The Crisis of Democracy in Spain

Townson (modern Spanish history, European University of Madrid) scrutinizes the role of republicanism in the origins of the Spanish Civil War. He shows how the Center, as represented by the republican movement, dominated the Second Republic of 1931-1936. Then, he considers the role of the republican movement in the Republic's destruction. Drawing heavily from a newly recovered section of Azana's diary, Townson also discusses the monarchist's failed coup of 1932, the defeat of the Agrarian Reform Act, the crisis of June 1933, the deteriorating relations between the Left and the Center, the instability of the Republic, and the Masonic influence in the Republican movement. Distributed by ISBS. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR