UNIT 8 the First Third of the 20th Century in Spain

History, 4th ESO – Bilingual Section – IES Sánchez Lastra

UNIT 8 - The First Third of the 20th century in Spain 1

UNIT 8 –

The First Third of the 20th century

in Spain



Contents:

1. The Crisis of the Restoration (1902 – 1931). 2. The Second Spanish Republic (1931 – 1939). 3. The Spanish Civil War (1936 – 1939).



1. The Crisis of the Restoration (1902 – 1931). The Restoration (1874-1931) was the most enduring and stable liberal regime in the Spanish History. Nevertheless, the crisis of the colonial loss in 1898 challenged its barely representative political procedures and raised the question of who and how should rule after the catastrophe. The system entered a political crisis during the reign of Alfonso XIII that found no solution. The King Alfonso reigned between his comming of age in 1902 until the proclamation of the Second Republic in 1931 when he had to go into exile. It was during his lifetime that the regime of the Restoration finally collapsed. This political crisis didn't paradoxically match with the economic activities that achieved a remarkable dynamism. In one hand the national industry took advantage of the arrival of capitals from the lost colonies and in the other hand the Spanish neutrality during the First World War brought the benefits of the trade with the warring nations (Rio de Oro). However, this prosperity only came to the rich, since the common people had to cope with the inflation when the prices rose over the wages. The trade unions especially the anarchist CNT founded in 1910, progressively radicalized until reaching a peak period of violence with the employers in the 1920's (pistolerismo) in Barcelona. THE IMPACT OF THE "DESASTRE DEL 98": Regeneracionismo, Maura and Canalejas. The situation went really difficult after the Crisis of 1898 so an urgent change in the Spanish society was required. The first movement of this kind was the "Regeneracionismo" (Glossary 1), and its most prominent figures Joaquín Costa and the General Polavieja. The same idea was present in the reformist attempts undertaken by both parties of the establishment, especially those of Maura (conservative) and Canalejas (Liberal). Unfortunately none of them could fix the problems. Antonio Maura From 1907 to 1909, Maura led a Conservative government (Gobierno Largo de Maura) with an ambitious reformist program known as, "La Revolución desde arriba". This project covered a new Electoral Law and the Local Administration Reform. His aim was to uproot the "caciquismo" and turn the system of the restoration into a real democracy. Nevertheless, he couldn't since he had to resign after the Semana Trágica. This right-wing government is also

responsible for the first Spanish social security system, the "Instituto Nacional de Previsión". José Canalejas In 1910, the liberal Canalejas was appointed head of government after the "Tragic Week" events in Barcelona that provoked the fall of Maura. He undertook two main reforms, "la ley del candado", that banned the establishment of new religious orders in Spain (and therefore limited the influence of the Catholic Church) and the failed project of "mancomunidades" to solve the Catalan aspiration to autonomy. Canalejas was shot dead by an anarchist in November 1912 and his reforms were interrupted. The last hope for the Restoration to regenerate had been lost. If the politicians were perfectly aware of the situation and unsuccessfully tried to find a cure, we should wonder about the causes of their failure:

• The political instability. Too many governments succeeded in a short lapse of time. Bipartisanship was not working as in the good all times of Cánovas and Sagasta since the new leaders were involved in an ongoing power struggle. Besides, the King Alfonso XIII intervened constantly in the political life far beyond his powers.

• The reorganization of the Anti-System movements. The Republicans overcame the dispersion of the past and united around the new Partido Republicano Radical of Alejandro Lerroux. In the left wing, the PSOE started to spread and the most important Trade Unions consolidated (the socialist UGT, and specially the anarchist CNT). The first nationalist parties also appeared in this period the Basque PNV and the Catalan Lliga Regionalista Catalana.



B. THE PROBLEMS OF THE PERIOD. 1. Firstly, the growing organization of workers and peasants led to confrontations with the employers and generated constant Social Conflicts, strikes and demonstrations, which were usually quelled by the army and the Guardia Civil. 2. Despite the Catholic majority of the population, some samples of Anti-clericalism started to spread mostly among the urban public opinion and some popular classes. The Anti-System forces took advantage of the unrest caused by the Church and its connivance with the Oligarchy. Some important explosions of anti-clerical violence took place in the first years of the 20th century, and its peak came in the Tragic Week where 63 churches were burnt during the riots.

