Economically, Spain was backward when compared with the rest of Europe:
As late as 1930, 46% of its population was still directly involved in agriculture
And a further 10% were involved in essentially rural industries
Further, Spain’s agricultural sector was very backward, and was dominated in southern Spain by vast private estates (often absentee landlords) employing impoverished landless labourers, whereas elsewhere peasant farmers dominated
Rural unrest was frequent and was suppressed by the Civil Guard
Modern industry was restricted to the northern periphery – textiles in Catalonia and iron, steel, shipbuilding and paper in the Basque country.
Two powerful institutions epitomised and reinforced Spain’s backwardness:
The Spanish Church, whose ties with the wealthy classes were getting stronger
It had been forced by the 19the C liberal government to release most of its vast landed wealth
However, it still monopolised education and so instilled a profoundly conservative system of religious, social and political values.
The army
Over-officered
Military inefficient
Acutely sensitive to criticism
And, after 1900, increasingly inclined to interfere in politics
The ‘Liberal Monarchy’, introduced in 1875 presided over this stuttering economy and unequal society.
It was dominated by big landowners who were joined, in the twentieth century, by a powerful ruling oligarchy made up of bankers and the heavy industrialists of the Basque country and the manufacturers of Catalonia
Universal manhood suffrage was introduced in 1887 although elections were subject to a combination of bribery, economic pressure and downright coercion organised by the Ministry of the Interior and local political ‘bosses’
Consequently, elections were dominated by the Liberals and the Conservatives
The monarchy in crisis
Between 1898, when its Empire crumbled (the ‘Disaster of 1898’), and 1923, when Miguel Primo de Rivera’s dictatorship began, Spanish society was becoming more complex and less easily controlled:
Educated, urban Spaniards demanded institutional and constitutional reforms, some already favouring a republic
Two mass forces of the left emerged – socialism and anarchism – organizing protests against the injustices of Spanish society
Catalonia and the Basque country sought independence from Spain
Morocco was also fighting for its independence, embroiling Spain in its last colonial war
Urban politics became more open and genuinely representative and the old, controlled, party system began to crumble which made the monarchy even less secure.
In a major crisis in the summer of 1917, some historians believe the monarchy was only saved from a fate similar to that which befell the Tsar in Russia because of divisions between the m/c and the left-wing.
Still, the monarchy remained in crisis over the next six years as Spain faced humiliation in Morocco and social unrest raged in the emerging anarchist strongholds of urban Catalonia (Barcelona) and rural Andalusia in the south of Spain.
It was clear that the monarchical system of government in its existing form was ill-equipped to negotiate successfully the difficult transition to genuine democracy.
Following his coup d’etat in 1923, General Miguel Primo de Rivera, with the King’s acquiescence and in total contravention to the existing constitution, established a dictatorship. The life of the Liberal Monarch had effectively ended.
The fall of the monarchy
Rivera’s dictatorship, benefited from early successes, notably:
Driving underground the anarchist trade union, the CNT
Suppressing Catalonian nationalism
Peace in Morocco
A shortlived economic boom
However, it exhausted itself and faced rising popular hostility from most of its former allies:
The wealthy classes
The Army
And, crucially, Alfonso XIII himself
Rivera resigned in January, 1930, handing back to the King the responsibility of determining Spain`s future constitutional course.
But in the ensuing twelve months Alfonso appointed another general, Berenguer, who was quickly succeeded by an admiral, Aznar. They both governed without parliamentary restraint and it became increasingly clear that continued reliance on dictatorship offered no lasting solution and that a return to representative politics was nececessary.
Alfonso had hoped that Rivera would would fail and that he would return to resolve the situation and re-establish the authority of the monarchy, but he hoped in vain:
The old Liberal and Conservative parties, spent forces even before 1923, were not able to stage a recovery
No other party or any form of political group, loyal to the monarchy, held any support
Whilst the dictatorships had stimulated the growth of socialism (the Spanish Socialist Party and its affiliated trade union, the General Workers’ Union or UGT) and republicanism, particulary in the big cities.
Alfonso XIIIs complicity in the dictatorships and the undermining of the monarchy’s own constitution damaged the very principle of monarchism and gave republicanism a tremendous boost.
During the late 1920s, support for republicanism grew:
From amongst the educated urban m/c who sought to fundamentally reform Spanish society
From disaffected monarchists who increasingly felt that a republic would better protect conservative interests than a discredited monarchy
The seriousness of the republican challenge became increasingly evident in the second half of 1930:
In August representatives of republican organizations signed a pact at San Sebastian aimed at overthrowing the monarchy
In October the Spanish Socialist Party joined the republicans in a ‘Revolutionary Committee’
In December a premature and unsuccessful rising of pro-republican army officers in Jaca (Aragon) provided the cause with its first martyrs
In an attempt to stem the tide, the King called for local elections as the first step towards a return to representative politics. Held on April 12, 1931 they resulted in a fight between monarchists and an alliance of republicans and socialists. In the countryside, thanks to traditional malpractice, the monarchists vote held up, but in the great majority of cities and large towns, were voting was freer, the monarchy received a fatal blow
To the King and most of his advisors the verdict was clear and the only alternative to civil war was his resignation and departure from Spain