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Birth
Manuel Azaña Díaz was born in Alcalá de Henares, Madrid. He was the son of a wealthy liberal family. His father belonged to a family of notaries and secretaries, and he was during some period of time the major of the city in which Manuel Azaña was born. His mother didn't work, and she belonged to a wealthy family that was closely related with commerce. -
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Childhood and adolescence
Manuel grew up along with his brothers and sisters. They all lost their parents between 1889 and 1890. Manuel was raised by his grandmother and his uncle, who was greatly influential in his ideas.
He studied in the Colegio Complutense de San Justo y Pastor, and he was known for having excellent grades. He began to study law in university, and he used his free time to read hundreds of books. -
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Working as a notary and secretary
Manuel Azaña got his doctorate in 1900. He wrote a big number of books, and he helped his brother with the family business, but the project didn't work out. In 1909 he started working in the Dirección General de los Registros y del Notariado. Then, in 1911, he moved to Paris in order to continue studying, and he wrote a great number of books when he was living there. He became in 1913 secretary of the Ateneo de Madrid, where he expressed his critical attitude against the Generation of '98. -
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First years in politics / Working as a journalist
In 1913, he joined the Reformist Party (led by Melquiades Álvarez). In 1918, Azaña founded the Spanish Democratic Union, but he failed in successive attempts to be elected deputy in the Cortes de la Restauración. He left politics for some time and focused more on journalism. -
Miguel Primo de Rivera's coup d'état
Miguel Primo de Rivera, a military general, held a coup d'état in 1923. He had the support of the king (this made Manuel Azaña, who was a great supporter of democracy, to become a republican). -
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Life under Primo de Rivera's dictatorship
Azaña left the Reformist Party and he declared himself as a supporter of the republic, so he founded the Acción Republicana in 1925. He published some books during this period of time, and he was named president of the Ateneo de Madrid. By 1930, he had become a national figure, and he was part of the San Sebastián Pact, that put to an end the monarchy of Alfonso XIII. -
Proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic
After the San Sebastián Pact, the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed. Manuel Azaña became the war minister of the provisional government. He was named president of the Council of Ministers when Niceto Alcalá Zamora was forced to resign (he became the president of Spain). -
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Spain under Azaña's rule.
Azaña took part in the Constituent Cortes, and he was named Executive Director. He launched an extensive program reforms: allowed civil marriage and divorce, reinforced the army, started an agrarian reform, allowed Catalonia its autonomy, ... He didn't have the support of the conservatives or urban workers (there was a global crisis), so he was forced to resign in September 1933. -
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Life from his resign to the start of the Spanish Civil War
In 1934, Manuel Azaña merged its party with the radicals led by Marcelino Domingo, forming the Izquierda Republicana. He led a successful campaign against the government. José María Gil Robles became the president, and Azaña took part in the October Revolution of 1934, and was sent to prison. He joined the Popular Front, with all the left parties joined. Azaña won the elections in 1936, and he became president. -
Francisco Franco's coup d'état
Manuel Azaña became again president of Spain in 1936. He immediately resumed the first republican biennium program, but he didn't have enough time to develop it, since the general Francisco Franco and other military generals led a coup d'état in July. This event marked the start of the Spanish Civil War. -
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Life during the Spanish Civil War
Manuel Azaña began to be isolated between the republicans. Without the ability to maintain them united (there were a lot of internal conflicts in the trade unions), the coup forces took advantage of this and gained a lot of battles against the republicans. -
Exile and death
Lost the war, Manuel Azaña was forced to resign and he was exiled in Montauban (France), where he died in 1940.