What were the causes of the Spanish Civil War What were the causes of the Spanish Civil War? Timed Essay: Thursday1 Oct period 2 Prep – Tues 27 Sep Write a detailed essay plan (this can be taken into lesson when you write the timed essay) Make sure that you include at least 3 themes/factors

What were the causes of the Spanish Civil War? One cause of the Spanish Civil War was that in the long-term there were divisions within Spanish society, accompanied by competing interests. On the whole it was the workers and peasants who lost out in this competition, which led to dissatisfaction, frustration and protest. The upper and middle classes in the army defended their interests and the ‘Africanistas’ particularly were traditional and nationalistic. However the army was unpopular with the people, because of its reputation for brutality and the fact that the people were taxed heavily for its maintenance. The church was also conservative, and very powerful. The aristocracy was closely tied to it, which meant that, along with the army, it tended to defend the interests of the upper classes. This also led to resentment amongst the poor, such that there were protests against the church, mainly in urban areas, where it was least popular. A third area of division was over land. The tension here was between the latifundia and peasant workers who often had to migrate to find work. There was a huge gap between rich and poor. Some of these workers turned to anarchist parties, whilst small landholders were more conservative and joined the Catholic Agrarian Federation. Resentment was all the more strong amongst the ordinary people since the army, church and latifundia all held political influence.

Regional/Economic The desire for greater political power in order to govern their own interests, is evident in the demand of Catalonia and the Basque Regions for more political independence. It was also in the industrial cities in Catalonia that the frustration of the workers was most visible, and led to violent conflict between employees and employers in the early 1920s. Workers in towns felt that their interests were not catered for. They faced poor working and living conditions and even competing unions were unable to represent them effectively. This frustration was exacerbated by economic problems in the early 1920s, and later by the Depression of the 1930s. When De Rivera resigned in 1930 he had failed to resolve Spain’s economic problems or bring about long-term political stability. Nevertheless, Paul Preston argues that ‘...in 1931 when the Second Republic was established, no-one, except a tiny minority on the lunatic fringe on the extreme right or left, believed that Spain’s problems could be solved only by war’.

Political The divisions within Spanish society were exacerbated by the reforms of the Left Republic from April 1931 – November 1933. These reforms led to the formation of new political parties to defend the interests of those who felt under threat. When Azana became President in 1931, he attacked the power of the church and of the army. Nevertheless Azana’s policies intensified divisions. Largo Caballero’s land redistribution programme was seen as a threat to the interests of those on the right of the political spectrum, as well as benefiting few peasant families. As a result there were risings by the right (General Jose Sanjurjo in 1932) against the reforms, and by the left (e.g. Casas Viejas anarchist rising in 1933) against the slow pace of change, although these were suppressed by the as yet loyal army. Right-wing groups were also angered as the government granted more independence to Catalonia. Due to these perceived attacks on right-wing interests, a new right-wing party, CEDA, was formed to defend the church and landlords. This was modelled on the German Nazi Party. Furthermore, the army was radicalized when, as a result of reforms, 50% of officers left the army, those who remained were the more conservative or nationalist members, including the Africanistas.

Lack of ‘political legitimacy’ and the slide to Civil war Civil War therefore became more likely as successive governments failed to establish legitimacy in the eyes of all the competing groups within Spain. The right-wing had already lost faith in the legitimacy of the Left Republic to represent their interests. Further support was lost in January 1933, when a government attack on houses in the village of Casas Viejas led to twenty-five people being killed. This lost the Left Republic a lot of working-class support and even led the socialists to withdraw support from Azana, who resigned in 1933. CEDA became dominant in the new government and systematically reversed the Left Republic’s reforms. CEDA restored power of the church over education, halted the land programme and Catalonia’s autonomy was suspended in 1934. The fact that the Astruian miners’ uprising was put down violently by the army increased the likelihood of a civil war. The Right Republic had now lost the faith of the left and of the regions, and cooperation between the left-wing factions led to the formation of the ‘Popular Front’ which took power in February 1936, led again by President Azana. Nevertheless this government also failed to gain legitimacy, as it was opposed by the right-wing and also by Caballero’s socialists.

Anarchists and slide to war The anarchists worsened these political and social tensions by encouraging peasants to seize land, leading to open conflict between the anarchist FAI and fascist CEDA. Disorder increased also as strikes were called in May and June 1936. It is evident that political differences were so entrenched that the Republic (Left or Right) could not reconcile them, at least without resort to force. The very Republic itself was damaged as it didn’t seem to provide a context for agreement and permanent change. Neither end of the political spectrum seemed to have enough faith in the democratic decision-making process to trust it to their rivals.

Inability of Government to stop political opposition/interference from the Army Civil War was likely as Spanish society and politics were deeply divided by competing interests, and as successive governments had failed to establish legitimacy, bring political stability and heal divisions in Spanish society. However the final cause of the civil war was that the government was not strong enough to deal with the opposition to its legitimacy. This was mainly because the rebellion came from the army, whose power was essential for governments in dealing with opposition. The army had demonstrated in 1820, 1871 and 1923 its importance to the strength of the government, and when the army had not acted to save the King in 1931, it had led to his exile.

Inability of Government to stop political opposition/interference from the Army (cont/d) The coup in 1936 was led by an extreme nationalist group of junior officers joined with senior Africanista officers, including Mola and Franco. The catalyst for the coup was the murder of a popular CEDA leader on 13 July 1936. The nationalist elements of the army were strengthened by the assistance of Nazi Germany that enabled General Franco to airlift 24,000 troops of the Army of Africa to Spain. They also had logistical support from the British Royal Navy at Gibraltar who helped to relay messages. On the other hand the Republican government ignored warnings of a rebellion and did not act quickly enough to crush the revolt. The coup failed in taking the main industrial areas, and the rebels did not take Madrid. In fact half of the army remained loyal to the Republic. Therefore the coup overall was unsuccessful, however it was enough to begin a civil war.