Spanish Civil War

1. Briefly explain the rise, rule and fall of Miguel Primo de Rivera.
In 1923 Primo de Rivera overthrew the government in a military pronunciamiento (coup dfetat). Hardly anybody protested to his take over and once in charge he restored order to Spain. Initially it seemed he was doing a good job as he suppressed the anarchistfs trade union, the CNT and Catalan nationalism. He also brought peace to Morocco and during his rule experienced a short economic boom. The public became increasingly hostile towards Rivera and his former allies such as the wealthy classes, his military colleagues and Alfonso were no longer supporting him. His style of leadership was very close to that of Mussolinifs however most people did not object to the lack of political freedom or censorship until Rivera proved incapable of dealing with Wall Street Crash and its disastrous after effects. In January 1930 Primo de Rivera stepped down from his position. In elections the following year the republ...