-
The first action of the provisional government was to call for general
elections in June 1931. -
In 1931, women didn’t have the right to vote, but they could be elected.
There were three women in the Parliament. During the discussion to extend their
right to active suffrage, the Radical Socialist Victoria Kent confronted the Radical
Clara Campoamor. Kent argued that Spanish women were not yet prepared to
vote because they were too influenced by the Catholic Church. Campoamor
however defended women's rights regardless of their opinions -
a, leader of the left-wing party Acción Republicana, led the
Government until 1933, in coalition with the PSOE and other left-wing parties. The Government started many reforms: They tried to reduce the influence of the Catholic Church in society . There was an attempt to introduce agrarian reforms. They created over 6,500 schools. One of the proposals of the Government was the creation of regional autonomies. They tried to change the Army -
Between April 14th 1931, when King Alfonso XIII left the country, and April 1st
1939, when the last of the Republican forces surrendered to Nationalist forces in
the Spanish Civil War. -
a new
republican Constitution, which was approved on December 9th, 1931. It defined
Spain as a democratic republic of workers. It included freedom of speech and
association, the separation of Church and State, universal suffrage to women, and
the right to divorce.
Under the new Constitution, Spanish regions had the right to Autonomy for
the first time in history. Catalonia, the Basque Country and Galicia exercised this
right -
In November 1933 the right wing parties won the elections and formed a
new government This government tried to eliminate all the reforms started in the
previous period. -
t, in October 1934 there was a general revolution organised by
anarchists and socialists. It was specially important in Catalonia, where they
started an autonomist rebellion, and in Asturias, where the miners controlled the
region for two weeks. -
On January 7th, 1936, new elections were called. Socialists, Communists,
Catalan and Madrid-based left-wing republicans decided to work together under
the name Frente Popular. The answer of the right-wing parties was to join the
Frente Nacional (coalition of CEDA, Carlists and Monarchists)
The Frente Popular won the elections with a widemajority -
after the elections, some
Army high officers organised a military plot against the government, but it was
discovered and Azaña sent them to different provinces. -
.On July 12th and 13th two important murders happened:
- The Lieutenant José Castillo, Guardia de Asalto and member of the
Unión Militar Republicana Antifascista, was killed by Falangists.
- José Calvo Sotelo, Leader of the right-wing opposition, was killed byCastillo’s comrades -
July 17 army uprising began in Morocco. It began as a pronunciamento. but is resulted in outbreak or a civil war.