CONTEMPORARY HISTORY
Spain in the 20th and 21st centuries
The reign of Alfonso XIII
(1902-1923)
With the Industrial Revolution, the workers' movement was born, and with it, new progressive ideologies appeared (socialism and anarchism).
During his reign, there were serious social and political conflicts:
- Strikes: In Spain appeared labour unions, mainly in Catalonia (where the industry was). There was strikes due to the poor working conditions and because they send many workers to the war in Morocco. Only those who paid could not go.
- War in Morocco: When losing the American colonies, the government began the conquest of Africa, exploiting the resources of Morocco.
- Nationalism: Groups in Catalonia, the Basque Country and Galicia demanded autonomy.
The reign of Alfonso XIII
(1902-1923)
All those problems, especially the Russian revolution in 1917, generated fear in the wealthy bourgeoisie because they thought that socialism could be radicalized and end their power and properties.
This era was called the ÉPOCA DEL PISTOLERISMO. Employers hired mercenaries to take down the leaders of the workers.
Workers (anarchists) attacked the nobility and the bourgeoisie. King Alfonso XIII was shot with a bomb.
The employers had the government on their side.
The dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera
(1923-1931)
At the international level there was a response against the Russian Revolution, the bourgeoisie to fight against socialism, it financed fascist groups. In 1921 Mussolini led a coup in Italy.
In Spain, el General Primo de Rivera led a coup in 1923 taking advantage of the social and political problems.
He established a military dictatorship. He assumed all powers of state, abolished the Constitution, banned all political parties and labour unions, and limited freedom for citizens. King Alfonso XIII supported the dictatorship, but he was not part of the government.
Primo de Rivera won the war with Morocco, and many roads, railways and other public works were built. However, the population opposed his regime and demanded more freedom.
In 1930 the external and internal situation did not favor Primo de Rivera (US crisis affected Spain) and conflicts returned. Primo de Rivera lost the support of the king and he had to resign.
General elections were held in 1931. The political parties that supported a republic won, and Alfonso XIII went into exile.
The Second Republic
(1931-1936)
In 1931, the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed, and Niceto Alcalá Zamora was appointed president of the Republic and Manuel Azaña the president of the Government.
A new Constitution was approved, which included the right to vote for women and the separation of church and state.
The first Statutes of Autonomy for Catalonia and the Basque Country were also approved.
The government implemented many reforms (land, education and labour reforms). But these reforms were not accepted by everyone, and violent conflicts started.
The Second Spanish Republic had two phases. A first stage called the progressive biennium and another called the conservative biennium.
The Second Republic
PROGRESSIVE BIENNIUM
During the progressive biennium the government implemented several reforms:
- Church: separates the church and the state. The church loses rights and the state is secular.
- Labor: days of 40 hours a week and paid holidays.
- Territorial: opportunity to develop autonomy statutes.
- Agrarian: you could expropriate lands considered of national interest that were not exploited correctly.
Tensions between Azaña and Zamora provoked new elections.
The Second Republic
CONSERVATIVE BIENNIUM
The anarchists did not vote, and that helped the CEDA (Confederación Española de Derechas Autónoma) win the elections.
The new government paralyzed the reforms and increased the tension.
In 1934 there was a great revolt in Asturias and Catalonia that was severely repressed and the trade unionists were imprisoned.
With the increase in tension and discontent, Alcalá Zamora announced new elections.
The Second Republic
END OF THE SECOND SPANISH REPUBLIC
In the third elections the left was united in a single party, Frente Popular, coordinated by Manuel Azaña. They agreed on some minimums: amnesty to the unionists of the 1934 revolt and reactivation of the reforms.
The Frente Popular won and that generated tension in the most conservative ideology.
In addition, the statute of Catalonia was approved.
All this caused General Franco to lead a coup that ended the Second Spanish Republic.
The Spanish Civil War (1)
1936-1939
In 1936, General Franco led a coup against the government of the Republic. The part of the army that supported the coup was organized as follows: in the barracks, the highest ranking military man in favor of the conspiracy took charge with maximum violence. The headquarters of the workers' movement were also attacked.
