"This handbook offers comprehensive coverage of the history of Spain, exploring key themes and events in four broad but not necessarily rigid temporal categories: medieval, early modern, nineteenth century and twentieth century. Making the latest research in Spanish history more widely accessible to an international audience, The Routledge Handbook of Spanish History is an essential reference point for students and scholars of Spain, as well as those working in comparative European history"--
"Catalonia: A New History revises many traditional and romantic conceptions in the historiography of a small nation. This book engages with the scholarship of the past decade and separates nationalist myth-history from real historical processes. It is thus able to provide the reader with an analytical account, situating each historical period within its temporal context. Catalonia emerges as a territory where complex social forces interact, where revolts and rebellions are frequent. This is a contested terrain where political ideologies have sought to impose their interpretation of Catalan reality. This book situates Catalonia within the wider currents of European and Spanish history, from pre-history to the contemporary independence movement, and makes an important contribution to our understanding of nation-making"--
Review of: Barcelona, the Left and the Independence Movement in Catalonia, Richard Gillespie (2019) Abingdon, Oxon and New York: Routledge, 129 pp., ISBN 978-1-857-43962-5 (h/bk), 978-1-351-04687-9 (ebook), £45/£15
Dictatorships, autocracies and authoritarian political systems must adapt if they wish to survive. The long-lasting dictatorship of Franco's Spain (1939–75) underwent a series of internal adaptations during its almost forty years of existence. The initial project of the Franco regime, which included the destruction of its social and political enemies, lasted until the end of the Second World War. The second phase, marked by a failed autarkic experiment, ended in 1959. The economic change that followed entailed a moderate opening in political terms, whilst maintaining a dictatorial apparatus. This article examines a further feature in the evolution of the Franco regime which initially sought to impose a monolithic national identity (Spanish) by means of the repression of its national minorities (Basque, Catalan, Galician and so on). Due to the absence of a violent political movement as existed in the Basque Country in the form of ETA, Catalonia is a particularly fruitful source to examine the shifts that took place in the Franco regime's policy towards Spain's historic nationalities. This article focuses on the intermediate spaces that appeared between overt opposition on the one hand and active collaboration on the other. This article assesses the evolving policy towards Catalan culture and identity during the dictatorship. I find three main phases in the regime's strategy: repression, followed by comparative tolerance with a final phase of the co-option of Catalan culture, for the purposes of regime legitimation.
Abstract Since the mid-2000s, the Catalan secessionist movement has become a key protagonist in the territory's political landscape, moving from the margins to become the axis of political dispute. This article contextualizes this change and argues that its emergence can be accounted for by a series of structural changes, which include the evolution of Catalonia's weight within Spain, identity shifts and comparative economic decline. The discrediting of once dominant political ideologies has intensified following the post-2008 economic crisis, which has resulted in a moderate pro-independence movement successfully subsuming a full range of grievances.
Prior to the Spanish Civil War, the Catalan national movement had been regarded with deep suspicion by organized labour, and society had been torn by social and political conflict. The rise to dominance of Catalan communism and the impact this movement had on the Catalan opposition to the Franco regime enabled the over-coming of pre-war divisions. Furthermore, the defence of Catalan national identity became a key component in the left's strategy of opposition to the dictatorship. Thus a new correlation of forces, as well as demographic change, ensured that the opposition in Catalonia was unified before any other territory in Spain. This article concerns itself with the structural changes in Catalan left political culture that determined a distinctive outcome to late Francoism.
Princess of our noble Catalan land Oh Virgin of the mountain … pious Mother of this land that has always loved you, make it great and powerful 1 Over the course of Franco's dictatorship in Spain (1939–1975), we can trace a remarkable transformation in the position of the Catholic Church in the historic territory of Catalonia. Subject to deep-rooted anti-clericalism, with the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, the Church found itself the target of an unprecedented assault. The victory of Franco's Nationalist forces in 1939 restored the Church, yet due to its Spanish Nationalist ideology, sought the ending of the Catalan Catholic tradition. However, over the course of the 1940s and 1950s, the Catalan Church was able to undertake a cautious reconstruction of the indigenous religious and cultural movement. This revival would begin to transform the Church's position in Catalan society to the point where, by the mid-1960s, it was possible to assert that anti-clericalism was no more. The Church became a key element in the revival of Catalan nationalism and an important component to the opposition in late anti-Francoism.
