12 CIVIL WAR CASE STUDY 1:

THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR

(1936–39)
‘A civil war is not a war but a sickness,’ wrote Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. ‘The enemy is
within. One fights almost against oneself.’ Yet Spain’s tragedy in 1936 was even greater. It had
become enmeshed in the international civil war, which started in earnest with the Bolshevik
revolution.
From Antony Beevor, The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939, 2006

The Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936 after more than a century of social, economic and
political division. Half a million people died in this conflict between 1936 and 1939.

As you read through this chapter, consider the following essay questions:
Ģ Why did a civil war break out in Spain in 1936?
Ģ How significant was the impact of foreign involvement on the outcome of the Spanish
Civil War?
General Francisco Franco, the Ģ What were the key effects of the Spanish Civil War?
leader who took Nationalist
forces to victory in the
Spanish Civil War.
Timeline of events – 1820–1931

1820 The Spanish Army, supported by liberals, overthrows the absolute monarchy and makes
Spain a constitutional monarchy in a modernizing revolution
1821 Absolute monarchy is restored to Spain by French forces in an attempt to reinstate the
old order
1833 In an attempt to prevent a female succession following the death of King Ferdinand,
there is a revolt by ‘Carlists’. The army intervenes to defeat the Carlists, who
nevertheless remain a strong conservative force in Spanish politics (see Interesting
Facts box)
1833–69 The army’s influence in national politics increases during the ‘rule of the Queens’
1869–70 Anarchist revolts take place against the state
1870–71 The monarchy is overthrown and the First Republic is established
1871 The army restores a constitutional monarchy
1875–1918 During this period the constitutional monarchy allows for democratic elections. The
system is corrupt, however. Power remains in the hands of the wealthy oligarchs or
‘caciques’
Spanish nationalism suffers when Spain is defeated in 1898 in a war with the USA
Carlism 1914–18 Spain remains neutral during World War I and experiences economic growth
Carlism is a political
movement in Spain
1918–23 The economy falters and 12 different governments fail to redress the crisis. The regime
that looks to establish reaches new lows in 1921, when the army, sent to crush a revolt led by Abd-el-Krim in
a separate line of the Spanish Morocco, is massacred by Moors
Bourbon family on the 1923–30 General Primo de Rivera takes control in a bloodless coup and rules for seven years,
Spanish throne. This line is
descended from Carlos V
thus fatally undermining the legitimacy of the monarchy
(1788–1855). 1931 The King abdicates and the Second Republic is established

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 STUDENT STUDY SECTION
Review questions
Study the timeline above and then read the following quotation.
The notion that political problems could more naturally be solved by violence than by debate was
firmly entrenched in a country in which for a thousand years civil war has been if not exactly the
norm then certainly no rarity.
From Paul Preston, The Spanish Civil War: Reaction, Revolution and Revenge, 2006

1 Looking at the timeline above showing events in Spain in the 19th and early 20th centuries,
what evidence is there for Preston’s argument?
2 What factors were causing tensions in Spain during this time? (Economic, military, religious,
political?)
3 What example of foreign intervention was there in Spain in the 19th century?

Long-term causes of the Spanish Civil War:

political instability (1820–1931)
In the 19th century, Spain had struggled between periods of conservatism and liberalism.
As you can see from the timeline above, there were several issues that caused tension and
division in Spain in the century before the 1930s, fractures that were to become more acute
in the decade before the civil war broke out.

Weakness of government
From 1871, Spain had been a constitutional monarchy. The King was head of state, and he
appointed a Prime Minister who should have commanded a majority in the parliament
(Cortes). Yet although the Cortes was elected by the male population, real power was held
by the wealthy oligarchs, and political control shifted between their different cliques. There
were two main parties, the Conservatives and the Liberals, but in fact there was no real
difference between them. Elections were rigged or decided by corruption. There were no
mass democratic political parties:

the consequence was, at a very superficial level, political stability, but beneath it tremendous
social instability, because nothing ever really changed … Elections changed virtually nothing.
Only a relatively small proportion of the electorate had the right to vote, and since nothing
changed … the population was forced into apathy or violent opposition to the system.
From Paul Preston, Modern History Review, September 1991

The role of the Spanish Army

The army had a powerful political position in Spain due to its role in Spain’s imperial past.
It believed that it was the protector of the nation, and that this meant it had the right and
duty to intervene in politics if a crisis occurred. It had intervened in this way several times,
in 1820, 1871 and 1923. It did not, however, act to save the King in 1931, and this led to his
exile. The army intervened again during the Second Republic and lastly in 1936. It was this
last intervention that was to lead to civil war.
The army was unpopular with the people. It had a reputation for brutality, it was expensive
and required heavy taxes to maintain. The army had also proved ineffective when it lost the
Spanish Empire during the 19th century, and lost the war with America in 1898. It had also
struggled to keep control of Morocco between 1906 and 1926.

