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The 1931 Spanish general election for the Constituent Cortes was the first such election held in the Second Republic. It took place in several rounds.


Background

General Primo de Rivera, who had run a military dictatorship in Spain since 1923, resigned as head of government in January 1930.Preston (2006). p. 36. There was little support for a return to the pre-1923 system, and the monarchy had lost credibility by backing the military government.
Dámaso Berenguer Dámaso Berenguer y Fusté, 1st Count of Xauen (4 August 1873 – 19 May 1953) was a Spanish general and politician. He served as Prime Minister of Spain, Prime Minister during the last thirteen months of the reign of Alfonso XIII. Biography ...
was ordered by the king to form a replacement government, but his dictablanda dictatorship failed to provide a viable alternative.Preston (2006). p. 37. In the municipal elections of 12 April 1931, little support was shown for pro-monarchy parties in the major cities. King Alfonso XIII fled the country and the
Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII. ...
was formed. The Second Republic was a source of hope to the poorest in Spanish society and a threat to the richest, but had broad support from all segments of society. Niceto Alcalá-Zamora was the first prime minister of the Republic. The wealthier landowners and the middle class accepted the Republic because of the lack of any suitable alternative.


Electoral system

An electoral law of May 1931 replaced the previous single-member constituencies with much larger multi-member ones. The Senate was abolished and so the government became
unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...
. There would be one seat for every 50,000 people, with a separate seat for any city with more than 100,000 inhabitants.Payne (1993). p. 47. Any
electoral list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can c ...
gaining an outright majority of votes in a district would be guaranteed and simultaneously restricted to 80% of the seats. A list winning a plurality of votes but failing to win a majority would receive two thirds of the seats. The remainder would be passed to the second list if it received 20% of the vote. Voters were entitled to vote for as many or as few districts as they liked. The system favoured multi-party coalitions, which could thus win a majority of votes.Payne (1993). p. 48. The election was the first not run by the '' El Turno Pacífico'' and encasillado system which assigned seats prior to the election. Women were unable to vote in this election, but they could stand for and be elected to office. They achieved the vote in the Constitution of December 1931 and were able to vote for the first time in 1933, before those in France and some other countries.


Campaign

The Liberal Republican Right (DLR) was led by Alcalá Zamora and
Miguel Maura Miguel Maura Gamazo (13 December 1887 – 3 July 1971) was a Spanish politician who served as the Ministry of the Interior (Spain), minister of interior in 1931 being the first politician to hold the post in the Second Spanish Republic. He was th ...
. Uniquely, it identified as Catholic and did the most to appeal to monarchists and those on the right. However, despite putting up 116 candidates across Spain, it led a poor campaign, which was poorly organised.Payne (1993). p. 49. Led by Alejandro Lerroux, the
Radical Republican Party The Radical Republican Party (), 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 minor role in Spanish parlia ...
occupied most of the middle ground and was far more successful at winning conservative, moderate support. Such conservatism was at odds with most republicans, who believed greater reforms were necessary to bring about stability. That was the case with the Radical Socialist Party, led by Álvaro de Albornoz and Marcelino Domingo, which promulgated extremist views. "There is nothing to be conserved", Albornoz argued.
Manuel Azaña Manuel Azaña Díaz (; 10 January 1880 – 3 November 1940) was a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain, Prime Minister of the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1933 and 1936), organizer of the Popular Front in 1935 and the la ...
led the Republican Action Party. Azaña was keen to change the political system quickly – he hated the moderation and compromise being argued by Lerroux. The
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( , PSOE ) is a Social democracy, social democratic Updated as required.The PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * List of political parties in Spain, political party ...
stood to the left of the political spectrum, and was kept in line with the coalition by a majority of its leadership, rather than unanimously. A legal revolution was necessary, argued a key figure, Largo Caballero. However, extremists inside and outside of the party loomed as potential competition, and the party's line was thus that the coalition was only a stepping stone to a fully-socialist state. The official instructions were that civil authorities were not to interfere with the vote; but in some areas ''ad hoc'' republican patrols were set up, which undoubtedly deterred some conservatives from voting. Some members of councils stood; some provincial governors did the same, but not it their own area of governance.Payne (1993). pp. 47–48. The Republican-Socialist coalition dominated the campaigning; the right, still reeling at the loss of the monarchy, remained disorganised. Only in one area did the right manage to collectivise sufficiently: the Basque Country. Many members of the right switched to republicans, despite having little in common with them: one group in
Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...
went under the contradictory name the "Monarchist-Republican Party".


Results

The Republic and Socialist coalition won a huge victory and was helped by a public that was more liberally inclined than in 1933 or 1936. The lowest turnout, 56%, was in
Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain#Autonomous cities, autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta is one of th ...
; the highest, 88%, in
Palencia Palencia () is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Palencia. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, in the northern half of ...
. Broadly speaking, turnout was higher in the north than in the south. Overall, turnout was around 70% which was considered high.Payne (1993). p. 50. The Socialists won around 2,000,000 votes; Republicans 1,700,000, Radical Socialists 1,350,000 and the Liberal Republican Right 950,000.Payne notes the difficulty in separating votes between parties because of the wide range of coalitions and other problems.


Votes

Summary of the 28 June 1931 election results:See both and .


Seats

Party divisions at the start of the Cortes, after seats had been awarded between coalitions:


References


Notes


Citations


Sources

* * * * {{Spanish elections
General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
1931 in Spain 1931 June 1931 in Europe