Progressives call to end monarchy on the 90th anniversary of the Second Spanish Republic

90 years ago, on April 14, 1931, republican forces in Spain proclaimed the Second Spanish Republic by ousting the Monarch Alphonso XIII. Later, the Second Spanish Republic was sabotaged by right-wing groups under the leadership of General Francisco Franco.

April 16, 2021 by Peoples Dispatch
Spanish communists call for an end to the monarchy on the anniversary of the Second Spanish Republic. Photo: Twitter

On April 14, Wednesday, progressive sections in Spain commemorated the 90th anniversary of the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic. Leftist, republican groups organized a rally in Madrid on the anniversary and called to end the reign of monarchy in Spain and establishment of a socialist republic in the country.

The fallen Republican heroes of Spanish Civil War were also remembered in the various events organized across Spain. Groups including the Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE), Communist Youth of Peoples of Spain (JCPE), Red Roja, Communist Initiative, Workers Front (FO), Communist Party of the Workers of Spain (PCTE) participated in the mobilizations on Wednesday.

90 years ago, on April 14, 1931, republican forces in Spain proclaimed the Second Spanish Republic by ousting the Monarch Alphonso XIII. Following that a new constitution came into effect which ensured women suffrage, civil marriage and divorce, secular education, granted freedom of religion to all, including non-catholic worship. The new constitution of the Second Spanish Republic nationalized properties possessed by the Roman Catholic Church and sought disestablishment of the several privileges of the Roman Catholic Church

By 1936, opponents of the republican state, including the nationalists, monarchists, conservatives and traditionalists organized under the leadership of general Francisco Franco and fought against the Popular Front government and its allies including communists, anarchists and trade unionists. Tens of thousands of international volunteers from across the world participated in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), in support of the Spanish Left and Republican forces and their defense of the Second Spanish Republic against the attack of the fascist hordes led by Francisco Franco. The Spanish Civil War had ended in 1939 by the defeat of the republican forces and establishment of the dictatorship of Francisco Franco in Spain which continued till the death of Franco in 1975. Even though parliamentary democracy has been restored in Spain, following Franco’s death, Spanish Constitution of 1978 re-established  a constitutional monarchy in the country.

Towards the 90th anniversary of the Second Spanish Republic, Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE) stated that “a republicanism that vehemently proclaims the Constitution of 1978 and defends without buts our adhesion to the EU, NATO, the Euro and the presence on the soil of the Spanish state of the North American bases, that republicanism is nothing more than a change so that nothing changes, It does not serve us for those of us who produce everything because it does not change our reality of exploitation and oppression.”