A New Middle Class Government And The Declaration Of The...

Dylan Johnson APUSH Final Research Paper From the election of a new middle class government and the declaration of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931 until the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, Spanish society struggled to establish a stable, representative democracy for only the second time in its long political history. With the spread of industrialization, the rise of a new working class, and the emergence of a new era of political movements, ideals, and philosophical ideologies or â€Å"isms† throughout Europe and the United States—communism, socialism, marxism, anarchism, fascism, etc., Spanish society grappled to find common ground between more traditional and conservative political groups—the Catholic church, the†¦show more content†¦The war also embroiled many other European and world nations and pitted supporters and opponents of democracy, fascism, communism, and anarchy against each other in what many critics have labeled a prelude to World War II. The Spanish Civ il War, choking the unity of the United States, exacerbated already present political and public rifts of the nation, bringing into question the claimed neutrality of America throughout the three-year war. Although the Spanish Republican government had been democratically elected and the Nationalist side was allied with and receiving support from Mussolini’s Italy and Hitler’s Germany, who guaranteed a Franco victory along as a result of their support rather than supporting the Republic, the American government approved an official Act of Neutralityi. US diplomatic officials in Spain were even told to refrain from any interference with the unfortunate Spanish situation.ii The United States viewed their role in the conflict as one of keeping Democratic European nations from embarrassing themselves in the attempt to â€Å"localize the Spanish Civil War.†iii Although Germany and Italy officially agreed to this stance of non-intervention, German aircraft was used to bomb the innocent Republican town of Guernica, murdering 800 townsfolk, mostly women and children, while the majority of the town’s men were away working in the fields.iv The city, too small to be of any military threat to