Causes of the Spanish Civil War Essay PDF

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POSSIBLE QUESTIONS: Analyse the reasons for the weaknesses and collapse of democracy between 1918 and 1939 in either Italy or Spain. (Nov 10) In what ways, and to what extent, did social and religious divisions lead to civil war in Spain in 1936? (Nov 07) Why did internal tensions in Spain in the 1920s and 1930s lead to a civil war in 1936? (Nov 06) To what extent was the Spanish Civil War caused by divisions in Spain and in Spanish society? (Nov 05) Analyse the causes of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939)

TWO MAIN ARGUMENTS: Two Spains Theory & Bad Governance Two Spains Theory: Long-term effects led to a very traditional Spain against a Modernists-looking Spain, and this clash caused the war

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Political Instability ○ Army ■ Was powerful because of colonial past ■ Believed they were the protector of the nation, wanted to keep it together ■ Army was conservative ■ Army also had a bad reputation ● Brutal, ineffective, expensive ● Caused social tension ○ Middle/upper class defended army interests ○ Church ■ Catholic Church was wealthy and powerful ■ Used influence to support social, economic and political conservatism ■ Aristocracy/elite funded the Church ● Church therefore defended interests of middle class ■ Led to resentment among poor/urban workers ○ Economy ■ Agriculturally based ● Not much industrialization except in places like Catalonia ● Landless peasants had to move around to look for jobs ● Most peasants lived in poverty ● Poor peasants worked for rich landowners ○ Created social tensions ■ Need for industrialization, modernization, and reforms ● Urban workers had low pay, long hours, bad working conditions ● Trade unions could not achieve their goals/ineffective ○ Always other laborers in the countryside ○ Workers sometimes resorted to violence to instigate change ○ Regional Problems ■ Catalonia and Basque ● Wanted independence ● Ananza gave it to them (self-governance) ● When Robles took it out, this led to more tension

Bad Governance ● ●

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Spain was becoming increasingly politically polarized Left Republic 1931-1933 ○ Ananza limits power of Church ■ No longer in control of education ○ Army ■ Reduce number of officers ■ Offering early retirement in full pay ● Taken by 50% of officers ● Policy backfired ○ Those who stayed were mostly right, conservative and nationalistic ■ Catalonia and Basque were given independence ● Angered army who wanted a united Spain, also they had many strategic infrastructure in these areas ○ Economy ■ Economic problems exacerbated by the depression ● Production fell by ⅓ ● Government initiated land reform program ■ State overtook some estates (right viewed this as a threat to them) ○ Political Polarization ■ Each policy looked at as an attack to one or more right-wing groups (church, armies, landowners) ■ Resulted in CEDA forming to protect interests of the right ● Spain became more polarized Right Republic 1933-1936 ○ Ananza resigned because of the growing tensions ○ The Right won the new elections, CEDA became the biggest party ○ Right government reversed all reforms made by the left republic ■ Church now given control over education ■ Land reform program was halted ■ Newly won independence of regions was withdrawn ■ Threats from left for general strike increased ● Regions now supported left-wing government ● Led right wing to become more authoritative and brutal against political opposition Popular Front 1936 ○ Right wing government disintegrated and social + economic situation worsened ○ Left wing coalition (Anarchists, Communists and Socialists) won in 1936 election ○ Ananza became prime minister and reversed the right republic’s changes ○ Anarchists encouraged peasants to steal land ○ Violence increased → Spain became more POLARIZED ○ Government faced increased disorder….civil war drew closer

Immediate Causes ●

Victory of popular front threw CEDA in turmoil ○ Robles started using funds for military coup ○ Extreme national group of junior military officers began to plan the coup ■ Castillo murdered (Socialist) → 12 July 1936 ■ Catalyst for coup was murder of Sotelo (who was arrested after murder)→ 17 July 1936 ■ Successful in northern Spain and Andalusia, but failed in major industrial areas ■ Both sides reached deadlock and Civil War began

