Political & Social Backgrounds in Spain

Political and Social Backgrounds in Spain

In the dawning of the 20th century there were those who benefited from the winds of change while there were others who stumbled and fell unable to adjust to a rapidly changing world . Spain belongs to those who could no longer keep up with current trends its institutions began to decay partly due to weak leadership and partly due to complacency . And complacency usually breeds in places of power where those in authority could not imagine the day when they no longer command respect and authority

. Spain began its decline in the early part of the 20th century but the root cause of the demise can be traced back to a few decades earlier when Spain was forced to fight the newly emerging superpower called the United States of America

Primo de Rivera

By losing its colonies Spain bid goodbye to an Empire that made the nation great for hundreds of years . After losing prestige in the international scene , Spain began to disintegrate into too many factions Luis Moreno summed up the innumerable political problems of Spain in the 19th century and he wrote

The political history of 19th century Spain is riddled with numerous conspiracies involving groups and leaders advocating , in many cases identical concepts and forms of government . Throughout the century , a myriad of influential people and opportunists came and went , hoping to take part in shaping the country , and producing only convulsions decadence and instability (Moreno , 1997 ,

.17

As a result of the political bickering and the numerous dissenting factions , those who are truly patriotic and those who had the power to make changes such as King Alfonso XII who decided that a military solution is better than chaos and that dictatorship is better than civil war and supported Primo de Rivera the dictator . But the economic downturn and the discontentment of even the army , Primo de Rivera was ousted as leader and King Alfonso returned as ruler of Spain . But the king was unable to last long and after the 1931 elections he was sent to exile into Italy (Simonis , 2005 ,

.40

Anarchists , Syndicalists , Socialists , and Conservatists

The Anarchists wanted to bring Spain back to when life was more idyllic . Where it is simpler and not made complicated by imperfect laws and flawed leadership . There is an emphasis man being free and not shackled by the dictates of others (Brenan , 1990 ,

.135 . Considering the political mess that Spain was embroiled in the 1930s it is easily understandable why there are those who wanted to join this group . A major influence for the rise of such an ideology is the fall of the Empire and the failure of the monarchy to guide Spain to new heights

The Syndicalists , like the Anarchists wanted reform . But they differ in their methods . While the Anarchist would have nothing to do with authority and rule of law , the Syndicalists will not mind the presence of strong government as long as they get...