Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

(1880–1940), Prime Minister (1931–3, 1936) and President (1936–9) of spain . Born into a prosperous family, he trained as a lawyer before becoming a civil servant and also developing a reputation as a progressive literary figure. In 1924 he founded the Republican party, only to be swiftly imprisoned by the regime of Miguel primo de rivera . When alfonso xiii was removed in 1931 Azaña became minister of war in the second republic , before obtaining the premiership a few months later. A prominent advocate of democracy and social justice, he was forced to resign in 1933, and in 1934 his support for an autonomous catalonia brought him another spell in jail. Having helped to establish the popular front , he became prime minister again in February 1936. As president from May of that year, he faced the challenge of holding together the coalition of forces opposed to franco . In 1938 he attempted to use outside arbitration as a means of ending the spanish civil war , even while recognizing that by then a Nationalist victory was virtually assured. In February 1939 he fled to France, where he died the following year. ... log in or subscribe to read full text