Elections to Spain's legislature, the
Cortes Generales
The Cortes Generales (; en, Spanish Parliament, lit=General Courts) are the bicameral legislative chambers of Spain, consisting of the Congress of Deputies (the lower house), and the Senate (the upper house).
The Congress of Deputies meets ...
, were held on 19 November 1933 for all 473 seats in the
unicameral
Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one.
Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...
Cortes of the
Second Spanish Republic
The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII, and was di ...
. Since the
previous elections of 1931, a
new constitution had been ratified, and the
franchise
Franchise may refer to:
Business and law
* Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees
* Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...
extended to more than six million women. The governing Republican-Socialist coalition had fallen apart, with the
Radical Republican Party
The Radical Republican Party ( es, Partido Republicano Radical), sometimes shortened to the Radical Party, was a Spanish Radical party in existence between 1908 and 1936. Beginning as a splinter from earlier Radical parties, it initially played a ...
beginning to support a newly united political right.
The right formed an electoral coalition, as was favoured by the new
electoral system
An electoral system or voting system is a set of rules that determine how elections and Referendum, referendums are conducted and how their results are determined. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments, while non-political ...
enacted earlier in the year. The
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources:
*
*
*
* political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gov ...
(''Partido Socialista Obrero Español'', or PSOE) won only 59 seats. The newly formed
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
conservative
Spanish Confederation of the Autonomous Right
The Confederación Española de Derechas Autónomas (, CEDA), was a Spanish political party in the Second Spanish Republic. A Catholic conservative force, it was the political heir to Ángel Herrera Oria's Acción Popular and defined itself in te ...
(''Confederación Española de Derechas Autónomas'' or CEDA) gained 115 seats and the Radicals 102. The right capitalised on disenchantment with the government among Catholics and other conservatives. CEDA campaigned on reversing the reforms that had been made under the Republic, and on freeing political prisoners.
Anarchist
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
s favoured abstention from the vote. These factors helped the election to result in significant victory for the right over the left.
Background
Elections in June 1931 had returned a large majority of Republicans and Socialists to the Cortes, with the PSOE gaining 116 seats and the Radical Republican Party 94. The state's financial position was poor. Wealth redistribution supported by the new government attracted criticism from the wealthy.
[Preston (2006). pp. 41–42.] The government also attempted to tackle poverty in rural areas by instituting an
eight-hour day
The eight-hour day movement (also known as the 40-hour week movement or the short-time movement) was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses.
An eight-hour work day has its origins in the 16 ...
and giving security of tenure to farm workers, drawing criticism from landlords.
An effective parliamentary opposition was led by three groups. The first included Catholic movements such as the Catholic Association of Propagandists (''
Asociación Católica de Propagandistas'').
[See also: :es:Asociación Católica de Propagandistas ][Preston (2006). p. 43.] The second group consisted of organisations that had supported the monarchy, such as the
Renovación Española
Spanish Renovation ( es, Renovación Española, RE) was a Spanish monarchist political party active during the Second Spanish Republic, advocating the restoration of Alfonso XIII of Spain as opposed to Carlism. Associated with the Acción Españo ...
and
Carlist
Carlism ( eu, Karlismo; ca, Carlisme; ; ) is a Traditionalism (Spain), Traditionalist and Legitimists (disambiguation), Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the House of Bourbon, Bourbon dynasty ...
s, who wanted to see the new republic overthrown in a violent uprising.
The third group were
fascist
Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
organisations.
[Preston (2006). p. 45.] Members of the
National Confederation of Labour
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, c ...
(''Confederación Nacional del Trabajo'', or CNT) trade union movement willing to cooperate with the Republic were forced out of the CNT, which continued to oppose the government. Opposition parties had the support of the church.
[Preston (2006). pp. 46–47.] A new constitution was ratified on 9 December 1931.
[Preston (2006). p. 53.] It included many controversial articles, some of which were aimed at curbing the influence of the Catholic Church.
[Thomas (1961). p. 46.] The constitution was reformist, liberal, and democratic in nature, and was welcomed by the Republican-Socialist coalition, but opposed by landowners, industrialists, the organised church, and army officers.
In opposing educational and religious reforms, Spanish Catholics were forced to oppose the government.
The press criticised government actions as barbaric, unjust, and corrupt.
[Preston (2006). p. 61.]
In October 1931 Prime Minister
Niceto Alcalá Zamora resigned and was succeeded by
Manuel Azaña
Manuel Azaña Díaz (; 10 January 1880 – 3 November 1940) was a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1933 and 1936), organizer of the Popular Front in 1935 and the last President of the Repu ...
. Radical Party leader Alejandro Lerroux had wanted that job himself and became alienated, switching his party's support to the opposition.
[Thomas (1961). p. 47.] This left Azaña dependent on the Socialists, but both the Socialists, who favoured reform, and the conservative right, who were against reform, were critical of the government.
[Preston (2006). pp. 54–55.] Socialists continued to support Azaña, but the left became fractured, driving the Socialists to the left, while the right united into CEDA, which tacitly embraced fascism.
[Thomas (1961). p. 67.]
