Popular Front (Spain)

History

Foundation and the manifesto of the Popular Front

The Popular Front was formed in 1936 by a coalition of left-wing republican parties. The Popular Front's founding manifesto condemned the actions of the conservative-led government, demanding the release of political prisoners detained after November 1933, the re-hiring of state employees who had been suspended, fired, or transferred "without due process or for reasons of political persecution", it proposed establishing a judiciary independent from government control, the investigation and prosecution of acts of unwarranted violence by police, and revision of the Law of Public Order to protect the rights of citizens against arbitrary power. The manifesto stressed political moderation against radicalism.

The manifesto advocated a moderate left-leaning economic policy that rejected the idea of nationalization of land and instead supported the provision of state economic assistance to agriculture, a new progressive tenancy law, and promotion of collective forms of production. It supported protectionist measures to defend national industry, encouraged state research to assist national industry, promised protection of small businesses, major expansion of public works, and progressive tax reform. The manifesto declared the Popular Front's opposition to class-based society, stating "The Republic conceived of by the Republican parties is not a Republic dominated by social or economic class interests, but a regime of democratic liberty..." but it promised the restoration of certain economic policies of the 1931–33 Spanish government, including increased wages for farmworkers.

The manifesto promised the restoration of legislation guaranteeing regional autonomy that was revoked by the conservative-led government.

Members

Members to the coalition were:

• Spanish Socialist Workers' Party – Socialist
• Communist Party of Spain – Communist
• Workers' Party of Marxist Unification – Anti-Stalinist Marxist
• Syndicalist Party – Syndicalist
• Republican Left – Republican
• Republican Union – Republican
• Republican Left of Catalonia – Catalan nationalist
• Galicianist Party – Galician nationalist
• Basque Nationalist Action – Basque nationalist

It was also supported by:

• Workers' General Union – Socialist trade union
• CNT-FAI – Anarcho-syndicalist trade union

1936 election and immediate aftermath

In the 1936 general election, the Popular Front won the election with its leader Manuel Azaña elected President of Spain. The Popular Front received 4,654,116 votes compared to the opponent combined right-wing vote of 4,503,524 votes. It elected 278 deputies – 99 of which belonged to the Socialists (PSOE), while the right-wing elected 124 deputies – 88 of which belonged to the CEDA. Upon the election of the Popular Front, the Popular Front held a victory march in Madrid with over 250,000 supporters, with its Socialist and Communist party components marching in uniform in the thousands.

Azaña responded to the recent surge of acts of violence, arson, and vandalism by radical leftists against right-wing parties and Catholic Church institutions by denouncing these actions. In particular, violence involving Communists and Socialists versus Falangists resulted in multiple murders. By July there had been 269 political killings.

Azaña acceded to demands by left-wing movements for punishment of General Eduardo López Ochoa, the army leader of the 1934 Asturian campaign against workers' movements there.

The government did not stay in power long, mainly because of the conflict of ideological views by many of the parties. The only factor working for the government was unity for the conquest of fascism. After the Republican defeat in the Spanish Civil War, the popular front was dissolved, and Franco ruled Spain as a dictator until his death in 1975.

References

References

1. Pagès i Blanch, Pelai. ''War and Revolution in Catalonia, 1936–1939''. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill Books Vol. 58, Historical Materialism Book Series, 2013.
2. "The People's Front".
3. [[Stanley G. Payne. Payne, Stanley]]. ''Spain's first democracy: the Second Republic, 1931–1936''. Madison: [[University of Wisconsin Press]], 1993. p. 266.
4. Payne, Stanley. ''Spain's first democracy: the Second Republic, 1931–1936''. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1993. p. 267.
5. Payne, Stanley. ''Spain's first democracy: the Second Republic, 1931–1936''. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1993. p. 281.
6. Romero Salvadó, Francisco J. ''Twentieth-century Spain: politics and society in Spain, 1898–1998''. Hampshire, England; New York: Palgrave, 1999. p. 90.
7. Amós Salvador. arz. اموس سالڤادور ساينز واى كاريراس. ca. Amós Salvador Sáenz y Carreras. es. Amós Salvador Carreras, architect and wealthy landowner, and {{ill. José Alonso Mallol. ca
8. The Popular Front immediately delivered its promise in its manifesto of rehiring workers fired for political reasons without due process and to reimburse them based on individual cases for wages lost to an extent of not less than thirty-nine days' wages nor more than six months.Payne, Stanley. ''Spain's first democracy: the Second Republic, 1931–1936''. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1993. p. 283.
9. Payne, Stanley. ''Spain's first democracy: the Second Republic, 1931–1936''. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1993. p. 285.
10. Romero Salvadó, Francisco J. ''Twentieth-century Spain: politics and society in Spain, 1898–1998''. Hampshire, England; New York: Palgrave, 1999. p. 91.
11. The Spanish Republican government also made major changes to the Spanish Army, pro-Republican or neutral commanders were installed in multiple posts while commanders with questionable loyalties were moved to lesser or remote positions: for example, General [[Francisco Franco]] was removed as chief of staff of the army and moved to a position in the [[Canary Islands]] and General [[Emilio Mola]] was demoted from a major command in [[Spanish protectorate in Morocco. Spanish Morocco]] to a position as commander of a brigade in Pamplona.Payne, Stanley. ''Spain's first democracy: the Second Republic, 1931–1936''. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1993. p. 289.
12. Douglass, C. (1991). "The fiesta cycle of Spain." in ''[[Anthropological Quarterly]]'', 64(3), pp. 126–141.