3. The "Desatre del 98" had made clear that the army had to be reformed and modernized, Nevertheless the military blamed the politicians for the defeat and vindicated the leading role in politics they had held in the 19th century. Given this situation, there were many clashes with anti-militarist sectors (anarchists, socialists, nationalists) and the liberal press who blamed the army for the "desastre". 4. The rise of the Nationalist and Separatist parties was the result of the specific problem of the Spanish identity, which was so questioned after the crisis of 1898. They criticized the liberal centralist model of state built during the 19th century and some of them advocated for a different organization of Spain within "Regeneracionismo". Some others asked straight for the Independence. From then on, the nationalist groups started to obtain important electoral results in Catalonia and the Basque Country even deplacing the parties of the establishment. 5. Despite having become a power of second order in world politics, Spain had participated in the colonial "Scramble for Africa". The Rif war in Morocco meant a never-ending conflict full of setbacks for Spain. The Rif War (1904-1925) was the conflict of the tribes in northern Morocco, especially in the mountains of "El Rif", against the Spanish colonial presence. The Spanish occupation was regarded by many as a question of honor since it meant the last redoubt for the Spanish colonial expansionism after the loss of Cuba and the Philippines. In the early 20th century, in a context of colonial imperialism where all of Africa had been distributed among the European powers, only Morocco remained untouched in theory. France and Spain signed some treaties by which the smaller northern area (El Rif) was for Spain and the central part of the country, the one with more fertile areas, was awarded to France. The Treaty of Fez in 1912 established the Protectorate as the form of government. The economic, political and military control of the territory was in the hands of the "protector" powers, but apparently the local leaders were kept in their offices. The Spanish dominion was usually held through agreements and negotiations, but in fact it was not an effective occupation since the Spanish had to face some pockets of resistance of the Berber tribes from the very beginning. The worst military failures happened in the "barranco del lobo" in 1909 and in 1921, when the troops of the Rif leader Abd-el-Krim killed 12 000 Spanish soldiers in the "Desastre de Annual". Nevertheless, the aero naval "Landing of Alhucemas" in 1925, the first one of its kind ever, meant the victory over the Rif rebels and the end of the war. The war had a great impact among the public opinion and was really unpopular. In one hand the domination of the Rif was not understood given its low economic attractive and that the only profits came from the mining exploitations owned by members of the government. In the other hand the replacement troops recruited spread the feeling that only the sons of the poor were bearing the weight since the wealthy young men could pay a ransom and avoid going to the war. Spain held control over the area until 1956, when the Francoist regime ceded the administration. of the Rif territory to the Kingdom of Morocco



C: THE CRISIS OF THE SYSTEM (Tragic Week, Crisis of 1917 and Concentration Governments) The problems caused by the war in Morocco and the advantage taken of it by the Anti-system groups were the origin of the conflicts that took the Restoration to its final crisis. The "Tragic Week" in Barcelona. (1909) One of the most significant events of this period was the so-called "Semana Trágica" of Barcelona, whose origin was related with the conditions of the military service. At that time every adult man did military service except those who could afford a rate. As a result of this, only the sons of the poorest layers of society went to the war in Africa. In July 1909 the government mobilised the reservists (Glossary 2) to restrain the attacks of the Rif rebels against a mining company. On July 26th a General Strike called by UGT and Solidaridad Obrera outbroke in Barcelona. There were riots, church arsons, barricades and confrontations with the army, which fiercely quelled the rebellion. The human and material cost of the week was high: a hundred dead, many wounded, destructions, etcetera. The anarchist terrorist Francisco Ferrer Guardia was tried and convicted as the instigator of the riots. After his execution, an international press campaign was orchestrated against Maura (the "¡Maura no!" Campaign) who finally was forced to leave office later that year.

The Crisis of 1917. The Spanish neutrality during the First World War brought an economic boom ("el río de oro") since the exports of raw materials and agricultural products to both sides increased. Nevertheless the negative aftermath of the boom was the inflation, specially suffered by the lower classes. Three simultaneous crisis erupted in the summer of 1917.

