2. 1. TWO YEARS OF REFORMS
0 With the proclamation of the Republic on April
14, 1931, the Restoration period came to a
close, and a short period of deep political and
social changes began.
0 In the 1931 municipal elections, the
Republicans won almost all provincial capitals.
While the Monarchists had won overall, the
Republicans considered that their victory in
the capitals, less controlled by caciques, was
definitive. The Monarchists themselves
accepted this point of view.
0 Once the results were known, Alfonso XIII was
exiled and a provisional government was
formed, which proclaimed the Second Republic
on April 14, 1931, in a peaceful manner.
Cacique. In the Spanish
language, both in Spain and Latin
America, the term has come to
mean a local political boss who
exercises excessive power. The
derivative term "Caciquismo" has
been used to describe a
democratic system subverted by
the power of such local bosses
successfully influencing the
electoral process in their favour. It
has been used most notably to
refer to late nineteenth century
Spain and twentieth century
Mexico.
3. 0 Over the course of almost two years,
Azaña’s government implemented the most
important reforms of the Republic. It
attempted to transform Spain into a
modern, democratic, secular nation.
0 The Reforms:
0 Agrarian reform
0 Catalonian was granted autonomy
0 Military reform
0 Labour reforms
4. 2. CONSERVATIVES AND THE
POPULAR FRONT
0 From the 1933 to 1935 the Center and
the Right controlled the republic; they
even froze the previous reforms. The
1934 revolution increased political
friction and the Popular Front gained
the power.
0 It was expected that the coup of July 18,
1936 would end quickly, with a Popular
Front government. That did not,
however, happen; Spain instead became
enveloped in a bloody civil war.
5. 3. THE COUP D’ETAT AND THE DIVISION
OF SPAIN
0 The army’s uprising in Africa moved to
the Peninsula on July 18, 1936. It had
been supported by the Catholic Church,
part of the Army, as well as the Carlists,
Royalists, Conservatives, and Falangists.
The overthrow divided Spain into two
regions.
0 The region dominated by the insurgents,
or the Nationalists.
0 The Republicans: social revolution,
people’s militias.
6. 5. THE EVOLUTION OF THE WAR
(1936-1939)
0 The conflict lasted almost three years. It
was a long, hard war with three distinct
phases.
0 The Campaign for Madrid
0 At the begining of August, with the assistance of
the Italians and Germans, the Moroccan troops,
crossed the Strait of Gibraltar to arrive at Cadiz.
They moved on to Extremadura and Toledo, and
stood at the gate of Madrid by the end of
October.
0 The arrival of the first International Brigades
and Soviet airplanes and tanks slowed the
capture of the capital. Franco’s troops were
defeated in the Battle of Jarama (February
1937) and Guadalajara (March 1937).
7. 6. THE EVOLUTION OF THE WAR
(1936-1939)
0 The Northern Front
(April- October 1937)
0 Franco’s troops advanced to the northern
front with the intention of taking the
industrial zones of the Cantabrian Sea. On
April 26, 1937 the German Air Force
(Condor Legion) bombed Guernica. This act
propelled the fall of the Basque Country
into Nationalist hands. In August Santander
and Asturias, fell too.
0 Republicans launched a counter-attack in
Brunete (Madrid) and Belchite
(Zaragoza), but were unsuccessful.
8. 7. THE EVOLUTION OF THE WAR
(1936-1939)
0 The End of the War
(October 1937-April 1939)
0 Near the end of 1937, Franco sent his troops to the Eastern front: his army took
Teruel. The Republican troops crossed the Ebro and attacked Franco’s army from
behind. And also began the bloody Battle of the Ebro, which lasted more than
three months and in which the Republican army ended practically destroyed.
0 The Nationalists advanced over Catalonia with scarcely any oposition, and took
Barcelona in January 1939. In March of that year, Franco’s troops entered
Madrid and the war was considered ended.
9. 8. LIVING IN WAR
0 Hunger and repression.
0 Food seriously limited
(cartilla de racionamiento)
0 Strolls (paseos): an armed party took someone
out of his home and, with the excuse of “taking
him for a stroll”, distanced him from the area
and shot him.
0 Refugees and Exiles.
0 Children of the War: 30,000 children left Spain,
going to Mexico, France or the Soviet Union.
10. 8. LIVING IN WAR
0 Hunger and repression.
0 Food seriously limited
(cartilla de racionamiento)
0 Strolls (paseos): an armed party took someone
out of his home and, with the excuse of “taking
him for a stroll”, distanced him from the area
and shot him.
0 Refugees and Exiles.
0 Children of the War: 30,000 children left Spain,
going to Mexico, France or the Soviet Union.
