Political Events

• Fall of the Monarchy:

  At the beginning of 1930, Spain was ruled by a military dictatorship backed by the King. However, General Miguel Primo de Rivera, Spain's military ruler for 7 years, was extremely unpopular due to his economic policies causing growing hardship. The King dismissed him in January 1930, however attempted to still back a military-led government with a new dictator: Damaso Berenguer. But, even though he ended some of Primo De Rivera's repressive policies, he was still unpopular and his regime was nicknamed 'the toothless dictatorship'.
• Until 1923, Spain was a constitutional monarchy, where King Alfonso XIII was the head of Spanish State. However, even though he was meant to work with the Cortes, he worked closer with the Spanish military elite. This meant the King put his faith in traditional organisations such as the Army and Roman Catholic Church, rather than the working classes.
• In 1923, the King supported General Primo de Rivera's coup, with overthrew the constitutional government with a military dictatorship. But, the dictatorship failed to resolve Spain's socioeconomic problems and his policies even caused high levels of inflation. This led to widespread opposition, causing the King to demand his resignation in 1930. Although he briefly backed another military government, the King was forced to flee in April 1931 after the success of the Republican movement in local elections.
• The Pact of San Sebastian:

  Leading opponents of the dictatorship met in the Basque town of San Sebastian in August 1930, to co-ordinate opposition to the regime. This pact united Spain's leading socialists, liberals and even some conservatives and republicans in the army. This therefore created a united revolutionary committee which planned to overthrow the government with a military coup, due to take place at the end of December 1930. However, the coup failed as it started much earlier than planned.
• Election 1931:

  Even though Spain was a dictatorship, some aspects were partially democratic. This meant local Spaniards could vote in regular local government or municipal elections. The municipal election of April 1931 showed the strength of the Republican movement, even though the King refused to acknowledge the results that the Republicans had the majority in major urban areas. The refusal to recognise the results led to widespread opposition, but the King refused to use the army on the 14th April to restore order. Instead, he fled Spain.
• The Creation of the Second Republic:

  The King was replaced by a coalition provisional government in April 1931. The new government's role was to supervise the creation of a republic and to organise nationwide elections which would lead to the creation of a new democratic government. The provisional government mainly included liberals and socials who had helped in the Pact of San Sebastian. But, they were not universally welcomed as Spanish politics had been dominated by powerful conservative elites who didn't want democracy.