20th century timeline

CONTEMPORARY HISTORY

20th CENTURY TO PRESENT

1902

Reign of Alfonso XIII

1931

Second Republic

1939

End of Civil War;Dictatorship of Franco

1978

Approval of the Constitution

1923

Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera

1936

Beginning of Civil War

1975

End of dictatorship;beginning of Juan Carlos I

1986

Spain joins the EU

2014

Reign of Felipe VI

Alfonso XIII He was the last king of the Restoration era. He was proclaimed king in 1902. During his reign, there were serious social and political conflicts in Spain.

Dictatorship of General Primo de Rivera General Primo de Rivera led a coup in 1923 and he established a military dictatorship.

The Second Spanish Republic In 1931, the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed and Alcalá Zamora was appointed president of the Republic. A new Constitution was approved and many reforms were implemented.

In 1936, Franco led a coup against the government of the Republic. This started the Spanish Civil War which lasted until 1939. Spain was divided into two areas: the Republic area and the Nationalist area. The consequences of the war were several.

The dictatorship of Francisco Franco: Francoism. In 1939 Franco took power and established a dictatorship that lasted until 1975. There were many changes during all those years: the Constitution was abolished, political parties and labour unions were banned, Spain became internationally isolated, people feced repression...

In 1975, Juan Carlos I was crowned King of Spain. In 1976, the king appouinted Adolfo Suárez as president. In 1977, elections took place and Central Democratic Union (UCD) was elected, the party led by Adolfo Suárez.

Constitution After the elections, representatives of the major political parties wrote a constitution which was approved by Parliament. In 1978, Spaniards voted in favour of the Constitution in a referendum. The Constitution of 1978 establishes that Spain is a democratic country.

Spain joins the EU In 1962, Franco´s government requested that Spain join the European Economic Community (EEC) but the request was denied because Spain, by that time, wasn´t a democratic country (which was a must for EEC members). Finally, in 1986, Spain became member of the EEC, currently known as the EU.

Reign of Felipe VI In 2014, King Juan Carlos I abdicated in favour of his son, Felipe VI.