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Political and social situation in Spain, 1936: situation is worrying

During Spanish Civil War and diplomatic turmoil, diplomats reported almost daily, and Danielsson also talked about impact of Soviet elections. strong > impact.

An example widely used by USSR during election campaign is that Barcelona trade unionists visited Uma only once, but later they closed entrance channel and foreign agitators had a lot of cash, and they successfully defeated them and allowed them to do so.

On other hand, there are rumors (denied by government) that they are already planning a coup with help of military and that military dictator Francisco Franco and some aviation personnel< /strong> was arrested at an air base near Madrid.

Political and social situation in Spain, 1936: situation is worrying

At end of February 1936 Friends of Soviet Union visited new Minister of State Barsia, demanding normalization of trade and diplomatic relations between Soviet Union. and Spanish Republic, And complete this task in a short time.

March 1936 Swedish Minister to Spain is concerned about situation and insists that situation in Spain is so alarming that headlines "Calls for Order" will appear in major Swedish newspapers and calmness on part of government and leaders was ignored by country's broad masses and far left as they embarked on a "policy of violence and terror" to maximize their electoral victory.

In some places they, like Canarians, "thwarted communist attempt to establish a Soviet regime," in words of Danielson: is still tense, and rumors are so numerous that diplomats do not know what to do.”

Political and social situation in Spain, 1936: situation is worrying

They will "establish Soviet power in Spain" or a dictatorship with or without help of right, working masses resumed their "terrorism" policies, they wrote to government, what could catastrophic consequences for country.

Every day there is news about burning of churches and monasteries, even foreigners face inhuman violence, most worrying is passivity of authorities in front of these actions, which government of Azania considers a clear indication of uncertainty.

If situation does not change, we should worry about reaction of political opponents with intervention of military, a Spanish politician told me that he is very pessimistic about fact that a large part of citizens of Spain turned to left politics, and current situation in Spain is very similar to situation in Russia under Kerensky.

Political and social situation in Spain, 1936: situation is worrying

This is not first time Danielson has compared situation in Spain to Russia under Kerensky, but this time he explicitly mentioned possibility of a "civil war" rather than a military coup.

Instructing their representatives to try to form a proletarian government in Spain, with consequences of nationalization of banks, confiscation of factories, railways and land, and keeping away from Spanish region of Morocco< /strong>.

March 14 Danielson was supposed to inform diplomats about assassination attempt by Jiménez de Azua by a "fascist student" >, Swedish State Ministry requested. can Spain be considered safe enough for Swedish tourists, initial answer was yes, but after a few days they corrected this opinion and began not to recommend Swedes to visit Spain.

Political and social situation in Spain, 1936: situation is worrying

Danielsson once again characterized political and social situation in republic in a very dirty way: "Despite some lull, situation is still worrying".

Azania, after military threatened to take over public order, obey law and postpone elections as left seized power in some cities, created danger of creation of local Soviets, which would mean "A step forward in Bolshevization project of Spain"< /strong>.

In addition, Danielsson is trying to explain progressive radicalization to his government (Social Democrats), where there used to be two currents, revolutionary and democratic, where Islamic Dalecio Prieto >, < strong>González Peña and Lago Caballero were revolutionaries whose goal was to overcome dictatorship of proletariat by violent means is no different from theory of despotism.

Political and social situation in Spain, 1936: situation is worrying

If party split into several factions, most people would follow Lenin in Spain, now people called "The Great Knight", Union of Youth and Liberals is a good example of radicalization of left wing of Spanish workers. “The party that explains prospects for party congress and Largo Cavalier's proposal to change immediate goals of party, its goals are as follows.

1. The workers seize power by all available means.

2. With replacement of private and cooperative property by collective property, in interim period between capitalism and socialism, form of government will be dictatorship of proletariat.

3. The extremist trend in Spanish Workers' Party seems to exist mainly in Madrid, while provincial organizations, with exception of Andalusia, do not support it anywhere else.

Political and social situation in Spain, 1936: situation is worrying

From May to July 1936 Swedish authorities increasingly closely monitored political and social situation in Spain, and there was a diplomatic war between foreign ministries of Spain and Sweden. Spain, and finally Minister Danielson, in accordance with decision of new President of Republic, considers Don Manuel Azan outcome of political development of Spain as solidarity.

This situation contrasts with close monitoring of Republic's domestic politics by Swedish diplomats in Madrid, which draws attention to simplicity of American foreign policy.

In fact, apart from Spanish-Soviet relations and Spain's attitude towards Chak and Abyssinian conflicts, within League of Nations, Swedish diplomatic corps rarely mentioned Republic in relation to other Pavskis, this is also in stark contrast to position, observed by Spanish diplomats in Stockholm.

Political and social situation in Spain, 1936: situation is worrying

They often reported on relations between Sweden and major powers of time, apart from relations with Soviet Union and any issues related to disarmament or trade policy issues, most of references to Spanish foreign policy in Swedish diplomatic reports were about Mediterranean environment: France, Italy and Morocco.

By end of April 1931 all Paphas who had diplomatic relations with Alfonso of Spain recognized new republican regime, although, of course, most pressing problems of first months of republic were more domestic than international. , one of exceptions in this regard is relations with France.

