Communist Party, Spain

Communist Party, Spain (Partido Comunista Español, PCE) Established in April 1920, mostly by members of the Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) dissatisfied with their party's moderation in its acceptance of gradual reform instead of outright Communist revolution. It faced severe repression under Primo de Rivera, but reorganized after 1931 and worked to uphold the new republic against Fascism and threats from other right-wing parties. It participated in the formation of the Popular Front after the 1936 elections had given it a 3 per cent share of the national vote. Its fortunes changed in the face of adversity during the Spanish Civil War, when Communist movements throughout Europe, and the Soviet Union in particular, became the main allies of the Republican government through arms and food supplies, as well as the International Brigades. Under the defiant leadership of Dolores Ibarruri Gómez, membership of the party quintupled to 250,000 within a year. After the war, it was banned during the Franco regime, though it continued to be much more active against the dictatorship than the Socialists. After 1975, it received almost 10 per cent of the vote, though from 1982, when it received 4 per cent of the vote, it was eclipsed by the PSOE under the alluring and pragmatic González, who managed to unite the vote of the left behind him.