On April 14, 1931, the Second Spanish Republic began when local elections were held across the country for only the second time in Spanish history. Niceto Alcala Zamora was elected the first president of the Second Republic. The date essentially marked the end of centuries of monarchy and the beginning of the Spanish Republic, with a constitutional form of government. Within a year, a Constituent Assembly had drafted and approved a new Constitution, protecting far greater rights for Spanish citizens. The Second Republic would last from 1931 through 1939, when the right-wing forces of General Francisco Franco declared victory in the Spanish civil war, installing a brutal dictatorship that would rule Spain until 1975.