On 1 October 1933, Socialist left leader
Largo Caballero
Francisco Largo Caballero (15 October 1869 – 23 March 1946) was a Spanish politician and trade unionist. He was one of the historic leaders of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and of the Workers' General Union (UGT). In 1936 and 19 ...
spoke out against Lerroux's Republicans, suggesting the reform programme of the government, and thus the basis for the Republic itself, was under threat. He warned that if the government itself were the threat, the Socialists would have to withdraw support for it. The following day another Socialist leader,
Indalecio Prieto
Indalecio Prieto Tuero (30 April 1883 – 11 February 1962) was a Spanish politician, a minister and one of the leading figures of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) in the years before and during the Second Spanish Republic.
Early life ...
, declared that the Socialists would no longer participate in government, which precipitated its collapse. Alcalá Zamora, who became President in 1931, now requested that Republican
Martínez Barrio form a new government. Socialist opposition on both constitutional and ideological grounds meant the PSOE withheld its support for the Barrio government, which was formed on 8 October, but called for fresh elections to be held on 19 November 1933.
Election
In common with the 1936 election, Spain was divided into
multi-member constituencies; for example,
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
had 17 representatives. However, each member of the electorate could vote for somewhat less than that – in Madrid's case, 13. This favoured coalitions, as in Madrid when the Socialists won 13 members and the right, with only 5,000 votes less, secured only the remaining 4. This system had been passed in 1933. There would be two rounds of voting; 40% of the vote was necessary in the first round to win. In the event that no list of candidates reached 40%, then a second round would be composed of those achieving at least 8% in the first round.
[Casanova (2010). p. 89.] It was the first election in Spain where women had the vote, following the
new constitution.
[Beevor (2006). p. 27.] This incorporated a new 6,800,000 electors.
The elections were held under Republican electoral law, which would guarantee a certain percentage of seats in a district to a plurality of votes no matter how weak the plurality. This law was amended in July 1933 to make it even more disproportionate (winning a plurality guaranteed 67% of seats and winning a majority guaranteed 80% of seats). This meant it strongly favoured coalitions and it had been passed by the Azaña government in the hopes it would secure electoral victory for the Spanish left.
The governing leftist parties went to the polls divided. The political right, on the other hand, formed the Union of the Right ( es, Unión de Derechas) which incorporated CEDA, agrarian parties and traditionalists. It stood on a three-point programme: religious and social reforms would be examined and rolled back where needed; agrarian reform would be reversed; political prisoners would be released.
These parties threw vast resources into their campaign, with ten million leaflets, 300,000 posters, radio and cinema addresses and aerial propaganda drops.
[Casanova (2010). p. 90.] They called upon Catholics to defend order and religion against the bourgeois Republic.
The Radical Party campaigned primarily against the Socialists, since they would need the help of the political right if in government. They used mass-appeal slogans such as 'Republic, order, freedom, social justice, amnesty' and were confident following successes at municipal level in 1933.
Anarchists such as the CNT-FAI called for abstention: politicians were 'vultures', who must be overthrown by revolution.
If the right were to win the election, there would be an uprising, they promised. Thus, anarchists should avoid voting for the left, since overthrowing the government would be preferable. Abstention was supported by
Benito Pábon and
Miguel Abós.
[Casanova (2010). p. 91.]
Elections were held on 19 November 1933.
A second round of voting was held in sixteen constituencies
on 3 December.
The campaign and elections were not without violence; thirty-four people were killed and far more injured, primarily by the political left but also by the political right.
Outcome
It resulted in an overwhelming victory for the right, with the CEDA and the Radicals together winning 219 seats.
[Thomas (1961). p. 66. allocates 207 seats to the political right.] Although the political situation was complicated, parties of the right won around 3,365,700 votes, parties of the centre 2,051,500 votes, and parties of the left 3,118,000 according to one estimate. Turnout was around 8,535,200 votes, 67.5% of the electorate. The right had spent far more on their election campaign than the Socialists, who campaigned alone.
[Preston (2006). pp. 63–65.] Women, in their first election, mainly voted for the centre-right.
Julián Casanova observes that while some republicans and socialists had argued in 1931 against women's suffrage on the grounds it would deliver votes to the right, the right's 1933 victory was the result of a general political rightward shift, rather than because of the female vote. The Communist Party, with perhaps 3,000 members, were at this point not significant. Nationalist Basques won twelve of seventeen Basque seats, a considerable victory. Keeping their promise, the CNT proclaimed a revolution.
There were many reasons the Socialists and Republicans lost out; the female vote alone cannot explain the shift. Among them was the disunity of the political left compared to the right, in a system that favoured broad coalitions. The Radicals and their supporters had also shifted to the right. Abstentionalism hindered Socialist and Republican candidates. Overall, the political system in Spain had changed dramatically since the last election.
The failure of the Spanish left was also partially attributable to the 1933 electoral law. The second Azaña government had amended the law to give disproportionate seats to pluralities and majorities, which ended up favouring broad coalitions. However, the refusal for the Socialists to collaborate with the left Republicans made such an left-wing alliance impossible, while the Spanish right had managed to form its own coalition.
