Book contents
- Why Democracy Failed
- Cambridge Studies in Economic History
- Why Democracy Failed
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Tables
- Acknowledgements
- Notes on the Regional Division of Spain
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Part I The European Experience: Economic and Political Development, 1870–1939
- Part II Spanish Agriculture, Economic Development, and Democracy
- Part III Explaining the Weakness of the Family Farm
- Part IV Rural Elites, Poverty, and the Attempts at Land Reform
- Part V Rural Conflicts and the Polarization of Village Society
- 9 Creating Parties, Political Alliances, and Interest Groups: Rural Politics in the 1930s
- 10 The Growing Polarization of Rural Society during the Second Republic
- Conclusion
- Book part
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index
9 - Creating Parties, Political Alliances, and Interest Groups: Rural Politics in the 1930s
from Part V - Rural Conflicts and the Polarization of Village Society
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 April 2020
- Why Democracy Failed
- Cambridge Studies in Economic History
- Why Democracy Failed
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Tables
- Acknowledgements
- Notes on the Regional Division of Spain
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Part I The European Experience: Economic and Political Development, 1870–1939
- Part II Spanish Agriculture, Economic Development, and Democracy
- Part III Explaining the Weakness of the Family Farm
- Part IV Rural Elites, Poverty, and the Attempts at Land Reform
- Part V Rural Conflicts and the Polarization of Village Society
- 9 Creating Parties, Political Alliances, and Interest Groups: Rural Politics in the 1930s
- 10 The Growing Polarization of Rural Society during the Second Republic
- Conclusion
- Book part
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
This chapter examines how different political groups organized the rural sector during the Second Republic. Socialism remained heavily influenced by orthodox Marxism, and their policies centred almost exclusively on improving the living standards of the landless labourers, a group that represented just 5 per cent of Spain’s active population. Both large and small family farmers had to pay higher wagers at a time of weak farm prices and technical difficulties to increasing farm output.The legislation of the first republican-socialist coalition governments of 1931 and 1932 threatened traditional property rights and religious privileges, finally drawing both the Church and rural elites into mass party competitive politics. While a small but influential sector never accepted either the 1931 Constitution or a democratic republic, a new conservative party (CEDA) attracted support from across the country in defence of property rights, the Church, and Spain’s political unity. By 1933, it claimed around 800,000 members. The chapter ends by showing how the significant regional land-tenure regimes helped develop strong regional political movements in Galicia and Catalonia.
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- Why Democracy FailedThe Agrarian Origins of the Spanish Civil War, pp. 203 - 225Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020