Spain
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Current revision as of 18:54, 29 December 2016
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| Motto Plus Ultra (Further Beyond) | ||||
| Anthem Marcha Real | ||||
| Official Language | Spanish | |||
| Capital | Madrid | |||
| Rey (King) | Alfonso XIII | |||
| Prime Minister | José María Gil-Robles y Quiñones | |||
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| Establishment (De Facto) - Union of the Crowns of Aragón and Castille | 1469 | |||
| Government | Constitutional monarchy | |||
| Currency | Peseta | |||
| Area | 504,030 km² | |||
| Population | circa 25,000,000 | |||
The Kingdom of Spain (Official Spanish:Reino de España short English form: Spain; Spanish short form: España) is a country in South West Europe. It borders the Commune of France to the north east and Portugal to the west. It also borders National France, Germany and Mittelafrika in Africa.
Contents |
History
The Restoration (1874-1931)
8 July 1920 - General Dámaso Berenguer Fusté, High Commissioner of Spanish Morocco announces his intention to pacify the Jibala living within the Spanish protectorate over northern Morocco, following continued Jibala raids against Spanish outposts. Beginning in early 1921 the Spanish expedition provided no surprises to international observers; with Spanish forces quickly pushing east into Jibala territory.
19 December 1920 - The 1920 Spanish General election is held. As expected the Liberal Conservative Party was able to comfortably win the election, achieving an overall majority following a failure to do so during the preceding 1919 General Election. Sitting Prime Minister Manuel Allendesalazar y Muñoz de Salazar is replaced by Eduardo Dato e Iradier.
8 March 1921 - Prime Minister Eduardo Dato e Iradier is assassinated. On 8 March 1921 while being driven from the parliament building and in front of the Puerta de Alcalá, Dato was assassinated by three Catalan anarchists, Lluís Nicolau, Pere Mateu, and Ramon Casanelles, all travelling by motorcycle. The Prime Minister was posthumously created the Duke of Dato by King Alfonso XIII, former Prime Minister Manuel Allendesalazar y Muñoz de Salazar is recalled to take office once again.
22 July 1921 - Spanish forces under the command of General Manuel Fernández Silvestre suffers a decisive defeat by Berber forces under the command of Abd el-Krim, numbering roughly 3,000. On the 22nd a Spanish force of 5,000 was ambushed and destroyed by Berber forces, culminating in the death of General Silvestre. What was to follow was a series of further Spanish defeats owing to the failure to establish an effective supply line early in the expedition. By the 9th August total Spanish casualties numbered over 8,000 to less than 800 Berber losses.
18 September 1921 - Abd el-Krim establishes the 'Republic of the Rif' aiming to unify the tribes within the Spanish protectorate. With Spanish forces having completely lost control over the Rif, the Republic was quick to declare total independence from both Spain and the Sultan of Morocco
14 July 1922 - General Dámaso Berenguer Fusté is dismissed as Spanish High Commissioner of Morocco. The General was detained on the 13th following revelations that he was at the heart of a plot to seize control over the government, owing to frustrations caused by the refusal of the government to commit more forces to the War in the Rif. Following his dismissal the General was promptly court martialled, discharged from the armed forces, and imprisoned. General Ricardo Burguete Lana was summary appointed as High Commissioner.
29 April 1923 - The 1923 Spanish General election is held As was expected, it legitimated a prearranged shift of power from the Conservatives to the Liberals, with Conservative Prime Minister Manuel García Prieto being replaced by Liberal Party leader Manuel García Prieto.
13 September 1923 - Growing military discontent culminates in a coup d'état led by General Miguel Primo de Rivera. With continued defeat in Morocco, and growing tensions at home owing anarchist terrorism, and Nationalist unrest; support for the recently formed Liberal Government of Manuel García-Prieto began to quickly decline. Opposition in military circles was particularly fierce, with the Prime Minister refusing to commit any further resources or men to the Rif War.
On 13 September 1923 Captain General of Catalonia, Miguel Primo de Rivera was to rise in revolt and lead a successful march on the state capital, swaying the local garrison to his cause, and seizing control of state institutions. The General was quick to issue his manifesto to the people of Spain; arguing that a "brief parenthesis" must be opened in the constitutional life of Spain, so as to restore order and go wash away the old Spanish system of 'turnismo'.
