Greetings.
An important point that I have not seen directly addressed as of yet
concerns the relationship between the Church (and monarchy), some of the
related fringe and rightist factions within it (c.f. Opus Dei), and the
Falangist/Francoist movements - particularly among the aristocratic and
wealthy established members of Catalan society. This website, which
appears to be religious in nature and in Spanish, details some of this
information:
http://www.sobreestapiedra.com/libros/opus_dei/002b_.htm
[...]
"El padrino más importante con que contó el Opus Dei en esta época en
Barcelona fue Fernando Valls Taberner, nacido en 1888 y fallecido en
1942. Primogénito de una de las familias de la oligarquía que más ha
abastecido con sus miembros las listas de socios del Opus Dei, fue,
según Gonzalo Fernández de la Mora, «una difícil y equilibrada simbiosis
de apostolado religioso, investigación científica, promoción cultural y
acción política y financiera». Contribuyó decisivamente a la puesta en
marcha de la delegación barcelonesa del Consejo Superior de
Investigaciones Científicas y con su prestigio avaló las exiguas
actividades del Opus Dei en sus comienzos apostólicos de Cataluña. No lo
ha olvidado el Opus Dei que, años más tarde, en 1963, dedica un libro a
su memoria.[48]
Fernando Valls Taberner ingresó muy joven en la Lliga y fue diputado del
parlamento regional catalán en 1932. Con anterioridad había sido
desterrado por la dictadura de Primo de Rivera. En 1936, huyó de
Barcelona refugiándose en Italia cuando era Duce Mussolini. A los pocos
meses volvió a España y, en 1937, en compañía de Eugenio Montes y otros
clerical-autoritarios, recorrió América del sur buscando apoyo político
para el «Movimiento» de Franco. Escribió Palabras del momento (1930), En
las horas confusas (1934), de título revelador, y en 1939, Reafirmación
espiritual de España, donde justificaba el levantamiento
contrarrepublicano y teorizaba sobre el fascismo y los problemas
regionales. Escribió además en catalán monografías sobre la historia
medieval de Cataluña. Fue un protector de la música y llegó a poseer una
de las mejores bibliotecas privadas de España, todo ello unido a
gerencias de empresas y a consejos de administración. Falleció
prematuramente a los 54 años de edad.
El grupo opusdeista de Barcelona, del que ya algunos miembros habían
frecuentado en tiempos de la República la universidad con alguna fortuna
(Balcells, por ejemplo, fue delegado escolar durante cuatro años),
utilizó como trampolín para su apostolado en Barcelona la delegación del
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, desde el cual era
lentamente introducido en la burguesía catalana Camino, libro entonces
recién aparecido. La burguesía catalana, como afirma Vicens Vives, había
logrado rápidos y sensacionales triunfos en el espacio de un decenio,
tanto en el terreno artístico como en el de la construcción de
«carreteras negras» (o de asfalto). ¿Qué milagro ocurría para que
Camino, libro de espiritualidad, «entrara» tan fácilmente? ¿Qué talismán
había encontrado la burguesía catalana en la obra de Escrivá y en sus
adeptos?..."
--
If you are not a speaker of Spanish, I could translate this for you.
--
Here is an article written by Fernando Valls Taberner, the individual
mentioned in the above passage and the name most commonly linked with
Catalán collaborators of the time.
http://www.xtec.es/~jrovira6/franco/valls.htm
Entitled "La falsa ruta," it can give you some profound insight into the
frame of mind of a Catalan collaborator.
Valls was known for his group, la "Lliga regionalista." The site at:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Crete/2408/abc.html
details some more about this organization:
Lliga Regionalista. - Partido regionalista catalán, pero no
independentista, fundado dirigido por Cambó . En 1905 varios oficiales
asaltaron su local y el del diario del partido, La veu de Catalunya ,
por los insultos y burlas que éste periódico dirigía al Ejército
español. A favor del asalto se mostró Lerroux. Por el escándalo que
promovió la Lliga se hubo de suspender las garantías constitucionales en
la provincia y destituir los Capitanes Generales de Barcelona, Madrid y
Sevilla, llegando a temerse incluso un golpe militar. Pasó a llamarse
Lliga Catalana.
