Q+SPANISH+CIVIL+WAR


 * THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR**

[|http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/WARspain.htm accessed 7th April, 2011]

[|Alfonso XIII] of [|Spain] assumed power in 1902. Alfonso XIII became increasingly autocratic and in 1909 was condemned for ordering the execution of the radical leader, Ferrer Guardia, in [|Barcelona]. He also prevented liberal reforms being introduced before the [|First World War]. Blamed for the Spanish defeat in the Moroccan War (1921) Alfonso was in constant conflict with Spanish politicians. His anti-democratic views encouraged [|Miguel Primo de Rivera] to lead a military coup in 1923. He promised to eliminate corruption and to regenerate Spain. In order to do this he suspended the constitution, established martial law and imposed a strict system of censorship. [|Miguel Primo de Rivera] initially said he would rule for only 90 days, however, he broke this promise and remained in power. Little social reform took place but he tried to reduce unemployment by spending money on public works. To pay for this Primo de Rivera introduced higher taxes on the rich. When they complained he changed his policies and attempted to raise money by public loans. This caused rapid inflation and after losing support of the army was forced to resign in January 1930.[|NZ links to the Spanish Civil War] In 1931 [|Alfonso XIII] agreed to democratic elections. It was the first time for nearly sixty years that free elections had been allowed in Spain. When the Spanish people voted overwhelmingly for a republic, Alfonso was advised that the only way to avoid large-scale violence was to go into exile. Alfonso agreed and left the country on 14th April, 1931. The provisional government of the [|Second Republic] called a general election for June 1931. The [|Socialist Party] (PSOE) and other left wing parties won an overwhelming victory. [|Niceto Alcala Zamora], a moderate Republican, became prime minister, but included in his cabinet several radical figures such as [|Manuel Azaña], [|Francisco Largo Caballero] and [|Indalecio Prieto]. On 16th October 1931, Azaña replaced [|Niceto Alcala Zamora] as prime minister. With the support of the [|Socialist Party] (PSOE) he attempted to introduce agrarian reform and regional autonomy. However, these measures were blocked in the [|Cortes]. Azaña believed that the Catholic Church was responsible for Spain's backwardness. He defended the elimination of special privileges for the Church on the grounds that Spain had ceased to be Catholic. Azaña was criticized by the Catholic Church for not doing more to stop the burning of religious buildings in May 1931. He controversially remarked that burning of "all the convents in Spain was not worth the life of a single Republican". The failed military coup led by [|José Sanjurjo] on 10th August, 1932, rallied support for Azaña's government. It was now possible for him to get the Agrarian Reform Bill and the Catalan Statute passed by the [|Cortes]. However, the modernization programme of the Azaña administration was undermined by a lack of financial resources. The November 1933 elections saw the right-wing [|CEDA] party win 115 seats whereas the [|Socialist Party] only managed 58. CEDA now formed a parliamentary alliance with the Radical Party. Over the next two years the new administration demolished the reforms that had been introduced by [|Manuel Azaña] and his government. This led to a general strike on 4th October 1934 and an armed rising in Asturias. Azaña was accused of encouraging these disturbances and on 7th October he was arrested and interned on a ship in Barcelona Harbour. However, no evidence could be found against him and he was released on 18th December. Azaña was also accused of supplying arms to the Asturias insurrectionaries. In March 1935, the matter was debated in the Cortes, where Azaña defended himself in a three-hour speech. On 6th April, 1935, the Tribunal of Constitutional Guarantees acquitted Azaña. On 15th January 1936, [|Manuel Azaña] helped to establish a coalition of parties on the political left to fight the national elections due to take place the following month. This included the [|Socialist Party] (PSOE), [|Communist Party] ( PCE), [|Esquerra Party] and the [|Republican Union Party]. The [|Popular Front], as the coalition became known, advocated the restoration of Catalan autonomy, amnesty for political prisoners, agrarian reform, an end to political blacklists and the payment of damages for property owners who suffered during the revolt of 1934. The [|Anarchists] refused to support the coalition and instead urged people not to vote. Right-wing groups in [|Spain] formed the National Front. This included the [|CEDA] and the [|Carlists]. The [|Falange Española] did not officially join but most of its members supported the aims of the National Front. The Spanish people voted on Sunday, 16th February, 1936. Out of a possible 13.5 million voters, over 9,870,000 participated in the [|1936 General Election]. 