Second Spanish Republic - 1931 Constitution

1931 Constitution

Main article: Spanish Constitution of 1931 See also: Background of the Spanish Civil War

On 28 January 1930 the military dictatorship of General Miguel Primo de Rivera (who had been in power since September 1923) was overthrown. This led various republican factions from a wide variety of backgrounds, including old conservatives and socialists, to join forces. The Pact of San Sebastián was the key to the transition from monarchy to republic. Republicans of all tendencies were committed to the Pact of San Sebastian in overthrowing the monarchy and establishing a republic. The restoration of the royal Bourbons was totally rejected by large sectors of the populace who vehemently opposed the King. The pact, signed by representatives of the main Republican forces, allowed a joint anti-monarchy political campaign. On 12 April 1931, the municipal elections led to a landslide victory for republicans. Two days later, the Second Republic was proclaimed and King Alfonso XIII went into exile. The king's departure led to a provisional government of the young republic under Niceto Alcalá-Zamora. In June 1931 a Constituent Cortes was elected to draft a new constitution, which came into force in December.

The new constitution established freedom of speech and freedom of association, extended suffrage to women, allowed divorce and stripped the Spanish nobility of any special legal status. Initially it also largely disestablished the Catholic Church, a trend that was somewhat reversed in 1933. The controversial Constitutional articles 26 and 27 imposed stringent controls on Church property and barred religious orders from the ranks of educators. Scholars have described the constitution as hostile to religion, one scholar characterising it as one of the most hostile of the 20th century. José Ortega y Gasset stated, "the article in which the Constitution legislates the actions of the Church seems highly improper to me." Pope Pius XI condemned the Spanish Government's deprivation of the civil liberties of Catholics in the encyclical Dilectissima Nobis.

The legislative branch was changed to a single chamber called the Congress of Deputies.

The constitution established legal procedures for the nationalisation of public services and land, banks and railways. The constitution provided generally accorded civil liberties and representation, a major exception being the rights of Catholics.

The 1931 Constitution was formally effective from 1931 until 1939. In the summer of 1936, after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, it became a dead letter, as the authority of the Republic was superseded in many places by revolutionary socialist and anarchist juntas.

The Republican Constitution also changed the symbols of the country. The Himno de Riego was established as the national anthem and the Tricolor, with three horizontal red-yellow-purple fields, became the new flag of Spain. Under the new Constitution, all of Spain's regions had the right to autonomy. Catalonia (1932) and the Basque Country (1936) exercised this right, with Andalucía, Aragón and Galicia engaged in negotiations with the government before the breakout of the Civil War. The Constitution guaranteed a wide range of civil liberties, but failed to agree on key points with the convictions of the conservative right, which was very rooted in rural areas, and with the desires of the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church, which was stripped of schools and public subsidies.