Over past few months, trade disputes of monarchy and problems of Morocco, as well as destabilizing actions of Germany and Soviet Union, have been felt. In Morocco, Danielson reported on changes brought about by advent of republic.

Political and social situation in Spain, 1936: situation is worrying

The appointment of Consul General of Gibraltar López Ferrer as Commissioner General of Morocco and General Cabanella as Military Commander-in-Chief, he suppressed foreign media rumors that Spanish Republic would withdraw from Morocco, but they were immediately dismissed by Department of State denied this.

Spain wants to follow example of France by pursuing a more peaceful and civilized policy, encouraging cooperation with local tribes in peaceful areas, with aim of halving budget and significantly reducing Spanish military presence.

However, Ben Aziba Tazuta seems to be making life difficult for Spain, fearing he will become new Abdul Kerim>, a Marocoff delegation has arrived in Madrid to make a request to government.

Political and social situation in Spain, 1936: situation is worrying

The embassy also conveyed Indalecio Prieto's statement that Spanish Republic is not imperialist and does not care about Morocco, which will only get him into trouble, so he is thinking of putting others countries at head of protectorates to allocate a budget line corresponding to development of culture.

Conservative Spanish media protested that this would be Spain's political suicide and France recalled that Spain's 1912 promise to take over its Moroccan region was impossible. On this subject matter, Prieto had to defend himself by arguing that he was speaking in his personal capacity and had only issued a declaration of principles.

The next issue of Spanish foreign policy in Swedish report was issue of disarmament, they discussed pacifist policy of Republic with Soviet Union, Danielsson in December 1931 with Minister of State Luis de This issue is discussed in speech of Luis de Zulueta.

Political and social situation in Spain, 1936: situation is worrying

This topic will again be subject of a special report signed by Clerk Inar Ytterberg, who commented on Azania's speech in Parliament on Army's statement July 30, 1932 on restructuring of Spanish defense policy, most notably opening statement on need a strong army that would give Spain freedom to determine its position.

Iterberg Expressing surprise that Spanish media ignored statements, diplomat warned France and Italy that Spain wants to play a more active role in Mediterranean politics, especially in a possible Italian-French conflict in region.

"Support your northern neighbor with whom you have so much in common." More than once in government circles it has been said about need to maintain friendly relations with Emmy of Republic, but in these circles Italy is silent.

Political and social situation in Spain, 1936: situation is worrying

October 1932, The President of France visited Spain, this was commented by Spanish and foreign media in same sense, which saw it as an attempt to win a republic for French. question of defense, and question of attitude towards Germany and Italy, but such French pressure on Spain will not have any result.

All relations with France that are not entirely to liking of Spanish Republic are partly due to trade competition between two countries, especially when "Friendly Republic" assumes Spain" "Guardian", Sweden stated that it was a fight for honor of French ambassador Herbert.

January, Miguel de Unamuno asked him to save Spain from danger of civil war Luis de Zuluetal was very angry that after General After coup Saluccio, republic began to change way of entering civil service, and this also affected foreign administration.

Political and social situation in Spain, 1936: situation is worrying

After court accused many diplomats of being "monarchists and reactionaries", Danielson agrees with this extreme view, a bill proposed by Spain's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Luis de Zuluerta. The democratization of missions, including possibility of expelling diplomats at minister's suggestion, was not widely supported.

According to Sweden's official position, many Spanish diplomats considered Minister of State to be dangerously pushy. He turned out to be a "cultist". Diplomatic concerns over Republic's decision to renegotiate trade agreements with other countries eventually canceled Most Favored Nation.

This issue has serious implications for Sweden and is of great concern to both Swedes and Spaniards, and is also a cause of international tension in republic,with arrival of López Olivan in Sweden, between two countries. Political relations have accelerated significantly.

Political and social situation in Spain, 1936: situation is worrying

However, Lopez Oli Van's initiatives were not always based on a clear foreign policy strategy of Spanish Republic, for example, Ricard Sandler wrote June 1, 1933 in conversations with Spanish diplomats.

"The Spanish minister, who was present on June 1st for a discussion with Minister Ondon of position of London meeting, did not make a clear statement about policy of Spanish government, but he believed that we could cooperate in London, and he himself would be part of delegation."

All these problems were reflected in foreign policy of Spain as a reaction to Hitler's rise to power in Germany. At time, Swedish mission reported that, with exception of newspapers, which were close to original position, they openly criticized all dictatorships and made "particularly harsh statements" in particular against Nazi regime.

Political and social situation in Spain, 1936: situation is worrying

Linking this to demonstrations outside German embassy was goal of Italy and Portugal, where government of republic found it necessary to urge press not to offend head of state and foreign diplomatic representatives, which was unacceptable to left-wing media.

Relations between two governments are tense, however, as relations with Germany are managed only by Swedish diplomats, diplomatic aspects of Spain remain unclear.

Links:

"Spain's policy of neutrality"

"Bloody Sands: Spanish Civil War"

"Changing Trends and Experiences: Foreign Policy Lectures 1937-1939"

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