King Alfonso XIII, resentful of attacks on his person from the Liberal Party and other Republicans in the Cortes was quick to name General Rivera Prime Minister, expressing his support for a new Spanish regime. Martial law was immediately invoked, and a supreme directory headed by Rivera was to begin purging the Spanish bureaucracy, filling it with loyal officers and those sympathetic to the General's coup. In regards to the Rif War; the General was quick to announce further mobilisation of Spanish reserve forces, and to authorise the use of chemical weaponry against forces loyal to the Rif Republic.
13 April 1925 - Germany intervenes on the Spanish side of the Rif War. Following the German annexation of what was previously the French protectorate over Morocco, the German Empire was quick to establish outposts near the border to the Spanish concession, in what at the time was disputed tribal territory.
On the 12 April 1925, an estimated 8,000 men loyal to the Republic of the Rif launched a series of unprovoked assaults on German outposts, the majority of outposts were subsequently abandoned, with German causalities exceeding 1,000 killed. As a result the German Empire was quick to announce their support for and invention on the side of Spain in the Rif War. In the weeks following over 180,000 German troops were deployed to tur front; largely sourced from Germany proper and Mittelafrika. The invention of Germany was to tip the scales in the favour of Spain, leaving the forces of the Rif Republic outnumbered snd fighting on multiple fronts.
9th June 1925 - Spanish forces occupy Gibraltar. On the 9th June 1925 the Comandancia Militar de Andalucía under the direct command of the Prime Minister cross the border into the British held territory of Gibraltar. Despite having lost control of Gibraltar over 200 years ago following the signing of the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht reconquest of the Rock has remained on the Spanish agenda ever since, despite the total inability of Spain to challenge the ever going British Empire military. The Declaration of the Union of Britain on the 4th of June was to mark an effective end of British power, leaving the colonial holdings of the Empire alone, unprotected and in disarray. The march on Gibraltar was not a preplanned endeavour, but instead an act of political opportunism by Rivera in an attempt to further secure his regime by playing on Spanish revanchism.
Spanish forces were to meet no military resistance from the unprepared and undermanned British garrison stationed on the Rock. At the same time the Spanish occupation was to meet no real diplomatic resistance, with the United Kingdom defunct and the isolationist Union of Britain laying no claim to the territory it seemed reasonable that the small territory and port would be administered by the nearest local power, and it's former administrator. Although it has been suggested that the German Empire was ready to seize the territory itself - to secure at least partial control over both entrances to the Mediterranean sea - the regime in Berlin was quick to congratulate the Spanish government on their reconquest. With the Spanish economy closely tied to the Berlin stock exchange and the two countries fighting together in Morocco Spain was recognised as a strategic partner by the German Empire, one unlikely to drift toward the enemies of the Empire for both ideological and geopolitical reasons. The last of any British resistance was to trigger an effective land grab over the territories formerly ruled directly from London, with large portions of the former British Empire falling to her old German rival.
27 May 1926 - The Republic of the Rif is formally disestablished following the surrender of Abd el-Krim to Spanish and Germans forces only days earlier. Despite suffering disaster after disaster following German intervention in 1925, el-Krim and his forces continued to offer bitter resistance despite the capture of AlHoceima bay on the 8th May 1925. Despite the surrender of el-Krim's forces, isolated bands of Rif guerrillas would continue to fight on until 1927, with Moroccoan resistance to Spanish rule continuing well on after the fall of the Republic.
30 January 1930 - Miguel Primo de Rivera resigns as Spanish Prime Minister. On the 28th January 1930 Prime Minister Miguel Primo de Rivera confided in his General Staff, demanding to know if he as Prime Minister could still rely on their support, he was met with lukewarm assurances of support at best, and outright denouncements at worst. Having previously lost the support of the King, Rivera made the decision to resign as Prime Minister and tendered his resignation to the King on the 30th. Rivera's downfall was largely triggered by an unprecedented period of economic crisis, the General's regime had been characterised by large-scale public spending, creating one of Europe's most modern automobile networks and in the process many new jobs for unemployed Spaniards. Rivera's policy of deficit spending was to backfire when Spain fell into recession in late 1929. As student protests throughout the country intensified the King was constantly portrayed as comlicit in the General's dictatorship, leading to the King publicly distancing himself from Rivera in an attempt to save the face of the monarchy. The King was to appoint former High Commissioner of Spanish Morocco Dámaso Berenguer Fusté - pardoned following Rivera's coup - as Spain's next Prime Minister. It was hoped that Berenguer would be able to restore a degree of normality to Spain, repealing certain policies enforced by Rivera but at the same time allowing the dictatorship to continue. Aged 60, Don Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja, 2nd Marquis of Estella, 22nd Count of Sobremonte, Knight of Calatrava died on the 16th March 1930.
