The Second Republic: From Popular Front Victory to Civil War
The Victory of the Popular Front (1936)
The **election campaign** was extremely aggressive, reflecting the rising *insurrectional fascist* sentiment in Spain and the division into two antagonistic blocs. The Popular Front ultimately won, resuming the reformist agenda. However, during the first few months of its government, **political polarization** increased significantly, leading to the deterioration of social coexistence.
Continuation of the Reform Agenda
The new government, led by President Manuel Azaña, consisted of members of *Izquierda Republicana* and the *Unión Republicana*, as agreed in the pre-electoral pacts. Niceto Alcalá Zamora continued to serve as President until May, when he was dismissed by the courts at the initiative of the left. **Azaña** was elected the new President, and **Santiago Casares Quiroga** was appointed Head of Government.
The Popular Front government immediately applied its election program, focusing on:
- Granting a broad political **amnesty** and reinstating those suspended from public office.
- Restoring the Catalan government (Generalitat).
- Beginning the processing of the Statutes of Autonomy for the Basque Country and Galicia.
- Granting greater autonomy to municipalities.
- Reinstating workers dismissed for union or political activities.
- Boosting the reform **of education**.
The **agrarian reform** was also resumed with a series of measures, including: suspension of payments on leases in Andalusia and Extremadura; a ban on evictions; and debt settlement for thousands of villagers.
Internal Conflicts and the Road to Civil War
The Popular Front government struggled with two coexisting trends: supporters of democratic reform and those favoring a revolutionary process. The revolutionary strategy gained traction within the PSOE, UGT, and Socialist Youth (led by Largo Caballero). In contrast, the Communist Party supported the republican government to consolidate democratic transformations. These approaches explain the **actions** of one **sector of the revolutionary left** and the climate of tension that was unleashed:
- Continuous strikes and land occupations.
- Assaults on churches, convents, and newspaper offices.
**The conservative sectors** of society were alarmed by the reformist politics, which threatened their economic interests, and by the radicalization that sought to subvert the bourgeois order. The National Bloc and the CEDA formed a strong **counterweight**, defending order, property, religion, and the nation.
Violence escalated from both sides, but the actions of the **National Bloc** and the **Falange** were specifically aimed at destabilizing the regime. Supported by military personnel from the *Spanish Military Union* (UME), a conspiracy against the Republic was prepared immediately after the election.
The assassination of Assault Guard Lieutenant José Castillo was avenged by a group of fellow activists and socialists with the murder of José Calvo Sotelo, the head of the monarchist opposition. This event served as the immediate excuse for the **military coup** of July 17, 1936. The failure of this long-planned coup led directly to the **Spanish Civil War**.
Fascist Terrorism and Paramilitary Groups
Fascist terrorism was primarily represented by the *Falange* militia. The government declared them illegal, and their leaders were imprisoned. The Carlists also created their militias, the *Requetés*, who embraced the "dialectic of the guns" advocated by José Antonio Primo de Rivera.