Spain — crisis of democracy and the road to civil war

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Political instability (weak, short-lived coalition governments), social unrest (strikes, land hunger among landless peasants, regional separatism in Catalonia and the Basque Country), and economic weakness (an agrarian economy that had not modernised, huge inequality between landowners and labourers).

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Army general who led a bloodless coup in September 1923 with King Alfonso XIII's approval and ruled Spain as a military dictator until 1930, suspending the constitution and parliament.

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Early economic growth faded once the Great Depression hit in 1929; he lost the backing of the army; the king withdrew his support; and Primo de Rivera resigned in January 1930, discrediting the monarchy that had backed him.

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Municipal elections showed huge support for republican candidates in the cities. King Alfonso XIII left Spain rather than risk civil war, and the Second Republic was declared on 14 April 1931.

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Leader of the left-Republican government (1931–1933) who pushed reforms on land, the army, the Church, and Catalan autonomy; returned as Popular Front prime minister/president after 1936.

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Leader of CEDA, the main Catholic-conservative party of the Second Republic; his movement's rise alarmed the left, who feared he wanted to dismantle the Republic like Dollfuss had in Austria.

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1931–33: Azaña's reforming left-Republican/Socialist government (the 'Reformist Biennium'). 1933–35: the more conservative CEDA-Radical governments (the 'Right-wing Biennium', sparking the 1934 Asturias rising). 1936: the Popular Front's narrow election win.

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1936 electoral alliance of Republicans, Socialists, and Communists formed to stop the right (CEDA and monarchists) taking power.

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The Popular Front narrowly won more seats than the right-wing coalition (helped by Spain's electoral system, which rewarded winning coalitions with bonus seats), though the popular vote was much closer than the seat count suggests.

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The coup only succeeded fully in some garrison towns; it failed to seize Madrid and Barcelona, where workers' militias and loyal police/army units resisted. Spain was split roughly in two, with neither side able to win outright — so a short coup became a prolonged war.

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Franco commanded the experienced Army of Africa, and after General Sanjurjo (the coup's intended leader) died in a plane crash , Franco was named Head of State and Generalissimo by the rebel junta in Burgos in September–October 1936, unifying command.

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One argument blames Republican/Popular Front policies (land seizures, Church attacks, disorder) for provoking a defensive coup. The opposing argument blames the right's refusal to accept legitimate reform and its readiness to use the army against an elected government. Both currents fed the crisis — Paper 3 essays should weigh them rather than pick one alone.