under the new regime.
The first test occurred with the elections of June 28, 1931, which were swept by the new republican coalition. Monarchists and conservatives found themselves in disarray, ill-prepared to contest the elections. Even so, the new republican forces were determined to dominate, and in cities and provinces where the opposition made a serious effort, it was harassed and in some cases shut down altogether. Because of the confusion and disarray of the right, the republican coalition was bound to win these elections even under scrupulously democratic conditions, but the degree of electoral control and harassment of the opposition demonstrated that "republicanism" did not by any means indicate a clear break with the electoral practices of the monarchist regime.
The new system introduced a series of rapid changes, and in the early twentieth century change tended to fragment. The variety of new political parties and movements was extraordinary, one of the most varied and diverse to be found in any country in the world. These groups represented quite varied agendas, making it difficult to achieve unity behind a single democratic, parliamentary program, all of which has been commented on ad infinitum in the historical studies of the period.
A brief tour d'horizon of the political scene reveals this diversity and how little agreement existed in support of any specific project. The initial republican coalition was composed of three distinct elements: the Left republicans, the centrist liberal or moderate republicans, and the Socialists. Each had a different political agenda, which only with the greatest difficulty could be combined and coordinated into a common and coordinated republicanism.
The group that led the government during the first biennium, setting the tempo and much of the agenda, were the Left republicans, at first composed of several different parties, several of which eventually collapsed, until by 1934 the main Left republican force was the party of Izquierda Republicana (Republican Left), led by Manuel Azaña. The only other major and enduring Left republican group was the Esquerra Catalana (Catalan Left). Though the Left republicans frequently gestured toward democracy, they were not as interested in constitutional democracy, free elections, and the rule of law as they were in a new kind of radically reformist regime. It was this regime of radical middle-class reformism that they referred to as "la República" and "el republicanismo," compared with which procedural democracy was secondary. In their concept, republicanism stood for a vigorously anti-Catholic program, separating church and state, eliminating Catholic education, and strictly controlling Catholic interests and activities. This was to be accompanied by other major institutional reforms dealing with education, culture, Catalan autonomy, and the reorganization and subordination of the military. In 1933-34 it was broadened to include extensive intervention in the economy as well, but remained primarily a program of cultural, educational, religious, and institutional reforms oriented toward the secularized sectors of the middle classes. 1
The problem was that this program was never supported by more than about 20 percent of the electorate. Even if this figure were slightly increased, it would be nowhere near a majority, so that Azaña always recognized that the Left republicans had no hope of maintaining themselves in power without the support of the Socialists.
The Socialists, however, accepted the Left republican program only as an initial minimum program, their own goal being the construction of an economically collectivist socialist regime. The Socialists were no more than "semiloyal," at best, to a democratic nonsocialist Republic, so their alliance with the Left republicans was inevitably limited and circumstantial. Whenever the development of the Republic took a path that would not lead to socialism, the Socialists would cease to
The first test occurred with the elections of June 28, 1931, which were swept by the new republican coalition. Monarchists and conservatives found themselves in disarray, ill-prepared to contest the elections. Even so, the new republican forces were determined to dominate, and in cities and provinces where the opposition made a serious effort, it was harassed and in some cases shut down altogether. Because of the confusion and disarray of the right, the republican coalition was bound to win these elections even under scrupulously democratic conditions, but the degree of electoral control and harassment of the opposition demonstrated that "republicanism" did not by any means indicate a clear break with the electoral practices of the monarchist regime.
The new system introduced a series of rapid changes, and in the early twentieth century change tended to fragment. The variety of new political parties and movements was extraordinary, one of the most varied and diverse to be found in any country in the world. These groups represented quite varied agendas, making it difficult to achieve unity behind a single democratic, parliamentary program, all of which has been commented on ad infinitum in the historical studies of the period.
A brief tour d'horizon of the political scene reveals this diversity and how little agreement existed in support of any specific project. The initial republican coalition was composed of three distinct elements: the Left republicans, the centrist liberal or moderate republicans, and the Socialists. Each had a different political agenda, which only with the greatest difficulty could be combined and coordinated into a common and coordinated republicanism.
The group that led the government during the first biennium, setting the tempo and much of the agenda, were the Left republicans, at first composed of several different parties, several of which eventually collapsed, until by 1934 the main Left republican force was the party of Izquierda Republicana (Republican Left), led by Manuel Azaña. The only other major and enduring Left republican group was the Esquerra Catalana (Catalan Left). Though the Left republicans frequently gestured toward democracy, they were not as interested in constitutional democracy, free elections, and the rule of law as they were in a new kind of radically reformist regime. It was this regime of radical middle-class reformism that they referred to as "la República" and "el republicanismo," compared with which procedural democracy was secondary. In their concept, republicanism stood for a vigorously anti-Catholic program, separating church and state, eliminating Catholic education, and strictly controlling Catholic interests and activities. This was to be accompanied by other major institutional reforms dealing with education, culture, Catalan autonomy, and the reorganization and subordination of the military. In 1933-34 it was broadened to include extensive intervention in the economy as well, but remained primarily a program of cultural, educational, religious, and institutional reforms oriented toward the secularized sectors of the middle classes. 1
The problem was that this program was never supported by more than about 20 percent of the electorate. Even if this figure were slightly increased, it would be nowhere near a majority, so that Azaña always recognized that the Left republicans had no hope of maintaining themselves in power without the support of the Socialists.
The Socialists, however, accepted the Left republican program only as an initial minimum program, their own goal being the construction of an economically collectivist socialist regime. The Socialists were no more than "semiloyal," at best, to a democratic nonsocialist Republic, so their alliance with the Left republicans was inevitably limited and circumstantial. Whenever the development of the Republic took a path that would not lead to socialism, the Socialists would cease to
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