TIMELINE AND WHERE IT FALLS ON THE ARGUMENT: ●

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1919 a growing fear of Communism emerged in Spain, and the ideology was repressed by the government through military means. The Socialist PSOE split, with more radical members founding the Communist Party in 1921 ○ Two Spains Theory → Political polarization 1923 Miguel Primo de Rivera seized power in a military coup, and governed Spain as a military dictatorship. He’s clamping down on the left wing January 1930 Rivera's resignation 1931 Elections led to King Alfonso XIII abdication. The Second Spanish Republic was formed. ○ Two Spains Theory → Weakness of the monarchy June 1931 Elections to a new constitution and a large majority of Republicans (fairly center) and Socialists (fairly left) formed a coalition. ○ Beginnings of political polarization 1931 a new constitution, the Spanish Constitution of 1931, was declared - reformist, liberal and democratic in nature. It appalled landowners, industrialists, the organized church, and army officers. The 1931 constitution removed any special Catholic rights, as the new government believed it was necessary to break the control the church had over Spanish affairs. ○ Bad Governance ■ Angered Army Officers (Catalonia and Basque) ■ Angered Church (Lessened Control) ■ Angered Landowners and Peasants (Land Reforms) ■ Angered Industrialists (Catalonia and Basque, Land Reforms) 1931 Burning of the convents in Madrid. Government did nothing to stop them. This caused angst. ○ Anti Clericalists were “uncontrolled” ○ Bad Governance: Right wing very insulted/offended → Political Polarization 18 October 1931 Gil Robles the leading spokesman of the parliamentary opposition (CEDA), called for a crusade against the republic. Azaña declared that Spain had 'ceased to be Catholic'; Education reforms. 1932 Agrarian Reform Law distributed land amongst poor peasants. Extreme left wing peasants, and other peasants, don’t think this is good enough so they attempt to seize land. ○ Bad governance → Failed to please peasants or landowners 1932 Casas Viejas incident. Socialists in the government are very upset because of crackdown on anarchists. This is a rebellion by anarchist villages in an attempt to seize land. Government intervened to try to stop them. This ended in massacre.

Bad governance → Anarchists/farmers were unhappy with land reforms, so they tried to seize land themselves. Government came in and burned all their houses + ended in massacre. ○ Socialists pulled out/were aggravated with the situation 1932 Catalonian Home Rule ○ Bad governance → Angered armies and industrialists ○ Two Spains → Shows division between different factions of Spain August 1932 an unsuccessful army uprising by General José Sanjurjo quickly disintegrated ○ Political Polarization August 1932 Gil Robles set up a new party, the tacitly Fascist Spanish Confederation of the Autonomous Right (Spanish: Confederatión Espanola de Derechas Autónomas, CEDA) to contest the 1933 election. ○ Political Polarization ○ Bad Governance → could not stop opposition ○ Two Spains → Because traditional Spain vs. modern Spain August 1933 The poll resulted in an overwhelming victory for the right, with the CEDA and Radicals together winning 219 seats (this is a majority). The left government in general is appalled by this because the new government pulls out reforms and so the general left goes on strike. ○ Political Polarization 8 December 1933 - Anarchist protests- mostly unsuccessful. UGT Socialist worker strike was followed by months of retaliation, repression and torture of political prisoners. (“Black two years.”) ○ Political Polarization ○ Two Spains → against each other (old vs. new) 1934 – General Strike and Asturias revolt (more successful because the left in Asturias is more united) ○ Bad governance → unable to control enemies ■ Led to more left uprisings ■ Left wing started working together more ■ Creation of Popular Front ○

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Beginning in 1934 Spain entered a period deemed the "black two years” due to the rising tension and violence before the start of the war. (POLITICAL POLARIZATION) Radicals became more aggressive, and conservatives turned to paramilitary and vigilante actions. The Socialist opposition began to propagate a revolutionary ideal. President Niceto Alcalá-Zamora declined to invite the leader of the CEDA, Gil Robles, to form a government and instead invited the Radical Republican Party's Lerroux to do so. The government set about removing price controls, selling state favours and monopolies, and removing the land reforms, which resulted in growing malnourishment in the south of Spain. The agrarian reforms went largely unenforced.] Fascists/Fallange gain popularity in right wing because it seems as if CEDA cannot control left wing ●

