Political instability and social unrest

• Rural militancy:

  The extreme left was motivated by the opportunity to exact vengeance against landlords and employers who had used the 2 years of r/w government to exploit and suppress workers.
• Rural militancy:

  The FNTT encouraged peasants who had been the victims of eviction to undertake illegal occupants in order to claim land. On 25th March 1936, 60,000 peasants in the region of Extremadura seized 3,000 farms. Instead of stopping this action Azana legalised the peasants' actions, which enraged landlords.
• Rural militancy:

  The increased militancy of the left also was due to worsening conditions caused by poor harvests. Almost constant rain between December 1936 had severely damaged crops. Poor harvests meant even lower living standards for peasants, and continued unemployment.
• Rural militancy:

  L/W militancy increased conservative fears of social revolution, which were further fuelled by the military rhetoric of the more l/w elements of Largo Caballero's PSOE. Caballero advocated social revolution, and although this prospect was far from reality, and far from the intention of PSOE as a whole, it alarmed conservative opinion.
• Government weakness:

  The Popular Front government was weakened by the refusal of Caballero and his supporters in the PSOE to participate in the cabinet.
• Government weakness:

  The PSOE refuse to enter the government on the grounds that any coalition government would dilute the social reform agenda that the PSOE wished to pursue.
• Government weakness:

  The animosity between the two leading socialists, Largo Caballero and Indalecio Prieto, resulted in Largo Caballero's supporters vetoing Prieto's appointment as prime minister in May 1936. This weakened the government as it seemed to confirm the right's view that the left was ineffectual and divided. It also deprived the Popular Front of effective leadership given Prieto's strong leadership credentials.
• Government weakness:

  In April 1936 there were important changes at the top of the government. Azana replaced Zamora as president and Santiago Casares Quiroga became the new prime minister. The appointment of Azana as president was interpreted by many on the right as a first step towards the establishment of a Marxist regime in Spain.
• Right-wing agitation:

  R/W propaganda focused on the dangers of a Marxist revolution and the break-up of Spain if the Popular Front remained in power. This theme was taken up by the R/W press.
• Right-wing agitation:

  While there was clearly disorder, the extent was exaggerated significantly by the r/w press, as was the danger of a l/w revolution.
• Right-wing agitation:

  Gil Robles and the monarchist leader Calvo Sotelo talked up the problem of disorder.
• Right-wing agitation:

  Gil Robles used his position in the Cortes to make inflammatory speeches about the forthcoming revolution, arguing that a r/w uprising was the only way to save Spain.
• Right-wing agitation:

  According to his figures there had been 300 large scale strikes, 269 murders and the destruction of 251 churches in the first months of the new government. These statistics may well have been inflated, but they served their purpose and created panic in the m/c. Gil Robles used the them as an excuse to call for a military takeover to restore order.
• Right-wing agitation:

  This was all part of a campaign to justify a military uprising that was already being planned in the highest ranks of the army.
• Right-wing agitation:

  Behind the scenes Gil Robles was negotiating with leading figures in the army and the Falange in order to create an alliance in support of a new authoritarian government.
• Right-wing agitation:

  Gil Robles publically abandoned democracy in May. He argued that democracy in Spain had led to a complete breakdown of law and order. Therefore, he claimed the only way to prevent a communist takeover was to create a strong fascist regime with the support of the Falange and the army.