The Catalan political system has been subject to a series of major challenges in recent years following the creation of the three-party coalition government in December 2003, which was renewed in November 2006. The party system has been at its most fluid since the late 1970s. The origins of this shift are to be found in comparative economic decline and the impact of immigration in the territory. One consequence of a growing Catalan discontent with the failure to agree to the full implementation of the 2006 Statute of Autonomy has been the consolidation and normalization of the discourse of Catalan independence.
This article's aim is to analyse the transformations in political Catalanism that took place during the Franco dictatorship (193975). The two pre-Civil War forces of Catalanism, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya and the Lliga Regionalista, lost their hegemony during the course of the dictatorship. At the regime's end, new forces emerged in Catalonia and, in the terrain of nationalism, Convergncia i Uni became representative of the changes in Catalan political culture that occurred under Franco. By looking closely at the Catalan nationalist opposition to Franco, we will see how this transformation came about.
Crocodiles in northern Australia have existed for centuries in relative domination. However, as this impressive beast was finally seen no longer as a nuisance but a potential goldmine to the westerners inhabiting northern Australia they proved no match for guns and traps. During the massive hunting periods of 1945 until their eventual protection by the Australian government in 1971 crocodiles were subject to unregulated hunts on such a large scale there seemed no chance for survival. After more than thirty years of protection by the commonwealth government the crocodile populations have recovered and almost matched their numbers previous to the unregulated hunting period of 1945-1971. As they once again become a strong presence in the Northern Territory the number of crocodile and human encounters have steadily increased forcing the Northern Territory government to take action. It is no longer safe to swim on the beautiful beaches in and around Darwin and some areas have become so densely populated with crocodiles they have been shutdown completely. The Cane Toad epidemic in northern and eastern Australia has also threatened the only natural predator of crocodiles, the goanna. Without goannas stealing eggs from crocodile nests the number of eggs to hatch increase and the possibility of the crocodile population growing exponentially is immense. The Northern Territory government proposed in its Management Plan for Crocodylus Porosus in the Northern Territory a possible crocodile safari industry. This decision was met with mixed opinions by the people of Australia and was eventual1y over ruled by Environment Minister Ian Campbell. Since this decision there has been active debate throughout Australia about the viability of a crocodile safari industry. The central focus of this report is to reveal the most recent arguments on both sides of the issue. The arguments against the creation of the industry mainly have ethical and emotional basis. The humanity of this industry is at the forefront of the debate because of the quick ability of crocodiles to escape when wounded, and suffer a prolonged period of time until death. There is also concern that it is still too soon since crocodiles were on the brink of extinction less than forty years ago. Australia's image to tourists could also potentially be damaged, as well as the commonwealth government's reputation with other governments. The arguments supporting the creation of this industry deal with economical and intellectual issues. The first argument for the creation of this industry concerns the relatively new, and scientifically tested, method of conservation through sustainable use. A submission by the Northern Land Council on their support of a crocodile safari industry, and how this can help create limited economic independence in rural Aboriginal areas. The final argument for the formation of this industry concerns the lack of increased impact it would have, since the number taken is included in the current management plan. Finally three of the most important arguments are implemented into the plan originally released by the Northern Territory government, showing how they could be successful in real world application and also satisfies the major concerns by all parties. As this is a heavily opinionated topic it is not fitting for this report to include recommendations for the future of this matter. The intention of this paper is to update on how the debate has evolved since its initial proposal and where the issue currently stands. Judgments on this matter are left to the consideration of the commonwealth government.