This coup failed because in the cities it did not triumph. In Madrid and Barcelona was stopped. This generated a Civil War between republicans and nationalists. Spanish population was divided into two areas: Republican area and Nationalist area.
Franco was the most prestigious general in Morocco. That is why the troops in Morocco follow him and go to the peninsula.
As the navy did not support the uprising, Hitler loaned them planes to move the troops. After arriving in the peninsula, Franco went up in the west with help from Portugal, Germany, Italy and companies in the USA.
The Spanish Civil War (2)
1936-1939
They tried to conquer Madrid several times but as they did not manage it they went north. Then the bombing of Guernica happened.
From the north, they followed the Ebro valley to divide the republic and isolate Catalonia. It was then when they conquered Catalonia and France could not help more to the republicans. The nationalist side won and occupied the institutions by establishing a dictatorship.
The consequences of the war were devastating. Hundreds of thousands of people died or went into exile, there were huge economic losses, and society was divided into winners and losers. The republicans were persecuted, imprisoned and murdered by the nationalists.
The Spanish Civil War
Consequences of the Spanish Civil War
Guernica (1937)
In 1937 the bombing over the city of Guernica took place by German aircraft. It was the first bombing carried out on civilian population without warning before. The people were not ready and had nowhere to hide. Many people died and the city was destroyed.
The picture of Guernica is a symbol of peace. The republican government asked for a painting to Pablo Picasso for the Universal Exhibition of Paris (1937).
It is a picture where Spain and its harsh situation during those years are reflected.
It is a cubist painting, there is no third dimension, the bodies are decomposed to appreciate different points of view and it is painted in a very schematic way.
Franco Era
1939-1975
After the war, General Franco took power and established a dictatorship that lasted more than 30 years, it’s known as Francoism (Franquismo).
As a result of this dictatorship:
Franco Era
1939-1975
At the beginning Franco was going to be the leader during the war, that's what was signed. In the end, he called himself Caudillo de España (spiritual guide of Spain):
He accumulated all the powers (Head of State, Government, president of the only allowed party (the Falange).
Brutal repression against those who surrendered and did not exile and against the maquis.
Ideology:
Franco Era (1)
1939-1975
The first years of the dictatorship were difficult. People who had supported the Republic faced harsh repression. Many were arrested or killed, and others went into exile.
During these years, Spain became internationally isolated. As the result of the Spanish dictatorship, many countries broke off diplomatic and commercial relations with Spain.
This isolation and the destruction of infrastructure and industries during the war led to an economic crisis.
As a result, the population was impoverished and often did not have access to food and other basic products (especially in the cities, in the countryside it was easy to have some food).
Franco Era (2)
1939-1975
The United Nations did not accept the Franco regime. From 1950s, Spain became accepted internationally when Spain came into contact with the United States for the Cold War against the USSR.
Franco was anti-communist, allowed the US to put military bases in exchange for investment in Spain and to be recognized at the UN.
When Spain was recognized at the UN, in 1955 the Spanish economy began to improve, because of the end of the isolation and because Europe was recovered.
Spain began to recover economically due to tourism (that became one of the main economic activities), foreign investment, increasement of the industrial production, modernization of the agriculture, emigration to European countries (those who went abroad sent money) and the reduction of unemployment.
Little by little Spain was opening up to the world, knowing what was outside. This caused a modernization of Spain. The standard of living in Spain improved.
However, there was still no democracy. The dictatorship still controlled the population, and people who opposed the regime were arrested.
Franco Era (3)
1939-1975
Between 1970 and 1975, opposition to the Franco regime escalated. Tourism and Spanish emigration helped people to realize that Francoism didn’t help Spain to improve. The Francoism lost power and influence.
A resistance against Franco was growing (university students, workers…). Labour unions were still banned, but they started to organize in secret, and students participated in demonstrations that demanded a democratic form of government.
To please the Spanish monarchists he named Juan Carlos his successor. In 1969 he brought him to Spain to educate him by following his values. Franco bumped Don Juan, father of Juan Carlos, because he wrote a letter saying that Spain needed a change of course after the World War.
