Background to the Spanish Civil War

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Civil wars are the conflicts that most change a country, since the division of a state in two it can lead to a series of conflicts and ideologies that can persist in the national imagination for decades or even centuries. To talk about the most important civil conflict in Spain, in this lesson from a PROFESSOR we are going to discover the background of the Spanish Civil War that will help us to know the causes and motivations of the state of this war.

Index

1. What was the Spanish Civil War?
2. Political background of the Spanish Civil War
3. Economic background of the Civil War
4. Other antecedents of the Spanish Civil War

Before starting to talk about the different antecedents, we must briefly talk about what the Spanish Civil War, thus, to know relevant data to understand its duration and operation.

The Spanish Civil War or Spanish War was a military conflict that took place in Spain between the years 1936 and 1939, facing the so-called sides republicans Y rebels.

The war is considered one of the greatest in the entire history of Spain, since its relevance was not only because it was an armed conflict, but inside it there was a war of religion, of class struggle, an ideological clash, nationalisms, democracy against dictatorship and even European thoughts such as fascism with communism were important.

We will begin to talk about the antecedents of the Spanish Civil War, dwelling on the political motivations.

Regarding the first political antecedent, we must speak especially of the government of the Second republic, being the system of government that he had ruled in Spain since 1931 and whose government is said to have been the cause of the war. After the failure of the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera the Spanish monarchical system was replaced by a republican system, although there were many who opposed this reformist system.

One of the great reasons why the republican government failed was its great changes in numerous elections, since little time passed through the government of the country parties of very different ideologies, thereby causing great political chaos. This was coupled with a very divided Spanish society, that he formed two large groups depending on the party they supported, dividing the country into two political ideas.

The failure of the right and the left to change the critical situation of workers and peasants led to much of the population sought a much greater change than had been made, since for many the Republic had not served as a response to the crisis.

Spanish politics became more and more radical, due in large part to the coups d'état of recent years, to the great rebellions seen in Asturias and Catalonia, to the death threats made in a congress in which it was increasingly common to carry weapons and appearance of parties of clear fascist ideology as the Spanish Phalanx.

Many are the antecedents that can lead a region to a civil war, but without a doubt always in the part economic, the one that stands out the most due to its great relevance since money for centuries has been what mobilizes the most to be human.

Spain experienced a great economic crisis during the years of the Second Republic, and although its opponents blamed it, the reality is that it was a consequence of the Great Depressionthat had happened in the United States, being an economic crisis that affected the whole world and that was a severe setback for the Spanish.

The economic crisis affected especially to the agricultural sector, which was much more impoverished than the rest of the western part of Europe, that being the reason why one of the great measures of the Republic was the Agrarian Reform. This reform was never completely carried out due to the changes of government, causing harsh attacks by the rural workers towards the republic.

Many people from upper classes They saw in the politics of the Republic a way to take away their privileges and increase that of the workers and peasants, being one of the reasons why they did not take long to join the rebellious side at the beginning of the war.

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To conclude this lesson on the antecedents of the Spanish Civil War, we must talk about the numerous key antecedents for the beginning of the conflict that were neither political nor economic. These antecedents were the following:

• The social differences in Spain they were enormous since the money was in the great landowners, and the workers and peasants suffered great inequalities. Therefore there was no middle class mediate between the two, at the same time that each of the two groups had a clear ideological differentiation.
• The policy of the Republic was clearly anticlerical ideology, being the religious people who had a lot of power in the Spain of the time and whom the republican government attacked strongly. The Church was key in the war, helping the rebellious side and suffering the attacks of the republicans.
• The nationalisms in Spain they were on the rise, especially after the formation of certain Statutes of Autonomy, the rebellious side being a clear opposition to it.
• The violence it had become commonplace for Spain, ranging from coups to increasingly common street violence. Many Spaniards called for a military coup that would end the Republic.
• The influence of neighboring countries It was also essential in this period, the support of the socialist governments for the republic being very relevant but, even greater, the support of the Italian fascism and Nazism German to the rebel side.

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