Second Republic
The Second Republic of Spain had many problems, as there was grave unemployment, old kingdoms no longer flourished due to the First World War and there was a common rejection of old ideas. The people were unsure of what to do; presenting the opportunity for ideologies such as Socialism, Communism and Fascism to promise better futures and influence the people. In fact a conflict of beliefs could be said to be a key factor in the outbreak of Spain’s civil war. Socialists and Communists were certain that to step towards a better, fairer world order State ownership of the major industries was necessary. The Communists blamed the middle and upper classes for all working-class suffering and looked readily towards Russia for guidance. The Fascist influence followed the belief that a country could only be improved by a group of ‘superior’ men taking over, involving a new aristocracy[1]. This meant one party rule; a dictatorship instead of democracy and led also to any other ideas being treated as wrong. Dictators Mussolini in Italy and Hitler in Germany greatly influenced Spanish Fascism. With conflicting ideals prevalent in Spanish society, many age-old battles were fought during the Second Republic. Eventually all the more revolutionary parties, Republicans, Socialists and Communists, united in what was called the ‘Popular Front’ to win the election of 16 February 1936. Their enemies feared the country would go Communist, prompting the opposition led by many army officers to act against this new party; it was a revolt that would begin the Civil War.