• The first revolt came from the military that formed the "juntas de defensa" in January. They complained about their salaries and the promotion system to the politicians, whom they blamed for all their ills. The government suspended the constitutional guarantees and closed down the Cortes. Nevertheless it eventually ceded and agreed to all the vindications of the Juntas.

• The suspension of the Cortes triggered a second crisis. Cambó, the new leader of the Catalan bourgeois nationalist party "Lliga Regionalista", called an Assembly of MP's. Its aims were to ask for a constituent parliament and a government of National Salvation integrated by all the political forces. The assembly consisted of 69 diputados but represented only the 10% of the MP's. It was banned by the government and all its members were arrested.

• In 1917, while Europe waged the Great War and the Russian Revolution was being plotted, a Revolutionary Strike was called by the Trade Unions UGT and CNT to subvert the political order. During the months of July and August there were strikes in the main cities of the country (mainly in Barcelona, where the strike lasted for 17 days, Madrid and the industrial areas of Biscay and Asturias). Eventually the strikers were quelled by the army and some of them were shot dead during the subsequent riots.



The Concentration governments (1918 - 1923). Nothing was the same after the crisis of 1917. Several Concentration governments including all the political forces were formed instead of the turn of the two establishment parties. However, this option brought no stability to the regime since 13 cabinets succeeded between 1918 and 1923. Some events contributed with extra instability:

• Cambó found that the Mancomunidad was not enough for Catalonia (¿Monarquía? ¿República? ¡Cataluña! speech) and asked for a statute establishing the Catalan sovereignty.

• A war outbroke between unionists and employers (the "Pistolerismo"), specially in Barcelona where 200 people were shot. Even PM Dato was assassinated by the anarchists in 1921.

• The "Desastre de Annual" and the will of clarifying its military and political responsibilities led to an investigation, the "Expediente Picasso". This dossier involving the General Silvestre and the King himself triggered the coup to prevent it from being published.

D: PRIMO DE RIVERA'S DICTATORSHIP (1923-1930) AND THE "DICTABLANDA" (1930-31) The Bolshevik Revolution had succeeded in Russia and Mussolini had just seized power the previous year in Italy. In this context the General Miguel Primo de Rivera gave a Coup d'Etat in September 1923 and established a military dictatorship with the support of the King. Primo presented himself as the iron surgeon who would find the cure for the ills in Spain. He established a Military Directory (1923-25) that suspended the Constitution, dissolved the Parliament and banned all the political parties and some Trade Unions. After this stage he

imposed a conservative Civil Directory (1925-30) under military supervision. The dictatorship was raised in the classic Roman sense: an exceptional and provisional magistrature that would disappear once the problems were solved. Nevertheless he was encouraged by the economic success and held power for 7 years in order to change the regime. The problems: the Catalanism, the so-called

Social question, the Economy and the Rif war.

• Although Primo de Rivera repressed Catalanism, most of the Catalan society initially supported the regime since he was able to end the anarchist Terrorism in Barcelona.

• To solve the social question Primo looked for the collaboration of the Socialists following the example of Bismarck with the SDP in Germany. UGT and PSOE accepted since they were eager to neutralize their anarchist rivals of the CNT. The socialist Largo Caballero became secretary of State under the dictatorship.

• Primo was willing to leave the Rif colony as he thought it had no real interest and was a loss of lives and resources. The Army thought otherwise so he was forced to take command and end the conflict. The spectacular landing of Alhucemas put an end to the Rif war.

• An ambitious plan in transport infrastructures was implemented to enhance the Economy. CAMPSA, IBERIA, RENFE, Telefónica and the "Circuito de firmes especiales" (Roads).

Nevertheless, the aims of redesigning the Restoration around the Unión Patriótica party in the Right wing and PSOE in the left wing failed. All the frustrated illusions on the renovation of the regime and the economic crisis encouraged the opposition. Primo de Rivera faced the lack of supports and his own exhaustion and resigned in 1930. The "Dictablanda" of General Berenguer. (1930-31) The king tried to go back to the system of the Restoration and appointed General Berenguer, as head of government. Nevertheless the commitment of the Crown with the Dictatorship had undermined his credibility before the public opinion. The republican opposition agreed the Coup d'état as the procedure for the change of regime in the Pact of San Sebastián in August 1930. However, the Republican coup of Jaca given by the captains Galán and García Hernandez failed and both of them were executed.



