Short-term causes of Spanish Civil War

Question 1

Diagram of links between long-term causes (just one link)

Answer 1

Question 2

What problems did the Second Spanish Republic face and how did this affect successive governments?

Answer 2

• The Second Spanish Republic faced serious social, economic and political problems from its inception.
• Successive governments were unable to find effective solutions to these problems to appease large enough sections of the Spanish people, and the result was that civil war began in July 1936.
• There were three major elections in these years, resulting in drastic swings between left- and right-wing coalition governments.
• These drastic swings demonstrated the divided nature of society, and contributed to further instability.

Question 3

Timeline of changes in government during the Second Spanish Republic

Answer 3

• 1931 to 1933: Left-wing coalition government
• 1933 to 1936: Right-wing coalition government
• 1936 to 1936: Left-wing government, also called the Popular Front
• 1936 End of the Second Spanish Republic, and start of the Spanish Civil War

Question 4

When was the first time the left-wing coalition government was in power?

Answer 4

1931-33

Question 5

Describe the outcome of the election of 1931

Answer 5

• The election of 1931 was a profound victory for the left, but not one political party gained enough seats to pass legislation, so a left-wing coalition was formed.
• Out of the 470 seats, the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) won the most, with 116. The right-wing parties only won 41 seats.

Question 6

Give an overview of the purpose and response to the left wing coalition government’ (of 1931-33) reforms

Answer 6

The new government passed a radical set of left-wing reforms, which aimed to solve Spain’s problems, but faced intense opposition from both ends of the political spectrum, and led to the defeat of the government in the November 1933 election.

Question 7

What different reforms were implemented by the left wing coalition government (1931-33)?

Answer 7

• Urban worker reforms
• Agrarian reforms
• Anti-clerical reforms
• Military reforms
• Separatist reforms

Question 8

Example of urban worker reforms

Answer 8

Urban workers were granted the right to strike without the fear of being dismissed.

Question 9

Example of agrarian reforms

Answer 9

The Agrarian Reform Law of 1932 tried to break up latifundia estates exceeding 300 hectares, and redistribute the land and resettle peasants.

Question 10

Example of anti-clerical reforms

Answer 10

The display of religious images in public and teaching by religious orders were prohibited, to break the Catholic Church’s control of education.

Question 11

Example of military reforms

Answer 11

Army officer numbers were reduced and some with right-wing leanings were demoted to low-ranking positions.

Question 12

Example of separatist reforms

Answer 12

A Catalan parliament, the Generalitat, was given legislative authority over agriculture, transport, public health and poor relief in Catalonia.

Question 13

When was the left wing coalition government defeated?

Answer 13

November 1933

Question 14

Why was the left-wing government defeated in the November 1933 election?

Answer 14

This was largely a result of the extreme left withdrawing its support for the coalition, as it felt that the reforms did not go far enough to deal with Spain’s socioeconomic problems.

Question 15

Give examples of the socio-economic problems in Spain that led to the defeat of the left-wing government in 1933

Answer 15

• The Agrarian Reform Law only succeeded in resettling ten per cent of the 60,000 families it had aimed to help due to inadequate funding.
• Unemployment remained a huge issue in rural areas.
• Protests and strikes proliferated.
• They were organized by the trade unions of the far left, such as the Federacíon Anarquista Ibérica and the anarcho-syndicalist union, the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo. These became increasingly violent.
• In 1933, in the village of Casas Viejas in Cadiz, nineteen peasants were killed by government assault guards.

Question 16

How did the conservative right feel about the left wing’s reforms (1931-33)?

Answer 16

• The reforms provoked great hostility from the conservative right, who saw them as a misguided attack on the traditional political, military, social and religious order.
• It disliked greater state intervention in the economy and feared that this was the beginning of more extreme socialist reform.

Question 17

What was the CEDA and what were its aims?

Answer 17

It was a union of right-wing opposition groups, which aimed to protect law, order, property and Catholicism, was founded in February 1933.

Question 18

Give examples of conservative right wing opposition to left wing reforms in 1931-33

Answer 18

• CEDA grew in popularity and in the November 1933 election became the biggest single party with 115 seats.
• Military reforms upset the landowning officer class as it feared a purge of the entire traditional military hierarchy, leading to a failed military coup in August 1932 by General José Sanjurjo.

Question 19

How did CEDA come to power

Answer 19

CEDA, after becoming the largest party, worked closely with the Radicals, the second largest party, and established a right-wing government.

Question 20

When was the right-wing republican government in power?

Answer 20

1933-36

Question 21

What did the right-wing republic begin to do once in power?

Answer 21

It set about undoing most of the reforms of the previous left-wing government

Question 22

Give examples of the actions the right-wing republic government took to undo the reforms of the previous left-wing government

Answer 22

• It refused to uphold the majority of the left-wing agrarian and industrial reforms.
• It allowed police searches of trade union premises and gave authorization for the authorities to break up strikes.
• It did not enforce the legislation that separated the Catholic Church from the State, and allowed the Church to play a significant role in education again.

Question 23

How did the left wing feel about the right’s undoing of their reforms and what actions did they take?

Answer 23

• The extreme left became more active as left-wing protests proliferated.
• This pushed CEDA even further to the right, which lost it the support of the Radical Party, resulting in the collapse of the government.
• Asturias

Question 24

What was the Asturias uprising?

Answer 24

• The most serious uprising took place in the Asturias mining region in October 1934.
• With high unemployment and poor working conditions, workers revolted and set up an independent workers’ republic comprising over one-third of the province and 80 per cent of its population.
• The revolutionaries burned down 58 churches and killed 31 people.

