The Spanish Civil
M90
The causes of the civil war itself were peculiar to Spain. The background against which the war erupted was as follows:
During 1920’s, Spain was ruled by a king. Due to the great depression which led to economic collapse and big unemployment in Spain, the king abdicated in 1931 and Spain became a republic. The government faced risings from provinces within Spain demanding independence. There were also a lot of strikes and rebellions from left wing and socialist groups.
Spain also lost her empire during the same time. Internal conflicts also led to the war. For instance, there was a conflict between wealth landowners who owned a lot of land and landless peasants who worked as casual labourers and earned very low wages. Secondly, the Roman Catholic Church was very influential in Spain. It was wealthy and opposed social reform. As a result several anti-clerical groups emerged. These groups wanted to confiscate the church’s property. In the process, a lot of church property as destroyed and priests were killed.