The Confederación Española de Derechas Autónomas was a Spanish political party in the Second Spanish Republic. A Catholic conservative force, it was the political heir to Ángel Herrera Oria's Acción Popular and defined itself in terms of the 'affirmation and defence of the principles of Christian civilization,' translating this theoretical stand into a political demand for the revision of the anti-Catholic passages of the republican constitution. CEDA saw itself as a defensive organisation, formed to protect religious toleration, family, and private property rights. José María Gil-Robles declared his intention to "give Spain a true unity, a new spirit, a totalitarian polity..." and went on to say "Democracy is not an end but a mean to achieve the conquest of the new state. When the time comes, either parliament submits or we will eliminate it." The CEDA held Fascist-style rallies, called Gil-Robles "Jefe", the Castillian Spanish equivalent to Duce, and sometimes debated whether CEDA might lead a "March on Madrid" to forcefully seize power.

José Calvo Sotelo, 1st Duke of Calvo Sotelo, GE was a Spanish jurist and politician. He was the minister of finance during the dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera and a leading figure during the Spanish Second Republic. During this period. he became an important part of Spanish Renovation, a monarchist movement. Calvo Sotelo's assassination in July 1936 by the bodyguard of PSOE party leader Indalecio Prieto was an immediate prelude to the triggering of the Spanish military coup of July 1936 that was plotted since February 1936, the partial failure of which marked the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.