The Reformist Biennium: Policies and Opposition in Republican Spain

The Reformist Biennium (1931–1933)

The Reformist Biennium marked a period of intense legislative activity under the Second Spanish Republic, aimed at modernizing the state and addressing deep-seated social, military, and religious issues. These Republican reforms, however, generated significant opposition across various sectors of society.

Opposition to Republican Reforms

The major reforms and the groups that opposed them included:

• Military Reforms: Parts of the military, the Catholic Church, and some middle and upper-class citizens.
• Religious and Educational Reforms: The Catholic Church and some middle and upper-class citizens.
• Territorial Reforms (Catalonia, Basque Country, and Galicia): Parts of the military and some middle and upper-class citizens.
• Agricultural/Land Reforms: Landowners (latifundistas), some middle and upper-class citizens, peasants, day laborers, workers, communists, and anarchists.

Key Reforms of the Biennium

Military Reform

The military reform sought to professionalize the armed forces and ensure loyalty to the Republic. Key measures included:

• Offering early retirement to officials who opposed the Republic, thereby reorganizing military personnel.
• A reduction in the number of Captain Generals.
• The closure of Zaragoza’s military academy.
• The creation of the Assault Guard (Guardia de Asalto), a new police force loyal to the Republic.

Religious Reform

This reform aimed to secularize the state and reduce the influence of the Catholic Church:

• Separation of Church and State.
• Approval of civil marriage and divorce.
• Dissolution of the Jesuit Order (Compañía de Jesús).
• Cessation of public funding for maintaining the clergy.
• Establishment of a non-confessional state, allowing citizens to choose their own religion without an official state religion.

Educational Reform

The educational reform focused on creating a modern, accessible, and secular public education system:

• Mandatory, secular (laicist), and free education.
• Construction of new public schools.
• Increase in the educational budget.
• Prohibition of the Church from teaching, intended to reduce its influence on public education.

Territorial Reform

This reform recognized Spanish diversity and allowed regions the possibility to establish autonomous governments and laws:

• Catalonia approved its Statute of Autonomy in 1931.
• The Basque Country Statute was approved in 1936.
• Galicia began drafting its statute in 1936, but it could not be approved due to the outbreak of the Civil War.

Agricultural and Land Reform

The land reform was designed to address rural inequality and unemployment:

• Expropriation of land owned by the Grandes de España (nobility) without compensation.
• Expropriation of unused lands (often held by the Church), with compensation provided.
• Parcelling out expropriated lands to peasants and day laborers (in order to reduce unemployment among laborers and to improve their purchasing power).