These financial and political, as well as social difficulties led his regime to end in 1930 because it was unable to stop the attacks from the left, as well as attacks from the reluctant military. The next elections were won by the republicans, led by Azana. The Republic lasted 8 years before another military coup, led by General Franco, who took over the government. The Republic tried to set out major reforms, intending to restructure the whole of Spain. The eight-hour working day was set up, as well as a reduction of officers in the armed forces. Voting rights were given to people at the age of 23, the nobility was abolished and, severe measures were taken against the Church, especially religious education. The region of Catalonia was given some self-governing privileges, like the control of its own police. The problem was that these reforms seemed to be too severe to the right-winged opposition and the privileged classes.
So in 1933, Azana's government fell after being defeated by the general elections. The new government was actually a series of coalitions which set out to undo all the reforms produced by the former republican government. This lead to conflicts between what now could be called the two main "fronts"; the popular front and the national front. These parties fought for the next elections after the former coalition government dissolved.
From 1934 to 1936, the was governed by a center-right that included the conservative CEDA as well as liberal politicians. The government had a liberal Prime Minister but a Cedista plurality in parliament which led to a limited ability to take action or make decisions. During this period, there were general in and , street conflicts in and , and a .
As internal disagreements mounted in the coalition, a radicalization of the situation in the country was under way. Strikes were frequent, violence was rife, and communists and anarchists killed clergy, burned churches and persecuted people deemed to be conservative. After a series of governmental crises, the of , brought to power a government supported by the parties of the left and centre and opposed by those of the right. The new government was unstable, and on , , President was deposed by the new , which named as the new . As I have previously mentioned during 1934 there was great unrest in Spain due to the general strike that took place. Coal miners went on strike but were ruthlessly put down by General Franco. Spain appeared to be heading for complete chaos. By 1936 the government had almost lost control of Spain; more and more public disturbances occurred and the majority of people put their faith into the military for protection, not the government and its politics
The Popular Front won these elections, and so once again, Azana came into power. He tried, once again, to set out all his previous reforms. He also exiled Franco, who was considered the greatest threat to the new government. The problem with the new government though, was that it was drifting too far into communism. The National Front could not stand it any longer, so a military coup was hatched, lead by Franco to overthrow the government. This plan was set up so that two main forces, one coming from the north, and the other from the south would eventually converge and eliminate the Republic. The National Front eventually won the civil war, not only because it had financial and military support from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, but also because the Popular Front had its own internal conflicts. Franco's regime proved quite successful. He managed to overcome internal disputes and balance the different Nationalist groups.
In the early post-war years, Spain's economy saw more difficult times as international competition reappeared. The turbulent events that took place in Russia, Hungary, Germany made the wealthy fear, and the increasing activities of the trade unions only increased that. Strikes were answered with lockouts. The situation became tense. In 1921, Prime Minister Eduardo Dato was assassinated. In the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash, Spain like many other European economies was affected by the Great Depression. The depression of the 1930’s hit Spain hard. Spain was primarily an agricultural nation and the depression hit crop prices. Prime exports such as olive oil and wine fell in value and previously used agricultural land fell into disuse. Unemployment rose and Rivera did not have the ability to sort out Spain’s financial mess. When a country is in a state of depression with unemployment lingering inhabitants will turn their support towards radical parties and generally those who aren’t in power, leading to divisions in leadership and finally civil war. So, the Spanish government were rapidly losing the support of the working class which they desperately needed but in January 1933 they lost nearly all of this support. 25 people were killed by government troops who were attempting to catch anarchists near Cadiz.
In conclusion, the Spanish civil war broke out in July 1936 because of several reasons connected with the layout of Spain as a country, its rulers and its way of life. Spain was a politically instable country with no one solid party having an overall majority and generally, the party in power came into it through default and lack of choice. With Spain not having one consistent government and its leaders constantly being replaced no effective political decisions were ever made. Due to the constant switching between which party was in power, so the national front or popular front, which ever political decision which had been made by one party would then be removed and changed by the other. Spain was a severely politically unstable country which is the main reason why a civil war broke out in 1936. Spain’s economy also aided the civil war break out, due to the constant switching of leaders; this had a knock on effect to the economy. With a weak government, the economy was weak, with a weak economy there was no trading and Spain lost its reputation in the world trading circles, with a weak economy and lack of both imports and exports Spain was unstable on every aspect. Those living in Spain recognised these problems which were worrying and were not organised enough to prevent the civil war from breaking out.