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The army was in need of reform. It was too big, and had too many officers. The upper and
middle classes, however, defended their interests, as they dominated the officer corps. The
army was generally conservative, but the ‘Africanistas’ – those who were experienced in the
wars in Morocco – were the most traditional and nationalistic.

The role of the church

The Catholic Church was rich and powerful in Spain, and there had been disputes between
church and state throughout the 19th century. The state had guaranteed the role of the
General Francisco church in education and in elements of the economy, and the church had used its wealth to
Franco
gain considerable political and social influence. It used its power to support social, political
General Franco was
born Francisco Franco and economic conservatism and was opposed to modernizing and liberal forces. The
Bahamonde. He aristocracy was closely tied to the church; they made up the vast majority of senior clergy,
came from a military and provided much of the funding for the church. This meant the church was inclined to
background, and had
defend the rights and status of the upper classes, which led to resentment amongst the poor.
begun his career in the
navy. However, as Spain’s In many urban areas there were protests against the church, although it was more popular
empire declined, the navy in the rural areas.
was cut down in size and
Franco joined the army.
He became a general after Economic causes
demonstrating sound The plight of the agricultural workers was a key factor in the discontent that led to
leadership skills fighting
in Morocco. Before the
the civil war. Spain was mainly an agricultural economy, and agriculture was the main
outbreak of the Spanish source of employment. Unfortunately, there were fundamental problems that made it
Civil War, Franco had been inefficient. It did not provide sufficient food and work was only seasonal. There was the
stationed on the Spanish need for workers to migrate in search of work – most lived in abject poverty and the
mainland and was active
gap between rich and poor was vast. In the centre and south of Spain, land was owned
in suppressing anarchists
and anti-government in huge estates, the latifundia, by the ‘Grandees’ who dominated the political system. In
forces in the early 1930s. the north, peasants owned small plots of land, but often these were too small to make an
The Civil Guard adequate living.
The Civil Guard was
Rioting and disorder often broke out in the countryside. The Civil Guard were deployed to
founded in 1844. Its
purpose was to control ruthlessly repress any disorder. With no support from the church, some looked to groups
the peasantry, maintain such as the anarchists, who argued for the redistribution of land. Yet many of the Catholic
the status quo and stamp small landholders were very conservative and resistant to socialist or anarchist ideas. The
out any anti-monarchist,
conservatism was exploited by the Catholic Agrarian Federation, which provided support
revolutionary sentiment.
It was particularly active for farmers in return for their rejection of socialist ideas; these same farmers were later to
in the Basque provinces support Franco and to fight on his side during the war.
and was hated by the
Industrially there was also the need for modernization and reform. Apart from in the
peasantry. It was later to
play a role in supporting north, there had been little Spanish industrialization in the 19th century. Expansion was
the conservative limited by endemic poverty. Workers in the towns, meanwhile, faced low wages, long
landowners in resisting hours, unregulated working conditions, poor housing and little in the way of welfare
the reforms of the Second
provision. This situation led to the growth of trade unionism. But the trade unions
Republic.
competed with each other (for example the CNT and UGT). The unions failed to achieve
UGT and CNT
The Unión General de
anything substantial, as the employers could always find alternative labour sources from the
Trabajadores (UGT; countryside. The workers’ political parties had no real political power. With no legal means
General Union of Workers) of improving their situation, violent uprising appealed to many as the means to effect
was the socialist-led change.
trade union, and the
Confederación Nacional Spain’s neutrality during World War I facilitated a short period of economic boom. With
del Trabajo (CNT; National the increase of exports, however, there were also inflation and shortages, working-class
Confederation of Labour) living standards went down and working-class militancy increased. By the early 1920s, there
was the anarchist trade
union.
were major economic problems, and this led to violent conflict between employers and
employees particularly in industrial cities in Catalonia.
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The role of the regions
A significant cause of tension was the ongoing struggle between the centralist state and
Catalonia and the Basque provinces, which wanted decentralization and independence. The
Catalans and the Basques had their own separate languages and cultures, and by the early
20th century they had their own industrialized economies and churches. Primo de Rivera
took back the self-governing rights of Catalonia, and these separatist forces supported
the Republican movement that overthrew Alfonso in 1931 (see below). (De Rivera was an
experienced military official before becoming Prime Minister in 1923. He ruled Spain as a
dictator until 1930.)

