Spanish Civil War: Causes of War Notes

Key Questions

1. What were the long term and short term causes of the Spanish Civil War?
2. How can these be categorized into economic, political, ideological, and territorial causes?

Long Term Causes

1. Regional and Local Divisions

1. Spain in the early 20th century was deeply fragmented, with loyalty to regions or local communities often outweighing loyalty to the nation as a whole.
2. Distinct cultural, linguistic, and historical identities — particularly among Basques, Catalans, and Galicians — created strong separatist tendencies.
3. Economic disparities were stark: some areas like Catalonia and the Basque Country had advanced industry and trade networks.
   1. Others, especially in rural interior regions, lagged behind with outdated farming techniques.
4. Agricultural structures varied widely:
   1. In some areas, land was worked by smallholder peasants.
   2. In others, vast estates (latifundia) were owned by a handful of wealthy families, leaving many landless labourers in poverty.
5. These regional inequalities and differing economic systems often stood in the way of unified reform or national development.

2. Political Power and Conservatism

1. The political right in Spain was dominated by a traditional alliance between landowners, the Catholic Church, and the army.
2. Land ownership was highly concentrated: roughly half of all land was controlled by just 50,000 individuals.
3. The Catholic Church, despite losing some influence during the 19th century due to secular reforms, retained enormous sway in education, social services, and political life.
4. The Spanish army was not only a military institution but also a political actor, often intervening in governance and aligned with conservative causes.

3. Rise of Regional Political Movements

1. Regionalism influenced the growth of distinct political and ideological movements across Spain.
2. In industrial hubs like Barcelona, anarcho-syndicalism, a form of anarchism rooted in trade union activism, became influential.
3. Anarcho-syndicalists called for:
   1. Worker control of industry and factories.
   2. Shorter working hours, better wages, and improved conditions.
   3. Decentralised political authority, avoiding a centralised state.
4. Rural areas, particularly poor regions like Andalusia, fostered a more traditional form of anarchism:
   1. Advocated land redistribution to peasants.
   2. Called for reduced taxes and the dismantling of large estates.
   3. Sought local autonomy free from central government interference.

4. Revolutionary Thinking and Anarchism

1. Many anarchists believed revolution would emerge organically through spontaneous action and the creative energy of ordinary people rather than through strict planning.
2. Their vision was deliberately vague, emphasising social transformation over detailed policy blueprints.
   1. This made anarchism adaptable and appealing to varied groups, but also difficult to unify into a single movement.

5. Left-Wing Ideological Diversity

1. Anarchism was only one of several leftist currents shaping Spanish politics in the 1930s.
2. Marxism and socialism had been active since the late 19th century, but were divided into competing strands.
3. Tensions between leftist groups weakened their collective strength:
   1. Stalinists (aligned with Soviet-style centralism) clashed with Trotskyites (advocating permanent revolution).
   2. Socialists often disagreed with trade unionists over political strategy and relations with anarchists.

6. Political Fragmentation on the Left

1. By the eve of the Spanish Civil War, Spain’s left-wing political scene was highly fractured, with a bewildering number of parties, unions, and militant groups.
2. Rivalries between factions led to a lack of coordinated leadership, making it difficult to present a united front against conservative and fascist forces.
3. This fragmentation would play a significant role in the eventual outcome of the Civil War, as divisions often proved as damaging as external opposition.

Short Term Causes

1. Collapse of the Monarchy and Rise of the Second Republic

1. By April 1931, public confidence in King Alfonso XIII had completely eroded due to political corruption, economic hardship, and his association with dictatorship under Miguel Primo de Rivera.
2. When the army withdrew its support, a critical blow in a country where military backing was essential for monarchic survival. Alfonso XIII went into exile.
3. General elections in June 1931 brought a centre-left coalition, led by Manuel Azaña, to power.
4. The Republic was greeted with optimism by reformists, but also with suspicion and hostility from conservatives, monarchists, and radical revolutionaries.

2. Early Reforms of the Azaña Government

1. The new government quickly implemented wide-ranging reforms in agriculture, labour rights, and church-state relations.
2. Key measures included:
   1. Protection for tenant farmers against eviction.
   2. Support for agricultural collectives and cooperatives.
   3. Legal separation of church and state, reducing the Catholic Church’s influence over education and civil life.
   4. Recognition of civil marriages and the right to divorce.
   5. Military reforms, including the forced retirement of many officers on full pensions to weaken the army’s political role.
3. While these changes pleased some moderates, they fell short of radical left demands and enraged the conservative right, who saw them as an attack on traditional Spanish society.
4. Despite the reforms, rural poverty remained largely unchanged, leaving many ordinary people disillusioned.

Political Opposition and the Sanjurjo Rebellion

1. In August 1932, the Civil Guard, under General José Sanjurjo, staged a rebellion against the Republic.
2. The uprising was quickly suppressed, with help from the anarcho-syndicalist CNT (Confederación Nacional del Trabajo).
3. The rebellion revealed:
   1. The depth of right-wing hostility to the Republic.
   2. The fragility of the Republic’s control over the armed forces and its limited legitimacy among powerful institutions.
4. Middle-class liberals still backed the Republic, but both the radical left and the conservative right remained deeply distrustful.

