Spain's Second Republic and Civil War: Key Historical Events

The Second Republic: 1931-1936

Fall of Alfonso XIII and the Second Republic's Dawn

• End of the Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera.
• Municipal elections resulted in a victory for the left.
• King Alfonso XIII left the country amid fears of civil war.
• Proclamation of the Republic (April 14).
• Constitution of 1931:
  • Unicameral legislature
  • Universal suffrage
  • Regionalism
  • State secularism

Stages of the Second Republic

Left-Wing Biennium: 1931-1933

• Elections to the Constituent Cortes (June).
• Coalition government formed by the victors of the elections, chaired by Manuel Azaña.
• Problems with the Church, which could not accept a secular state, leading to the burning of convents.
• Problems with the army, whose officers were largely conservative and monarchist.
• Regional problem: Adoption of the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia.
• Social problems linked to land reform. Its failure led to strongly repressed riots (e.g., Casas Viejas).
• Worker opposition, represented by the FAI (Iberian Anarchist Federation) and the CNT (National Confederation of Labour).

Center-Right Biennium: 1934-1935

• The delicate political situation led to new elections (November 1933).
• Victory of the center-right, represented by the CEDA (Confederación Española de Derechas Autónomas).
• Lerroux Government, under pressure from the right.
• Increased social unrest.
• Peasants unhappy with the reversal of agrarian reform.
• Revolts in Asturias and Catalonia, suppressed by Legionnaires.
• Monetary deflation.
• Reactionary government measures.

The Popular Front

• New call for elections.
• Union of the Left into a bloc: the Popular Front (driven by the European left's fear of fascist expansion).
• Triumph of the left-wing coalition. President Manuel Azaña and Prime Minister Santiago Casares Quiroga.
• Growing confrontation between the left and the right. Murders of Lieutenant José Castillo and José Calvo Sotelo.

The Spanish Civil War: 1936-1939

Causes of the Conflict

• While some explanations have linked it to the Second World War, the Civil War was fundamentally a Spanish conflict.
• Unlike the 19th-century Carlist Wars, the early 20th century saw Spain on a path to recovery from its decline, a contrast to the previous century.

Outbreak of the War

• The uprising was meticulously planned.
• The triumphant factions attempted to impose their ideological concepts, leading to various actions and personal vendettas.
• Combined actions of anarchists and socialists.
• Widespread open warfare.