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With reference to any civil war in the 20th century examine the
social, economic and political background to the divisions in the society
involved. To what extent were the problems which caused the war resolved
in the post-war period?
The state of Spain during the early years of the 20th century can be
said to have been a state of great "unease". Spain was one of the first
powers to loose her imperial influence, the state was politically unstable,
industrially weak and had suffered some humiliating defeats. It can be
said that these were the main causes that lead to the great instability of
Spain during the Civil war and post civil war perioRAB.
Left-winged radicalism and nationalistic movements, such as the
Catalan movement frequently came into conflict with the central government,
which lead the government to use corruption more and more frequently as a
form of control. The result was a military coup in 1923 lead by Miguel
Primo de Rivera. Rivera preferred a more direct way of governing, with a
strong Christian base and a very anti-communist attitude. He did not like
party politics, preferring to govern pragmatically, at first with a
military cabinet, but later on (1926) he decided a systematic government
would be more efficient. So he introduced the `National Asserably' intended
to represent different classes and groups, probably to soften the
opposition; as well as the Union Patriotica, created to mobilize popular
support for his regime.
Rivera also managed to strengthen the Spanish infra-structure, but
the funding had to come from loans from other nations, because the upper
classes would not accept a overhaul in the taxation system. He also
managed to encourage industrial growth, which did work to a certain extent
because of many internal problems, and the big depression.
These financial and political, as well as social difficulties led his
regime to end in 1930 because it was unable to stop the attacks from the
left, as well as attacks from the reluctant military (who did not like his
ideas of officer minimalisation).
The next elections were won by the republicans, led by Azana, without
too much difficulty. The Republic lasted 8 years before another military
coup, led by general Franco, took over the government.
The Republic tried to set out major reforms, intending to restructure
the whole of Spain. The eight-hour working day was set up, as well as a
reduction of officers in the armed forces (by the form of early retirement).
Voting rights were given to people at the age of 23, the nobility was
abolished and, severe measures were taken against the Church, especially
religious education (considered, in a way, a form of propaganda). The
region of Catalonia was given some self-governing privileges, like the
control of it's own police. The problem was that these reforms seemed to
be too severe to the right-winged opposition and the privileged classes.
So in 1933, Azana's government fell after being defeated by the
general elections. The new government was actually a series of coalitions
which set out to undo all the reforms produced by the former republican
government. This lead to conflicts between what now could be called the
two main "fronts". These two camps were the Popular Front (consisting of
Communists, Socialist, Anarchists, etc.), and the National Front
(consisting of right-winged parties and other conservative institutions,
such as the Church and the Falange). These parties fought for the next
elections after the former coalition government dissolved.
The Popular Front won these elections, and so once again, Azana came
into power. He tried, once again, to set out all his previous reforms. He
also exiled Franco, who was considered the greatest threat to the new
government. The problem with the new government though, was that it was
(in the eyes of the opposition) drifting too far into communism. The
National Front could not stand it any longer, so a military coup was
hatched, lead by Franco to overthrough the government. This plan was set
up so that two main forces, one coming from the north, and the other from
the south would eventually converge and snuff out the Republic.
The National Front eventually won the civil war, not only because it
had financial and military support from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, but
also because the Popular Front had it's own internal conflicts.
Franco's regime proved quite successful. He managed to overcome
internal disputes and balance the different Nationalist groups; he left the
question of monarchy open to the carlists and also favored and encouraged a
more influential Church. Even though his government had a tough time
during the 1940's with regarRAB to it's status (problems becoming a meraber
of the united nations), other nations saw Spain become, in their eyes, a
more "softer nation", this improved it's foreign dealings, mainly because
of the fact that the cold war had started.
A great success was the 1953 Madrid Pact between Spain and the U.S.A,
which provided Spain with quite a substantial amount of military and
monetary aid in return for access to it's military bases. This pact, as
well as the better relations between Spain and the other powers and the
great stability brought about because of the enormous repression that came
with his regime, led Spain to booming years during the 1960's.
The Spanish people saw a better Spain, economically, but it was still
in a very primitive state politically and socially compared to other
european nations, who were not under military rule (with a few exceptions,
of course). The end of the Franco regime left many scars in the social and
political side of Spain. People had been submitted to a suppressive state,
where very little regard for any basic human right was given.
