Was the Second Republic always destined to loose the war conflict in the Spanish Civil War - Research Paper Example

? Was the Second Republic always destined to lose the war conflict in the Spanish Civil War? Contents: ……………………………………………………………………………….3 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………..4 The Background of the Spanish Civil War……………………………………………...5 The Second Republic of Spain and creation of greater conflicts……………………….9 The beginning of the war and the defeat of the Second Republic……………………..12 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………15 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………….16 Abstract: The paper discusses the historical perspective of the Spanish Civil War and its causes and features. The Spanish Civil War started in the 1936 and ended in 1939. The civil war was declared by the several political parties of the country and mainly by the military force of the country with great support from people of all over the country. The civil war declared against the government of the Second Republic of Spain. During these three years of time there have occurred several social, cultural, political, and economic changes in the country. The paper discusses political, social, cultural, and economic scenarios of that time in the country and hence, the in these contexts the possible reasons of the government of the Second Republic of Spain to lose the war. The Spanish civil war started with a military revolution. The long history of intervention of military power and control in Spain has affected the political life of the country to great extent. The revolution of 17th July of 1936 became an intense one and used old instruments for the purpose of making significant political changes in the country. Jose Sanjurjo was the leader of that time of the Second Spanish Republic. A group of generals who were under the leadership of Jose Sanjurjo started the war through declaration of opposition. This opposition was declared against the government, against the President of that time Manuel Azana. Several conservative groups (most important of these groups were Spanish Confederation of the Autonomous Right) have supported this coup and created the revolution a significant revolution in the country. This revolution was the war between the new and the old. The war was against the democratic government of Spain which was ruling the country during 1930s. The war came to an end with the triumph of the Nationalists, more importantly conservative Nationalists. In this way the Second Spanish Republic came to an end in the 1st April, 139 when they were defeated by conservative Nationalists1. This paper is aimed at describing a critical context of the loss of the Second Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War. It tries to answer the question, “Was the Second Republic always destined to loose the war conflict in the Spanish Civil War?” The background of the Spanish Civil War: The Spanish Civil War was a war in regard to the revolution of conservative nationalists against the democratic government of the country. The war began as military revolution and then it became the revolution of every citizen of the country and created significant political changes in the country. One of the most important features of this change was the demolition of the democratic government of the country and demolition of the Second Spanish Republic. At the time of revolution the country was facing several internal conflicts related to political, social, cultural and also to economic contexts. Various small revolts were going on in the country by reformists and conservative Nationalists. With the establishment of Spanish Constitution in 1812 the monarchy of the ancient regime has been abolished. This change led to the establishment of a compatible state with more ideologically constructed nature. After the creation of the Spanish Constitution and before the advent of the Civil War the reformists have created a political structure in the country which was consistent with the reflection of societal realities of Spain in its political systems and activities2. During this time liberalism became the most dominant part of the Spain’s political system. During the period of 1868 and 1874 liberalistic movements and liberalism became the most dominant part of the political system of the country. During this time the Queen Isabella II of Spain has been overthrown by the new liberal activists of the country and mainly by the Constitution of the country. In 1873, King Amedeo I faced the same destiny and has also been overthrown by the Spanish Constitution. These monarchs have been overthrown by the newly constructed constitution of the country because of the growing political pressure from liberalists and strict followers of the constitution. In this time the First Spanish Republic has been declared. In 1874, the beginning of the French military revolution created the initial path for the military revolution in Spain also. In the general election of 1890, local political powers dominated the country’s political system and control. Supporters of Infante Carlos (Infante Carlos’s supporters were also known as Carlists) and his followers have opposed the liberalist movements and views during this time. On the contrary, anarchism became the most popular political view among the working class of the country. During the period of late 1800s and early 1900s this later political view has not been seen in any of the countries within Europe. As a result of the introduction of the Industrial revolution in Europe, the number of industrial workers as well as the number of industrial working class has been growing rapidly. This Industrial Revolution created the conflict between the Basque people and Catalonian people. The concentration of most of the industries of the country in the Catalonian areas the workers and people were getting highly disconnected and this growing conflict created a large stage for national debate. This debate was related to the role of the government in regard to solve the debate by industrializing the rest of the country. During this time various political parties of the country started to form trade unions in order to create significant impact on government policies in regard to make changes in political as well as industrial policies of the country. The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) took the first step and created the association with the most important trade union of the country of that