Spanish Republican constitution.
Passed in December 1931, the Republican constitution created a secular democratic system based on equal rights for all citizens, with provision for regional autonomy. It introduced female suffrage, civil marriage and divorce, and established free, obligatory, secular education for all. Article 3 of the Constitution stated that Spain has no official religion. The Catholic Church was stripped of its privileges and separated from the State.
The Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the abdication and exile of Alfonso XIII. General elections in June 1931 gave a large majority to Republicans and Socialists, bringing to power a centre-left coalition, though its partners were immediately divided by their goals.
A cornerstone of the Republic’s social policy was centred on building schools – creating some 16,000 centres across Spain between 1931 and Franco’s victory in 1939. This would be its crowning achievement.
Children’s Catalan writing book. Bon Company, 1935.