In the news today: Franco's Crimes Under Scrutiny Again
Spanish courts are battling over an investigation into the roughly 114 000 people who went "missing" during and after Spain's Civil War which broke out in 1936. At issue is an amnesty on crimes committed by Generalissimo Francisco Franco's Falange (fascist) party which ruled the country into the '70s. For those who aren't framilliar with Franco, he siezed power via a military coup in the unstable political climate which purvaded great-depression-era Europe. With the help of Hitler and Mussolini he fought a brutal civil war against the Republicans, a motley crew of democrats, communists (backed by Russia), anarchists and a host of international volunteers from the allied nations such as George Orwell and Ernest Hemmingway. As the coup was happening civil society (largely Spain's radical unions) reacted - not by protesting or holding a vigil, but by raiding the armories and taking on the army directly. At their height anarchist and syndicalist trade unions such as the CNT had established anarchist collectives encompasing several million people and great territories. The allied nations themselves, hoping to appease Hitler and avoid a revolution in Western Europe signed a non-intervention treaty which essentially handed the country to the Fascists and made it illegal to join the Republicans. Resistance fell apart slightly before the dawn of WW2 when the Russian-backed communists turned on the others (hoping to establish a social democracy so as not to offend the west) and a battered Spain managed to mostly stay out of the war (sending only a few volunteers) then enjoyed decades of American support for their anti-communist stance during the cold war.
The story did, though, have a happy ending. Franco reigned till the end of his life and attempted to re-establish the Spanish Monarchy, which fit with his traditionalist conservative views. He picked Juan Carlos as a successor and arranged to hand over dictatorial power to him upon his death. Upon gaining power, Juan Carlos managed to re-establish the Spanish democracy in two weeks flat, thus ending 40 years of fascist power.
If martial law was declared tomorrow, and threats have been made lately, would you be ready? Or will we be waiting for a judge's decision as to whether the "disappearances" were really crimes against humanity 70 years later?
Spanish courts are battling over an investigation into the roughly 114 000 people who went "missing" during and after Spain's Civil War which broke out in 1936. At issue is an amnesty on crimes committed by Generalissimo Francisco Franco's Falange (fascist) party which ruled the country into the '70s. For those who aren't framilliar with Franco, he siezed power via a military coup in the unstable political climate which purvaded great-depression-era Europe. With the help of Hitler and Mussolini he fought a brutal civil war against the Republicans, a motley crew of democrats, communists (backed by Russia), anarchists and a host of international volunteers from the allied nations such as George Orwell and Ernest Hemmingway. As the coup was happening civil society (largely Spain's radical unions) reacted - not by protesting or holding a vigil, but by raiding the armories and taking on the army directly. At their height anarchist and syndicalist trade unions such as the CNT had established anarchist collectives encompasing several million people and great territories. The allied nations themselves, hoping to appease Hitler and avoid a revolution in Western Europe signed a non-intervention treaty which essentially handed the country to the Fascists and made it illegal to join the Republicans. Resistance fell apart slightly before the dawn of WW2 when the Russian-backed communists turned on the others (hoping to establish a social democracy so as not to offend the west) and a battered Spain managed to mostly stay out of the war (sending only a few volunteers) then enjoyed decades of American support for their anti-communist stance during the cold war.
The story did, though, have a happy ending. Franco reigned till the end of his life and attempted to re-establish the Spanish Monarchy, which fit with his traditionalist conservative views. He picked Juan Carlos as a successor and arranged to hand over dictatorial power to him upon his death. Upon gaining power, Juan Carlos managed to re-establish the Spanish democracy in two weeks flat, thus ending 40 years of fascist power.
If martial law was declared tomorrow, and threats have been made lately, would you be ready? Or will we be waiting for a judge's decision as to whether the "disappearances" were really crimes against humanity 70 years later?
posted by Undustrial at 9:36 AM
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