time, Union General de Trabajadores (UGT). With the formation of the Reformist Party of Spain (this was formed by Alejandro Lerroux), the conflict between working class and the government in regard to political, social, cultural, and economic aspects of the country started to rise3. At the beginning of the 1900s military forces were eager to avoid any conflict among the state, general people of the country, and political parties of the country. During this time, in the early part of the 1900s, military was grimaced upon regional nationalism. After the disastrous war between Morocco around Melilla, which continued between 1909 and 1910, anger of military of Spain came out. This bitterness came out as the tragic confrontation between the military and the working class of the country in the streets of Barcelona. As a result of this bloody confrontation the National Confederation of Labour (CNT) was set up in 1918. This was an anarchist labor and trade union. This trade union created a significant impact on the growing conflict between the government and the working class of the country. In 1919, the creation Comintern developed the voice of communism in the country in general and among working class of the country in particular. This conflict was solved by the government through rapid military intervention which made the conflict between the state and the working class more intense. In 1921, the former socialist party was separated into two parts: one with the believers of socialistic ideologies and the other with followers of communistic ideologies. In this time conflicts between the government and military personnel also increased and they started to influence government decisions with several movements. This movement could not get significant shape during this time because of lack of proper leadership in the country’s military forces. Miguel Primo de Rivera took the power of the military of Spain in 1923 and started to take military movements and protests against the government to a significant height. During this time Miguel Primo de Rivera declared the country as the military dictatorship. He started to make several changes in the institutional factors of the country, including introduction of new policies, new programs related to public works and most importantly related to industrial and agricultural policies of the country4. With his power of the military force of the country he defended the coalition of the ongoing agrarian-industrial monarchist which was formed at the time of World War I. But Miguel Primo de Rivera could not achieve the success of creation of complete military power in the country mainly because of lack of proper support from his followers5. Miguel Primo de Rivera resigned in 1930. But the political system of the country refused considerably to return back to the old system of governance with much higher political conflicts. People of Spain did not have faith on the democratic credibility of the old system of governance. Due to this reason the municipal elections of 1931 introduced large obligations from people of Spain and the Second Republic of Spain was introduced6. The Second Republic of Spain and creation of greater conflicts: The Second Republic of Spain gather supports from all broad sections of the society. In 1931, Niceto Alcala-Zamora became the Prime Minister of the Second Republic of Spain. During this time Republican and Socialists have formed a coalition government, although these two political parties have had different political goals to achieve. During this time the financial situation of the country was very poor and there were emerging huge Catholic movements around the country. These political and cultural events created lot of tension in the country. Republican and Socialists movements were opposed during this time by Carlists and Fascist organisations. These organisations and the Carlists followers continued increasing the level of opposition in the country against the government of the Second Republic of Spain. The most important feature of this opposition was that these organisations and followers of Carlists have gained the support of the church and also of the military forces of the country. These factors contributed to great extent to the development of significant and powerful force against the government of the Second Republic of Spain. These factors caused social, cultural, and economic to change in the entire country. These organisations and followers of Carlists gained both social and cultural support from the church which helped these protestors to gain momentum in the revolutionary movement and protests. On the contrary, the military helped these protestors and supporters of the ongoing radical and revolutionary movement of the country to gather sufficient man power and legal support to demolish the power and control of the government7. These social, cultural, and legal supports have ultimately helped protestors and followers of the movement to strike war against the government or against the power and control of the government of the Second Republic of Spain. These factors have caused regional oppositions to increase their autonomy with the power of army and the church and to curb the political and military power of the government. These factors have then caused the reduction in the legal power of the government. During this time the government implemented several policies and strategies which the government has called reformatory policies and strategies. These policies and strategies have been criticised at large scale by both protestors and then by several historians. According to Eddie Conlon, “the Second Republican government was not to be so. One example will suffice. The republican government set up the Institute for Agrarian Reform to look into the redistribution of land. By its own admission its programme would have taken a whole century to implement”8. Hence, all these mounted the level of protest and the need for a radical and revolutionary movement in the country. Gil Robles, one of the most prominent protestor of the government and policies and strategies implemented by the government, have openly declared the need for a radical and powerful movement against the government and its behavior of misutilization of legal power and control. During this time due to growing support for the protestors various government officials and party members of the ruling party of the coalition government of the country have started to support the opposition and they have