2. The Second Republic (1931 – 1939). The new republican regime was born amongst waves of optimism and skepticism. Many people regarded the Republic as the solution for the political and social problems of the previous decades. Some others were worried about the distant aims of the groups that had collaborated in its coming in the Pact of San Sebastián and the subsequent failed coup of Jaca. These aims were incompatible, and would eventually lead to the downfall of the Second Republic.

• The Left-Wing bourgeois Republicans, like Azaña, wanted a Mexican model (a formal democracy that in practice prevented the opposition from winning elections thanks to the control of the media and on the bases of anticlericalism and freemasonry.)

• The PSOE was torn between a Social-Democrat sector represented by Besteiro and the more radical of Largo Caballero whose aim was the revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat.

• The Catalan Nationalists wanted to move forward towards the independence of Catalonia. • The Republican Right wing limited to the forces that had supported the coup, the Partido

Radical of Lerroux and Derecha Liberal Republica of Alcalá-Zamora. • The Anti-System forces ranged from the far left Anarchists of the CNT-FAI who looked for the

libertarian revolution and soon started to conspire against the Republic and the then extra-parliamentarian Right who foresaw the Revolution and tried to contain it.

A: THE PROCLAMATION OF THE REPUBLIC. APRIL 14th, 1931. The change of regime came by means of a municipal election on April 12th and not through a legal constituent process. The elected republican councilors numbered 5.000 while the Monarchist rose to 20.000. Nevertheless their victory was clear in the urban areas where the caciquismo system was less operative, so the numeric defeat was regarded as a moral victory. It was the monarchist establishment who considered the results of the municipal election as a plebiscite. They feared the plausible riots in the streets and proposed to the revolutionary committee the calling of a constituent election. The Republicans saw the weakness of the regime, rejected the offer and required the exile for the King. Alfonso XIII accepted in order to avoid a civil war and thus the monarchy collapsed. On April 14th, 1931 the republican flag was first hoisted in Eibar, then the telephone and the radio spread the news. In the overnight Spain was a Republic after a bloodless coup. "España se acostó monárquica y se levantó republicana" stated Admiral Aznar the King's last PM. A provisional government was formed with the parties of the Pact of San Sebastián under Alcalá-Zamora who called a constituent election on June 28th 1931. The election was questioned because of its relative representativity (only the parties involved in the change of regime could stand for the election). The ballots gave the victory to the Republicans and the Socialists. Alcalá-Zamora became the first President of the Republic and Manuel Azaña was

appointed Head of Government. The parliament drafted a constitution that was passed on December 9th. Its main problem was a set of contradictions: It tried to reflect every party's opinion instead of agreeing a consensus. (Jacobin Republican Centralism vs. Catalan Nationalism; universalism vs. Workerism.) It defined Spain as " una República democrática de trabajadores de todas las clases". The religious question was largely debated and was solved with the separation of the church and the State.



B: THE SOCIALIST-REPUBLICAN BIENNIUM (1931-33) The first government led by Azaña was constituted by the republican-socialist alliance. This left-wing cabinet undertook a policy of transformation of the Spanish society on the basis of education. Its main legacy is the attempt of reform of the pending questions in Spain. .The Military Reform tried to modernize the Army and make it more loyal to the civil power. (The "Sanjurjada": General Sanjurjo gave a failed coup d'état on August 10th 1932. Many military started to plot against the government because they understood the reform as an attack to their rights and argued that Spain would remain helpless.) .The Religious Reform tried to separate the Church from the State. The attempt of creating a secular educative system and the removal of the crucifixes from the classrooms was so controversial. . The Agrarian Reform consisted of the confiscation of the large landholdings (latifundios) and its redistribution among the poor in order to create a more productive rural middle class. The results were not as expected.