Question 25

How did the right wing respond to the Asturias uprising?

Answer 25

The right-wing government responded harshly, killing 1335 and wounding almost 3000, crushing the uprising.

Question 26

What were the effects of the Asturias uprising?

Answer 26

• The government then lurched further to the right, increasing suppression of left-wing agitators and suspending Catalan autonomy.
• The more extreme right-wing position that CEDA appeared to be taking led to a breakdown in its coalition with the Radical Party.
• The coalition collapsed and President Alcalá-Zamora dissolved parliament, calling for fresh elections.

Question 27

When was the Popular Front government in power?

Answer 27

February to July 1936

Question 28

What was the Popular Front?

Answer 28

• This was a broad-based coalition of left-wing groups including republicans, socialists and communists.
• The Popular Front held 286 seats, compared to the right-wing which held 132, yet the votes cast revealed Spain to be much more evenly divided, as 4,654,116 votes were for the left and 4,503,542 were for the right.

Question 29

What reforms did the Popular Front implement?

Answer 29

The Popular Front resumed the left-wing agenda started by the left-wing coalition between 1931 and 1933.

• It resumed the agrarian and urban reforms that aimed to help the poorer rural and urban citizens.
• It restored Catalan autonomy and began discussions regarding Basque autonomy.
• It resumed the military reforms.

Question 30

How did the conservative right feel about the Popular Front?

Answer 30

• The right-wing fiercely opposed these reforms and became increasingly militant and anti-democratic.
• Violence in Spain increased and several groups advocated for a right-wing military takeover of power.
• The right was drifting further towards extreme military solutions to their problems.

Question 31

Give examples of actions the right wing took in opposition to the Popular Front

Answer 31

• There was an abortive right-wing coup involving Gil-Robles, the leader of CEDA, to stop the Popular Front from taking power.
• The membership of the fascist Falange Party drastically increased after the election of 1936. The Falange Party was overtly anti-democratic, and sought a military dictatorship.
• Increasing violence, including the assassination of prominent right-wing monarchist José Calvo Sotelo in July 1936, as well as street fighting between the left and right, led to calls by rightists to turn to violence to solve their problems.

Question 32

Describe the opposition of the extreme left to the Popular Front

Answer 32

Left-wing militancy also drastically increased after the election of the Popular Front, further radicalizing the situation in Spain.

• Workers were encouraged by trade unions to take revenge on the right-wing for actions during the previous two years of right-wing government. This included the seizure of land, which was then legalized by the Popular Front.
• Largo Caballero, the leader of the extreme left-wing faction of the PSOE, called for a socialist revolution and refused to be part of the Popular Front, which he felt was not radical enough.

Question 33

When did the Spanish Civil War begin?

Answer 33

When right-wing members of the military launched an uprising against the Popular Front government in July 1936.

Question 34

By whom was the 1936 uprising mainly planned?

Answer 34

• The uprising was mainly planned by General Emilio Mola, and was very much the work of the army.
• He had established links with CEDA and monarchists, who supported the revolt.

Question 35

What role id the Spanish Military Union play in the 1936 uprising?

Answer 35

• The Spanish Military Union, which was a secretive organization of over 3500 officers, was a key instigator of the revolt as it had established cells throughout the country.
• The majority of colonels and middle-ranking officers supported the uprising, and they brought their garrisons with them.

Question 36

Describe the very last events leading up to the SCW

Answer 36

• Troops in Morocco were the first to revolt, on 17 July 1936, and this quickly spread throughout Spain.
• In response, the left-wing unions took up arms and mobilized civilians into militia units. The left were also supported by troops loyal to the Republic.
• As a result of this leftist response, the rebellious garrisons were unable to take control of all of Spain, and the civil war began.

Question 37

What are the 3 main historical interpretations about the causes of the Spanish Civil War?

Answer 37

• Nationalist interpretations
• Republican interpretations
• Socio-economic interpretations

Question 38

Causes of the SCW- nationalist interpretations

Answer 38

• Pro-nationalist interpretations emphasize the extreme radicalization of the left as the primary cause of hostilities.
• They put great weight on the growth of militant unionism and events such as the Asturias Uprising, which, they argue, show that the right had to use military force to uphold order, property, law and religion against the dangers of socialist revolution.

Question 39

Example of a historian with a nationalist interpretation of the causes of the SCW

Answer 39

Ricardo de la Cierva, writing in the 1960s, was a main proponent of this view.

Question 40

Causes of the SCW- republican interpretations

Answer 40

• Pro-Republican accounts argue that it was in fact the extreme right that should be held more accountable for causing the Spanish Civil War.
• They focus on the ideologies and actions of the Falange and CEDA.
• The former was overtly anti-democratic, and the latter, according to this narrative, was never really a supporter of the democratic Republic.
• They also place emphasis on the role played by the right-wing military leadership as important in causing the war.

Question 41

Causes of the SCW- republican interpretations

Answer 41

Other accounts tend to focus on the socioeconomic causes of the war and argue that long-term agrarian issues were the fundamental cause of conflict in Spain.

Question 42

Example of a historian with a socio-economic interpretation of the causes of the SCW

Answer 42

• This interpretation is held by historian Paul Preston.
• According to this narrative, agrarian issues led to the growth of left-wing militancy and influenced the social reform programme of the left-wing governments.
• This left-wing radicalization antagonized the right, and ultimately pushed the country into war.
• Thus, the social and political divisions that pushed the country to war, and which democracy proved incapable of mediating, were caused by deep-seated agrarian problems.