Origins and Causes of the Spanish Civil War - Economic Disparity

7 important questions on Origins and Causes of the Spanish Civil War - Economic Disparity

What is a quote which summarizes the economic disparity within Spain?

"Half of Spain ate but did not work; and the other half worked but did not eat" - Antony Beevor
This means that a small group of landowners (latifundistas) monopolised most of the wealth in Spain whilst the majority of the population slaved away on the fields earning very little.

Given an example of economic injustice within Spain?

Braceros were landless labourers; found often in Southern Large estates which exploited the cheap landless labourers as they had bought up former royal and Church land sold in the 19th Century.
Before the republic there were:
  • No employment laws
  • Trade Unions were banned
  • No state welfare

Therefore the Braceros were often exploited, living on the edge of starvation and working from sunrise to sunset.

What was the effect of the economic disparity within Spain?

Poverty led people to turn to extreme ideologies:
  1. Socialism
  2. Communism
  3. Anarchism "no god, no property, no bosses" - particularly anarchism because so much of the resentment came from the economic disparity due to land ownership
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What is an example of the extreme unequal distribution of rural wealth and landholding within Spain?

Cordoba province (Southern Spain): Where landowners who were 7% of the population controlled 52% of the land.

Did the situation get better prior to the Second Republic or worse for poor farmers?

The situation got even worse for poor farmers and braceros, because:
  • Population Grew
  • Inflation rose
  • agricultural wages were kept the same

What quote summarizes who made up the ruling class in Spain?

Preston calls the Spanish ruling class, the 'Unholy Trinity: the landowners, the clergymen and the officers in the army'

What were the two effects of the connection between the ruling class, before the Second Republic, and landowners?

  1. It was difficult for agricultural workers to protest against the unjust conditions due to the close relationship between the landowners, the government and the police
  2. The fact that the latifundista made up much of the ruling class meant that the rural Spanish population resented the Spanish Government before the Second Republic

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