[trans. by me: "Lliga Regionalista" - Catalonian regionalist party - not an
independence party - funded and run by
Cambó(http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Crete/2408/fotocambo.html). In
1905 various government officials stormed Cambó's offices and those of
the party's newspaper, "The Voice of Catalonia," due to insults and
mockery levied at the Spanish army by the paper. Lerroux supported the
attack. Because of the resulting scandal instigated by the Lliga,
Constitutional guarantees in the province were suspended and the
Capitanes Generales of Barcelona, Madrid and Seville were removed from
their posts, going so far as to fear a possible coup d'état. The party
later changed their name to the "Lliga Catalana."]
Note: the site located at http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Crete/2408/ is
a decidedly right-wing site which promulgates views favorable to the
Francoist and Popular Front viewpoint.
The following is a database of documents and articles related to the
history of Catalunya at several key points in its and greater Spain's
history. It is a site in Catalan but contains documents in Spanish. If
you are able to read Spanish and French, you should be able to make out
the Catalan without any difficulty.
http://www.xtec.es/~jrovira6/index.htm
--
Stanley Payne is a reknowned authority on the rise of Fascism in Italy,
Francoism and Carlism in Spain, and other rightist religious and
political movements from the late 19th century onward. He has written
several books on related topics, many of which focus on the status of
Catalonia prior to the Civil War. He is a professor of History at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison. His website can be found here:
http://history.wisc.edu/fpdb/Faculty/details.asp?ID=34
Here is the link to his book _Facism in Spain_:
http://www.wisc.edu/wisconsinpress/books/3296.htm
He has also written a comprehensive history of Spanish Catholicism:
http://www.wisc.edu/wisconsinpress/books/1595.htm
Gabriel Jackson, a of Spanish and Iberian Studies, wrote an excellent
comprehensive history that, while outside the scope of your initial
post, also covers some important (read: Medieval) early history in the
Catalunya region describing the early autonomous and independent nature
of the area vis-a-vis the rest of the Castillian-dominated parts of the
peninsula. Per http://www.bcanet.org/barcspeakers.html, he is a "former
Provost of the University of California, Irvine. Former Full Professor
of Princeton University. Considered one of the most important scholars
on the history of Spain. His books on "The Second Republic of Spain" and
on "European 20th Century History" are seminal works in the field.
Currently residing in Barcelona, Dr. Jackson gives conferences and
regularly publishes articles on Europe and the U.S. at main European
newspapers."
Finally, one very important book that I have not seen mentioned on this
page is the following:
http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/5782.html
Temma Kaplan Red City, Blue Period Social Movements in Picasso's
Barcelona
Publication Date: February 1992
Subjects: History; Art; European History; Cultural Anthropology; Gender
Studies; Art History
"In Red City, Blue Period, Kaplan combines the methods of anthropology
and the new cultural history to examine the civic culture of Barcelona
between 1888 and 1939. She analyzes the peculiar sense of solidarity the
citizens forged and explains why shared experiences of civic culture and
pageantry sometimes galvanized resistance to authoritarian national
governments but could not always overcome local class and gender
struggles. She sheds light on the process by which principles of
regional freedom and economic equity developed and changed in a city
long known for its commitment to human dignity and artistic achievement.
Although scholars increasingly recognize the relationship between
so-called high art and popular culture, little has been done to explain
what opens the eyes of artists to folk figures and religious art. Kaplan
shows how artists like Picasso and Joan Miró, playwright Santiago
Russinyol, the cellist Pablo Casals, and the architect Antonio Gaudí, as
well as anarchists and other political activists, both shaped and were
influenced by the artistic and political culture of Barcelona."
--str |