. Social laws were passed in order to improve the working conditions of the proletariat. A huge effort was also undertaken in the educative domain with the creation of schools a significant increase in the number of teachers. . The Reform in the model of the Centralized State was an aim through some statutes of Autonomy. It started in Catalonia and continued in the Basque Country, already during the war. The concession of the autonomy had a great opposition in the Army and created mistrust and discontent in the conservative opposition. The Catalan Statute of Autonomy in 1932. The Catalan vindications for the access to a statute as previewed in the Constitution came in September 1932 after a plebiscite and its approval in the Parliament. The Generalidad Catalana was established as the autonomous government of the region under Francesc Maciá, founder of Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya and, after his death in 1933, under Lluys Companys. The failure of the Republican Reformism. (1931-33) The government of Azaña failed because of the double attack comming from the revolutionary far left and the reactionary Right in addition to the economic crisis and its own many mistakes. .The anarchist union CNT was controlled by the FAI (Federación Anarquista Ibérica), which had more than a million members by 1931. From the very beginning of the Republic the anarchist practiced insurrectionary tactics in Castilblanco, Arnedo and the Bajo Llobregat in early 1932. It was the fierce repression on an anarchist uprising in Casas Viejas, Cádiz that made the Azaña cabinet fall. .The Right-wing CEDA of Gil-Robles accepted the republican regime and the democratic procedures but advocated for a more authoritarian reform of the constitution. . The monarchist groups, Renovacion Española and Comunión Tradicionalista followed a military coup strategy.



C: THE RADICAL-CEDA BIENNIUM (1933-35). In 1933 the political instability started to become evident. For the conservatives they had gone too far; for the Anarchist and the Unions the reforms were not enough. In the election of 1933 the right-wing CEDA won the election but Alcalá-Zamora appointed Lerroux of the Partido Radical

as head of government to appease the Leftists. The new cabinet paralyzed most of the reforms specially the Agrarian one, and delayed as much as possible the autonomic process. The armed insurrection of the left-wing forces and the unions started to be plotted after their electoral defeat in 1933. The rebellion outbroke in October 1934 mainly in Asturias and Barcelona, using the entrance of the CEDA in the government of Lerroux as a pretext. The rebellion was fiercely quelled by the Army by the African troops led by General Franco who defended and saved the regime that month. After October 1934 the political positions both of the Right and the Left radicalized. In 1935 after several financial scandals (Straperlo) involving the government, the President Alcalá-Zamora called a new election for February 1936. D: THE POPULAR FRONT. The electoral campaign was focused on two great options: the left-wing forces joined together around the Popular Front (Glossary 3) and the Right rallied around the CEDA. The Frente Popular won the election with 47,03% of the ballot, while the Right got 46,48%. Azaña became the President of the Republic and Casares Quiroga was appointed the Head of Government. The reforms of the first biennium were hastened, specially the agrarian reform since the peasants had started to occupy lands. The Right and part of the army saw no way back and prepared a military uprising to restore the order.

3. The Spanish Civil War (1936 – 1939).

The victory of the Popular Front was badly regarded by the conservative forces and a military coup started to be plotted by the Generals Mola, Sanjurjo and Franco. The event was triggered by the assassination of Calvo-Sotelo leader of the Right-wing monarchist Renovación Española.



