Catalan History

The Greeks were the first to make the area now known as Catalunya (Catalonia) part of their empire form 600BC but the Romans, who started colonising from about 200BC left the strongest mark which in many places can still be seen today, especially in places such as Tarraco, now Tarragona. The Visigoths (a Germanic group of tribes that filled the void after the fall of the Roman empire) were next to control the region followed by the Moorish conquest of huge parts of the Iberian peninsula arriving in the region that became Catalunya from 714 AD. However the Franks (another Germanic group of tribes) and their successors the Carolingian Dynasty conquered Girona in 785AD and Barcelona in 801AD. The most influential ruler of this time and generally regarded as the founder of a hypothetical Catalunya was the wonderfully named Wilfred the Hairy (Wilfred I) who ruled six of the first counties (Comarcas) of Catalunya - Urgell, Cerdanya, Barcelona, Girona, Besalú and Ausona.

The 11th century saw the first monarch of Catalunya in Count Ramon Berenguer III and increasing expansion of the territory which was further enlarged when he married the daughter of the King of Aragon in 1137. This expansion continued into the 13th and 14th centuries with the Crown of Aragon, under King Jaume I, taking control of Valencia and Mallorca then even as far as Sicily and Sardinia. At this time there was also the beginnings of a constitutional system which became the Diputació del General from the end of the 13th century and then, as it is known today, the Generalitat, from the 16th century. Despite all this seeming stability it was also a time of recurring outbreaks of the plague, economic crisis and a civil war in the mid 15th century.

Things went from bad to worse for Catalunya with the marriage of King Ferdinand II of Aragon to Isablla of Castile which led the way to the Spanish monarchy and although Catalunya retained its status as an independent state it started to become economically and politically sidelined. It led to the Segadors war between 1640 and 1659 which, at its end, saw the Catalan counties of Rousillon and Sardinia go to the French monarchy while Catalunya south of the Pyrenees came under the control of Spain.

The War of the Spanish succession lasted over ten years (1701-1714) and saw much of Europe battling over the Spanish throne with most of Catalunya supporting the Austrian claimant Prince Eugene of Savoy as a way to keep its sovereignty and constitution. It came to an end with the treaty of Utrecht in 1714 seeing the different monarchies carve up much of Europe between themselves and Phillip V taking the throne in Spain which meant the end to Catalunya as an state. This monarchical and political centralisation did lead to economic recovery but also the decline of the Catalan language which was replaced by Spanish in all areas apart from the family.

Economic growth continued and Catalunya became the most industrialized region in Spain by the 19th century and was known as the factory of Spain. Despite centralisation the people held onto the idea of a separate state both in terms of politics and culture and this built momentum, becoming known as the Renaixença (Renaissance).

The draft for a regional constitution known as Bases de Manresa was written in 1892 and the confidence of Catalunya seemed to increase in direct contrast to the accompanying decreasing fortunes of Spain who lost the colonies of Cuba and the Philippines in 1898. The major political influence of the early 20th century and the driving force behind Catalanism (the movement for Catalan independence) was Enric Prat de la Riba (Barcelona's airport is named after him) who was not only in charge of writing the Bases de Manresa but also wrote the book and Catalanism manifesto, La nacionalitat Catalana in 1906. The first modern political party in Catalunya, La Liga Regionalista, was formed in 1901 subsequently joining a coalition of other parties after the regional elections of 10 March 1907 and calling itself Solidaritat Catalana with Enric Prat de la Riba becoming president of the Provincial Council of Barcelona.

However Catalunya's first taste of independence in modern times did not start well and 1907 also saw the creation of the union Solidaridad Obrera who called a general strike in response to the Spanish Prime Minister calling up troops for renewed action in Morocco. Things went from bad to worse and eventually troops were sent to Barcelona to crush the revolt and a state of war was declared in the city. It ended with what became known as La Setmana Tràgica (tragic week) and at least 100 people lost their lives. This however saw the downfall of the Spanish Government of the time and led to renewed calls for independence.

Late in 1913 provincial councils were granted the authority to form Commonwealths (Mancomunitat in Catalan) although only Catalunya took this opportunity up with Prat de la Riba becoming president. After his death in 1917 he was succeeded by Josep Puig i Cadafalch but he was deposed after six years in a coup d’état by General Primo de Rivera and this saw the end of the commonwealth of Catalunya in 1925.

A further six years past until the proclamation of the second republic in 1931 gave autonomy back to Catalunya and restoration of self government in the historic name of the Generalitat. The Generalitat lasted in that form until 1939 although these times were again very turbulent.

Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde or simply Franco or el Generalísimo as he was better known led a failed military coup in July 1936 that developed into the Spanish Civil War. Franco gradually took over and devastated all of Spain and eventually in the winter of 1939 occupied Catalunya coming from the south and finally taking Girona on February 5th. The rest of Europe was on the edge of the Second World War and in no mood to protest so Franco's regime was recognised by the UK and France on February 27th even though Madrid and Valencia had yet to fall to nationalist troops. They did however on the 28th and 29th of March respectively and Franco's nationalists sealed their victory.

There followed repression all over Spain with Catalunya being singled out for especially harsh treatment because of its ambitions for independence. The Generalitat was abolished and central government was once again imposed, the use of Catalan was prohibited in public and former republican forces were either imprisoned or, throughout Spain, between 10,000 and 28,000 were executed. Many Catalans, including the former president of the Generalitat, Lluís Companys, fled across the border to France or further afield to Mexico. Lluís Companys however was captured by the Nazis in 1940, returned to Franco's authorities and put to death in Barcelona.

Despite the political and social repression Catalunya grew both economically (though, after the Civil War, not from a strong base it must be said) and in terms of population but things didn't change radically for Catalunya and the rest of Spain until Franco's death on November 20th 1975. King Juan Carlos filled the power vacuum and took over as head of state and rather than continue with the policies of Franco followed the by no means easy democratic path even helping to crush another attempted military coup in 1981.

In 1977 the Generalitat de Catalunya was provisionally restored with Josep Tarradellas, the exiled president returning to Barcelona in October of that year. Two years later saw the approval of the constitution of Catalunya known as the Estatut d'Autonomia de Catalunya and the restoration of self government.