Spain's Second Republic 1931: Elections, Reforms and Civil War Origins

The Proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic

Municipal elections held on 12 April 1931 resulted in a decisive victory for the Republican parties in most large cities, including all regional and provincial capitals, as well as industrial zones. Alfonso XIII, advised by his ministers, abandoned Spain and went into exile. On 14 April 1931, the Second Republic was proclaimed in Madrid with widespread enthusiasm and without violence.

The Provisional Government

An interim government was formed, presided over by Niceto Alcalá-Zamora, with personalities from the parties that had signed the Pact of San Sebastián.

On 28 June 1931, general elections were called for the Cortes Constituyentes (Constituent Cortes). Monarchist parties did not take part. The left coalition obtained 279 seats, the centre obtained 119, and the right obtained 41. The left coalition was formed by the PSOE and Acción Republicana, along with the Radical Socialist Republican Party and other groups. Later, the left was led by Manuel Azaña, a coalition of professionals, progressive intellectuals and urban middle classes who wanted to democratize and modernize Spain through reforms carried out without violence.

The 1931 Constitution

The Constitution adopted in December 1931 defined Spain as "a democratic republic of workers of all classes, organized in a system of freedom and justice". It established a unitary state with autonomy for the regions, a unicameral parliament elected by universal suffrage (for the first time with voting rights for women), a single source of law, a secular state, and the separation of church and state.

The Reformist Biennium

The republican-socialist coalition government, presided over by Manuel Azaña, launched an ambitious reform program, known as the reformist biennium, to address the serious problems inherited from the past. The poor economic situation, aggravated by the international crisis of 1929, made it difficult to avoid tension, and several reforms failed due to a lack of means.

Military Reform

The military reform aimed to subordinate the army to civilian authority and increase its efficiency by reducing its number of officers, who could transfer to the reserve voluntarily and receive full pay. A lack of budget for modernization and growing conflicts impeded the public order forces. The government's request for the public to Guardia de Asalto (Assault Guard) was rejected by the Republic's opponents.

Religious Reform

The religious reform eliminated state subsidies to the clergy and religion in schools. It prohibited religious orders from teaching, recognized civil marriage and divorce, and dissolved the Society of Jesus. The government did not tackle the violence and anticlerical incidents of May 1931 in Madrid and other regions. Many Catholics identified the Republic's attacks with God.

Educational Reform

Primary school became compulsory, free, secular and mixed. Spending on education increased by 50% of the national budget, building thousands of new schools">, with more than 10,000 teachers hired and 7,000 new centers opened. A program of paid cultural missions, known as "Misiones Pedagógicas", brought culture to rural regions and villages that had fallen behind.

Regional Reform

In 1932, Catalonia was granted the Statute of Autonomy, creating an autonomous government, the Generalitat, with competences in culture, public works and public order. The Basque Country's statute, drafted by the Basque nationalist party, was rejected by traditionalists and the Carlists as undemocratic. The Basque statute was not approved before the civil war began.

Agrarian Reform

In September 1932, the Agrarian Reform Law was approved, opposed by the right and by landowners' representatives. Its aim was to end landlordism and widespread absenteeism, affecting some 2 million day laborers (jornaleros). Large estates in southern Spain could be expropriated, with compensation for cultivated estates, while poorly farmed or systematically leased land was expropriated without compensation. The land was to be handed over to peasants. The Institute of Agrarian Reform (IRA) was created to carry it out. However, the pace of reform was very slow, and results were limited: by 1934, only about 8,000 settlements had been established. Peasants felt disappointed with the Republic, and anarchists and revolutionary groups increasingly adopted hostile positions. Across the country, the landowners and the government's critics became clearly hostile to the Republic.