1 Precursors to War and Revolution in Catalonia

Abstract

One school of Spanish historians has repeatedly argued that the outbreak of Civil War in Spain had little to do with Catalonia or its history. For these historians, Spain imposed the Civil War on Catalonia, imposing it on the region against the wishes of both the left and the right. To understand fully the war and revolution in Catalonia, we must focus not only on the few months preceding the war's outbreak, but also on the structural causes originating further back in time. Of course, the Spanish Civil War cannot be explained without considering what some see as its immediate antecedent: the 1934 October Revolution. This revolution was, at least initially, intended to prevent the anti-republican forces from forming a government, but it quickly took on extraordinary social dimensions. The 1934 October Revolution was the most important and most immediate precursor to the Civil War. Keywords: 1934 October Revolution; Catalonia; Spanish Civil War