On 20th November, 1975, General Franco died and the dictatorship ended. It was the beginning of a new era in which democracy was established.
Transition and democracy
The transition was the period of political changes that were made to move from the dictatorship of General Franco towards democracy.
After the death of Franco Juan Carlos was crowned. Franco left everything well tied, he wanted Juan Carlos to be the Head of State and Carrero Blanco President of the Government, but ETA murdered Carrero Blanco and Arias Navarro became President.
Little by little, the figure of Arias Navarro was weakened and the King gained popularity (inside and outside Spain), he had a more modern thinking, spoke about Europe and that Spain should be part of it.
Finally Arias Navarro resigned and Juan Carlos I appointed Adolfo Suárez as president. With his reforms, Spain could once again become a democratic country:
Elections took place in 1977 and the UCD was elected, the party led by Suarez.
Transition and democracy
THE CONSTITUTION OF 1978
After the 1977 elections, representative of the mayor political parties wrote a constitution which was approved by Parliament.
The representatives to draft the constitution were:
In 1978, Spaniards voted in favour of the Constitution in a referendum.
The Constitution establishes that Spain is a democratic country, whose national sovereignty resides with the Spanish people, with a parliamentary monarchy as a form of government.
It also guarantees citizen rights such as equality under the law, freedom of expression and the right to vote for all citizens over 18 years of age.
How was the Constitution written?
Transition and democracy
CONSOLIDATION OF DEMOCRACY
New elections were held in 1979 and the party of Adolfo Suárez, UCD, won again. During his mandate, Spain suffered a serious economic crisis, and terrorist attacks by ETA were frequent. Suárez resigned as president.
In 1981, while Parliament was voting to elect Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo as the new president, a small group of military officers led by Coronel Antonio Tejero attempted a coup. However, Tejero did not have support from political parties, the people or the king, and the coup failed.
Since 1981, several presidents have headed the Spanish government: Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo (1981), Felipe González (1982-1996), José María Aznar (1996-2004), José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (2004-2011) and Mariano Rajoy (2011-2018), and Pedro Sánchez (since 2018).
To evaluate this project
SPEAKING
What happened in Spain during 20th century.
WRITING
Explain what happened in Spain in 20th century.
FINAL PRODUCT
- Video about facts happened during 20h century.
- Picasso (ARTS).
* Movida Madrileña (if there is enough time) (ARTS).
`Explico algunas cosas’, de Pablo Neruda
Y una mañana todo estaba ardiendo
y una mañana las hogueras
salían de la tierra
devorando seres,
y desde entonces fuego,
pólvora desde entonces,
y desde entonces sangre.
Bandidos con aviones y con moros,
bandidos con sortijas y duquesas,
bandidos con frailes negros bendiciendo
venían por el cielo a matar niños,
y por las calles la sangre de los niños
corría simplemente, como sangre de niños.
(…)
Generales
traidores:
mirad mi casa muerta,
mirad España rota:
pero de cada casa muerta sale metal ardiendo
en vez de flores,
pero de cada hueco de España
sale España,
pero de cada niño muerto sale un fusil con ojos,
pero de cada crimen nacen balas
que os hallarán un día el sitio
del corazón.
Canción del esposo-soldado’, de Miguel Hernández
‘(…)
Sobre los ataúdes feroces en acecho,
sobre los mismos muertos sin remedio y sin fosa
te quiero, y te quisiera besar con todo el pecho
hasta en el polvo, esposa.
Cuando junto a los campos de combate te piensa
mi frente que no enfría ni aplaca tu figura,
te acercas hacia mí como una boca inmensa
de hambrienta dentadura.
Canción del esposo-soldado’, de Miguel Hernández
‘(…)
Escríbeme a la lucha, siénteme en la trinchera:
aquí con el fusil tu nombre evoco y fijo,
y defiendo tu vientre de pobre que me espera,
y defiendo tu hijo.
Nacerá nuestro hijo con el puño cerrado
envuelto en un clamor de victoria y guitarras,
y dejaré a tu puerta mi vida de soldado
sin colmillos ni garras.
Es preciso matar para seguir viviendo.