President of the Republic (Spain)

President of the Republic
Presidente de la República
Manuel Azaña
Precursor King of Spain
Formation 14 April 1931
First holder Niceto Alcalá-Zamora
Final holder Manuel Azaña
Abolished 3 March 1939
Succession Caudillo Franco

President of the Republic (Spanish: Presidente de la República) was the title of the head of state during the Second Spanish Republic (1931–39). The office was based on the model of the Weimar Republic, then still in power in Germany, and a compromise between the French and American presidential systems.[1]

The "Republican Revolutionary Committee" set up by the Pact of San Sebastián (1930),[2] considered the "central event in the opposition to the monarchy of Alfonso XIII",[3] and headed by Niceto Alcalá-Zamora, eventually became the first provisional government of the Second Republic, with Alcalá-Zamora named President of the Republic on 11 December 1931.

The use of the term Presidente del Gobierno (literally, President of the Government) in Spanish when referring to the country's head of government, that is, the highest official in the executive branch, has led to some confusion, including several incidents wherein high-profile American politicians have called the prime minister "President," including George W. Bush in 2001,[4] Jeb Bush in 2003,[5] and most recently, Donald Trump in September 2017.[6] With Spain a constitutional monarchy since 1975, the current monarch is head of state.

Revolutionary Government (1868-71)

A provisional President of Spain ruled that country and its colonies between the deposition of Isabella II and the election of Amedeus.

Image Name Term start Term end
Provisional Government and Executive Power.[7] President:
Francisco Serrano y Domínguez (President of the Provisional Government)
8 October 1868
Queen Isabella II's deposition.		 25 February 1869
(President of the Executive Power)
25 February 1869		 18 June 1869
Image Personal
Coat of Arms		 Name Regency start Regency end
Regent of the Realm
Francisco Serrano y Domínguez 18 June 1869 2 January 1871
King Amadeo's arrival.

First Spanish Republic (1873–74)

Following the abdication of Amadeo I on 10 February 1873, the short-lived First Republic (1873–74) had four heads of state (officially, Presidents of the Executive Power): Estanislao Figueras, Pi i Margall, Nicolás Salmerón, and Emilio Castelar.

Name Term start Term end Political Party
Executive Power of the First Republic.[7] Presidents:
Estanislao Figueras12 February 187311 June 1873Democratic Federal Republican Party
Francisco Pi i Margall11 June 187318 July 1873Democratic Federal Republican Party
Nicolás Salmerón18 July 18737 September 1873Progressive Party
Emilio Castelar7 September 18733 January 1874Republican Possibilist Party

On the eve of the pronunciamiento. (coup d'état) of 3 January 1874, General Pavia sent for Francisco Serrano y Domínguez take to the leadership. Serrano took the title of president of the executive and he continued at the end of December 1874 when the Bourbons were restored by another pronunciamiento.

Image Name Term start Term end
Francisco Serrano y Domínguez3 January 187430 December 1874

Second Spanish Republic (1931–39)

Following the abdication of Alfonso XIII on 14 April 1931, there was no official head of state, meaning that the Prime Minister was, in effect, the highest office in the land. Niceto Alcalá-Zamora assumed the new role of President, the effective head of state. Manuel Azaña remained as Prime Minister, head of the government, until 12 September 1933.

Presidents of the Government of the Republic (Prime Minister) (until 31 July 1931 Republic remained provisional)

Name Term start Term end Political Party
Niceto Alcalá-Zamora14 April 193114 October 1931Liberal Republican Right
Manuel Azaña14 October 193112 September 1933Republican Action

Presidents (from 23 July 1936 in Republican Zone only)

Name Term start Term end Political Party
Niceto Alcalá-Zamora11 December 19317 April 1936Liberal Republican Right
Diego Martínez Barrio (interim)7 April 193611 May 1936Republican Union (Popular Front)
Manuel Azaña11 May 19361 March 1939Republican Left (Popular Front)
Diego Martínez Barrio (interim)1 March 19394 March 1939Republican Union (Popular Front)

With Franco's victory imminent, a National Council of Defense was established to negotiate a peace settlement with the Nationalists. By this point, Franco effectively had military control of the whole country.

Presidents of the National Council of Defense (Republican Zone)

Name Term start Term end Political Party
Segismundo Casado López (interim)4 March 193913 March 1939Military
José Miaja Menant13 March 193927 March 1939Military

Fall of the Republic

On 27 February 1939, after both France and the United Kingdom had recognised Franco's military victory, President Manuel Azaña, exiled in France, resigned. The following week, the so-called Casado's Coup against Prime Minister Negrín's government[8] led to the creation of the National Defence Council which attempted, unsuccessfully to negotiate terms, with Franco breaking off talks motu proprio.[9] Following Franco's final offensive at the end of March 1939, the Republic fell.

Presidents of the Spanish Republican government in exile (1939–77)

Name Term start Term end Political Party
Diego Martínez Barrio (interim)1 March 19394 March 1939Republican Union (Popular Front)
Álvaro de Albornoz (acting)11 May 194017 August 1945Republican Union (Popular Front)
Diego Martínez Barrio17 August 19451 January 1962Republican Union (Popular Front)
Luis Jiménez de Asúa11 February 196216 November 1970PSOE (Popular Front)
José Maldonado GonzálezNovember 19701 July 1977Republican Left (Popular Front)

See also

References

  1. ↑ Payne, Stanley G. (1993) Spain's First Democracy: The Second Republic, 1931-1936, pp. 62-3. Univ of Wisconsin Press. Google Books. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
  2. ↑ Conversi, Daniele (2000) The Basques, the Catalans, and Spain: Alternative Routes to Nationalist Mobilisation, p. 38. University of Nevada Press. Google Books. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
  3. ↑ Preston, Paul (2002) Revolution and War in Spain, 1931-1939, p. 192. Routledge. Google Books. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
  4. ↑ "Joint Press Conference with President George W. Bush and President Jose Maria Aznar" The White House. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
  5. ↑ "Jeb Bush slips on Spanish history" CNN. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
  6. ↑ "Donald Trump's tweet on Mariano Rajoy's visit to the United States". Twitter. 26 September 2017. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
  7. 1 2 The official name of " Executive Power " between 1868 and 1874, designates a transitory and undefined authority without a constitutional configuration.
  8. ↑ "War in Spain: Casado's Coup" TIME. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
  9. ↑ (in Spanish) "Segismunco [sic] Casado: el final de una guerra" ABC. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
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