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Catalan nationalism, or Catalanism, is a political movement that advocates for an increased political autonomy of Catalonia, if not independence itself, from Spain and France. Catalan ˈkætəˌlæn ( català kətəˈla or) is a Romance language, the national and official language of Andorra, and a co-official Catalan grammar is the Grammar of the Catalan language. Morphology For general discussion of morphology (not specific to Catalan see main article The Phonology of Catalan, a Romance language, has a certain degree of dialectal variation This article covers the Orthography of Catalan, a Romance language. The Institut d'Estudis Catalans (Institute for Catalan Studies or IEC is an academic institution which seeks to undertake research and study into "all elements of Catalan culture The Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua ( AVL) - Valencian Academy of the Language - is an institution created on September 16, 1998 by the For other perspectives on the History of Catalonia, see also History of Europe; History of Spain; History of France; Crown of Aragon The Count of Barcelona was the major ruler in Catalonia from the 9th until the 17th century The Crown of Aragon was a permanent union of multiple titles and states in the hands of the King of Aragon. Origins The origins of the military force in Catalonia soar to the 13th century, with the Sagramental, the fraternity among several villages to guarantee their Origin The Corts of Barcelona The Catalan constitutions were promulgated by the Corts of Barcelona ( corts being the Catalan for courts Furs of Valencia ( Furs de València, in Valencian) were the laws of the Kingdom of Valencia during most of Middle Ages and The Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed in 1659 to end the war between France and Spain that had begun in 1635 during the Thirty Years' War. The Nueva Planta decrees (Decretos de Nueva Planta were a number of Decrees signed between 1707 and 1716 by Philip V &mdashthe first Bourbon king of Different meanings Països Catalans is a polysemic expression and so it has different meanings depending on the context Catalonia (Cataluña Catalunya Aranese: Catalonha) is an Autonomous Community in the northeast part of Spain. The Valencian Community ( Valencian and official Comunitat Valenciana; Comunidad Valenciana is an Autonomous community located in central to The Balearic Islands ( Catalan and official Illes Balears; Spanish: Islas Baleares) are an Archipelago in the western Mediterranean The term La Franja ("The Strip" more properly Franja de Aragón or Franja de Poniente "Western Strip" in Spanish) Franja d'Aragó Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra ( Catalan: Principat d'Andorra) is a small Landlocked country in western Alghero ( l'Alguer in Catalan and S'Alighèra in Sardinian) is a town of about 42000 inhabitants (down from 54300 inhabitants since early El Carche ( el Carxe in Valencian) is a mountainous sparsely populated area in Murcia, Spain, lying between the municipalities Jumilla The Generalitat Valenciana is the generic name covering the different self government institutions under which the Spanish Autonomous community of Valencia is politically The Balearic Islands ( Catalan and official Illes Balears; Spanish: Islas Baleares) are an Archipelago in the western Mediterranean The General Council of the Valleys (in Catalan, Consell General de les Valls) is the Unicameral Parliament of Andorra. Catalonia is a Spanish Autonomous Community with a high-level of self-government A castell is a human tower traditionally built during festivals in many places in Catalonia, Spain. Correfocs are amongst the most striking of Catalonia 's festive events " Devils quot play with Fire and with the people The Falles (in Valencian) are a Valencian traditional celebration in praise of Saint Joseph in Valencia Spain. The sardana (Catalan plural sardanes) is a type of Circle dance typical of Catalonia. Moros y Cristianos (in Spanish) or Moros i Cristians (in Valencian) literally means Moors and Christians, and A Caganer (kəɣəˈne is a little statue found in Catalonia, in neighbouring areas with Catalan culture such as Andorra, and in other parts of Spain Portugal and The Tió de Nadal (roughly "Christmas Log" also known as "Tió" (trunk or log a big piece of cut wood or "Tronca" ("log" Botifarra (butiˈfarə is the Catalan name for the Roman Sausage lucanica, made of raw pork and spicesthe recipe for which is still used today in Italy and other parts of the Fútbol Club Barcelona ( Catalan fudˈbɔɫ ˌklup bəɾsəˈlonə Spanish ˈfutβol ˌkluβ baɾθeˈlona known familiarly as Barça (Spanish ˈbaɾsa Catalan Paella (pa'eʎa is an internationally famous dish consisting of White rice, Meat, Seafood, Beans and Vegetables (depending on Catalan myths and legends are the traditional myths and Legends of the Catalan -speaking world especially Catalonia itself passed down for generations Catalan literature is the name conventionally used to refer to Literature written in the Catalan language. Catalan Modernisme (not to be confused with Modernism) was the Catalan equivalent to a number of fin-de-siècle movements such as Symbolism, The Renaixença (rənəˈʃɛnsə was an early 19th century late romantic revivalist movement in Catalan language and culture akin to the Noucentisme ( Noucentista being its adjective was a Catalan cultural movement of the early 20th century that originated largely as a reaction against Modernisme Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech 1st Marquis of Púbol (May 11 1904 &ndash January 23 1989 was a Spanish Catalan Surrealist Joan Miró i Ferrà ( April 20, 1893 &ndash December 25, 1983) was an ethnic Catalan (of Spanish nationality Antoni Tàpies (born in Barcelona, December 13, 1923) is a Spanish Catalan painter Politics Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions Catalonia (Cataluña Catalunya Aranese: Catalonha) is an Autonomous Community in the northeast part of Spain. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. This desire ideally extends to the "Catalan Countries", the Catalan-speaking territories. Different meanings Països Catalans is a polysemic expression and so it has different meanings depending on the context
Intellectually, Catalan nationalism departs from the unsuccessful attempts to establish a federal state in Spain in the context of the First Republic. Valentí Almirall and other intellectuals that participated in this process set up a new political ideology in the 19th century, to restore self-government, as well as to obtain recognition for the Catalan language. The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar Catalan ˈkætəˌlæn ( català kətəˈla or) is a Romance language, the national and official language of Andorra, and a co-official These demands were summarized in the so-called Bases de Manresa in 1892. Year 1892 ( MDCCCXCII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year
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The origins of Catalan national identity
During the first centuries of the Reconquista, the Franks drove the Muslims south of the Pyrenees. The Reconquista (a Spanish and Portuguese word for "Reconquest" Arabic: الاسترداد, "Recapturing" was a period The Franks or Frankish people (Franci or gens Francorum) were West Germanic tribes first identified in the 3rd century as an Ethnic group To prevent future incursions, Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne created the Marca Hispanica in 790 CE, which consisted of a series of petty kingdoms serving as buffer states between the Frankish kingdom and Al-Andalus. Charlemagne (ˈʃɑrlɨmeɪn Carolus Magnus or Karolus Magnus meaning Charles the Great) (747 – 28 January 814 was King of the Franks from 768 to his The Marca Hispanica (or Spanish March, also March of Barcelona) was a Buffer zone beyond the province of Septimania, created by Charlemagne A petty kingdom is an independent realm recognizing no suzerain and controlling only a portion of the territory held by a particular ethnic group or nation A buffer state is a Country lying between two rival or potentially hostile greater powers, which by its sheer existence is thought to prevent conflict between them Al-Andalus (الأندلس was the Arabic name given to those parts of the Iberian Peninsula governed by Muslims or
Between 878 and 988 CE, the area became a hotbed of Frankish-Muslim conflict. However, as the Frankish monarchy and the Caliphate of Córdoba weakened during the 11th century, the resulting impasse allowed for a process of consolidation throughout the region’s many earldoms, resulting in their combination into the County of Barcelona, which became the embryo of today's Catalonia. The Caliphate of Córdoba (Arabic خلافة قرطبة ruled the Iberian peninsula ( Al-Andalus) and North Africa from the city of Earl was the Anglo-Saxon form and jarl the Scandinavian form of a title meaning " Chieftain " and referring especially to chieftains The Count of Barcelona was the major ruler in Catalonia from the 9th until the 17th century By 1070, Ramon Berenguer I, Count of Barcelona, had subordinated other Catalan Counts and intransigent nobles as vassals. Ramon Berenguer I el Vell ("the Old" was Count of Barcelona in 1035-1076 Nobility is a government-privileged title which may be either hereditary (see Hereditary titles) or for a lifetime A vassal (also called feodary or fedary) in the terminology that both preceded and accompanied the feudalism of Medieval Europe, His action brought peace to a turbulent feudal system and sowed the seeds of Catalan identity. Cultural identity is the (feeling of identity of a group or Culture, or of an Individual as far as he or she is influenced by her belonging to a group
According to several scholars, the term “Catalan” and “Catalonia” emerged near the end of the 11th century and appeared in the Usatges of 1150. The Usages of Barcelona ( Catalan: Usatches or Usatges de Barcelona, Castilian: Usos or Two factors fostered this identity: stable institutions and cultural prosperity. While the temporary lack of foreign invasions contributed to Catalonia’s stability, it was not a main cause. Rather, it provided a site for sociopolitical development. For example, after Catalonia merged with the Kingdom of Aragón, to create the Crown of Aragon in 1137 through a dynastic union, the system was designed to mutually check both the king’s and nobility's powers, while the small but growing numbers of free citizens and bourgeoisie would tactically take sides with the king in order to diminish typically feudal institutions. The Kingdom of Aragon was an old kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day autonomous community of Aragon ( The Crown of Aragon was a permanent union of multiple titles and states in the hands of the King of Aragon. A dynastic union is the combination by which two different states are governed by the same Monarch or Dynasty, while their boundaries their laws and their interests
By 1150, the king approved a series of pacts, called the Usatges, which “explicitly acknowledged legal equality between burghers…and nobility” (Woolard 17). In addition, the Catalan-Aragonese gentry established the Corts, a representative body, comprised of nobles, bishops and abbots that counterbalanced the King’s authority. A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight The word abbot, meaning Father, is a title given to the head of a Monastery in various traditions including Christianity. By the end of the 13th century, “the monarch needed the consent of the Corts to approve laws or collect revenue” (McRoberts 10). Soon after, the Corts elected a standing body called the Diputació del General or the Generalitat, which included the rising high bourgeoisie. Generalitat (literally 'Generality' is the name of the regional systems of Government of two of the present Spanish autonomous communities: Catalonia and The first Catalan constitutions were promulgated by the Corts of Barcelona in 1283, following the Roman tradition of the Codex. Origin The Corts of Barcelona The Catalan constitutions were promulgated by the Corts of Barcelona ( corts being the Catalan for courts A codex ( Latin for block of wood, Book; plural codices) is a book in the format used for modern books with separate pages normally
In the 13th century, King Jaume I conquered Valencia and the Balearic Islands. James I the Conqueror ( Catalan: Jaume el Conqueridor, Aragonese: Chaime lo Conqueridor, Spanish: Jaime el Conquistador The Christian Kingdom of Valencia, located in the Eastern shore of the Iberian Peninsula, was one of the component realms of the Crown of Aragon. The Balearic Islands ( Catalan and official Illes Balears; Spanish: Islas Baleares) are an Archipelago in the western Mediterranean Subsequent conquests expanded into the Mediterranean, reaching Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily, Naples and Greece, so by 1350 the Crown of Aragon “presided over the one of the most extensive and powerful mercantile empires of the Mediterranean during this period” (Woolard 16). Sardinia (sɑrˈdɪnɪə Sardegna Sardigna or Sardinnya is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily) Corsica (Corse Corsican and Italian: Corsica) is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily Sicily ( Italian and Sicilian: Sicilia) is an autonomous region of Italy. Naples ( Napoli, Neapolitan: Nàpule) is a historic City in southern Italy, the Capital of the Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία The Crown of Aragon was a permanent union of multiple titles and states in the hands of the King of Aragon. Catalonia’s economic success formed a powerful merchant class, which wielded the Corts as its political weapon. Merchants function as professionals who deal with Trade, dealing in commodities that they do not produce themselves in order to produce Profit. It also produced a smaller middle class, or menestralia, that was “composed of artisans, shopkeepers and workshop owners” (McRoberts 11).
Over the 13th and 14th centuries, these merchants accrued so much wealth and political sway that placed a significant check on the Aragonese crown. By the 15th century the Aragonese monarch “was not considered legitimate until he had sworn to respect the basic law of the land in the presence of the Corts” (Balcells 9). This balance of power is a classic example of pactisme, or contractualism, which seems to be a defining feature of the Catalan political culture. Political culture can be defined as "The orientation of the citizens of a nation toward politics and their perceptions of political legitimacy and the traditions of political
Along with political and economic success, Catalan culture flourished in the 13th and 14th centuries. During this period, the Catalan vernacular gradually replaced Latin as the language of culture and government. Scholars rewrote everything from ancient Visigothic law to religious sermons in Catalan (Woolard 14). The Visigoths (Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, or Wisi were one of two main branches of the Goths, an East Wealthy citizens bolstered Catalan’s literary appeal through poetry contests and history pageants dubbed the Jocs Florals, or “Floral Games. Floral Games were any of a series historically-related Poetry contests with Floral prizes ” As the kingdom expanded southeast into Valencia and the Mediterranean, Catalan followed.
The medieval heyday of Catalan culture would not last, however. After a bout of famine and plague hit Catalonia in the mid-14th century, the population dropped from 50,000 to 20,000 (McRoberts 13). Bubonic plague is the best-known manifestation of the bacterial disease plague, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis (formerly known as This exacerbated feudal tensions, sparking serf revolts in rural areas and political impasses in Barcelona. Financial issues and the burden of multiple dependencies abroad further strained the region.
To worsen things, in 1410, the Aragonese king died without leaving an heir to the throne. Finding no legitimate alternative, Catalan-Aragonese leaders appointed Ferdinand I, a Castilian. Ferdinand I (Ferran - Catalan (Medina del Campo Castile 27 November 1380 &ndash Igualada Catalonia 2 April 1416) called of Antequera The new monarch and his descendants began to impinge on the “privileges” of Catalan nobles, infuriating the Generalitat. From 1458 to 1479, civil wars between King John II and local chieftains engulfed Catalonia. John II the Great ( June 29, 1397 &ndash January 20, 1479) was the King of Aragon (1458&ndash1479 and Jure uxoris During the conflict, John II “had his heir Ferdinand married to Isabella of Castile, the heiress to the Castilian throne, in a bid to find outside allies” (Balcells 11). Their dynastic union, which came to be known as the Catholic Monarchs, is seen, restrospecively, as the dawn of the future Kingdom of Spain. The Catholic Monarchs (los Reyes Católicos is the collective title used in history for Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. At that point both Castile and the Crown of Aragon remained distinct territories, each keeping its own traditional institutions, Parliaments and laws. The Crown of Castile, as a historic entity is usually considered to have begun in 1230 with the third and definitive union of the two kingdoms of León and Castile
This dynastic union deprived the Catalans of foreign policy control, but still allowed a similar level of autonomy as the one from the times of the Crown of Aragon. These political and economic restrictions impacted all segments of society, from Barcelona’s wealthy merchants to its Jewish community (which was soon to become a target of the newly created Spanish Inquisition). PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ The Spanish Inquisition started and was established in 1478 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile to maintain Also, because of the locally bred social conflicts, Catalonia squandered in one century most of what it had gained in political rights between 1070 and 1410.
Nevertheless, early political, economic and cultural advances gave Catalonia “a mode of organization and an awareness of its own identity which might in some ways be described as national, though the idea of popular or national sovereignty did not yet exist” (Balcells 9). Other scholars like Kenneth McRoberts and Katheryn Woolard hold similar views. Both support Pierre Vilar, who contends that in 13th and 14th centuries “the Catalan principality was perhaps the European country to which it would be the least inexact or risky to use such seemingly anachronistic terms as political and economic imperialism or ‘nation-state’” (McRoberts 13). Imperialism has two meanings one describing an action and the other describing an attitude For the online game see Jennifer Government NationStates. The nation-state is a certain form of State that derives its legitimacy In other words, an array of political and cultural forces laid the foundations of Catalan “national” identity.
Llobera agrees with this opinion, saying, “By the mid-thirteenth century, the first solid manifestations of national consciousness can be observed. ” Indeed, 13th and 14th century Catalonia did exhibit features of a nation-state. The role of Catalan Counts, the Corts, Mediterranean rule and economic prosperity support this thesis. But as Vilar points out, these analogies are only true if we acknowledge that a 14th century nation-state is anachronistic. In other words, those living in Catalonia before latter day nationalism possessed something like a collective identity on which this was to be based, but this does not automatically equate to the modern concept of nation, neither in Catalonia nor elsewhere in similar circumstances during the Middle Age.
The Corts and the rest of the autochthonous legal and politic organization was finally terminated in 1716 as a result of the Spanish War of Succession. In the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714 several European powers combined to stop French succession to the Spanish throne and what would likely have been a resulting The local population mostly took side and provided troops and resources for Archduke Charles, the pretender who was arguably to maintain the legal status quo. Charles VI (German Karl VI) ( October 1, 1685 &ndash October 20, 1740) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia Status quo is a Latin term meaning the present existing state of affairs or "the state in which" His utter defeat meant the legal and politic termination of the autonomous parliaments in the Crown of Aragon, as the Nueva Planta Decrees were passed and the new King Philip V of Spain of the House of Bourbon created a centralized Spain. The Nueva Planta decrees (Decretos de Nueva Planta were a number of Decrees signed between 1707 and 1716 by Philip V &mdashthe first Bourbon king of Philip V of Spain ( December 19, 1683 - July 9, 1746) born Philippe de France, Fils de France and duc d'Anjou The House of Bourbon is an important European Royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty.
The development of modern Catalanism
The Renaixença (Renaissance) was a cultural, historical and literary movement that pursued in the wake of European Romanticism the recovery of the own language and literature. The Renaixença (rənəˈʃɛnsə was an early 19th century late romantic revivalist movement in Catalan language and culture akin to the Romanticism is a complex artistic literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength during the As time went by, and particularly immediately after the fiasco of the Revolution of 1868 (led by the Catalan general Juan Prim), the movement acquired a clear political character, directed to the attainment of self-government for Catalonia within the framework of the Spanish liberal state. The Glorious Revolution (Spanish La Gloriosa) took place in Spain in 1868, deposing Queen Isabella II.
Like most Romantic currents, the Renaixença gave historical analysis a central role. Romanticism is a complex artistic literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength during the History, in fact, was an integral part of Catalonia’s “rebirth. ” Texts on Catalonia’s history—inspired by the Romantic philosophy of history—laid the foundations of a Catalanist movement. Works like Valentí Almirall’s Lo Catalanisme, Victor Balaguer’s Historia de Cataluña y de la Corona de Aragón and Prat de la Riba’s La nacionalitat catalana used history as evidence for Catalonia’s nationhood. According to Elie Kedourie, such claims were common in 19th century nationalist discourse because “the ‘past’ is used to explain the ‘present,’ to give it meaning and legitimacy. The ‘past’ reveals one’s identity, and history determines one’s role in the drama of human development and progress” (36). Publications of histories thus “explained” why the Catalans constituted a nation instead of a Spanish region or coastal province.
At the heart of many of works of the Renaixença lay a powerful idea: the Volk. See also Folk (disambiguation, Volk (disambiguation Folk is one of the Germanic roots that mean "(of the people" or "our Indeed, the concept of Volk (pl. Völker) played a vital role in mainstream Catalan Romantic nationalism. It has its origins in the writings of German Romantics like Friedrich Carl von Savigny, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and, most notably, Johann Gottfried Herder. Friedrich Carl von Savigny ( February 21, 1779 in Frankfurt am Main - 25 October, 1861 in Berlin) was one of the most respected Johann Gottfried von Herder ( August 25, 1744 December 18, 1803) was a German philosopher, Poet, and Literary Herder was one of the first intellectuals to reject Enlightenment thought by proposing an alternative philosophy of history. The Age of Enlightenment or The Enlightenment is a term used to describe a phase in Western philosophy and cultural life centered upon the eighteenth century An integral part of his thought was particularlism—that is—the belief that a person “cannot define himself except in terms of a particular religion, a specific language, a communal pattern of feeling” (xix). Any group sharing these cultural particularities constituted a Volk. Beyond this, argued Herder, each Volk has a spirit (geist), one that could not mix with others because it was unnatural and unauthentic. Geist ( German gaɪ̯st is a German word that does not translate very well into English In his introduction to Herderian thought, Frank. E. Manuel describes the Volk as follows: "[w]hen Herder analyzed the creation of a genius he considered it as an expression of the Volk spirit [Volksgeist]: a man could not think freely in all possible forms and languages—he was born to one only. If a man tried to assimilate what was not his natural Volk spirit, he would never be able to give utterance to a harmonious song, for its bastard quality would obtrude," (xx).
Put another way, Herder viewed every Volk as an organism manifested in a “national character,” which was determined by its physical surroundings, historical environment and ordained by God. This last point is crucial in understanding the Volk as an organism. Like many Christians, Herder believed that each individual had a soul, that is, a divine essence. But Herder took this idea a step further by applying it to Völker. To him, each Volk had a “soul—an individuality or personality of its own—and suggested that this was expressed through what might be called culture” (Penrose and May 170). Clearly, this line of thought would appeal to an oppressed people with a strong collective consciousness. What made it more potent was its resonance amongst nationalist groups in regions that held autonomy in the Middle Ages, such as the diverse peoples living in the Habsburg and Ottoman Empires. The Herderian or Romantic stress on group particularity, historical analysis and the incompatibility of different Völker did not bode well for large multi-ethnic states. The idea that a particular Volk cannot “mix” with another undergirded many of the philosophies that developed into full-fledged nationalist movements. Catalonia was no exception.
The concept of Volk entered Catalan intellectual circles in the 1830s, stemming from the emphasis on the region’s medieval history and philology. It first appeared in the writings of Joan Cortada, Marti d’Eixalà and his discipline, Francesc-Xavier Llorens i Barba, intellectuals who reinvigorated the literature on the Catalan national character. Inspired by the ideas of Herder, Savigny and the entire Scottish School of Common Sense, they asked why the Catalans were different from other Spaniards—especially the Castilians (Conversi 1997: 15) For example, Cortada wanted to determine why, despite its poor natural environment, Catalonia was so much more successful than other parts of Spain. In a series of generalizations, he concluded that the “Catalans have succeeded in developing a strong sense of resolution and constancy over the centuries. Another feature of their character was the fact that they were hardworking people” (Llobera 1983: 342). D’Eixalà and Llorens held a similar understanding of the Catalan national character. They held that that two characteristics particular to Catalans were common sense (seny) and industriousness. To them, “the traditional Catalan seny was a manifestation of the Volksgeist,” one which made Catalans essentially different from Castilians (Llobera 2004: 75). Zeitgeist ( pronounced) is a German language expression literally translated Zeit time; Geist spirit, meaning "the
The early works on the Catalan Volk would remain on paper long before they entered politics. This is because the Catalan bourgeoisie had not yet abandoned the hope of spearheading the Spanish state (Conversi 1997: 14). Indeed, in the 1830s, the Renaixença was still embryonic and the industrial class still thought that it could at least control the Spanish economy. Notions of Catalonia’s uniqueness mattered little to a group that believed it could integrate and lead the entire country. But this all changed around 1880. After decades of discrimination from Spanish elites, Catalan industrialists buried their dream of leading Spain. As Vilar observes: "It is only because, in its acquisition of the Spanish market, the Catalan industrial bourgeoisie did not succeed either in securing the state apparatus or identifying its interests with those of the whole of Spain, in influential opinion, that Catalonia, this little “fatherland,” finally became the 'national' focal point," (1980: 551)
This switch of allegiance was particularly easy because the idea of a Catalan nation had already matured into a corpus of texts about the region’s “uniqueness” and Volksgeist. Inspired by these works of Romantic nationalism, the Catalan economic elite became conscious of “the growing dissimilitude between the Catalonia’s social structure and that of the rest of the nation” (Vilar 1963: 101). Consequently, Romantic nationalism (and the Volk) expanded beyond its philosophical bounds into the political arena.
In the last third of the 19th century, Catalanism was formulating its own doctrinal foundations, not only among the progressive ranks but also in the conservative, and at the same time it started to establish the first political programmes (e. g. Bases de Manresa, 1892), and to generate a wide cultural and association movement of a clearly vindicatory character.
In 1898, Spain lost its last colonial possessions in Cuba and the Philippines, a fact that not only involved an important crisis of confidence, but also gave an impulse to political Catalanism. The Republic of Cuba (ˈkjuːbə or) consists of the island of Cuba (the largest and second-most populous island of the Greater Antilles) Isla de la The Philippines ( Filipino: Pilipinas, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (fil ''Republika ng Pilipinas'' RP The first modern political party in Catalonia and Spain was the Lliga Regionalista. Regionalist League (in Catalan: Lliga Regionalista) was a political party of Catalonia, Spain, that appeared thanks to the triumph of the candidacy Founded in 1901, it formed a coalition in 1907 with other Catalanist forces (from Carlism to Federalists), grouped in the so-called Solidaritat Catalana, and won the elections with the regionalist programme that Enric Prat de la Riba had formulated in his manifesto La nacionalitat catalana (1906). Carlism is a traditionalist and legitimist political movement in Spain seeking the establishment of a separate line of the Bourbon family on Enric Prat de la Riba i Sarrà ( Castellterçol, 1879 - 1917 was a Catalan politician
Industrialization and catalanism
The 18th century Spanish economy depended mostly on agriculture. The 18th century lasted from 1701 to 1800 in the Gregorian calendar, in accordance with the Anno Domini / Common Era numbering system Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture The social structure stayed hierarchical, if not feudal, while the Roman Catholic Church and Bourbon monarchs wrestled for internal supremacy. Feudalism, a term first used in the early modern period (17th century in its most classic sense refers to a Medieval Europe Political system composed The House of Bourbon is an important European Royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty. Into the 19th century, Spain remained politically and culturally isolated from the rest of Europe. As England, Germany and France tinkered with coal-fed factories, steam engines and new philosophies, Spanish rulers found itself increasingly at odds with the Church, its colonies and haunted by past glories. A steam engine is a Heat engine that performs Mechanical work using Steam as its Working fluid.
Unlike in the rest of Spain, the Industrial Revolution made some progress in Catalonia, whose pro-industry middle class strived to mechanize everything, from textiles and crafts to wineries. The Industrial Revolution was a period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when major changes in agriculture manufacturing and transportation had a profound effect on the The middle class, in colloquial usage consists of those who have some economic independence but not a great deal of social Influence or power. A textile is a flexible material comprised of a network of natural or artificial Fibres often referred to as thread or Yarn. A winery is a building or property that produces Wine, or a business involved in the production of wine such as a wine company. Industrialization and trade went hand in hand with the proto-nationalist Renaixença cultural movement, which, annoyed with the shortcomings of the Royal court in Madrid, began to fashion an alternative, and that was Catalan identity. The Renaixença (rənəˈʃɛnsə was an early 19th century late romantic revivalist movement in Catalan language and culture akin to the
To finance their cultural project, a locally bred proto-nationalist intelligentsia sought patronage and protection from Barcelona’s industrial barons. For the coffee shop company often called Intelligentsia for short see Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea. This relationship played a decisive role in the development of Catalanism. On the one hand, intellectuals sought to renew Catalan identity as a response to Spain’s overall backwardness. They wanted to distance themselves from the Spanish problems by creating a new ontology rooted in Catalan culture, language and worldview. In Philosophy, ontology (from the Greek, genitive: of being (part Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate" generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic A comprehensive world view (or worldview) is a term Calqued from the German word Weltanschauung ( Welt is the German On the other hand, those same intellectuals avoided demands for separation. They knew that their patrons would want Catalan nationalism to include Spain for two reasons:
- Any secession from Spain would devastate industrial markets and impoverish the region.
- The Catalan industrial class was “unconditionally pro-Spanish at heart” (Conversi 1997: 18). In Sociology, industrial society refers to a society with a modern societal structure
As Woolard notes, the economic interests in Madrid and the budding Catalan industrialists converged during the 18th century, resulting in cooperation between. For the nationalist literati, this meant that Catalanism could promote a national identity, but it had to function within Spain.
Furthermore, Barcelona’s industrial elite wanted Catalonia to stay part of Spain since Catalonia’s industrial markets relied on consumption from other Spanish regions which, little by little, started to join some sort of development. Elite (also spelled Élite) is taken originally from the Latin, eligere, "to elect" In fact, part of the industrialists’ desire to remain part of Spain was their desire for protectionism, hegemony in domestic markets and the push to “influence Madrid’s political choices by intervening in central Spanish affairs” (Conversi 1997: 18-20), thus, it made no economic sense to promote any secession from Spain. To the contrary, Catalonia’s prominent industrialists acted as the Spanish leading economic heads. As Stanley Payne observes: "The modern Catalan élite had played a major role in what there was of economic industrialization in the nineteenth century, and had tended to view Catalonia not as the antagonist but to some degree the leader of a freer, more prosperous Spain" (482). Stanley George Payne (born 1934 in Denton Texas) is a Historian of modern Spain and European Fascism at the University Barcelona’s bourgeois industrialists even claimed that protectionism and leadership served the interests of the “‘national market’ or of ‘developing the national economy’ (national meaning Spanish here) ” (Balcells 19). The inclusion of Spain was instrumental to Catalonia’s success, meaning that industrialists would not tolerate any secessionist movement. Claiming for independence would have assured nothing but weak markets, an internal enemy and strenghthened anarchist movements. Anarchism is a Political philosophy encompassing theories and attitudes which support the elimination of all compulsory Government, i And hence, though manufacturers funded the Renaixença— and Catalan nationalism — they demanded that Catalonia stayed part of Spain to ensure economic stability.
This federalist-like lobbying had not worked at first, nor did it succeed until the late 1880s. Finally, in 1889, the pro-industrialist Lliga Regionalista managed to save the particular Catalan Civil Code after an liberal attempt to homogenize the Spanish legal structures (Conversi 1997: 20). Regionalist League (in Catalan: Lliga Regionalista) was a political party of Catalonia, Spain, that appeared thanks to the triumph of the candidacy A civil code is a systematic compilation of laws designed to comprehensively deal with the core areas of Private law. Classical liberalism (also known as traditional liberalism, Laissez-faire liberalism, Market liberalism or in much of the world Two years later, they coaxed Madrid into passing protectionist measures, which reinvigorated pro-Spanish attitudes among manufacturers. Then, they also took great profits from Spain's neutrality in World War I, which allowed them to export to both contendents, and the Spanish expansion in Morocco, which Catalan industrials encouraged since it was to become a fast growing market for them. For other uses of Neutral and Neutrality see Neutral A neutral country takes no side in a War between other parties World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Spanish protectorate of Morocco (حماية إسبانيا في المغرب (Protectorado español de Marruecos was the area of Morocco under colonial rule by the Also, by early 20th century, Catalan businessmen had managed to gain control of the most profitable commerce between Spain and its American colonies and ex-colonies, namely Cuba and Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico (ˌpwertoˈriko officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ("Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico" {{lang-en|"Associated Free State of Puerto Rico"}}
This nationalist-industrialist accord is a classic example of inclusionary Catalanism. Nationalists might have hoped for an independent Catalonia but their patrons needed access to markets and protectionism. For the protectionist Australian political party from the 1880s to 1909 see Protectionist Party As a result, nationalists could propagate the Catalan identity provided that it coincided with the industrialists’ pro-Spanish stance. Because the Lliga Regionalista de Catalunya endorsed this compromise, it dominated Catalan politics after the turn of the century. Payne notes: "The main Catalanist party, the bourgeois Lliga, never sought separatism but rather a more discrete and distinctive place for a self-governing Catalonia within a more reformist and progressive Spain. The Lliga’s leaders ran their 1916 electoral campaign under the slogan ‘Per l’Espanya Gran’ (For the Great Spain)" (482). The Lliga had tempered the nationalist position to one of inclusionary nationalism. It allowed Catalanism to flourish, but demanded that it promote federalism within Spain, and not separation from it. Political federalism is a Political philosophy in which a group of members are bound together (Latin foedus, covenant) with a governing Any deviation from this delicate balance would have enraged those pro-Catalan and Spanish-identifying industrialists. Ultimately, this prevented any moves towards separation while strengthening Catalonia’s “federal” rights after the Mancomunitat de Catalunya took power in 1914. The Mancomunitat de Catalunya ( Catalan for "Commonwealth of Catalonia " was an institution which covered the four Catalan
Catalanism in the 20th Century
During the first part of the 20th century, the main nationalist party was the right-wing Lliga Regionalista, headed by Francesc Cambó. Events 3102 BC - Epoch (origin of the Kali Yuga. 1229 - The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II Holy Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The twentieth century of the Common Era began on Regionalist League (in Catalan: Lliga Regionalista) was a political party of Catalonia, Spain, that appeared thanks to the triumph of the candidacy Francesc Cambó i Batlle ( Verges ( Catalonia) 2 September, 1876 - 30 April, 1947 Argentina) was a conservative For the nationalists, the main achievement in this period was the Mancomunitat de Catalunya a grouping of the four Catalan provinces, with limited administrative power. The Mancomunitat de Catalunya ( Catalan for "Commonwealth of Catalonia " was an institution which covered the four Catalan This institution was abolished during the dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera. Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja 2 Marqués de Estella ( Jerez de la Frontera, January 8, 1870 - Paris,
In 1931, the left-wing Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya party won the elections in Catalonia, advocating a Catalan Republic federated with Spain. The Republican Left of Catalonia (Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya ERC) is a left-wing Catalan independentist political party in Spain campaigning for The Catalan Republic, also know Catalan State, is a state claimed by the Catalan independentism as a home of the Catalan people. Under pressure from the Spanish government, the leader of ERC, Francesc Macià i Llussà, accepted an autonomous Catalan government instead, which recovered the historical name of Generalitat de Catalunya. Francesc Macià i Llussà ( October 21, 1859 - December 25, 1933) was a Catalan soldier politician and President of the
A dramatically short period of restoration of democratic and cultural normality was interrupted at its outset by the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. The Spanish Civil War was a major conflict in Spain that started after an attempted Coup d'état committed by parts of the army against the government of The autonomous government was abolished in 1939, after the victory of the Francoist troops. Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco y Bahamonde (born December 4, 1892 in Ferrol, died November 20, 1975 in Madrid During the last stages of the war, when the Republican side was on the verge of defeat, Catalan president of the Generalitat, Lluís Companys, rhetorically declared Catalan independence, even though it never materialized due to objections within Catalonia and, eventually, by the Second Spanish Republic defeat. Lluís Companys i Jover ( June 21 1882 &ndash October 14 1940) was a Spanish Catalan Politician The Second Spanish Republic was the system of government in Spain between April 14 1931, when King Alfonso XIII left the country
Right after the war, Companys, along with thousands of Spanish Republicans, sought cover in France exiled but because of the, by that time, mutual sympathy between Franco's government and Nazi Germany, he was captured after the Fall of France in 1940 and handed to Spanish authorities, which sentenced him to death. Barcelona ( Catalan bəɾsəˈlonə Spanish baɾθeˈlona is the capital and most populous city of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia Lluís Companys i Jover ( June 21 1882 &ndash October 14 1940) was a Spanish Catalan Politician Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers In World War II, the Battle of France, also known as the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries Several political or cultural Catalan movements operated underground during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, which lasted until 1975. Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco y Bahamonde (born December 4, 1892 in Ferrol, died November 20, 1975 in Madrid A president of the Catalan government was still designed and operated symbolically in exile.
