Displaying items by tag: Republicanism

Thursday, 22 November 2012 12:49

Proclamation of the Catalan state: Generalitat of Catalonia, 6th October 1934

ABSTRACT

In October 1934, there was a shift towards a more conservative and even a more fascist leaning government in the Spanish state. People came to power who were antagonistic to the basic principles of the Second Spanish Republic. This generated a revolutionary spirit across the entire state, which would have its maximum expression in Asturias and Catalonia. In the case of Catalonia, on the 6th, the regional government, the Generalitat of Catalonia proclaimed a Catalan State within the Federal Spanish Republic. The initiative failed due to a lack of popular support and the loyalty of the Army to the centralised government of the Republic. The subsequent repression led to the detention of 30,000 militants and leaders of left-wing parties, which included Lluis Companys, president of the Generalitat of Catalonia and his government. Political centres were closed, newspapers were suppressed, there were evictions of agricultural workers and the Statute of Catalonia was annulled until the electoral triumph of the Front Popular (Popular Front) in February 1936.

Nation/Region: Catalonia

The Catalan Republic

ABSTRACT

With the victory of the Esquerra Republicana of Catalonia in the municipal elections of the 12th April 1931, Francesc Macià, on the 14th April, proclaimed “the Catalan Republic in the hope that the other peoples making up Spain will similarly declare their own republics and form the Iberian Confederation”. This happened shortly before the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed in Madrid. This proclamation worried the provisional Spanish government, which initiated a process of negotiation with Catalonia that culminated in the creation of a new autonomy personified by the restoration of the Generalitat of Catalonia, governed by an Autonomy Statute.

Nation/Region: Catalonia

Basic Principles of Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya

ABSTRACT

The Basic Principles set out the ideological bases of Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, which are summarised in the party's name: Esquerra (left): socialisation of wealth; Republicana (republican): defence of civil and political rights; de Catalunya: recognition of the national character of Catalonia.

On this basis, the document is centred on the following themes:
a) "Social question": basic premises for improving the working conditions of the working class (establishment of a collective ownership regime, reduced working hours, establishment of a minimum wage...)
b) "Religious problem": section that advocates freedom of thought and conscience, from which the defence of a secular state is derived.
c) "Agricultural problem": establishment of measures aimed at facilitating access to land by farmers (new forms of leases, establishment of cooperatives, etc.).
d) "Education": establishment of education as a human right, which must be guaranteed by the State.
e) "Economy, finance and cooperativism": defence of the socialisation of wealth through the nationalisation and municipalisation of certain production sectors, which will be defined by a cooperative system.
f) Justice: defence of the need to create an independent judiciary.

Nation/Region: Catalonia