The uprising started on July 18th in the Rif and spread on the next day in mainland Spain. The coup was stopped in many cities and succeeded in some others depending on the initiative of each rebel leader. After the failure of coup Spain was split in two and a bloody Civil War began. Winds of war blew in Europe because of the Nazi expansionism. The Soviet Stalinism was also regarded as a threat in the West so the Spanish war was an international conflict that involved the main powers in the continent. Despite the European nations agreed an official Non-intervention Committee few of them kept outside the war. A: THE DEVELOPEMENT OF THE WAR. The conflict was a total war marked by a ruthless violence. For the very first time a systematic terror was used on civilians in both sides through bombardment and retaliations: priests and conservative citizens in the Popular Front side; Union leaders and leftists in the Nationalist zone. The uprising started in Melilla on July 17th 1936 under the command of the General Franco, and spread through the Peninsula the next day. The coup failed in the big cities, all the Mediterranean coast, eastern Andalusia and the Northern regions. All the industrial areas and the statal centres remained in hands of the Popular Front. In turn the Rebels kept Castille, León, Aragon, Navarre, Galicia and eastern Andalusia. The country had been split in two, the Popular Front or Republican side and the rebels, or Nationalist side. 1st Stage - (July 1936-March 1937): The insurgents managed to cross the strait of Gibraltar and pass their troops to the peninsula thanks to the Italian and German planes. Despite the failure of Franco in taking Madrid the Nationalists consolidated in the central region. On October 1st 1936, Franco was appointed Generalisimo and Head of State by the military Junta. 2nd Stage - (March 1937-November 1937): The rebel army took control of the Cantabric strip (Biscay, Santander and Asturias) and then focused on the conquest of the Mediterranean coast. The Popular Army of the Republic stopped the blow in Guadalajara and Brunete but failed in its attempt of taking Saragossa in Belchite. 3nd Stage - (November 1937- February 1939): The Republicans attacked in Teruel but the Nationalist counteroffensive took them to Mediterranean in Vinaroz and split the Republican Zone in two. The Republic launched its final offensive in the Battle of the Ebro, the bloodiest battle in the War and a useless waste of lives and resources. After the Republican swan song in the Ebro the Nationalist easily took Catalonia. The war ended as the last republican troops surrendered to Franco on April 1st 1939. B: THE SPANISH SOCIETY DURING THE WAR. As long as war developed, each side organized life according to its respective ideology. In the Nationalist side a military power, the "Junta de defensa", gathered all the Anti-Popular Front forces together and allowed no dissidence. Their aims were winning the war, abolishing the

reforms undertaken by the Republic and stopping the revolutionary process initiated in the other side of the frontline. Generalísimo and Head of State. After the first days of the conflict when each of the insurgent Generals acted independently, the need for a unified command became evident. On October 1st 1936 Franco was appointed Generalísimo of the Armies, Head of Government and Head of State. His raise to power was endorsed by his military success, the command of the powerful African Army and the support of Germany. "El Caudillo" launched a personal dictatorship based on a military regime. A technical State Junta of military men was set as a consultative body of the dictator. Unification Decree In May 1937, Franco decreeded the unification of all the political forces in a single party called

FET de las JONS (Falange Española Tradicionalista de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista) later known as "Movimiento Nacional". Thus, Franco took control of the different families involved in the coup: the Army, the Falange (Fascist Party founded by José Antonio Primo de Rivera) and the "Tradicionalistas" (Carlists monarchists). The single-party totalitarian model had been adopted.



In the Republican side, the government proved to be impotent to control the revolutionary process that had already started in the Tragic Spring of 1936. It even hastened when PM Giral decided to deliver arms to the revolutionary workers' organizations after the coup. The Republican institutions were deplaced by the far left anti-system forces (Anarchists, Communists

and a radical faction of the Socialist) in the main cities. The revolutionary process was specially important in Catalonia where the Anarchist CNT-FAI, occupied lands and factories and deplaced the Generalidad as the real government in the streets. In the other hand Stalinists and radical socialists were not in favor of making the revolution during the war but waiting until it had been won. For both of them the Republic of April 1931 was dead. These differences took to the Events of May 1937 in Barcelona, a civil war within the civil war that confronted the CNT-FAI and the

