communist Proletarian Catalan Party, and Communist Party of Catalonia), each with limited influence.

In 1935, the Left Bloc and the Communist Party formed the Workers Party of Marxist Unification (POUM), and in 1936, the two communist and two socialist groups formed the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSUC).