Victims of Civil War in Navarre

The Victims of the Civil War in Navarre resulted from the direct repression exerted by those infuriated from the Second Spanish Republic, in a territory quickly controlled by the designated edict, without resulting in actual war.[1]

The Spanish Civil War began in Navarre, instigated by the Carlists and the Alfonsis monarchists. With the arrival of the new military governor in 1936, the general Emilio Mola, Navarre became a key piece of the military uprising that would take place on 18 July 1936.[2]

Unlike elsewhere in Spain, in which the rebels had to face the power of the republican authorities or of left-aligned groups, the uprising in Navarre was a complete success, meeting little to no resistance.[1][2]

However, this absence of opposition didn't prevent the unchaining of a hard repression against the adherents and supporters of the left, which resulted in many deaths. The violence affected mainly militants of the Federation of Workers of the Earth and the General Union of Workers with big predominance in the region of the Bank of Navarre, represented mostly peasants without land. The majority of deaths came in the first months of the war, a period of terror characterized by extrajudicial killings, walks and take out of prisoners of the places of reclusion.[3][4] An additional element that contributed to increasing the number was the presence, in the proximity of Pamplona, of the Fort Saint Cristóbal, place of reclusion of several hundred of prisoners of the republican band during all the war. The extreme conditions of captivity and the famous escape that took place in May 1938, with a lot of deaths and the capture of the main part of the escapees, contributed also to increase the number of deaths.[5] To the repression it is necessary to add the deaths produced like consequence of the republican air strikes.[6]

The political violence unleashed in Navarre after the triumph of the uprising has its roots in the political and social situation of Navarre. During this period Navarre was characterized as Catholic and Conservative . The poor economy, combined with high taxes, led to high rates of emigration. [7][8] The social problems of land ownership was the major factor in the conflict, as during the republican period peasants lost access to the traditional communal lands (corralizas), mainly in the south of the province, to big landowners. The political tensions manifested in occasional violence and confrontations with political power, during the period when the right was in power, with the extreme poverty of the peasants.[9] However, other political subjects of major importance during the republican period, like the Statute of autonomy Basque-Navarro, didn't have an important reflection in the repression that took place during the bellicose period, due to the fact that the feeling of Basque belonging was common and were the ideological differences those that avoided the aggregate statute, fundamentally the confesionality Catholic of the same.[5]

Today it is acknowledged that more than 3,000 persons died in the period. During the civil war, the Francoist regime silenced dissent and made public discussion of the events taboo. After the installation of the democracy, multiple investigations were undertaken to reconstruct details of the events, primarily at the behest of the families of the victims. This process culminated with the publication of the extensive work Navarre in 1936. Of the Hope to the Terror that went expanding along the years until arriving to his last edition in 2008. These studies lead to the official statement of the Parliament of Navarre in 2003 that recognized the deaths during the civil war and rehabilitated the reputations of those killed..[2]

References

  1. 1 2 (Vázquez de Prada: 613) Spanish Civil War: Rediscovered photos in Navarra museum
  2. 1 2 3 Navarra 1936
  3. ↑ Diario de Noticias
  4. ↑ (Casanova: 56)
  5. 1 2 Navarra 1936
  6. ↑ (Vázquez de Prada: 623)
  7. ↑ Según datos de la Guía Diocesana de Pamplona de 1937, en Navarra había un sacerdote por cada 335 habitantes.
  8. ↑ Artículo de José María Jimeno Jurío de 1986 titulado Hacer la Paz, introducción en la obra de (Navarra 1936)
  9. ↑ Virto Ibáñez, Juan Jesús; Arbeloa Muru, Víctor Manuel (1984).
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, February 29, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.