1931
14 April
Lluís Companys proclaims the Republic from the balcony of Barcelona Town Hall. Hours later, the leader of the Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC, Republican Left of Catalonia) political party, Francesc Macià, proclaimed the Catalan Republic from the balcony of the Generalitat.
1932
January
Anarchist uprising in L’Alt Llobregat.
September
The Republican Parliament approve the First Catalan Statute of Self-Governmentand the Agricultural Reform law. The Unió de Rabassaires (Union of Tenant Farmers and Share Croppers) holds its assembly in Barcelona. The Unió Democràtica de Catalunya (UDC, Democratic Union of Catalonia) political party is also founded in the city.
December
Women are given the right to vote.
1933
January
Widespread anarchist uprising led by the Federación Anarquista Ibérica (FAI, Iberian Anarchist Federation). The demonstrations are harshly put down in Barcelona and in other cities.
February
The Lliga Regionalista (Regionalist League) changes its name to the Lliga Catalana (Catalan League). The founding congress of the Confederación Española de Derechas Autónomas (CEDA, Spanish Confederation of Right-wing Forces).
April
Founding of the Partit Sindicalista (Syndicalist Party).
November
Workers in the commercial sector go on strike in Barcelona. The Lliga Catalana wins the elections.
December
Francesc Macià dies and Lluís Companys takes over as President of the Generalitat.
1934
January
ERC wins the municipal elections.
April
The Catalan Parliament approves the Crop Contracts Law.
October
On the 6th, President Companys proclaims the state of Catalonia as part of the Federal Republic of Spain. The Catalan government is thrown into prison. The Republican government lodges an appeal against the Crop Contracts Law on the grounds that it is unconstitutional.
1935
January
The Statute of Self-Government is suspended indefinitely.
September
The Partit Obrer d'Unificació Marxista (POUM, Workers’ Party of Marxist Unification) forms following the merger of the Labour and Agricultural Workers’ Bloc and the Communist Left.
1936
February
The Front d’Esquerres (Left-Wing Front) wins the elections. Self-government and the Generalitat are restored.
May
Second Congress of the Unió de Rabassaires in Barcelona.
July
The generals Emilio Mola, Francisco Franco, José Sanjurjo and Gonzalo Queipo de Llano rise up in a coup against the Republic. The Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT, National Confederation of Labour) calls a general strike and in Barcelona leads the attack on the barracks that are part of the coup plot. Voices are raised for arms to be supplied to the militant workers. Francisco Ascaso, one of the main leaders of the CNT, dies during the attack on the Drassanes barracks. The uprising is quashed in Catalonia. The Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya (PSUC, United Socialist Party of Catalonia) is founded in Barcelona and affiliates to the Third International.
August
The CNT, the Union General de Trabajadores (UGT, General Workers’ Union), the PSUC and the FAI sign an agreement to set up a liaison committee in Barcelona.
September
Leaders of the CNT-FAI enter the government of the Generalitat.
1937
May
Speech by Lluís Companys in Barcelona.
May events: armed confrontation between the POUM and the CNT-FAI on one side and the PSUC-ERC bloc and the government of the Generalitat on the other. The conflict is over the control of communications and the taking of the central headquarters of the Telefónica phone company in Plaça de Catalunya in Barcelona. The Republican government assumes responsibility for public order. Action is taken to crush the POUM, resulting in the assassination of Andreu Nin.
1938
March-April
Franco’s troops engage in an offensive on the Aragon Front: Catalonia is isolated from the rest of Republican territory.
July-November
Battle of the Ebro.
December
Franco launches his final offensive against Catalonia.
1939
January
Barcelona is occupied by Franco’s troops. Official war announcement on 1 April 1939.
|
