Political issues also rose in Spain, there were a number of groups which opposed the political status in the country. All the political groups had different ideas which led to the violent conflict in 1936. The liberal movement in Spain had achieved very little in opposing conservative forces. Although they still remained a political force and supported the revolution against the King in 1931. The PSOE (Partido Docialista Obrero Español) had a limited impact, whereas the UGT was more successful in organizing strikes and protests. The socialists and the liberals were important during the revolution of 1931, although these were divided because they argued over what reforms should take place. The other major political groups in Spain were the anarchists; they were the ones who demanded the redistribution of the land, which was popular within the peasants. Their trade union was the CNT and organized strikes and protests. The most extreme anarchists were called the FAI (Spanish Anarchist Federation), which came about with the ideas of bombing and assassinations.
Following the long term causes which were mentioned previously, the Spanish Army and the Church also played a significant role. Due to Spain's imperial past, the army had a great political power, which permitted it to interfere in politics during the crisis. The army intervened several times, but it's most important intervention was in 1936, aiming to lead to a civil war. The army was although unpopular for its reputation; it was brutal and very expensive to maintain. Also, it proved to be ineffective a couple of times, for example in 1921 when it was sent to put down a revolt in Morocco but was massacred by the rebellious Moors.
The Catholic Church was rich and powerful, even after long disputes, it also had control over education. The Church, over time, had used its wealth to gain not only social influence but political as well. The key role it played was its support of conservatism, meaning that it defended and encouraged the upper classes, leaving the poor full of resentment. This feeling was confined to the urban areas as the Church was popular in rural areas. Also disagreeable, the Church controlled most of the land.
Another important point is the fall of the monarchy, due to a coup, which was followed by the establishment of the second republic. Under King Alfonso XII, Spain was far from modernization, the war in Morocco ended unsuccessfully and, after a series of unsuccessful governments, no resistance was made in response to De Rivera's coup of 1923. De Rivera tried to establish a right wing regime to solve problems in a similar way to the Italian fascist model, even though he was not a fascist. He tried infrastructure programs and tried to develop the industrial production. He planned to give employment to people and enrich Spain. Another example to support this view is that he ended the war in Morocco, which was not only humiliating, but very expensive as well. His plans though were brought to an end by the massive debts that crippled Spain when the Wall Street Crash happened. As a consequence, financial problems and unemployment caused the army to withdraw support and General Primo De Rivera had to resign. The municipal election in April showed the preference, for the San Sebastian Pact, coalition of parties. This included republicans, liberals, socialists and Catalans, the King decided to go to exile and he was not saved by the Church or Army. The second republic was then established.
The period of the left republic between April 1931 and November 1933 helped to cause tension in Spain between the people. As soon as Azana came to power, his main aim was to modernize Spain, the reforms done angered the conservative right, that eventually rebelled. In the case of the clergy, Azana planned to amend the conservative policy, revolutionizing all the benefits of the church, such as the control of education and state economic support. Other evidence is the army that was also attacked. Azana offered an early retirement with full pay, accepted by fifty percent of the army. This meant that only the loyal army remained and the government had more payments. Each reform went against the right ideologies, causing tension to rise and the collapse of the left republic, which will rise again for the last time before the crisis to happen.
The right republic came to power in November 1933, because of the bad reputation the left was getting, by smoking out anarchists and killing many opposition, causing the loss of support from the left republic working class. This lead to a complete revolt in Spain, that went completely against left modernizing policies, eventually causing damage to the citizens. When Gil Robles came to power, with his CEDA( Confederacion Española de Derechas Autonomas), he took some cabinet posts and started reversing everything. The two years he remained in power where know as black years because the citizens became very poor. The policies he reversed included the state payments restored to the church, and their control of the education and the halting of the land distribution program. This led to Catalonia declaring itself independent, causing a rebellion that was put down, so now the Left was feeling threated of other strikes. The results were that Caballero, a person who thought that the CEDA could be considered the Nazi party and that the left should adopt a Soviet- style solution, articulated policies that angered Gil Robles and united more the left factions. Therefore, this period was fundamental for the beginning of the Spanish Civil War because it made tensions between the parties increase and the rivalry between the opposing factions to rise.
The small period between the fall of the Right republic and the Spanish civil war break out was dominated by the Left, by the Popular Front. This period contains the most violent actions and shows how the tension was at the peak and the war could have been the only solution. This group was anti-fascist, collected left groups such as socialists and communists and was not popular as the name suggested. The name is also associated to Stalin because his party was called in the same way. This could mean that this party might have followed Caballero’s suggestions or to show Spain what their mentality was. Azana came back to power, he was liberal and wanted to restore the modern policies and release political prisoners, this angered the right. In addition anarchists increased violence, wanted peasants to seize land and had a severe conflict with fascism because of opposing ideologies. The disorder created severe strikes throughout June, and there was a feeling of revolution. This was the main cause why Spain started to be in a revolutionary phase, helping the war to break out.
In this paragraph I am going to analyze the causes of the coup started in 17th July 1936 that involved Africa and was the last spark that gave an opportunity for the war to begin. The plan for the coup began as soon as the Popular front came to power in February 1936. Gil Robles, including Mola and Franco, supported it. The assassination of a popular CEDA leader in July 1936 was the catalyst for the coup. Indeed Azana tried to prevent the coup by moving key military figures. The coup was organized at the 18th of July, but when the details were discovered it was moved to the 17th. Overall it was a fail, they managed to take parts of north Spain and Andalusia, but not Madrid nor industrial areas. On the other hand, half of the army remained loyal to the republic. In conclusion, my belief is that without external support such as Gil Robles, Franco, Mola and Africanistas, the republicans would have won.
In conclusion, the causes of the Spanish Civil War were many, ranging from the military instability to the political inefficiency, involving even the peasants to desire a war for change. In the period of the war, Spain was divided in several political parties and ideas but people were grouped under two main names: the Nationalists and the Revolutionaries. Alliances were consolidated inside the groups but nevertheless there were internal fights as well (for example, communists and anarchists, with different objectives, were part of one group). The Spanish situation involved even other countries even though European heads had a pact which was meant to give no help to Spain. Germany was a major supplier in army and armaments because, in preparation of the Second World War, he wanted to test his new equipment. Italy as well helped, following Germany in supplying men and equipment. On the opposition’s side instead Russia refurnished the country in exchange of gold and young men from around the world helped forming what was called the International Brigade. In the end though, Spain was so damaged and poor that it did not participate in the Second World War. If it had though, it would have probably been on Germany’s side; would have this changed the results of war?