Disorder / End of the Monarch
In 1917, the dishonest elections came to an end as the army finally intervened, as many younger officers acted against the landowner government. The false election system was done away with, yet the old divisions between rich and poor in Spain remained. Nobody attempted to divide the grand estates which stayed to plague the countryside with beggars and braceros and the army was in favour of the rich. The country fell into disorder again; between 1918 and 1923 Spain had twelve governments. One newly appointed Prime Minister remarked gloomily, ‘We shall not last more than eight or ten days’[1]. Finally General Primo de Rivera, Captain General of Catalonia, seized power with the help of the army. Discipline was brought into Spanish life and his Government lasted seven years. Spain was given law and order, as he tried to improve roads, irrigate the dry areas, re-equip railways, install an efficient telephone system and develop hydroelectric power. However, he did not get on well with King and despised freedom as made apparent by his actions. His strict policies meant that the press could not print what it liked, political parties were banned and taxes hit peasants and shopkeepers hardest. The depression of the 1930’s meant unemployment rose in Spain and financially the country was a mess and subsequently Rivera fled abroad due to loss support from the army and the King. Spain was in a crisis and although King Alfonso XIII had many supporters, he feared a civil war and abdicated in April 1931. Thus, the Second Republic begun.