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"The Second Spanish Republic (1931-36) was the only new liberal democratic regime to emerge in Europe during the 1930s. Historians, however, have focused primarily on the Civil War of 1936-39 that followed, devoting much less attention to the parliamentary regime that preceded it. This book deals with the history and failure of the democratic polity in Spain through a detailed examination of the initiatives of its president, Niceto Alcalá Zamora. As civil servant, lawyer, politician and writer, by 1931 he had become one of the most successful men of Spain. He played the leading role in the downfall of the monarchy and the inauguration of the Republic, which he served for eight months as initial prime minister and then as the first president. Stanley Payne's study argues that the failure of the Republic was not inevitable but depended on the policy choices of its president and the key party leaders. Alcalá Zamora's professed goal was to 'center the Republic,' stabilizing the new regime while avoiding extremes, but he failed altogether in this project. The Constitution of 1931 stipulated the 'double responsibility' of parliamentary government both to the president and to a voting majority. Though Alcalá Zamora resisted strong efforts from the left to cancel the results of the first fully democratic elections in 1933, he subsequently used his powers recklessly, making and unmaking governments at will, refusing to permit normal functioning of parliament"--Provided by publisher

Intro -- Contents -- Preface -- 1. What Do We Mean by Fascism? -- 2. Some Historical Antecedents of Authoritarian Nationalism in Europe -- 3. The Fascist and National Socialist Movements -- 4. The Mussolini and Hitler Regimes -- 5. Other Movements and Regimes -- 6. Postfascist Survivals: Spain and Portugal -- 7. Fascism Outside Europe? -- 8. Theories of Fascism -- 9. Generic Fascism: A Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliographical Note -- Index.

Intro -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Tables -- Preface -- Introduction: Fascism: A Working Definition -- Part I: History -- 1. The Cultural Transformation of the Fin de siècle -- 2. Radical and Authoritarian Nationalism in Late Nineteenth-Century Europe -- 3. The Impact of World War I -- 4. The Rise of Italian Fascism, 1919-1929 -- 5. The Growth of Nonfascist Authoritarianism in Southern and Eastern Europe, 1919-1929 -- 6. German National Socialism -- 7. The Transformation of Italian Fascism, 1929-1939 -- 8. Four Major Variants of Fascism -- 9. The Minor Movements -- 10. Fascism Outside Europe? -- 11. World War II: Climax and Destruction of Fascism -- Part II: Interpretation -- 12. Interpretations of Fascism -- 13. Generic Fascism? -- 14. Fascism and Modernization -- 15. Elements of a Retrodictive Theory of Fascism -- Epilogue: Neofascism: A Fascism in Our Future? -- Bibliography -- Index.

"This book presents a new history of the most important conflict in European affairs during the 1930s, the Spanish Civil War. It describes the complex origins of the conflict, the collapse of the Spanish Republic and the outbreak of the only mass worker revolution in the history of Western Europe. Stanley Payne explains the character of the Spanish revolution and the complex web of republican politics, while also examining the development of Franco's counter-revolutionary dictatorship. Payne gives attention to the multiple meanings and interpretations of war and examines why the conflict provoked such strong reactions at the time, and long after. The book also explains the military history of the war and its place in the history of military development, the non-intervention policy of the democracies and the role of German, Italian and Soviet intervention, concluding with an analysis of the place of the war in European affairs, in the context of twentieth-century revolutionary civil wars"--

"This is the first account in any language of the civil wars in Europe during the era of the world wars, from 1905 to 1949. It treats the initial confrontations in the decade before World War I, the confusing concept of "European civil war," the impact of the world wars, the relation between revolution and civil war, and all the individual cases of civil war, with special attention to Russia and Spain. The civil wars of this era are compared and contrasted with earlier internal conflicts, with particular attention to the factors that made this era a time of unusually violent domestic contests, as well as those that brought it to an end. The major political, ideological, and social influences are all treated, with a special focus on violence against civilians"--

"An excellent, balanced discussion of important controversies."--Juan Linz, author of Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes.

I: From Civil War to World War -- The Spanish Civil War -- Hitler's strategy in the Civil War -- Military and international significance of the Civil War -- A tilted neutrality -- II: "Nonbelligerence" -- Franco's temptation -- The meeting at Hendaye and its aftermath -- The Zenith of collaboration -- Temptation continues -- The Blue division -- Temptation abates -- Temptation ends -- III: The struggle to escape the "axis stigma" -- Spanish diplomacy and the Holocaust (I) -- Spanish diplomacy and the Holocaust (II) -- Neutrality by compulsion -- The end of the relationship