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constitutional law was under way. Although Primo de Rivera rejected
the designation of dictator and insisted that he and his nine fellow mili-
tary directors would serve only a few months, the regime would last for
more than six years. The king gave Primo de Rivera his full support
throughout, reportedly introducing him to the Italian monarch as “my
Mussolini.” A hearty, seemingly good-natured individual (despite a
long record of intrigue and ambition), Primo de Rivera won popularity
with the church, major landowners, and leading capitalists by his iden-
tification with the traditional ruling class (he was a member of a dynasty
of soldiers and inheritor of a title of nobility). Conversely he roused the
immediate antagonism of professional politicians by his oft-stated con-
tempt for their “selfish and unpatriotic” actions.
Among Primo de Rivera's positive achievements were the initiation
of numerous programs of modernization both in the bureaucracy and
the public works sector, fiscal reform, an attack on the abuses of the
cacique system (control by local political bosses), and a compromise
solution of the Moroccan problem. Not willing to resort to the degree
of brutality employed by contemporary dictators, Primo de Rivera even-
tually made concessions, such as the inclusion of civilians in his direc-
torate, that encouraged the opposition rather than conciliated it. Several
local uprisings were put down, but after Spain began to experience the
impact of the global economic decline in 1929, the general's position
became increasingly difficult. Deteriorating health finally led him to
submit his resignation in January 1930, and he withdrew to Paris where
he died two months later. Alfonso XIII attempted to continue the direc-
torate under another senior officer, but the rising tide of dissatisfaction
led him to abandon the dictatorship by the latter half of 1930. Restored
parliamentary life now focused on the demand for a totally new sys-
tem. The Radical and Republican Parties led the cry for the king's ouster.
After they won massive support in local elections at the beginning of
1931, the discredited sovereign announced that he was leaving the
country for a time to give his people the chance to arrive at a calm, bal-
anced judgment about their future. Alfonso XIII had passed through a
series of initiatives and experiments during the last three decades, all
aimed at using his prestige for the rehabilitation and restoration of
Spain as it entered the new century. The final gamble with military
dictatorship had failed and sealed his own fate. Alfonso XIII never abdi-
cated, but the call that he awaited never came. He died in exile 10 years
later.
The Second Republic, however, died even before the monarch whom
it had replaced. Between 1931 and 1936 the republic struggled through
a succession of crises that reflected the social and political divisions that
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