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STANLEY G. PAYNE. The Collapse of the Spanish Republic, 1933-1936: Origins of the Civil War. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press. 2006. Pp. x, 420. $40.00

2007; Oxford University Press; Volume: 112; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1086/ahr.112.5.1616

1937-5239

Mary Vincent,

Spanish History and Politics

Stanley G. Payne's fifteenth published book returns to a familiar theme: the origins of the Spanish Civil War. His original investigation into the failure of Spain's “first democracy,” The Spanish Revolution, appeared in 1970, and he has returned to the question several times. In contrast to those who see the Right as bearing the ultimate responsibility for the civil war, both in its limited acceptance of the Second Republic and in its eventual support for the military revolt that destroyed the republic, Payne argues that the Left always equated the republic with “progressive”—that is, left-wing—government. The only prospect for democratic consolidation thus lay with the center, for the author clearly recognizes the limited and contingent nature of the Right's acceptance of republican democracy, although this is never emphasized to the same extent as is that of the Left. The book's premise is that the Second Republic began as “a quasi-revolutionary regime” (p. 7). Repeated efforts were subsequently made to “centre the Republic,” not least by President Niceto Alcalá Zamora, but all failed. Payne traces this failure through the latter years of the republic, from the Left's electoral defeat in November 1933 to the outbreak of civil war in 1936. The failure to build a stable regime is seen as due in part to the destruction of the Radical Party, depicted here as a “liberal democratic” party (p. 125) that offered the best chance of rebuilding the republic on stable foundations. Throughout the book there are hints of an analysis that goes beyond the search for responsibilities—the attention paid to the eclipse of the center, for example, or the emphasis given to political violence. However, the author always returns to the question of responsibilities and, in particular, the blame borne by the Left.