Spanish Civil War Research Paper

The separation of Church and state contributed to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War to the extent that the Catholic Church during this time still had a great deal of influence in Spanish society. The Catholic Church was rich and powerful in Spain, and there had been increasing tension and disputes between it and the government all throughout the 19th century. These disputes caused fear,anger, and divisions among Spanish society which played a crucial role in the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. Although the separation of the Church did contribute to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War it was not the only factor that led to it; factors such as military instability to political inefficiency also played a crucial role.

The separation

of the Catholic Church and state contributed to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil war significantly. The Catholic church was supported by the Nationalists (The wealthy and powerful) which were conservative. The Catholic Church used its wealth to gain considerable political and social influence. By doing so the church was inclined to defend the right and status of the upper classes; which led to resentment among the lower classes such as the peasants. The Church was given the power to influence education; such that education for women was seen as unnecessary which dissatisfied many people. After the separation of the Catholic Church, the state passed anticlerical laws forbidding the church from performing activities they used to do (The Spanish Constitution of 1931) . The state (Republicans) did everything possible to make Spain a non-religious country and they succeeded to the extent that religion was banned in schools and monks/nuns were forbidden to teach. After the elections of 1931 the state passed laws that were seen as anti-religious such as the introduction of female suffrage, civil marriage and divorce. It also established free, obligatory, secular education for all. The church was also forced to pay a type of tax/rent for properties that had previously owned.This eventually caused the supporters of the Catholic church to start riots and vise versa which ultimately led to the Spanish Civil War of 1936.

Although the separation of the Catholic church from the state contributed to the outbreak of the civil war there were other factors that influenced it as well such as economic,political, and social issues.

These issues all ranged from military instability to political inefficiency as mentioned before. There was a substantial amount of poverty both in rural and urban settings that affected the landless laborers. Spain's economy was also affected and did not improve until WW1 (Did not benefit the lower classes at all). The collapse of Spain's constitutional monarchy under King Alphonso XII, and the elections/laws that only benefited the wealthy class fall under the political problems that led to the Spanish Civil War. The division between the left and the right also contributed to the outbreak of the war. The military's unsuccessful war in Morocco and it's reputation for being brutal and unfair caused a substantial amount of people to dislike and oppose it. Since the two major left wing parties (The anarchists and the socialists) did not cooperate it was difficult for them to agree with each other on the different ways to help Spain with it's problems that were demolishing the country slowly but effectively; The ineffectiveness of the left to cooperate and the many military,political and social problems Spain was going through at the time led General Francisco Franco to lead a Coup on the Second Republic which initiated the Spanish Civil War which lasted for approximately 3

years.

We can conclude that the separation of Church and state contribute to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War to an extent; but there were many other causes of the Spanish Civil War, most ranging from social instability to political inefficiency, involving the peasants that only wanted change and the wealthy conservatives who wanted Spain to remain as it was prior to the war . In the period of the war, Spain was divided in several political parties and ideas but people were grouped under two main names: the Nationalists and the Revolutionaries. Alliances were made inside the two groups but nevertheless there were internal fights as well (for example, socialists and anarchists, with different objectives, were part of one group). Although there are many causes that contributed to the Spanish Civil war all ranging from short to long we can all agree that the Spanish Civil War was a war for change.