1.3.4 The Asturias Uprising and Its Consequences

• The government initiated a military training exercise in Leon in September 1934 to prepare for the suppression of a left-wing revolution.
• Coal miners, who had been affected by the Great Depression, eagerly joined in on the revolt and captured the Asturias province
• During the uprising, revolutionaries burnt 58 churches and took businessmen, right-wing supporters and clergymen as hostages, 31 of whom were killed
• The government responded to the uprising by sending 20,000 troops into the region and by authorising the navy to shell major cities along the coast with support from aerial bombardments
• The total number of casualties from the uprising amounted to almost 1,400 killed and 2,951 wounded, the majority of which were rebels
• Polarisation:

  1. The right argued that the left no longer respected democracy
  2. The left saw the rebels in Asturias as heroes and argued that Gil Robles was planning a military takeover of power
• Radicalisation:

  1. Convinced the middle class to support the right
  2. CEDA and Gil Robles began to call for a fascist dictatorship
• CEDA argued that the government needed to take left-wing threats more seriously and so Gil Robles was promoted to minister of war
• Military Preparation:

  1. Gil Robles started a secret rearmament programme
  2. Franco was appointed as chief of the general staff to purge officers who supported the republic
  3. Army training increased
• Impact on the Left:

  1. Persuaded many to return to attaining power through election
  2. Undermined the left's claim to support democracy