created further increased level of support for these protestors against the government. Alejandro Lerroux, who were the most important member of the Reformist Party (one of the most important political parties of the coalition government have joined the oppositions and started to increase voice of protestors and general people of the country against the government and mainly against the policies and strategies implemented by the government. In 1932, the most important form of protest against the government of the Second Republic of Spain has been raised when the Confederation Espanola de Derechas Autonomas (CEDA) has joined the opposition and increased the power of the radical and revolutionary movement which was coming soon in the country. Within the period of 1934 and 1935 several significant political parties and former and present government officials have joined protestors and the opposition and increased the intensity of the movement against the government of the country. These movements and protests cleared the path for a radical military movement in the country not against any government of other countries, but against the government of these protestors’ own country9. The beginning of the war and the defeat of the Second Republic: The strategy of the republic government of the Second Republic of Spain of removing the suspected military generals from their posts created great tension among the people of the country. Several high profile generals were sacked during this time. In 1935, these sacked military generals raised a national voice of creating greater revolution in the country and to demolish the political power and control of the government of Second Republic of Spain. Carlists leaders and followers started to use the people of Spain and their growing support in favour of the revolution and set the date 17th July, 1936 to declare the most important civil war in the entire history of the country10. This civil war began as a simple protest against the government of the Second Republic of Spain and finally emerged as the most radical and most influential military movement in the entire historical background of the country. During the period of 1932 and 1935, the coalition government has sacked most of the military generals and other higher military officials from their posts. This policy has been implemented by the government during this time in order to reduce the power of the opposition and also the control of protestors on the political scenario of the country. This policy has been criticised all over the country, not only by protestors, but also by working class of the country and by the members of the ruling political parties. Industrial and agricultural policies of the government have been criticised by protestors, oppositions and the by the working class of the country during this time through various movements and radical protests. The war created its first momentum when Lieutenant Jose Castillo was killed by the government in Madrid in 12th July, 1936. The government gave protestors and the opposition a signal that in case of any political turbulence in the country against the government the government would never hesitate to take drastic steps against the opposition. This phenomenon has created great anger in protestors and opposition in general and the working class and general people of the country in particular during this time. During this time many other political leaders of the opposition and other general but powerful protestors have been killed by the government forces. Conservative Nationalists have tried hard to help the government to understand that peaceful revolution is the only goal of these protestors and the opposition. But the government continued to kill military officials and protestors during same time. The government were giving the logic that these protestors have overruled the constitution of the country by avoiding orders from the government of the Second republic of Spain, the supreme power of the country11. After all these events the opposition and other protestors have decided to declare a civil war against the government and against the unethical and inhuman acts of the government. The timing of the beginning of the war was set in at 17th July, 1936 at 5:00 p.m. The Carlists followers have agreed the time and set the plan of action. The first attack on the government and on the government forces has been made in Spanish Morocco to acquire the political power and control of the governance of the country. Eventually the Spanish Morocco area has been captured by the opposition on July 1936. This achievement gave the opposition and protestors a huge and significant success and strength for conducting future protests and to continue the war against the government. In this protest lot of people (almost 190 people) have lost their lives and many resources have been destroyed. But the will power of protesters and of the opposition did not fall; rather it increased to another level. Gradually other areas of the country like Basque country, Seville, Barcelona, Madrid and other major political, economic, social, and cultural areas of the country have been captured by the opposition. These have reduced the power of the government to great extent. Other countries like Germany, Italy, Portugal have also supported the revolution and helped the opposition and protestors to demolish completely the power and control of the government of the Second Republic of Spain in the political domain of the country12. Conclusion: Various wrong policies and strategies of the government of the Second Republic of Spain have caused them to face the loss in the civil war. Wrong and ineffective industrial and agricultural policies have contributed to increase the level of protest in the country among the working class of the nation. The policy of the government of killing political leaders of the opposition and of military generals mounted the tension in the country. The government wanted a war and it has got it. But the war could not be won by the government due to implementation of wrong policies and war strategies. Hence, it can be said that the Second Republic of Spain was destined to lose the Spanish Civil War. Bibliography: 1. Conlon, Eddie. The Spanish Civil War, Workers Solidarity Movement, February 10, 2012 from http://struggle.ws/pdfs/spain.pdf 2. Forrest, Andrew. The Spanish Civil War, USA: Routledge, 2000 3. Graham, Helen. The Spanish Civil War: a very short introduction, UK: OUP, 2005 Read More