Why did a Civil War break out in Spain in 1936?

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> Why did a Civil War break out in Spain in 1936?

The Spanish civil war broke out because of many economic, social and political reasons. These were mainly the poverty, the exorbitantly influential power of the church and the army and the government's conflict with the workers. This led to the rise of anarchism and socialism, as many were disillusioned with the political system, that was corrupt and ineffective. Spain also was a power on the constant decline, as demonstrated with the loss of the colonies in 1898 and Morocco in 1921. All this lead to social discontent that culminated in the civil war.

In order to understand the reason why a civil war broke out, one firstly has to look at its long term causes. Various factors led to a unstable situation being created in Spain, and hence were the soil on which social unrest could grow. Spain missed the industrial revolution that took place in many European countries in the 19th century and was still a backward medieval society, with landlords dominating and humiliating the working peasantry. The army was also too big; there was a ratio of 9:1 officers and Aristocrats