Political opposition
There were a number of groups opposed to the political status quo in Spain, and each
would play a part in the political divisions that led to violent conflict in 1936. The liberal
movement in Spain had achieved little in opposing conservative forces in the 19th century,
although they remained a political force and supported the revolution that ousted the King
in 1931. The Partido Socialista Obrero Español(PSOE; Spanish Socialist Party) had grown
in urban areas in the late 19th century, but had minimal impact, whereas the UGT was
more visible in organizing strikes and protests in the urban regions. In addition, following
the Bolshevik revolution, a small Communist Party had emerged. The socialists, as with the
liberals, played a significant role in the revolution of 1931, but the parties became divided
over what reforms should take place. The more moderate socialists were led by Indalecio
Prieto, and the radicals were led by Largo Caballero.
The anarchists were also a major political group in Spain; as previously suggested, this was
mainly due to their demand for the redistribution of land, which was popular with the
peasants. The anarchists argued for revolutionary methods and boycotted all democratic
processes. Their trade union was the CNT, which like the UGT was active in organizing
strikes and protests. In addition, there was a more extreme anarchist faction called the
Federación Anarquista Ibérica (FAI; Spanish Anarchist Federation), which perpetrated
bombings and assassinations.

The fall of the monarchy and the establishment of the

Second Republic
King Alfonso XIII (1885–1931) was not a modernizer. The impact of military defeat in
Morocco, and the post-World War I Depression, put pressure on the King, and after 12
unsuccessful governments during the period 1918–23 Alfonso did not resist the coup of
General Primo de Rivera.
De Rivera tried to establish an authoritarian right-wing regime to redress Spain’s problems,
similar to the Italian fascist model. He started various infrastructure programmes for
railways, roads and electrification, as well as irrigation schemes. Industrial production
developed at three times the rate of output before 1923 and he ended the war in Morocco
in 1925. Nevertheless, he ran up massive debts that put Spain into a dreadful situation
when the Wall Street Crash came. He managed to alienate most of the powerful elements of
society, including the landowners and the army. Thus De Rivera resigned in 1930, having not
resolved Spain’s economic problems, or brought about long-term political stability. It seemed
that dictatorship as a solution to Spain’s problems had failed. After municipal elections in
April showed support for the San Sebastián Pact coalition of parties (republicans, liberals,
socialists and Catalans), the King went into voluntary exile. This time neither the church nor
the army intervened to save the King – there seemed nothing they could put in his place. A
‘velvet revolution’ had occurred and the Second Republic was established.

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STUDENT STUDY SECTION

Review questions
1 Draw a mind map or spider diagram of the key issues dividing Spain by 1931.
2 Explain the events that led to the fall of King Alfonso in 1931.
3 Looking at the long-term issues in Spain and the political events of the 19th century,
what problems was the Second Republic likely to face? Do you consider that war was
inevitable by mid 1931?

Short-term causes of the Spanish Civil War:

political polarization
Timeline of events – 1931–36

1931 Apr Second Spanish Republic proclaimed

1933 Nov Spanish right wins general election
1934 Oct Asturias rising
1936 Feb Popular Front government elected
July Army rising

STUDENT STUDY SECTION

Picture analysis

A symbolic representation of
the Second Republic.

Question
What image is given here of the Second Republic? (Look carefully at all the symbolism in the
painting.)

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Between 1931 and 1936, Spain became politically polarized. You may have already decided
in your answers to the review question 3 on p.230 that civil war in Spain was very likely
given the long-term structural problems and clear divisions that already existed in the
19th century. Nevertheless, it is important to note the following: ‘…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’ (Paul
Preston, Modern History Review, September 1991). The events of the Second Republic were
thus central in bringing about a situation, only five years later, in which large numbers of
people thought war was inevitable, if not desirable.

The Left Republic (April 1931–November 1933)