14 February 1931 - Dámaso Berenguer Fusté resigns as Spanish Prime Minister. With public opinion turning further and further against the dictatorship and the institution of the Monarchy itself, Berenguer's government to many was seen as nothing more than a sinking ship doomed to sink in time. The killing blow is said to have been inflicted by the meeting of the Pact of San Sebastián on August 17, the meeting involved practically all republican groups and factions in Spain reiterating their support for a Republic and the abolition of the monarchy. Created at the meeting was the "revolutionary committee", a proposed government for a Spanish Republic in the event the monarchy was overthrown by force. In close contact with Republican generals, the committee prepared for a coup attempt on the 15th of December, however Captain Fermín Galán Rodríguez of the Jaca garrison attempted to rise on the 12th two days early, leading to the failure of the coup and the arrest of multiple leading republicans, as well as the execution of the Captain himself. The King was to appoint Admiral Juan Bautista Aznar-Cabañas as Prime Minister in response.
The Second Spanish Republic (1931-1932)
14 April 1931 - The Second Spanish Republic is proclaimed. The 12 April 1931 municipal elections were to lead to a landslide republican victories across the country, with republican majorities occuring in 41 regional capitals, compared to only 9 capitals returning monarchist majorities. Republican protestors were quick to take to the streets following the announcement of the results, completely occupying the streets of cities including the capital Madrid.
The final action of King Alfonso XIII in his capacity as King of Spain was to ask José Sanjurjo Sacanell, Inspector General of the Guardia Civil whether his forces could be relied on to defend the monarchy against a popular uprising, General Sanjurjo was unable to give any such assurances. The King was to flee the country two days later on the 14th. Following his fight a new provisional government was established consisting of the membership of the revolutionary committee established by the Pact of San Sebastián, the first act of the new government was to be the abolition of the monarchy, and the declaration of the second Spanish Republic.
12 May 1931 - Manuel Azaña Díaz the newly appointed Minister for War announces a series of military reforms to be undertaken by the Republic. In 1931 the Spanish army consisted of 15 divisions that could be effectively managed by 80 generals, however the Spanish officer corps was notoriously bloated consisting of 800 Generals, with 21,000 officers for 118,000 men. The Azaña reforms would aim to increase parliamentary oversight over the military - curbing it's historical independence, as well as drastically reducing the size of the officer corps. The reforms were overwhelming negatively received by the Spanish military elite, a particularly impassioned criticism from General José Sanjurjo Sacanell was to see him demoted from Inspector General of the Guardia Civil, and instead reassigned as Captain General of Sevilla, other generals such as Emilio Barrera Luyando were to resign following the declaration of the Republic.
28 June 1931 - The first general election of the Spanish Republic is held. The elections result in a landslide victory for the Republican Left coalition in partnership with the Marxist left. As a result Manuel Azaña Díaz of Republican Action is appointed Prime Minister, with acting Prime Minister Niceto Alcalá-Zamora appointed President of the Republic.
The Second Restoration (1932-)
10 August 1932 - General José Sanjurjo Sacanell and a group of generals lead a successful d'état overthowing the legitimate government of the Spanish Republic. Immediately following the institution of the Azaña military reforms the seed of the 1932 coup was sown, with General Sanjurjo and former Justice Minister Manuel de Burgos y Mazo organising a series of meetings for those dissatisfied with the present course of Spanish politics. Those counted among the ranks of the conspirators included current Chief of General Staff, Manuel Goded Llopis, serving general José Enrique Varela and Luis Miguel Limia Ponte, as well as a handful of other faces. Overall command of the coup was handed to Generate Sanjurjo Sanjurjo, whilst Generals Goded and Barrera would orchestrate the Madrid rising.