4,654,116 people (34.3) voted for the Popular Front, whereas the National Front obtained 4,503,505 (33.2) and the centre parties got 526,615 (5.4). The Popular Front, with 263 seats out of the 473 in the [|Cortes] formed the new government. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">The Popular Front government immediately upset the conservatives by releasing all left-wing political prisoners. The government also introduced agrarian reforms that penalized the landed aristocracy. Other measures included transferring right-wing military leaders such as [|Francisco Franco] to posts outside Spain, outlawing the [|Falange Española] and granting Catalonia political and administrative autonomy. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">In February 1936 Franco joined other Spanish Army officers, such as [|Emilio Mola], [|Juan Yague], [|Gonzalo Queipo de Llano] and [|José Sanjurjo], in talking about what they should do about the Popular Front government. Mola became leader of this group and at this stage Franco was unwilling to fully commit himself to joining any possible uprising. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">As a result of the government's policies the wealthy took vast sums of capital out of the country. This created an economic crisis and the value of the peseta declined which damaged trade and tourism. With prices rising workers demanded higher wages. This situation led to a series of strikes in Spain. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">On the 10th May 1936 the conservative [|Niceto Alcala Zamora] was ousted as president and replaced by the left-wing [|Manuel Azaña]. Soon afterwards Spanish Army officers began plotting to overthrow the [|Popular Front] government. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">President [|Manuel Azaña] appointed [|Diego Martinez Barrio] as prime minister on 18th July 1936 and asked him to negotiate with the rebels. He contacted [|Emilio Mola] and offered him the post of Minister of War in his government. He refused and when Azaña realized that the Nationalists were unwilling to compromise, he sacked Martinez Barrio and replaced him with [|José Giral]. To protect the Popular Front government, Giral gave orders for arms to be distributed to left-wing organizations that opposed the military uprising. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">General [|Emilio Mola] issued his proclamation of revolt in Navarre on 19th July, 1936. The coup got off to a bad start with [|José Sanjurjo] being killed in an air crash on 20th July. The uprising was a failure in most parts of [|Spain] but Mola's forces were successful in the Canary Islands, Morocco, Seville and Aragon. [|Francisco Franco], now commander of the [|Army of Africa], joined the revolt and began to conquer southern Spain. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">[|Manuel Azaña] had no desire to be head of a government that was trying to militarily defeat another group of Spaniards. He attempted to resign but was persuaded to stay on by the [|Socialist Party] and [|Communist Party] who hoped that he was the best person to persuade foreign governments not to support the military uprising. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Socialists and Communists all over Europe formed [|International Brigades] and went to [|Spain] to protect the [|Popular Front] government. Men who fought with the [|Republican Army] included [|George Orwell], [|André Marty], [|Christopher Caudwell], [|Jack Jones], [|Len Crome], [|Oliver Law], [|Tom Winteringham], [|Joe Garber], [|Lou Kenton], [|Bill Alexander], [|David Marshall], [|Alfred Sherman], [|William Aalto], [|Hans Amlie], [|Bill Bailey], [|Robert Merriman], [|Steve Nelson], [|Walter Grant], [|Alvah Bessie], [|Joe Dallet], [|David Doran], [|John Gates], [|Harry Haywood], [|Oliver Law], [|Edwin Rolfe], [|Milton Wolff], [|Hans Beimler], [|Frank Ryan], [|Emilo Kléber], [|Ludwig Renn], [|Gustav Regler], [|Ralph Fox], [|Sam Wild] and [|John Cornford]. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Men came from a variety of left-wing groups but the [|International Brigades] were nearly always led by Communists. This created problems with other Republican groups such as the [|Workers Party of Marxist Unification] (POUM) and the [|Anarchists].