Second Spanish Republic

The Second Spanish Republic was the democratic government of Spain from 1931 to 1939. It was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after King Alfonso XIII left the country, and a provisional government governed until the constitution of December 1931 was approved. During the first two years, the Reformist Biennium, Prime Minister Manuel Azaña introduced a broad programme of reform: religious orders were barred from controlling schools, a large school-building campaign began, a moderate agrarian reform was enacted, and Catalonia received home rule with its own parliament and president. Azaña lost parliamentary support and was forced to resign in September 1933. In the election that followed, the Spanish Confederation of the Autonomous Right won a plurality, but President Alcalá-Zamora refused to invite its leader to form a government and instead called on the Radical Republican Party. The ensuing "black biennium" was marked by mounting clashes between left and right and by state repression. In October 1934 a general strike and the Asturian uprising were crushed by the army and navy. After further crises and corruption scandals, new elections in 1936 brought the Popular Front a narrow victory. The right accelerated its preparations for revolt; the military rising of July 1936 began the Spanish Civil War. The Republic held Madrid but gradually lost territory, and it surrendered to the Nationalists on 1 April 1939, after which General Franco established a dictatorship.