L/W response and repression

• • PSOE support for the democratic republic presented problems for the left
  • PSOE proposed to introduce many measures that the left welcomed:

  1. nationalization of the banks and railways, mines and forests
  2. legalization of divorce
  3. legal protection for civil rights
  4. separation of the catholic church from state
• • many of the left believed that a parliament democracy was an essentially bourgeois form of government and therefore incapable of truly radical action
• • conflict became apparent during PSOE-led coalition
  • frustrated at the slow pace of change, radical unions like the UGT and FNTT, as well as the anarchist CNT, initiated to strike action
  • anarchist CNT never supported the republic
• • first major strike was initiated by dockworkers in Pasaia, a port town in the Basque country, in May 1931
  • PSOE asked the workers to wait for the reforms to have an effect
  • CNT, argued waiting was pointless, as the new republic was little better than the old military dictatorship
  • gov sent in Civil Guard to break up the fight - 8 workers were killed in fighting
  • UGT became more radical and the influence of the anarchist grew within the union movement
• • 1931 - strikes spread to Madrid, Barcelona and Seville
• • July 1931 - telephone strikers seperated the left
  • Anarchists and Communists supported the striking workers
  • PSOE ministers in the gov ordered the police to break up the strike
• • CNT organised general strike in Seville led to further violence, as workers engaged in gun battles with police
  • strike was brought to an end by military action against the CNT headquarters in the city
• Badajoz:

  • local landlords and police worked together to deny peasants' rights, the FNTT called a strike
  • Civil Guard responded by opening fire on unarmed, peaceful protestors
• • violence and divisions among the unions led to a decline in the number of strikes at the end of 1931.
  • clashes between the PSOE-led gov and the union movement led to bitter divisions on the left
• • Divisions in the left were obvious in 1932
  • CNT called a general strike but UGT refused to collaborate.
  • Leaders of UGT condemned the strike, arguing that a new republic should be given time to consolidate and deliver the promised reforms