3. Biography
His life, his studies, and what he did to become an important
politician of the 20th century.
4. 1. BIOGRAPHY
1. Childhood
2. Studies
3. The beginning in
politics
4. The Republic
5. Presidency
6. His death
5. CHILDHOOD
Manuel Azaña Díaz was born in Alcalá de
Henares on January 10th 1880. He was a
Spanish writer and politician.
Manuel Azaña was born in a family of strong
economic position and presence in the political
and intellectual life of Alcalá. His parents were
ESteban and María JosefinaCatarineu Azaña
Díaz - Gallo Muguruza. Manuel was the second
of four brothers (Gregorio, Josefa and Carlos,
were the others). On July 24, 1889 his mother
died and a few months later, on January 10,
1890, his father too. Manuel and his brothers
went sent to live with their paternal
grandmother, Doña Concepcion.
8. Studies
• He studied at the Colegio Complutense de San Justo y
Pastor. He was a student of outstanding marks. Manuel
conducted his studies of national law in the Real
Colegio de Estudios Superiores Maria Cristina.
• After three courses he suffered from a religious crisis
that led him to drop school, continuing his studies at
home. On third of July 1898 he passed the degree
examination of LLB at the University of Zaragoza.
9. Political beginnings
• He joined the Reform Party of Melquiades
Álvarez and founded the League for Political
Education with Ortega y Gasset.
José Ortega y Gasset
• He founded the Spanish Democratic Union.
10. Beginnings
• In 1913 he joined the Reform Party of Melquiades
Álvarez and participated with Ortega and Gasset in the
founding of the League for Political Education. In 1918
he founded the Spanish Democratic Union, but failed
in repeated attempts to be elected to the Parliament
of the Restoration (1918 and 1923). He temporarily
withdrew from politics to devote himself to journalism,
first as a correspondent in Paris (1919-1920), then at
Pen (1920-1923) and finally as director revista España.
11. The Republic
3. Azaña was
integrated into
the provisional
government as
Minister of War.
2. He declared
himself
supporter of
the Republic
1. He left the
Reform Party.
12. • Under the dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera he left the
Reform Party and declared himself a supporter of the
Republic, founding Republican Action (1925) while his
intellectual prestige kept growing. In 1930 he became
president of the Ateneo
• With The proclamation of the Spanish Republic (April 14,
1931), Azaña was integrated into the provisional
government as Minister of War. He actively participated in
the Constituent Assembly and assumed the Presidency of
the Council of Ministers when discrepancies between the
Church and state relations led Aniceto Alcalá Zamora to
leave the cabinet.
13. Presidency
He won elections in February 1931 for the first time
and in 1935 for the 2nd
time
14. • As Head of a government formed by Socialists and left-wing
republicans, he promoted a social reform
program: he legalized civil marriage and divorce, he
also reformed the army and launched an agrarian
reform and granted the autonomy to Catalonia.
• He continued the reform program, but he barely had
time to develop it, because there was a coup d’état in
July that led to the civil war.
15. His death
• With the war lost, he went into exile in France and
resigned (1939).
• He died on November 3, 1940.
16. • Azaña was gradually isolated, unable to maintain unity and
order in the Republican side, with the radicalism and
internal conflicts of labor organizations. Lost the war he
went into exile to France and resigned the Presidency
(1939).
• In 1940 he suffered a serious stroke that affected his speech
and caused him facial paralysis. A month later, however he
seemed to be pretty recovered. With all, in late October he
suffered a relapse of which we could not recover.
• On November 3, 1940 he died. The funeral took place on
the 5 and his remains were deposited in the cemetery of
Montauban.
17. Historical Context
What we know about when he lived (the different historical events
that happened before and during his life).
18. 2. HISTORICAL
CONTEXT
1. When did Azaña live?
2. Before the Second
Republic…
3. The Second Republic
4. The Civil War
22. The Second Republic
• The causes that helped to the establishment of the Republic were
the exhaustion of the political system of the Restoration and the
inability of the monarchy to assume their mistakes during the
dictatorship. In April 1931 it became clear that the popular
discontent was directed to the instauration of the Republic.
• So, the Second Spanish Republic started in April 1931.
• Alfonso XIII was lonelier than ever, the working class considered
him as the symbol of oppression, the middle class couldn’t forgive
him the seven years of dictatorship, and even the followers of the
monarchy didn’t want to continue with this system.
• The proclamation of the Republic was host with euphoria by the
majority of the population. For everybody, the Republic
represented the hope of a new fairer and more modern Spain.
While the country was celebrating the proclamation of the
Republic, Alfonso XIII was leaving the palace to the exile.
23. The Civil War
The division of Spain (September 1936)
24. The Civil War
• The Spanish Civil War was a national war event that started
when General Francisco Franco, rose up against the
Republican government, presided by Manuel Azaña. The
other countries used that conflict to make of our country a
war field for the Second World War.
• Internally, the social tensions deriving from the bad
economy of the country and the unequal distribution of the
money, created a climate of dissatisfaction from the people
to their governors
• So, the social discontent created an explosive situation that
ended with the explosion of a terrible civil war that divided
and destroyed Spain.
25. Azaña’s influence
How his social and political actions influenced the Spanish society in
the past and today.
26. 3. AZAÑA’S INFLUENCE
1. What did he do?
2. How he became
President
• His military reforms
• His religious reforms
3. The popular opinion
4. The mark he left in our
history
27. What did he do?
From 1931 to 1933 he was
the President of the
II Republic.
From 1935 to the end of the
war, as leader of the Popular
Front, he became the President
of the Republic for the second
time .
He also created Republican political
parties and coalitions.
28. How he became a President
His military reforms
OBJECTIVE 1: TO REDUCE
THE NUMBER OF MILITARY
OFFICERS
OBJECTIVE 2: TO
DEMOCRATIZE THE ARMED FORCES
How?
With the
restructuration
of the armed
forces.
With a system
of forced
retirements
How?
By retiring the
officers that
were more
implicated with
the Dictatorship
and the
Monarchy.
29. How he became a
President. His religious
reforms
After his discourse,
the religious orders
couldn’t teach any
more.
The provisional
president of the
Republic felt
dismayed, and
resigned.
Manuel Azaña was
convinced to accept
the presidency.
Thanks to a brilliant discourse
against the expulsion of the
religious orders of the country, he
won the favour of the Parliament.
31. The mark he left in
history
He established the basis of
democracy in Spain
He gave the population
the tools they needed
to have a voice in Spain
He became an example in
politics because of his clean
and wise form of governing
Although the Civil War destroyed
the Republic that Manuel Azaña
had built, and almost nothing
from his government has survived
until today…
