Antony Beevor’s seminal work - The Battle for Spain covers superbly the underlying causes of the Spanish Civil War (see below) and goes on to describe the savage fighting of the next three years which ended in catastrophic defeat for the Republicans in 1939.
The underlying causes of the Spanish Civil War
The seeds of the conflict were sown over the centuries, not decades or the few turbulent years prior to 17 July 1936 due to three key factors identified by Beevor, namely:
To quote Beevor: “The genesis of these three strains of conflict lay in the way the Reconquista of Spain from the Moors had shaped the social structure of the country and the attitudes of the Castilian conquerors.”
In essence, the monarchy, the aristocracy and, following closely behind, the Church, took possession of Spain – a Spain that had never previously been united (except perhaps under the Romans). To complete and sustain this “united” Spain money, not food, was required and, as Beevor points out, Merino wool was the cash crop. So, common land was seized for sheep grazing and agriculture and food production suffered accordingly. As a result, Spain’s population is estimated to have fallen from about 14 million in the Middle Ages to a little over 7 million at the end of the eighteenth century. Here were the seeds of class conflict.
Authoritarianism was provided largely by the Church which, during and after the Reconquista, “integrated the new territories into the Castillian state.” The Church controlled every aspect of education and promoted Castilian qualities “such as endurance of suffering and equanimity in the face of death.” It encouraged parsimony, mental and physical, and rejected the papacy because of its corruption.
Centralism against regionalism. The Reconquista ultimately created a centralised government (the monarchy) with the Church effectively in control. The monarchy disregarded the local rights and customs of regions or Kingdoms which had previously been independent, e.g. Catalonia and the Basque country.
“Castile had established a central authority in Spain and built the empire but …. the wars in northern Europe, the fight against the French in Italy and destruction of the Armada..” presaged the decline of “imperial power, developed in less than two generations.”
So we have an increasingly impoverished and marginalised country with limited natural resources being ruled by a highly conservative Catholic Church disconnected from the more liberal and less overtly political church emerging in other parts of Europe and a Castilian Monarchy who saw the rest of Spain and its dwindling empire as a source of funds.
The 17th and 18th centuries were characterised by many conflicts and wars, including the wars of Spanish Succession. In addition, Spain’s economic development was held back by the Church’s anti capitalist, anti usury, line and the Spanish nobleman’s disdain for commercial enterprise.
The turbulent times continued in 19th century, starting with the “War of Independence” (or The Peninsular War) and culminating in the disastrous Spanish-American War in 1898. Throughout this century liberalism and traditionalism clashed and corruption was rife. The army acquired a taste for overthrowing governments - between 1814 and 1874 there were 37 attempted coups.
Spain became poorer and poorer and in February 1873 the First Republic was declared. It only lasted a few months as the army imposed its will and in 1874 Alfonso XII was proclaimed King. A new constitution returned power to the Church and the landowners and political and economic corruption spread throughout the country from Madrid.
When Alfonso XIII became King in 1902, life expectancy was around 35 years, the illiteracy rate averaged 64% and two thirds of Spain’s active population still worked on the land – with huge variations in terms and conditions between the regions. Hardly an auspicious start to the century.
Nevertheless, the First World War, in which Spain remained neutral, resulted in a mini economic boom which ended with the War. Unemployment followed, fanning dissatisfaction and a rise in anarchism and socialism. Between 1917 and the declaration of the Second Republic in April 1931 Spain suffered a series of economic and political crises and major military set backs in Morocco.
The new republican government inherited an economic mess, both from the massive debts from public spending projects and the collapse of the peseta as well as the world depression (sound familiar??). It, and subsequent governments, introduced or proposed various socialist/liberal based reforms leading to regular clashes with the establishment.
At the same time, there were increasingly violent internal struggles between the various left wing parties themselves as well as with the Falange, which had been founded in 1933. As a result, between 1931 and 1936 there were several uprisings, strikes, coup attempts, elections and an increasing polarisation between the various political parties, especially on the left.
The general election of February 1936 led to a very narrow victory by a coalition of left wing parties who then fell to bickering, with the hard left faction urging a Bolshevik revolution. Violence increased and by July Franco felt it necessary to step in and restore order – the Spanish Civil War was officially born.
Rod Younger
January 2012
