oct 14, 1931 - Manuel Azaña Díaz becomes Prime Minister

Description:

After the Proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic in April of 1931, Azaña became Minister of War of the Provisional Government and enacted military reform, looking to develop a modern armed forces with fewer army officers. Azaña pursued some of the major reforms anticipated by the republican program. He introduced work accident insurance, reduced the size of the Spanish Army, and removed some monarchist officers. However, Azaña was a middle-class republican, not a socialist. He and his followers were not enthusiastic for some of the public works programs, such as agrarian reform. He later became Prime Minister in October of 1931. The Spanish Civil War broke out while he was President. With the defeat of the Republic in 1939, he fled to France, resigned from office, and died in exile shortly afterwards.