Spain's Tumultuous Years: 1933-1936
The Conservative Biennium and the Popular Front (1933-1936)
Right-Wing Governments
The suppression of the uprising of Casas Viejas, the site of a massacre of peasants by the Civil Guard, threw the government into crisis. Manuel Azaña submitted his resignation as premier, and President Alcalá Zamora dissolved the Parliament and called new elections for November 1933.
The elections were won by the right-wing parties (40% of the votes) and the center (21%). Alejandro Lerroux, of the Radical Party, was elected president with the parliamentary support of the CEDA.
The new government initiated a process of dismantling the reforms of the previous biennium: it stalled land reform, changed religious policies, leading to a rapprochement with the Vatican, and pardoned the rebels of the coup by General Sanjurjo. This led to the radicalization of the left-wing parties.
The Riots of 1934
In 1934, a restructuring of the government took place, which gave admission to three CEDA ministers. This was the spark that ignited the outbreak of riots throughout the country, although it was in Asturias and Catalonia where they were most serious.
In Asturias, the revolution had a more social character. Anarchists, Socialists, and Communists united, occupied the mining region, and proclaimed a social revolution. The revolt was crushed by the army and was followed by harsh repression.
In Catalonia, where the government retained a left-wing coalition, President Lluís Companys led the insurrection and proclaimed the Catalan state within the Spanish Republic. The rebellion was quickly suppressed, and in retaliation, the government was dissolved, its president was imprisoned, along with other political leaders, and the Statute of Autonomy was suspended.
The Popular Front (1936)
The rift between the government coalition parties (the Radical Party and CEDA) and, above all, the scandals and corruption in government (such as the black market) led to the call for new elections in February 1936.
The center-left forces grouped together in the Popular Front. Their program was to recover the major reforms of the first two Republican years and to grant amnesty for those involved in the 1934 uprisings. The CNT, which did not participate in elections because of their apolitical stance, recommended a vote for this coalition.
The right was split between the National Bloc, led by Calvo Sotelo, which brought together monarchists and traditionalists, the CEDA, and the Spanish Falange. Their program aimed to amend the Constitution in a conservative sense.
The elections gave the victory, albeit by a narrow margin, to the Popular Front. In May, Manuel Azaña was named President of the Republic, and Santiago Casares Quiroga, head of government. The left-wing coalition continued the reforms halted in 1933 and reinstated the Generalitat of Catalonia, restarting the autonomy process in the Basque Country and Galicia.
The Preparation of the Coup
The division between right and left, as embodied in the election outcome, was felt on the streets. The most radical of the left advocated for social revolution. The right-wing extremists, who had the support of a section of the army, defended the need for a coup that would put an end to the Republic and the reform process.
Tensions between opposing blocs sparked a climate of social violence that culminated in the assassination of right-wing MP Calvo Sotelo, in retaliation for the death of Lieutenant Castillo, a militant socialist. This climate of violence was the pretext from which the conservative forces, contrary to the Republic, decided it was time to stop by force the Republican reform process.