L/W response and repression

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    Created by
    Hollie Adams

    Cards (10)

      • 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
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