The Conservative Republican Party (''Partido Republicano Conservador'', PRC) was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

political party created in January 1932 by

Miguel Maura Miguel Maura Gamazo (13 December 1887 – 3 July 1971) was a Spanish politician who served as the Ministry of the Interior (Spain), minister of interior in 1931 being the first politician to hold the post in the Second Spanish Republic. He was th ...

after breaking with one of the new Republic’s main conservative parties, the

Liberal Republican Right The Liberal Republican Right () was a Spanish political party led by Niceto Alcalá-Zamora, which combined immediately with the incipient republican formation of Miguel Maura just before the Pact of San Sebastián, of which they formed a part, as ...

. It disappeared when the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

broke out in 1936.

History

Miguel Maura wanted to lead a party dedicated to keeping the founding principle of the Liberal Republican Right alive: instilling the conservative masses of the new Republic with secular, Western-style right-wing ideals, free from the influence of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. Its foundation was widely welcomed by many right-leaning political sectors and moderate newspapers, and soon after, many local party committees were created, with Maura, a brilliant orator in the

Spanish Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies () is the lower house of the , Spain's legislative branch, the upper house being the Senate of Spain, Senate. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. Congress has ...

, as their reference. Despite this success and the fact that Maura acted as the Leader of the Opposition against

Manuel Azaña Manuel Azaña Díaz (; 10 January 1880 – 3 November 1940) was a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain, Prime Minister of the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1933 and 1936), organizer of the Popular Front in 1935 and the la ...

’s government, the party obtained poor results in the 1933 election, winning only 17 seats – less than the Liberal Republican Right did in

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

. Instead of supporting the Conservative Republicans, most right-wing voters elected candidates of the

Spanish Confederation of Autonomous Right-wing Groups The Confederación Española de Derechas Autónomas (, CEDA) was a Spanish right-wing political party in the Second Spanish Republic. A Catholic conservative force, it was the political heir to Ángel Herrera Oria's Acción Popular and defined ...

(CEDA), a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and

corporatist Corporatism is an ideology and political system of interest representation and policymaking whereby corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, come together and negotiate contracts ...

party. Soon, Maura’s approach to politics, based on his personal charisma, and the growth of the CEDA brought the party to its representation ceiling; it ran few candidates in the 1936 election and only got three seats. Their last significant political action was running candidates for electors in the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

that took place in April of that year. By doing so, they were the only conservative party, along with the nationalist Catalan Regionalist League, not to boycott the process. Their votes went to the only candidate with chances to win, Manuel Azaña, and the party disbanded soon thereafter as the Spanish Civil War started.

References

Sources

Defunct political parties in Spain Second Spanish Republic Conservative parties in Spain Defunct conservative parties Liberal conservative parties Republican parties in Spain {{spain-party-stub