General Sanjurjo's early decision that the monarchy would be restored was a decision both political, and personal. Although a sizable number of those involved in the conspiracy were self proclaimed Republicans including Chief of Staff Goded, the majority of those involved including General Barrera were traditional monarchists, the Republican Generals eventually relented and accepted that a restoration would be the most effective way to secure a degree of popular support for the new reigme. By declaring support for the monarchy the conspirators would be able to secure the support of the businessman and monarchist exile Juan Alberto March Ordinas, eager to regain his political clout lost following the declaration of the Republic. It has been the suggested that the German Empire was complicit in the coup - through the offering of supplies to Ordinas - in an attempt to place a more friendly regime in control of the Strait of Gibraltar, though no concrete evidence exists it is likely that the Empire was at least aware of the conspiracy brewing in Spain.
The moment of rebellion was set at 4 AM, August 10, 1932. As the clock struck, General Barrera and a loyal tercio of the Guardia Civil quickly seized control of the Palacio de Comunicaciones, overpowering the small garrison stationed there, and convincing much of the Guardia Civil stationed there to join their cause with a rousing speech. Almost simultaneously Goded and the 4 regiments loyal to the conspirators in Madrid began to move on key government offices including the the Ministry of War and the two houses of the Cortes Generales.
By 5am Prime Minister Manuel Azaña Díaz was made aware of an ongoing attempt to oust his government, and to possibly overthrow the Republic. If the revolt had been limited to Madrid as it appeared to be it is likely that it would have quickly fallen apart, however unbeknownst to the Azaña government; the next series of risings were already being prepared. At 9am a series of pass revolts occurred throughout Andalusia, while the forces of General Sanjurjo quickly seized the state capital of Sevilla, divisions under the commands of Gonzalo Queipo de Llano and José Enrique Varela. As the Republic hung in the balance, the final stab in the back game from the Army of Africa under the command of General Francisco Franco Bahamonde, previously regarded as wildcard; General Franco publically declared for Sanjurjo and the rising at 12am, putting the most modern and well armed military force in Spain on the side of the plotters. Following the Army of Africa's declaration, Azaña's goverment effectively admitted defeat, the constitution was promptly suspended, martial law declared, and General Sanjurjo sworn in as acting President, with Barrera as Prime Minister, as quickly as the first; the Second Spanish Republic was abolished and the Kingdom restored once more. Alfonso XIII would return to Spain on the 15th August 1932 to reclaim his throne as King of Spain.
Politics
Spain is ruled by a coalition of right-wing forces that supported king Alfonso's coup. However, he is not regarded as the true king by the Carlist movement which has been gaining support of some workers movements and of the very religious rural population. The Anarcho-Syndicalist alliance named C.N.T.-F.A.I. has polarized the left end of the political spectrum and has been repressed by the current administration. They have the support of most workers unions and have their 'revolutionary HQs' mainly based in urban areas.
King of Spain: H.R.H. Alfonso XIII
Presidents of the Council of Ministers: José María Gil-Robles y Quiñones
Minister for Foreign Affairs: Francisco de Asís Serrat y Bonastre
Minister of Economy and Finance: Gérman Gil y Yuste
Minister of the Interior: Miguel Ponte Mansó de Zúñiga
Head of Intelligence: José Ungría Jiménez
Minister of Defence: Fidel Dávila Arrondo
Captain General of the Spanish Army: José Sanjurjo Sacanell
Minister of the Navy: Francisco Moreno Fernández
Captain General of the Spanish Air Force: Ramón Franco Bahamonde
Military
The Spanish Armed Forces (Fuerzas Armadas Españolas) comprise many divisions, ships and aeroplanes. However, they are not completely loyal as some of their men have sympathies for the Anarco-Syndicalist movement and others even for the Carlist movement.
Army
The Spanish Army (Ejército de Tierra) comprise nineteen infantry division (with various brigades attached), with approximately a third of them protecting the border with the Commune of France. It also includes a specialized mountain infantry division, an old cavalry division and various colonial militias. There is even an incomplete armored division (Brigada Blindada), with some outdated light tanks from the last years of the Weltkrieg.
Navy
The Armada Española consists of two battleships, two heavy cruisers, five light cruisers, four destroyers, two submarines and four transport flotilla. However, some naval units are clearly outdated or in bad fighting shape.
Air Force
The Ejército del Aire consist of three interceptors, three tactical bombers and even two strategic bombers.
Foreign Relations
Very friendly relations with Portugal and Austria.
Friendly relations with Italian Federation, Germany, Canada and National France.
Unfriendly relations with Commune of France.
Colonial empire
Spanish colonial possession in Africa: Spanish Protectorate of Morocco and Spanish Territories of the Gulf of Guinea (also known as Spanish Guinea).