President Manuel Azaña.
In the elections that followed Alfonso’s departure, the centre-left won with the objective of
modernizing Spain. The government declared a new constitution, stating that Spain was
a ‘democratic republic of workers of all classes’. Manuel Azaña became the President and
leading figure in the new regime. However, the key issues causing tension in Spain before
the ‘velvet revolution’ of 1931 continued to dominate the political, economic and social
atmosphere under the new left-wing government.
Azaña addressed the issue of the church’s power. His speeches were anticlerical, and an
attempt was made to separate the church and state, and to limit church powers. The
church was no longer in control of education, and the state payment of the clergy was to
be stopped gradually over a two-year period. The power of the army was also attacked;
the government attempted to reduce numbers by offering early retirement on full pay, an
offer taken up by 50 per cent of officers. The military academy of Saragossa was closed
(Franco had been its director). Yet this policy backfired to a certain extent, as not only
was it expensive for the government, but it meant that the army was radicalized; those
who remained in the army were the conservative and nationalist core, including the
Africanistas.
The desperate economic problems that existed in Spain had been exacerbated by the
Depression: agricultural prices were tumbling, wine and olive exports fell and land had
gone out of cultivation. Peasant unemployment was rising. The effects were also being felt
industrially; iron production fell by one-third and steel by almost one-half. Largo Caballero
was Minister of Labour, and he initiated an extensive land redistribution programme, with
compensation for landowners. In 1932, a law enabled the state to take over estates and
to redistribute land to the peasants. Yet the government did not have the money for this
change, and fewer than 7,000 families had benefited from the programme by 1933. The
right saw this as a major threat to its interests, and an attempt to copy the Soviet system.
Civil unrest and violence continued under the Left Republic, and it dealt with its
perpetrators brutally. The government introduced the Assault Guard in an attempt to
produce a more left-wing military force. There were risings by both the right (General José
Sanjurjo in 1932) against the reforms, and by the left (a good example was the Casas Viejos
anarchist rising in 1933 – see below) against the slow pace of change. At this time, the
risings were suppressed, as the majority of the army remained loyal.
As for the regional issues, Catalonia was given its own parliament, and some powers
including law and order and dual control over education. Right-wing groups were angered
by this change, as they saw it as a move towards independence for the regions and the
break-up of Spain.
Each reform was perceived as an attack on one or more right-wing groups, i.e. the church,
army, landowners or industrialists. A new right-wing party, the Confederación Española de
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Derechas Autónomas (CEDA; Spanish Confederation of the Autonomous Right), was formed
to defend church and landlords. CEDA was led by José María Gil-Robles and was modelled on
the German Nazi Party. Indeed, the political divisions within Spain seemed to increase under
the Second Republic. The right wing opposed the reforms, sometimes with violence.
Although some historians see the failure of land reform as central to the failure of the
government during this period, historian Paul Preston has argued that the right wing was in
any case never going to give the regime a chance. Azaña also did himself a disservice when
in January 1933 government guards set fire to houses in the village of Casas Viejas near
Cadiz in an attempt to ‘smoke out’ a group of anarchists. Twenty-five people were killed.
This incident lost the left-wing Republic a lot of working-class support, and led even the
socialists to withdraw support from Azaña, who resigned in 1933.

STUDENT STUDY SECTION

Review question
How did the actions of the Second Republic create more tension? In what way did they, in
Paul Preston’s words, ‘ensure that Spain’s underlying conflicts were transmitted into national
politics’?

The destabilization of
the Spanish electoral
The Right Republic (November 1933–February 1936)
system In the elections of 1933, the Republic swung to the right, with the right-wing and centrist
It is worth noting that parties benefiting from the disunity of the left. Although CEDA was the largest party, the
the Spanish electoral
President resisted giving Gil-Robles power. However, CEDA forced the government’s hand
system ensured that
only a small swing in the in October 1934 by withdrawing support. Gil-Robles was made War Minister and two other
number of votes cast CEDA party members were given cabinet posts.
had a huge effect on the
parliamentary system.
The new government ruled for two years in what became known as the black years,
Thus, although there was because they embarked on systematically reversing the Left Republic’s reforms. Church
only a minor shift of votes control was restored over education and the clergy were again to be paid by the state.
from the left to the right, Azaña’s key economic reform – the land programme – was halted. Catalonia attempted to
there was a big change
in parliamentary power.
resist interference, and declared itself independent after CEDA joined the government. Its
The same was to happen autonomy was suspended after the Asturian miners’ uprising in 1934. This rebellion was
in 1936 when the Popular put down by troops, including Moroccan forces. Threats from the left of a ‘general strike’
Front gained control. The increased. Historians have argued that the violent suppression of this uprising increased the
instability created by the
likelihood of a civil war in Spain. In addition, the right lost the support of the Basques, who
electoral system was a
contributory factor to the now backed the left wing. Violence was widespread.
breakdown of the Second
Republic. STUDENT STUDY SECTION
Research activity
Research the Asturian miners’ uprising of 1934. In pairs, discuss the extent to which you agree
Prieto that this was an ‘attempted revolution’.
Prieto, whose full name
was Indalecio Prieto Tuero,
The political response to the Right Republic was divided. Caballero was more extreme in
was one of the leading
figures of the Socialist his speeches than the more moderate Prieto. He suggested that CEDA was the Spanish Nazi
Workers’ Party (Partido party and that the left should seek a Soviet-style solution for Spain. Thus, he articulated the
Socialista Obrero Español, parallels in Spanish politics to the broader European political landscape.
PSOE) in Spain. He was
a prominent critic of de In response, Gil-Robles demanded a shift to a more authoritarian approach to control the
Rivera’s government, and communists in Spain. This response led to more cooperation between the left’s factions:
was appointed finance socialists, anarchists, syndicalists and now communists. Indeed, Prieto attempted to find
minister in Zamora’s
government in 1931.
some common ground between the left and centre groups to enable them to take on the
right wing.
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