POUM (an independent Trostkyist communist party) in one hand against the Stalinist PCE and the faction of the PSOE controlled by Moscow. The Anarcho-trotskyists were fiercely repressed after five days of combats and hundreds of casualties. From then on, a more centralized government led by the socialist Negrín was imposed with the aim of unifying efforts. The genuine democrat Republicans, both in the Right and Left, were swallowed by the radicals who by 1937 had already parasitized the democratic Republic and taken control of the State apparatus. C: THE TRAGIC TOLL OF THE WAR. The Civil War was the most traumatic event in the Spanish modern History. Its darkest aftermath, the Francoism, brought a dictatorial regime that excluded those who didn't join its side and endured in Spain for nearly 40 years. In addition, the War turned on a violence against civilians whose consequences magnified the horror of the conflict. Terms like "Sacas", "Paseos" or "Checas" soon became well known for the population in both sides. The political or religious ideology of an individual could be used as a pretext for his elimination in a personal vendetta. The Spanish Civil War could also be regarded as the first rehearsal of a Total Modern War. The warring nations of WWII (Germany, Italy and the USSR) tested their latest weaponry regardless the Spanish human cost. The bombing of Guernica caused a great shock in the international public opinion and has remained as a prologue of the subsequent air attacks on civilians. These were some of the most important aftermaths of the Spanish Civil War: .Casualties. The demographic bleeding cost nearly 600.000 deaths out of a population of 24.5 million. This figures had no precedent in any other European civil war. .Exile. Thousands of families and combatants of the loosing side had to go into exile escaping from repression. The refugees crossed the border and were interned in concentration camps in southern France. Some of them went to South America, mainly Mexico and Argentina, some others to the Soviet Union and the rest remained in France where they had to suffer the German invasion of 1940. .Repression. Once the war was over, thousands of republicans who hadn't gone into exile were convicted and imprisoned under the law for the repression of freemasonry and communism. .Economy. The effects of the war on the economic structure of the country were devastating: decrease of the active population, destruction of roads, railways and industrial facilities and serious damage or destruction of the housing in towns and cities. It all led to the decrease of the national production and the income level of the Spaniards. .Culture. In the cultural domain, all the efforts of regeneration undertaken in the Silver Age (1898-1936) (Glossary 5) were destroyed. Francoism repressed and fired nearly 60% of the teachers and professors. Half of the most remarkable scientists, artists or intellectuals of the Generación del 27, died or had to go into exile.



Questions: 1. Define "Regeneracionismo". 2. Point out the factors that prevented the Restoration regime from being reformed. 3. What were the problems the Spanish society was suffering at that time? 4. What was the origin of the Tragic Week of Barcelona in 1909? 5. What were the three coincident crisis in 1917? 6. What were the main successes of Primo de Rivera's Dictatorship? 7. Why did the King loose his credibility before the democratic parties? 8. Why was the King forced to go into exile? 9. How was Spain defined in the Republican Constitution of 1931? 10. Why did the revolution of 1934 happen? 11. List the attempts of Reform undertaken by the government of Manuel Azaña? 12. What was the policy of the Popular Front government? 13. What was the event that triggered the Civil War? 14. What kind of new violence was implemented in the Civil War? 15. Where and how started and finished the civil war? 16. How was the political life organized in each side?

Glossary: 1. Regeneracionismo was a political and social movement that tried to fix the causes of the

Spanish decadence after the loss of the last colonies in 1898. It also remarked the need for measures to regenerate the country.

2. A Reservist is a civilian, who in peacetime has a job outside the military. This person is usually a former active-duty member of the armed forces, and he remains a reservist either voluntarily, or by obligation. In 1909 these men who had already done their military services were called up and had to leave behind their jobs and families.

3. A popular front is a broad coalition of different political groups, often made up of centrist (or "bourgeois") forces as well as socialist and communist ("working-class") groups. In response to the threat of fascism in the 1930s, Communist parties that were members of the Comintern (under the control of Stalin) adopted a policy of forming alliances with almost any political party willing to oppose the fascists. The popular fronts won elections in France and Spain.

4. The Non-Intervention Committee purpose was to prevent troops and material from reaching the warring parties of the Spanish Civil War. It was set up in early August 1936 in a joint diplomatic initiative by the governments of Léon Blum in France and Chamberlain in Britain. It was part of a policy of appeasement, aimed at preventing a proxy war - with Nazi Germany supporting Franco's Nationalist Coalition on one side and the Soviet Union supporting the Republican Popular Front on the other - escalating into a major pan-European conflict.

5. The Silver Age (1898-1936) of the Spanish culture is that extraordinary period in the first third of the 20th century led by several generations ("98" and "27") of great authors, artists, intellectuals and scientists. It was known as Silver Age by comparison with the "Siglo de Oro", a brilliant cultural period also coincident with decadence and crisis. (Generación del 98, Costa, Unamuno, Valle Inclán, Azorín, Pío Baroja, Machado, Maeztu. Generación del 27, Lorca, Alberti, Miguel Hernandez, Guillén, Salinas, Dámaso Alonso, Gerardo Diego, Cernuda, Aleixandre...)

UNIT 8 the First Third of the 20th Century in Spain

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