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1929
After Primo de Rivera’s resignation in 1929, King Alfonso XIII tried to restore normal constitutional order, but the monarchy had been seriously damaged by its association with the dictatorship and it no longer had political or social support. -
The Pact of San Sebastian
The Pact of San Sebastian. August 1930. Republicans and socialists meet in San Sebastian and agree to overthrow the monarchy and establish a democratic republican regime.
They create a revolutionary Committee to co-ordinate the opposition.
Their initial plan of calling a general strike and a military rising fail and many members of the Revolutionary Committee are arrested. -
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Reformist biennium
Niceto Alcalá Zamora was named president of the Republic and Manuel Azaña of the government. Azaña’s new cabinet introduced a variety of ambitious reforms:
•The Statute of Autonomy for Cataluña was passed.
•The subordination of the army to the civil government led the military to withdraw its support for the Republic
•The Jesuits were expelled
•The Agrarian reform In 1932, General Sanjuro’s coup to stop the reform failed.
In 1933, anarchist labourers occupied the land in Casas Viejas, Cadiz. -
Municipal Elections
The new constitutional government chosen by the king call the first free elections since Primo de Rivera’s coup in 1921.
The elections are municipal, but everyone understands them to be a referendum on the monarchy.
Overall the monarchists win, but the republicans get a decisive victory in the large cities.
Alfonso XIII understands that he can’t remain without the support of the urban classes, and he leaves the country. -
The proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic
The Republic is proclaimed. On that same day the Revolutionary Committee becomes the Provisional republican Government of the Second Spanish Republic.
The Republic has broad support from all segments of society. -
The Constitution
In June 1931, the Constituent Assembly elections were held to choose the drafters of the new Republican Constitution.
The victors were the parties forming the Provisional Government: Partido Socialista obrero Español (PSoE) and Partido republicano radical (Prr). Democratic and progressive features:
-Popular sovereignty
-Division of powers
-Declaration of the civil and collective right Securalism Regionalism Social Economy -
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The black biennium
Elections were held in November 1933. This was the first time women could vote. The left-wing parties were more divided than ever.
The anarchists encouraged people not to vote and the right-wing Catholic parties were united under the Confederación Española de Derechas Autónomas (CEDA).
CEDA and Partido republicano radical (Prr) won the elections. Alejandro Lerroux (PRR) was in charge of CEDA was beginning to resemble fascism so they called a general strike which grew into a revolution. -
The Revolution of October
It was a strikers’ movement by nationalist, anarchist and communist organisations.
It involved some important uprisings:
• Cataluña declared itself independent. In response, the Generalitat was dissolved and the president, Lluís Companys, was arrested.
• In Asturias the miners staged an armed revolt. It was put down by the army.
The government was also hit by a corruption scandal which forced Lerroux to resign. -
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The Popular Front
New elections were called for February 1936.
The left-wing parties joined together to form the Popular Front coalition.
The Popular Front defended the right to amnesty for the political prisioners held since the Revolution of 1934 and pushed the social reforms begun in 1931.
Support for the radical right-wing parties grew. They were represented by the Bloque Nacional, led by José Calvo Sotelo, and the Falange Española, a fascist party which was founded by José Antonio Primo de Rivera. -
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The start of the civil war
The atmosphere was very tense in parliament, but the street violence between politically adverse groups was more worrying, with assassinations and church arson. On 12 July, Lieutenant Castillo, a member of the government’s assault guards and a socialist sympathiser, was murdered by right-wing gunmen.
On the evening of 17 July, rebel soldiers in the Spanish protectorate of Morocco seized control of their garrisons in Ceuta, Melilla and Tetuán. In a few days, the Civil War started.