1. Growing Instability and the 1933 Elections

1. Strikes, demonstrations, and political violence persisted throughout 1933, reflecting widespread frustration with the pace and direction of reform.
2. In November 1933, elections brought a right-wing coalition to power — the first time in Spanish history that women voted in national elections.
3. The left denounced the new government immediately, unwilling to trust its commitment to democracy.
4. This mutual distrust between left and right meant that neither side truly accepted the legitimacy of electoral outcomes if the other side won.

2. Reversal of Reforms and Regional Revolts

1. The new right-wing government began dismantling or ignoring Azaña’s reforms, especially in land policy and labour rights.
2. This reversal provoked unrest:
   1. Catalonia briefly declared autonomy in defiance of Madrid.
   2. The Asturias region erupted in a major leftist revolt in October 1934.
3. The Asturias uprising was brutally crushed by experienced Spanish troops from Morocco, using artillery and aerial bombardment.
4. To some on the left, Asturias was an urgent attempt to resist the kind of authoritarian takeover that had crushed the German left after Hitler’s rise in 1933.
   1. To others, it was proof that radical leftists had abandoned constitutional politics and could not be trusted to govern.

3. Erosion of Faith in Democracy

1. The Asturias revolt and its suppression deepened political polarisation.
2. Both left and right became convinced that the other side posed an existential threat to Spain’s future.
3. Democratic compromise became almost impossible, as each side increasingly believed that only outright victory — not negotiation — could secure their vision for the country.
4. This political deadlock laid the groundwork for the violent breakdown of Spanish democracy and the outbreak of the Civil War in 1936.

Immediate Causes

1. The Popular Front: Origins and Goals

1. In 1936, Spanish electoral politics shifted to the left after the defeat of the previous right-wing government.
2. The Popular Front strategy, inspired by the Comintern and the French Popular Front, aimed to prevent a Nazi-style takeover by uniting left-wing forces.
   1. Its leaders, Manuel Azaña and Indalecio Prieto of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE), sought electoral cooperation between moderate Republicans and more radical left-wing parties.
   2. The parties avoided running candidates against each other to prevent splitting the vote, but they made no agreement to work together in government after the election.
3. The Popular Front platform was based on Azaña’s earlier centre-left proposals, such as moderate reforms and protections for civil freedoms.
4. The anarchists did not formally join the Popular Front but stopped discouraging their members from voting.
5. The Popular Front was fundamentally weak because its members agreed mainly on what they opposed rather than on shared long-term policies.
   1. This reflected a lack of confidence in Spain’s traditional democratic process to protect freedoms from political extremism.

2. Electoral Victory and Right-Wing Reaction

1. The Popular Front won the 1936 elections.
2. Right-wing leader Gil Robles of the CEDA warned that a communist takeover was imminent, even though no Marxists were in Azaña’s cabinet.
3. Tensions rose when Manuel Azaña became President of the Republic in April 1936.

3. Military Opposition and Conspiracy

1. Azaña attempted to reduce the army’s ability to threaten the Republic by transferring General Mola to a remote post and moving Generals Goded and Franco away from their main support bases.
2. These measures failed, and Mola, Goded, and Franco began secretly plotting a military uprising.
3. Mola secured the support of the Falange, a fascist party, and the Carlists, a monarchist movement.
4. Labour strikes and street fighting between political factions convinced many officers, especially younger ones, that only decisive military action could restore order in Spain.

4. Trigger: The Assassination of Calvo Sotelo

1. On 13 July 1936, right-wing monarchist politician José Calvo Sotelo was assassinated.
2. His death gave the military rebels a rallying cause and an excuse to act immediately.

5. The Military Uprising

1. The garrison in Morocco began the rebellion before Franco had arrived, which reduced coordination between rebel forces.
2. The uprising spread unevenly across Spain due to poor planning and lack of centralized control.
3. The government ignored repeated warnings of the impending rebellion and delayed arming left-wing organisations such as the UGT and CNT.
4. The Republic relied heavily on the loyalty of the Civil Guard, but this loyalty varied by region.

6. Local Outcomes: Civil Guard and Workers’ Role

1. In Oviedo, the Civil Guard sided with the rebels, which allowed the Nationalists to take the city.
2. In Barcelona, the Civil Guard supported the Republic and worked alongside anarcho-syndicalist militias to defeat Goded’s forces.
3. Quick access to weapons allowed workers’ groups to defeat local garrisons in several areas.
4. In regions where the rebels gained control first, they executed local leaders and secured the towns for the Nationalists.

Overall Pattern of Control

1. By the end of the initial uprising, the Nationalists controlled most of the Andalusian coast, including Seville, and large areas of north-central Spain.
2. The Republicans retained control of Madrid, most of the east coast, and Barcelona.
3. Republican victories were possible mainly when the government accepted help from non-government militias or when the rebels were poorly organised.
4. The early fighting revealed that the Republican government lacked strong control over many of its own forces.