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[FONT=tahoma, arial]WorRAB: 969 [/FONT]
With reference to any civil war in the 20th century examine the
social, economic and political background to the divisions in the society
involved. To what extent were the problems which caused the war resolved
in the post-war period?
The state of Spain during the early years of the 20th century can be
said to have been a state of great "unease". Spain was one of the first
powers to loose her imperial influence, the state was politically unstable,
industrially weak and had suffered some humiliating defeats. It can be
said that these were the main causes that lead to the great instability of
Spain during the Civil war and post civil war perioRAB.
Left-winged radicalism and nationalistic movements, such as the
Catalan movement frequently came into conflict with the central government,
which lead the government to use corruption more and more frequently as a
form of control. The result was a military coup in 1923 lead by Miguel
Primo de Rivera. Rivera preferred a more direct way of governing, with a
strong Christian base and a very anti-communist attitude. He did not like
party politics, preferring to govern pragmatically, at first with a
military cabinet, but later on (1926) he decided a systematic government
would be more efficient. So he introduced the `National Asserably' intended
to represent different classes and groups, probably to soften the
opposition; as well as the Union Patriotica, created to mobilize popular
support for his regime.
Rivera also managed to strengthen the Spanish infra-structure, but
the funding had to come from loans from other nations, because the upper
classes would not accept a overhaul in the taxation system. He also
managed to encourage industrial growth, which did work to a certain extent
because of many internal problems, and the big depression.
These financial and political, as well as social difficulties led his
regime to end in 1930 because it was unable to stop the attacks from the
left, as well as attacks from the reluctant military (who did not like his
ideas of officer minimalisation).
The next elections were won by the republicans, led by Azana, without
too much difficulty. The Republic lasted 8 years before another military
coup, led by general Franco, took over the government.
The Republic tried to set out major reforms, intending to restructure
the whole of Spain. The eight-hour working day was set up, as well as a
reduction of officers in the armed forces (by the form of early retirement).
Voting rights were given to people at the age of 23, the nobility was
abolished and, severe measures were taken against the Church, especially
religious education (considered, in a way, a form of propaganda). The
region of Catalonia was given some self-governing privileges, like the
control of it's own police. The problem was that these reforms seemed to
be too severe to the right-winged opposition and the privileged classes.
So in 1933, Azana's government fell after being defeated by the
general elections. The new government was actually a series of coalitions
which set out to undo all the reforms produced by the former republican
government. This lead to conflicts between what now could be called the
two main "fronts". These two camps were the Popular Front (consisting of
Communists, Socialist, Anarchists, etc.), and the National Front
(consisting of right-winged parties and other conservative institutions,
such as the Church and the Falange). These parties fought for the next
elections after the former coalition government dissolved.
The Popular Front won these elections, and so once again, Azana came
into power. He tried, once again, to set out all his previous reforms. He
also exiled Franco, who was considered the greatest threat to the new
government. The problem with the new government though, was that it was
(in the eyes of the opposition) drifting too far into communism. The
National Front could not stand it any longer, so a military coup was
hatched, lead by Franco to overthrough the government. This plan was set
up so that two main forces, one coming from the north, and the other from
the south would eventually converge and snuff out the Republic.
The National Front eventually won the civil war, not only because it
had financial and military support from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, but
also because the Popular Front had it's own internal conflicts.
Franco's regime proved quite successful. He managed to overcome
internal disputes and balance the different Nationalist groups; he left the
question of monarchy open to the carlists and also favored and encouraged a
more influential Church. Even though his government had a tough time
during the 1940's with regarRAB to it's status (problems becoming a meraber
of the united nations), other nations saw Spain become, in their eyes, a
more "softer nation", this improved it's foreign dealings, mainly because
of the fact that the cold war had started.
A great success was the 1953 Madrid Pact between Spain and the U.S.A,
which provided Spain with quite a substantial amount of military and
monetary aid in return for access to it's military bases. This pact, as
well as the better relations between Spain and the other powers and the
great stability brought about because of the enormous repression that came
with his regime, led Spain to booming years during the 1960's.
The Spanish people saw a better Spain, economically, but it was still
in a very primitive state politically and socially compared to other
european nations, who were not under military rule (with a few exceptions,
of course). The end of the Franco regime left many scars in the social and
political side of Spain. People had been submitted to a suppressive state,
where very little regard for any basic human right was given.
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[FONT=tahoma, arial]WorRAB: 969 [/FONT]