The
Renovación Española
Spanish Renovation ( es, Renovación Española, RE) was a Spanish monarchist political party active during the Second Spanish Republic, advocating the restoration of Alfonso XIII of Spain as opposed to Carlism. Associated with the Acción Españo ...
and the
Spanish Nationalist Party
Spanish Nationalist Party (PNE; es, Partido Nacionalista Español) was a Spanish nationalist political party active in the Second Spanish Republic. The PNE was founded by José María Albiñana in 1930.
Ideology
The main points of the party plat ...
( es, Partido Nacionalista Español, PNE) formed the
National Block (), with a total of 14 deputies. Similarly, the
Republican Left of Catalonia
The Republican Left of Catalonia ( ca, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, ERC; ; generically branded as ) is a Catalan independence movement, pro-Catalan independence, social democracy, social-democratic List of political parties in Catalonia, p ...
(, ERC), the
Socialist Union of Catalonia
Socialist Union of Catalonia (in Catalan: ''Unió Socialista de Catalunya'') was the socialist political party in Catalonia, Spain. USC was formed through a split in Spanish Socialist Workers' Party in 1923. The main leader of USC was Joan Comor ...
(''Unió Socialista de Catalunya'', USC) and the
Union of Rabassaires (''Unió de Rabassaires'', UdR) formed the
Catalan Left (''Esquerra Catalana'') with 18 deputies.
Five independents joined the Agrarians and one joined CEDA. The other seven, along with one member of
Conservative Republican Party
The Conservative Republican Party (Portuguese: ''Partido Republicano Conservador'', PRC) was a Brazilian political party founded in October 1910 to represent the republican and oligarchic ideals of agrarian elites of states discontented with the d ...
( es, Partido Republicano Conservador, PRC), formed a group of independents called the Independent Right (''Independiente de Derechas''). The Mallorcan Regionalist deputy joined the
Catalan League (''Lliga Catalana''), and the independent in favour of the Estella Statute joined the
Basque Nationalist Party
The Basque Nationalist Party (, EAJ ; es, Partido Nacionalista Vasco, PNV; french: Parti Nationaliste Basque, PNB; EAJ-PNV), officially Basque National Party in English,) was rejected by party members in November 2011. Nonetheless, the party did ...
(''Partido Nacionalista Vasco''). 5 members of the Agrarians and one of the PRC joined CEDA, although the Agrarians as a whole resisted pressure to join CEDA, and formed the
Spanish Agrarian Party {{Unreferenced, date=December 2009
Spanish Agrarian Party (in Spanish: ''Partido Agrario Español'') was a political party in Spain during the Second Republic. Initially the party was known as Agrarian Party (''Partido Agrario'') but took the name ...
(''Partido Agrario Español'').
The left Republicans and Socialists attempted to pressure
Niceto Alcalá Zamora, the president of the Republic, into cancelling the election results. They did not contest the ballot results but simply rejected the center-right's victory; they argued the Republic was a leftist project and so only leftist parties should be allowed to govern. CEDA insisted it rejected violence and would follow the rules of the republic; Payne notes that while it had lost six members during the campaign to violence from the left, CEDA had not retaliated in kind. However, Payne also observed that CEDA had insisted on making constitutional changes to the republic that would make it much more conservative and Catholic in nature, which the political left equated to fascism.
The president of the Republic,
Niceto Alcalá Zamora entrusted the formation of a cabinet to
Alejandro Lerroux
Alejandro Lerroux García (4 March 1864, in La Rambla, Córdoba – 25 June 1949, in Madrid) was a Spanish politician who was the leader of the Radical Republican Party. He served as Prime Minister three times from 1933 to 1935 and held severa ...
, who was reliant on the support of CEDA.
This was because Zamora was concerned that CEDA had authoritarian tendencies and thus instead proposed a centrist government under Lerroux that would rely on CEDA's support, which Gil Robles accepted. The CNT responded with an insurrection attempt in December, in which almost one hundred people would die and over another hundred injured, though the deaths were confined to combatants. Two large bombs were detonated in Barcelona on 1 December while on 8 December, explosions and violence broke out in eight cities. Most fighting took place in Zaragoza and Barcelona but also occurred elsewhere, as did indiscriminate acts of terrorism; trains were derailed and in Valencia, a bridge was destroyed causing a wreckage. In the town of Villaneuva de la Serena, an army sergeant in charge of the local recruitment post mutinied, along with several soldiers and fifteen civilian anarchists. The mutiny was crushed the next day with seven of its members, including the sergeant, being killed. The CNT-FAI also took control of several small towns, declaring the establishment of libertarian communism, burning records and abolishing money. However, by 12 December the authorities had mostly regained control.
[Payne, Stanley G. The collapse of the Spanish republic, 1933-1936: Origins of the civil war. Yale University Press, 2008, pp.43-44]
Results
Seats
Party divisions at the start of the Cortes, after seats had been awarded between coalitions:
After reorganisation
This left the following divisions in the Cortes:
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
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{{Spanish elections
General
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
1933 in Spain
1933
Events
January
* January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand.
* January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...
November 1933 events