To what extent was the Spanish Civil war caused by the actions of Mola in 1936

Karl Al-Omar

To what extent was the cause of the Spanish civil war a result of the actions of Mola in 1936?

In 1936 Spain entered a brutal civil war; this war could be referred to as the rehearsal for the upcoming WW2. The Spanish civil war was a result of conditional factors and tensions such as political instability caused by a weak government, the role of the church, regional problems and economic issues. Each of these causes resulted in an unstable and divided nation which was on the verge of out breaking into civil war. The tension was further intensified from 1931 to 1936 due to the political polarization between left and right wing parties. However the outbreak of the Spanish civil war in 1936 can be dated to the point of the issue of the secret order for a coup d'etat by Mola to overthrow the republican government.

The conditional causes of the Spanish civil war were a combination of social, economic and political factors. One of the major conditional causes was how politically unstable Spain was at the beginning of the 20th century up till the outbreak of the war. This had occurred due to Spain’s lost against the USA in 1898. When the army returned to Spain the nation became extremely focused on politics as they were attempting to find a reason why they lost inside their nation. The result was that the army became more prioritized within Spain, this was important as it was the reason why Primo de Rivera’s coup succeeded against the Spanish King Alfonso XIII who was in conflict with the Spanish politicians due to his anti-democratic views. It was no surprise that the Spanish population, especially the middle/upper class as they dominated the jobs of officers and generals, supported Miguel Primo de Rivera in his military uprising against the monarchy because of Alfonso’s humiliating defeat for Spain in the 1921 Moroccan War. Once Primo de Rivera overthrew the parliamentary government and established himself as dictator he was viewed to as a saint like figure by leading a crusade against political corruption, social chaos and imperial humiliation. Primo De Rivera attempted to solve Spain’s unemployment issue by introducing public works schemes funded by increasing the taxes paid by the rich. This resulted in inflation that struck the poor whilst the rich were able to cope with it. However the rich did not like the idea of high taxes and the army did not have the money to stay on his side, Primo de Rivera therefore lost all support and was forced to resign.

The politically polarized Spain can easily be compared with China during its civil war. China was in a similar situation to Spain after the Japanese withdrawal as the nation had become split into nationalists and communists like Spain who became politically unstable after their loss in the USA in 1898. Both civil wars ended up with conflict showing how political instability usually requires conflict to resolve problems.

In April 1931 elections were again held in Spain, it seemed only appropriate that the left wing republican parties should win due to the fact that they may hold the potential to undo ...

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In April 1931 elections were again held in Spain, it seemed only appropriate that the left wing republican parties should win due to the fact that they may hold the potential to undo the problems caused by the right wing nationalists. When they did win monarchy was abolished and tensions where raised between the Republican and Nationalist parties. However once the Republicans gained parties they immediately faced a multitude of problems. Two of the most important problems were firstly, the Roman Catholic Church was hostile to the republic and the republic was hostile to the highly influential the church was. Secondly the government believed that the army had too much say in politics and determined to reduce its influence. The problem with the church was to be combated by cutting the Roman Catholic Church’s salary, banning religious education and not paying priests. These controversial actions infuriated the church and helped to further complicate the tense situation. As the church was such an influential aspect of the Nation they held the ability to influence the population with convincing propaganda. For example they labelled the republican government as demonic. This paralleled the republican’s actions of burning churches, an awful act which could make people to convert to the right wing parties. To solve their problems with the army they decided it to reduce its size and lower the retiring age. Both the church and army were crucial elements in Spain and it was not a wise decision to anger these parties as they had the potential to fight back, they were therefore unwilling to support the Republican Government and formed new parties on the right wing. In addition these right wing parties were also aware that there were countries in Europe that would be willing to give support to their plight as many nations in Europe were scared of communism and Stalin’s Russia. Fascist Italy under Mussolini was an obvious ally as was Germany once Hitler had risen to power in January 1933.

In 1932 the Republican government had lost all support from the right, this could be justified by how the government had to withstand a coup from the army who were attempting to overthrow it. In addition they also lost support from various left wing parties as they declared the government was too centred in the middle. The result was that re-elections were called with the right wing winning. Once the right wing came to power they immediately regained the churches and armies poverty and destroyed all their reforms created by the left wings. This provoked the left wing parties to create strikes and rearm which led to the further deterioration of stability. In 1936 a combinations of the left wing parties formed together to create the Popular Front.

The ultimate factor was a contingent one in the outbreak of the war, this is Mola’s attempted coup d’état to overthrow the Republican government. This insurgency was lead by Mola and supported by Franco and other army officers. The Republican government were unaware when this happened and tried to negotiate with General Mola, offering him many concessions and inducements, but to no avail. The result was that the left wing parties had to gain arms and begin fighting; therefore the Spanish Civil War had begun.

When taking a first glance at the Mola’s coup it may appear that it had been led by Franco. Yet this is not the case, the plan was devised by Mola to initiate the conflict, he was confident due to support from Hitler and Mussolini, maybe to confident as the Republicans held their ground strongly. A common quote for the Republican forces was “No Passaran” which translates to thou shall not pass Once the war had begun Franco’s competition (Mola and Sanjuro) died in plane crashes, therefore General Francisco Franco with no serious rivals to challenge his leadership of Nationalist Spain. It is apparent that Franco did not attain power by himself but rather by the support of other leaders.

It was clear that the Republicans had an upper hand during the war and hence were eventually the victors. This was due to the fact that most Civil Guards, Assault Guards, Fascist Falange militias and carabineros joined the Nationalist uprising, they where some of the most well trained soldiers in Spain. In addition the right wing requested and received help from Hitler and Mussolini, both of whom feared the spread of Communism and therefore decided to provide military assistant. The Spanish Civil War has been named “the dress rehearsal for WW2” as it was where Hitler seized the opportunity to test his new weapons, primarily his Condor Legion (a formation of bomber planes). This had a dramatic impact on the Republican front and killed many. Especially in Guernica, which can be justified by Picasso’s painting that expresses the horror of the bombings. The Spanish Civil war was not the only civil war where foreign involvement guaranteed a winning side. In the Chinese Civil War the Nationalist side received support from the US army enabling them to dominate their Communist rivals.

In conclusion the most important causes of the Spanish Civil War were the conditional ones for they built up long term economic and social struggles in the form of unemployment, inflation and a separated nation through politics. It was these major causes which made the nation uneasy and ready to kick off into war at anytime. It was here where the actions of Mola counted as he led the armed coup d’état against the Republic government in which they had to reply. However if Spain wasn’t politically unstable in the first place Mola would have never done so, therefore the most important causes of the Spanish Civil War was not caused by Mola but instead the conditional causes.