Autores: James Simpson y Juan Carmona Editorial: Cambridge University Press (Cambridge Studies in Economic History)
Resumen del libro en castellano disponible aquí
In this distinctive new history of the origins of theSpanish Civil War, James Simpson and Juan Carmona tackle the highly-debatedissue of why it was that Spain's democratic Second Republic failed. Theyexplore the interconnections between economic growth, state capacity, ruralsocial mobility and the creation of mass competitive political parties, and howthese limited the effectiveness of the new republican governments, andespecially their attempts to tackle economic and social problems within theagricultural sector. They show how political change during the Republic had amajor economic impact on the different groups in village society, leading tosocial conflicts that turned to polarization and finally, with the civil war,to violence and brutality. The democratic Republic failed not so much becauseof the opposition from the landed elites, but rather because small farmers hadbeen unable to exploit more effectively their newly found politicalvoice.
'The Spanish Civil War was many wars, Catholics versusanti-clericals, regional nationalists versus centralists – especially militaryones, and industrial workers versus employers. Arguably, the most divisiveissue was the long-running agrarian war now illuminated by this sophisticatedand lucid study. Within a lengthy chronological span and an awareness of thewider European and Latin-American context, the authors have produced a welcomeand highly nuanced work that will supplant the now fifty-year old classic onthe agrarian question by Edward Malefakis.' Sir Paul Preston, author of TheSpanish Holocaust: Inquisition and Extermination in Twentieth Century Spain
'Why Democracy Failed is a breakthrough study of socioeconomic conditions in Spanish agriculture during the early twentieth century. It strikingly restructures our understanding of the conflicts that lead to the breakdown of the Second Republic, replacing often subjective political interpretations with decisive new data to analyze agrarian conditions and social polarization. Broad in scope and impressively original in content, this is the best new historical account of Spanish agriculture in half a century.' Stanley G. Payne, author of The Spanish Civil War
'These two experts in agrarian history advance new and nuanced interpretations of late nineteenth and early twentieth-century Spanish political and economic developments. They make important contributions to the literature on the origins of the Spanish Civil War and place the Spanish situation in a European and global comparative context.' Michael Seidman, author of Transatlantic Antifascism: From the Spanish Civil War to the End of World War II
Enlace a Cambridge University Press