From Dictatorship to Republic: Spain and the Great Depression

Abstract

A decree of 15 September 1923 appointed General Miguel Primo de Rivera ‘president of the military directorate in charge of the government of the state’, whose decisions had to be countersigned by the king. That same day, civil governors were replaced by military governors in all provinces. The new government suspended the 1876 Constitution giving as its motives its intention to restore social order, which was dist urbed by struggle in the streets, and to correct the unfavourable course of the colonial war in Morocco. By and large, these goals were achieved. Social conflict was largely resolved thanks to the accommodating attitude of socialist leaders towards the new regime (unlike the anarchists, who were harshly repressed). The socialist union, the Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT) agreed in 1926 to enter the Comités Paritarios (Joint Parity — i.e., employers-workmen — Committees) that, under the chairmanship of the Minister of Labour, Eduardo Aunós, laid the foundations of collective bargaining in Spain; the general secretary of the UGT, Francisco Largo Caballero, was appointed councillor of the state, while his party, the Partido Socialista Obrero Español, was not persecuted. Regarding the pacification of Morocco, in September 1925 a successful Franco-Spanish major pincer offensive on Alhucemas Bay and south of the Rif mountains was launched, which defeated the rebels. In the last days of that year, Primo de Rivera replaced the military directorate with a civilian one, where José Calvo Sotelo was appointed Minister of Finance.