President of Spain and called on Azaña to form another government. Since Azaña had assumed the leadership of the government parties in the Cortes, he was the obvious choice: he was the one success of the new régime. But his promotion outraged the radical Lerroux, who regarded himself as representing the senior conscience of republicanism and who soon passed, with his ninety followers, into opposition. 2 Thereafter, the government was strictly anti-clerical, being a coalition of republicans of Azaña’s way of thinking, and of socialists. Alcalá Zamora admittedly became the first President of the republic. So it could not have been said that the Catholics were wholly excluded from the régime.
The constitution became law at the end of 1931. It remained for the government to introduce the legislation which would enact all its clauses. The ministers busied themselves first with a law ‘for the defence of the republic’. The constitution provided for the suspension of all guarantees of freedom for thirty days, in the case of an emergency. The scheme empowered the minister of the interior to suspend public meetings. A modest income tax was introduced for the first time in Spain. These things were vigorously fought by the few right-wing deputies. Then, on the last day of 1931, a terrible incident occurred which caught the attention of the whole country.
In the wild and empty region of Estremadura, near the monastery of Guadalupe, there stood a small
pueblo
of nine hundred inhabitants named Castilblanco. The conditions here were much as they were elsewhere in the region. There was no special shortage of food. Violence was previously unknown. The local socialists desired to demonstrate, along with others in other
pueblos,
against the unpopular civil governor of Badajoz. Permission to do so was refused. They determined to go ahead. The civil guard then came to the defence of the authorities.
The civil guard (‘
la Benemérita
’, the ‘well deserving’, as it was known by the middle class) numbered about 30,000. It had been established in 1844 to keep order in the countryside, then agitated by bandits using guerrilla methods successfully employed against the armies of Napoleon. The civil guard was led by a general and serving officers. Many of the rank and file were ex-regular soldiers. With their green uniforms, three-cornered hats, their Mauser rifles, and gaunt barracks, this police force was regarded as an army of occupation. Members of the civil guard never served in the part of Spain from whence they came. They were not encouraged to be friendly with anyone in the village where they were quartered. They had a reputation for ruthlessness. ‘When one joins the civil guard,’ wrote the novelist Ramón Sender, ‘one declares civil war.’ 1 The personnel during the republic, being the same as those of the monarchy, were as rough in the 1930s as they had been in the 1920s.
In Castilblanco in 1931, the civil guard were as unpopular as elsewhere in Spain. Their fate was terrible. When they tried to prevent the holding of the socialist meeting, the village fell upon them. Four were killed. Their eyes were gouged out. Their bodies were mutilated. On one of the bodies thirty-seven knife wounds were afterwards discovered; and, as in the town of Fuenteovejuna in Lope de Vega’s play of that name, there was no possibility of bringing the killers to trial. The village, no single person, was responsible. 2 This tragedy was followed by several comparable, but less dramatic, events in other
pueblos.
In Arnedo (Logroño) the civil guards wreaked vengeance and killed seven peaceful demonstrators. The civil guard were everywhere on the offensive after Castilblanco. But in Sallent, in the valley of the Llobregat near Barcelona, the CNT took over the town, raised a red flag on the town hall, abolished private property and money, and declared themselves an independent society. The government took five days torecapture the town. Many
The constitution became law at the end of 1931. It remained for the government to introduce the legislation which would enact all its clauses. The ministers busied themselves first with a law ‘for the defence of the republic’. The constitution provided for the suspension of all guarantees of freedom for thirty days, in the case of an emergency. The scheme empowered the minister of the interior to suspend public meetings. A modest income tax was introduced for the first time in Spain. These things were vigorously fought by the few right-wing deputies. Then, on the last day of 1931, a terrible incident occurred which caught the attention of the whole country.
In the wild and empty region of Estremadura, near the monastery of Guadalupe, there stood a small
pueblo
of nine hundred inhabitants named Castilblanco. The conditions here were much as they were elsewhere in the region. There was no special shortage of food. Violence was previously unknown. The local socialists desired to demonstrate, along with others in other
pueblos,
against the unpopular civil governor of Badajoz. Permission to do so was refused. They determined to go ahead. The civil guard then came to the defence of the authorities.
The civil guard (‘
la Benemérita
’, the ‘well deserving’, as it was known by the middle class) numbered about 30,000. It had been established in 1844 to keep order in the countryside, then agitated by bandits using guerrilla methods successfully employed against the armies of Napoleon. The civil guard was led by a general and serving officers. Many of the rank and file were ex-regular soldiers. With their green uniforms, three-cornered hats, their Mauser rifles, and gaunt barracks, this police force was regarded as an army of occupation. Members of the civil guard never served in the part of Spain from whence they came. They were not encouraged to be friendly with anyone in the village where they were quartered. They had a reputation for ruthlessness. ‘When one joins the civil guard,’ wrote the novelist Ramón Sender, ‘one declares civil war.’ 1 The personnel during the republic, being the same as those of the monarchy, were as rough in the 1930s as they had been in the 1920s.
In Castilblanco in 1931, the civil guard were as unpopular as elsewhere in Spain. Their fate was terrible. When they tried to prevent the holding of the socialist meeting, the village fell upon them. Four were killed. Their eyes were gouged out. Their bodies were mutilated. On one of the bodies thirty-seven knife wounds were afterwards discovered; and, as in the town of Fuenteovejuna in Lope de Vega’s play of that name, there was no possibility of bringing the killers to trial. The village, no single person, was responsible. 2 This tragedy was followed by several comparable, but less dramatic, events in other
pueblos.
In Arnedo (Logroño) the civil guards wreaked vengeance and killed seven peaceful demonstrators. The civil guard were everywhere on the offensive after Castilblanco. But in Sallent, in the valley of the Llobregat near Barcelona, the CNT took over the town, raised a red flag on the town hall, abolished private property and money, and declared themselves an independent society. The government took five days torecapture the town. Many
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