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In 1935 Azaña and Indalecio Prieto started to unify the left, staging large, popular rallies, in what would become the Popular Front. ○ Political Polarization 1936 Elections Popular Front narrowly won by the under-financed Popular Front. Some anarchists supported the government at this point. Socialists would not participate. ○ Political Polarization 1936 Carlists and Falange expanded massively. ○ Political Polarization → right wing is gaining power 1936 May Day parade turned violent between socialists and church supporters ○ Caballero made a speech: calling for revolution ○ Terrified Right Wing ○ Rumors spread, etc. and led to burning of convents 1936 June Jose Calvo Sotelo declared himself a Fascist 12 July 1936 in Madrid, members of the Falange murdered Lieutenant José Castillo of the Assault Guards police force. Castillo was a member of the Socialist party. The next day, members of the Assault Guards arrested José Calvo Sotelo, a leading Spanish monarchist and a prominent parliamentary conservative. Calvo Sotelo was shot by the Guards without trial. Spark to the coup. Franco's plane landed in Grand Canaria on July 14. The coup began......

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The military had, in fact, already made preparations for a takeover of Spain. General Franco assumed control of the military. He took control of Spanish Morocco after overthrowing the civilian government there. His next target was to invade mainland Spain, establish a military government there and rid the country of all those involved in left wing politics. The left would have to fight for survival. The civil war started in July 1936.

Franco emerges as the best political and military leader. Families split (During civil war). Some peasants went to nationalist side. SPANISH CIVIL WAR Why Did Civil War come? ●

Inability to solve problems (Land, Removal of Military political power, Education system change), Extreme polarization, Weak Monarchy, Army for the coup, Republic Government insensitivity, Franco (because of coup), Right wing for being resistant to change and being too anachronistic. HISTORIOGRAPHY (very traditional Spain next to modernists-looking Spain) this clash caused the war (“Two Spains Theory”) Revisionist theory (1931-1936 events caused the war)

HISTORIOGRAPHY: Orthodox → The civil war was due to the failure of the 2nd Republic to govern effectively and maintain popular support ●

Irving Werstein ○ Republican government made hasty changes ■ Did not take into account viewpoints of most of Spanish Society ● Mostly reflected anti-clerical and anti-war provisions of 1931 constitution ● Army called them “traitors, weaklings and fools” ● Government actions wanted to destroy the army ○ Leave Spain helpless against communism ● “Republic ministers failed to comprehend the dangers that imperiled the government as a result of their policies” ■ Limitations ● Doesn’t bring in CEDA (CEDA also didn’t help much) ○ Evidence for this perspective ■ Anarchist Violence ■ Agrarian Reforms ■ Church and Education ■ Casas Viejas ■ Army Reforms ■ Home Rule for Catalonia ■ 1931 is key in upsetting the Right Wing ○ Evaluation of this perspective ■ Writing before end of Franco era (not all documents released, conclusion agrees/supports Franco) ■ Absence in CEDA criticism ■ American writing during the Cold War

Other Historians: Anthony Beevor (most historians agree it was right coup) Revisionist → Civil war was due to inherent political problems of Spain at the time, rather than any one party. ●

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S. Ben Ami ○ Spain had a naturally turbulent political atmosphere ○ Plagued second republic even in its conception ■ Republic was blamed primarily for many of Church burnings even if caused by Anarchists Evidence for this perspective ○ Long term: “Two Spains Theory”

Separating Spain before Second Republic come to power ● Social inequality, Class division, Economic disparity ○ Massive distinction between poor and rich ● Political Instability ○ Weak Monarchy, Army in politics ■ Monarchy was… ● Inefficient and corrupt ● In 1921, the constitutional monarchy sent an army to settle the rebellion in Spanish Morocco but was defeated by the rebels. ● Because the monarchy allowed semi-military dictatorship ● Great Depression caused a dramatic rise in unemployment but military could not deal with the financial mess ■ Military dictatorship, economic crisis, seemingly useless, inefficient government → hate you monarchy! ● Growing Communism, anarchism, socialism ● Anticlericalism → distrust of church from right wing ● Catalonia and Basque wants home rule ■ Poor governance → dealing with anarchists Evaluation from this perspective ○ Stanley Payne and Ben Ami wrote after the Franco Era ■ Access to documents ○ Ben Ami ■ Spain was an agricultural nation ■ Depression hit crop prices ■ Second republic lost support with working class ■ Neither government could solve it ■

