Spanish general election, 1933

Background

Elections in June 1931 had returned a large majority of Republicans and Socialists to the Cortes, with the PSOE gaining 116 seats and the Radical Republican Party 94. The state's financial position was poor. Wealth redistribution supported by the new government attracted criticism from the wealthy. The government also attempted to tackle poverty in rural areas by instituting an eight-hour day and giving security of tenure to farm workers, drawing criticism from landlords.

An effective parliamentary opposition was led by three groups. The first included Catholic movements such as the Catholic Association of Propagandists (Asociación Católica de Propagandistas). The second group consisted of organisations that had supported the monarchy, such as the Renovación Española and Carlists, who wanted to see the new republic overthrown in a violent uprising. The third group were fascist organisations. Members of the National Confederation of Labour (Confederación Nacional del Trabajo, or CNT) trade union movement willing to cooperate with the Republic were forced out of the CNT, which continued to oppose the government. Opposition parties had the support of the church. A new constitution was ratified on 9 December 1931. It included many controversial articles, some of which were aimed at curbing the influence of the Catholic Church. The constitution was reformist, liberal, and democratic in nature, and was welcomed by the Republican-Socialist coalition, but opposed by landowners, industrialists, the organised church, and army officers. In opposing educational and religious reforms, Spanish Catholics were forced to oppose the government. The press criticised government actions as barbaric, unjust, and corrupt.

In October 1931 Prime Minister Niceto Alcalá Zamora resigned and was succeeded by Manuel Azaña. Radical Party leader Alejandro Lerroux had wanted that job himself and became alienated, switching his party's support to the opposition. This left Azaña dependent on the Socialists, but both the Socialists, who favoured reform, and the conservative right, who were against reform, were critical of the government. Socialists continued to support Azaña, but the left became fractured, driving the Socialists to the left, while the right united into CEDA, which tacitly embraced fascism.

On 1 October 1933, Socialist left leader Largo Cabellero spoke out against Lerroux's Republicans, suggesting the reform programme of the government, and thus the basis for the Republic itself, was under threat. He warned that if the government itself were the threat, the Socialists would have to withdraw support for it. The following day another Socialist leader, Indalecio Prieto, declared that the Socialists would no longer participate in government, which precipitated its collapse. Alcalá Zamora, who became President in 1931, now requested that Republican Martínez Barrio form a new government. Socialist opposition on both constitutional and ideological grounds meant the PSOE withheld its support for the Barrio government, which was formed on 8 October, but called for fresh elections to be held on 19 November 1933.

Election

In common with the 1936 election, Spain was divided into multi-member constituencies; for example, Madrid had 17 representatives. However, each member of the electorate could vote for somewhat less than that – in Madrid's case, 13. This favoured coalitions, as in Madrid when the Socialists won 13 members and the right, with only 5,000 votes less, secured only the remaining 4. This system had been passed in 1933. There would be two rounds of voting; 40% of the vote was necessary in the first round to win. In the event that no list of candidates reached 40%, then a second round would be composed of those achieving at least 8% in the first round. It was the first election in Spain where women had the vote, following the new constitution. This incorporated a new 6,800,000 electors.

The governing leftist parties went to the polls divided. The political right, on the other hand, formed the Union of the Right (Spanish: Unión de Derechas) which incorporated CEDA, agrarian parties and traditionalists. It stood on a three-point programme: religious and social reforms would be examined and rolled back where needed; agrarian reform would be reversed; political prisoners would be released. These parties threw vast resources into their campaign, with ten million leaflets, 300,000 posters, radio and cinema addresses and aerial propaganda drops. They called upon Catholics to defend order and religion against the bourgeois Republic. The Radical Party campaigned primarily against the Socialists, since they would need the help of the political right if in government. They used mass-appeal slogans such as 'Republic, order, freedom, social justice, amnesty' and were confident following successes at municipal level in 1933. Anarchists such as the CNT-FAI called for absention: politicians were 'vultures', who must be overthrown by revolution. If the right were to win the election, there would be an uprising, they promised. Thus, anarchists should avoid voting for the left, since overthrowing the government would be preferable. Abstention was supported by Benito Pábon and Miguel Abós.

Elections were held on 19 November 1933. A second round of voting was held in sixteen constituencies on 3 December.

Outcome

It resulted in an overwhelming victory for the right, with the CEDA and the Radicals together winning 219 seats. Although the political situation was complicated, parties of the right won around 3,365,700 votes, parties of the centre 2,051,500 votes, and parties of the left 3,118,000 according to one estimate. Turnout was around 8,535,200 votes, 67.5% of the electorate. The right had spent far more on their election campaign than the Socialists, who campaigned alone. Women, in their first election, mainly voted for the centre-right. The Communist Party, with perhaps 3,000 members, were at this point not significant. Nationalist Basques won twelve of seventeen Basque seats, a considerable victory. Keeping their promise, the CNT proclaimed a revolution. There were many reasons the Socialists and Republicans lost out; the female vote alone cannot explain the shift. Among them was the disunity of the political left compared to the right, in a system that favoured broad coalitions. The Radicals and their supporters had also shifted to the right. Abstentionalism hindered Socialist and Republican candidates. Overall, the political system in Spain had changed dramatically since the last election.

The Renovación Española and the Spanish Nationalist Party (Spanish: Partido Nacionalista Español, PNE) formed the National Block (Spanish: Bloque Nacional), with a total of 14 deputies. Similarly, the Republican Left of Catalonia (Catalan: Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, ERC), the Socialist Union of Catalonia (Unió Socialista de Catalunya, USC) and the Union of Rabassaires (Unió de Rabassaires, UdR) formed the Catalan Left (Esquerra Catalana) with 18 deputies. Five independents joined the Agrarians and one joined CEDA. The other seven, along with one member of Conservative Republican Party (Spanish: Partido Republicano Conservador, PRC), formed a group of independents called the Independent Right (Independiente de Derechas). The Mallorcan Regionalist deputy joined the Catalan League (Lliga Catalana), and the independent in favour of the Estella Statute joined the Basque Nationalist Party (Partido Nacionalista Vasco). 5 members of the Agrarians and one of the PRC joined CEDA, although the Agrarians as a whole resisted pressure to join CEDA, and formed the Spanish Agrarian Party (Partido Agrario Español).

President of the Republic, Niceto Alcalá Zamora entrusted the formation of a cabinet to Alejandro Lerroux, who was reliant on the support of CEDA.

Seats

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

After reorganisation

This left the following divisions in the Cortes: