THE ROAD TO REVOLUTION

Revolutions succeed only where the old order is relatively weak. Because the existing regime offers little resistance, the revolution's initial stages may be comparatively easy, not accompanied by great disorder or bloodshed. [...]the republican government enforced the mildest repression after a major revolt in Europe since the Paris Commune of 1871. The portrayal of revolutionary insurrection as a defense of democracy followed Trotsky's maxim in his History of the Russian Revolution: To have the best chance, revolutionaries must appear to act on the defensive when seizing power. Alcalá Zamora used this power ruthlessly to manipulate a democratically elected parliament, often appointing minority administrations and making responsible government impossible. [...]he permitted majority parliamentary government only from October 1934 to October 1935,