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Paul Preston: Right wing was never gonna give the regime a chance : Underlying conflicts were transmitted into national policies Bad Governance and Two Spains ● ●

Long Term Problems → Agrarian Spanish economy, Industry only developing in a few sectors, Massive divide between peasants and landowners, Workers and Factory Owners) Bad Governance → Wasn’t able to circumvent problems

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Historical Context: The Spanish Republic was proclaimed in 1931, which meant the abdication of their King, King Alfonso XIII, and ushered in social, economic and political changes. However, these changes actually exacerbated the political polarization in Spain between 1931-1936, as the left wing sought to implement changes that would benefit their agenda, while the right wing attempted to reverse their changes and instigate their own. These changes, once both sides were greatly divided, seemed to form two sides and actually led to the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War. To a great extent, the Spanish Civil War was caused by divisions in Spain and Spanish society; these divisions were were actually mainly a result of long-term socio-economic and political divisions in Spain, and were later exacerbated by the bad governance of the second republic and the “two black years.”

Body Paragraph 1: Bad Governance of the 2nd republic ●

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1931 Constitution ○ Limiting funds to Church + No more role in education ■ Angered the Church, religious communities and people in Spain ■ Spain was heavily religious during this time ○ Land Reforms (1931 and Agrarian reform 1931) ■ Peasants wanted land NOW and faster ■ Landowners didn’t want to give up their land ○ Military ■ Forcibly cut down on officers ● Offering early retirement in full pay ○ Taken by 50% of officers ○ Policy backfired ■ Those who stayed were mostly right, conservative and nationalistic ■ Wanted to disconnect army with politics ■ Alienated army, extreme rights ○ Catalonian and Basque Homerule ■ Caused Spain to lose industry ■ Weakened Nation’s overall integrity ■ Made Army and Industrialists angry ● Non-unified nation + strategic infrastructure (factories) ● Industrialists lose some business 1931 Burning of the Convents ○ Middle-class anticlericalists hated the Church, burned down convents in Madrid ○ Left wing government didn’t stop them ■ Angered right wing, exacerbated political polarization ■ Religion was so important to traditionalists, and these anarchists were destroying them ○ Isolated the Government from traditionalists/The Church/right wing Casas Viejas Incident ○ Made an enemy from the anarchists ○ Anarchists were stealing land from landowners ■ Frustrated with land reform pace and tension ■ Military stepped in ● Massacred anarchists ● Burned their houses down ○ Socialists pull out of the government, heavily weakens it ○ Left wing antagonized Anarchists, everyone else Renowned Historian Irving Werstein (Orthodox) ○ Republican government hasty changes did not take into account Spanish society viewpoints...mostly reflected in 1931 constitution ■ In fact, seemed to alienate most sectors ■ However… ● Wrote before Franco's’ death, during cold war Renowned Historian Ben Ami ○ Other problems that existed in the 2nd republic ■ “Two Spains” ■ Had access to Franco’s documents ○ BUT government were not able to circumvent these problems

Body Paragraph 2: Economic Problems ●

Foundations already in place before the 2nd Republic ○ Divide between the rich and the poor

Majority of land were rural peasants ● Low wages, needed to constantly migrate, etc. ■ Workers had low wages, poor working conditions, etc. ■ Rich remained rich ○ New government implemented land reforms ■ Agrarian Law 1932 ● Distributed land among peasants ○ Failed because it took too long to implement ○ Caused Casas Viejas Revolt in 1933 ■ Right winged anarchists were brutally suppressed by the government ■ Relationship between workers and their superiors was bad ● Unhappy, strikes, violence, etc. ■ Catalonian Home Rule ● Known for main bulk of Spanish agriculture ● Autonomy in 1932 ○ Effectively cut out their industry ○ Spain became weaker economically, didn’t please many ○ Led to more political polarization and left/right policies ■ different economic beliefs, want to help country out of great depression, etc. Historiography ○ Gerard Brennan ■ Believes that agriculture started the war ■ Lived in Andalucia during 1920s, primary source ■

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