How was Spain's Second Republic proclaimed in 1931?

The Second Republic

La proclamación de la Segunda República

14 April 1931. Republican parties won in the big cities in the local elections of 12 April 1931, and on 14 April the Second Republic was proclaimed; King Alfonso XIII left…

Where: Spain, Madrid

What happened

Republican parties won in the big cities in the local elections of 12 April 1931, and on 14 April the Second Republic was proclaimed; King Alfonso XIII left the country without abdicating. The constitution of December 1931 separated Church and state and gave women the vote, after a famous debate won by the deputy Clara Campoamor; women first voted in a general election on 19 November 1933. The Republic opened schools across the country, attempted land reform and gave Catalonia self-government, but it faced strikes, political violence and fierce opposition from both left and right.

Say it

En 1933 las mujeres votaron por primera vez en unas elecciones generales.

In 1933 women voted for the first time in a general election.

Why it matters

The Republic was Spain's first full democracy, with votes for women two decades before most of Latin America, and its memory, defended or attacked, has shaped Spanish politics ever since.

Connected

• The Constitution of 1917 and Article 27 (5 February 1917)
• The Constitution of 1917 and Article 27 (5 February 1917)
• The Generation of '27 and Lorca (16 December 1927–August 1936)
• The Spanish Civil War (17 July 1936–1 April 1939)
• The Spanish Civil War (17 July 1936–1 April 1939)
• The Constitution of 1978 (6 December 1978)

• Before: The Generation of '27 and Lorca
• After: The Spanish Civil War

Sources

1. Biografía de Alfonso XIII — Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes
2. 1 de octubre de 1931: la sesión en la que las mujeres dan el gran paso — Congreso de los Diputados (blog)
3. Constitución de 1931 — Congreso de los Diputados
4. Ley 20/2022, de 19 de octubre, de Memoria Democrática (preámbulo) — Boletín Oficial del Estado