Companys's successor in exile, Josep Tarradellas, kept away from Spain until Franco's death in 1975. Josep Tarradellas i Joan ( Cervelló, Baix Llobregat 1899 - Barcelona 1988) Marquess of Tarradellas in 1985 was a Catalan When he came back in 1977 the government of Catalonia -the Generalitat- was restored again. Following the approval of the Spanish constitution in 1978, a Statute of Autonomy was promulgated and approved in referendum. The Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia ( Catalan: Estatut d'Autonomia de Catalunya; also Statute of Sau, Estatut de Sau, after the location Catalonia was organized as an Autonomous Community, and in 1980 Jordi Pujol, from the conservative nationalist party Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya, was elected president and ruled the autonomous government for 23 consecutive years. An autonomous community is a first-level political division of the Kingdom of Spain, established in accordance with the Spanish Constitution. Jordi Pujol i Soley (born June 9, 1930) was the leader of the party Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC from 1974 to 2003 and The Democratic Convergence of Catalonia ( Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya) is a Political party in Catalonia, Spain.
In contrast, there is no significant political autonomy, nor recognition of the language in the historical Catalan territories belonging to France (Roussillon, in French département of Pyrénées-Orientales). This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The Comarca of Roussillon ( Catalan: Rosselló) is a historical Catalan comarca of Northern Catalonia, now part of the French In the context of the political and geographic organization of France and many of its former colonies a department (département depaʁtǝmɑ̃ is an Administrative division Pyrénées-Orientales (Eastern Pyrenees Pirineus Orientals Pirenèus Orientals is a department of southern France adjacent to the northern Spanish frontier
Currently, the main political parties which define themselves as being Catalan nationalists are Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya, Unió Democràtica de Catalunya and Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya. The Democratic Convergence of Catalonia ( Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya) is a Political party in Catalonia, Spain. The Democratic Union of Catalonia is a Political party in Catalonia, Spain. The Republican Left of Catalonia (Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya ERC) is a left-wing Catalan independentist political party in Spain campaigning for These parties obtained 45. 58% of the votes in the 2006 election. Elections to the Parliament of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia, Spain, were held on November 1 2006. Within these parties, a significant part of their voters would like an independent Catalonia, while others demand a special status within Spain, but without seceding.
In 2006, a referendum was held on amending the 1979 Catalan Statute of Autonomy to further expand the authority of the Catalan government. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. A referendum on the new Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia was held in Catalonia, Spain, on June 18, 2006. It was approved by 73. 24% of the census, and became effective as of August 9, 2006. However, the turnout of 48. 84% represented an unprecedented high abstention in Catalonia's democratic history. Abstention is a term in Election procedure for when a participant in a vote either does not go to vote (on election day or in Parliamentary procedure, is present This has been cited both as a symptom of having large sectors in the average populace disengaged or at odds with the politics of identity in Catalonia,[1] and, alternatively, as a symptom of fatigue among Catalan nationalists who would like to see bolder steps towards political autonomy or independence. In this regard, both Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (Catalan independentist center-left) and Partido Popular (Spanish center-right) campaigned against having the 2006 Statute of Autonomy passed: the former considered it too little, the latter too much. The Republican Left of Catalonia (Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya ERC) is a left-wing Catalan independentist political party in Spain campaigning for The People's Party ( Spanish: Partido Popular, PP) is the main right Political party in Spain.
References
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- Balcells, Albert. Catalan Nationalism: Past and Present. New York: St. Martin's Press, Inc. , 1996.
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- Kedourie, Elie. Nationalism in Asia and Africa. London: Frank Cass, 1970.
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- Llobera, Josep R. Foundations of National Identity: from Catalonia to Europe. New York: Berghahn Books, 2004.
- ---. "The idea of Volksgeist in the formation of Catalan nationalist ideology" Ethnic and Racial Studies 6 (1983): 332-350.
- McRoberts, Kenneth. Catalonia: Nation Building Without a State. New York: Oxford, 2001.
- Payne, Stanley G. "Nationalism, Regionalism and Micronationalism in Spain. " Journal of Contemporary History 26. 3/4 (1991): 479-491.
- Penrose, Jan, and Joe May. "Herder's Concept of the Nation and Its Relevance to Contemporary Ethnic Nationalism. " Canadian Review of Studies in Nationalism XVIII (1991): 165-177.
- Smith, Angel, and Clare Mar-Molinero. "The Myths and Realities of Nation-Building in the Iberian Peninsula. " Nationalism and the Nation in the Iberian Peninsula: Competing and Conflicting Identities. Eds. Angel Smith, and Clare Mar-Molinero. Washington DC: Berg, 1996. 1-33.
- Vilar, Pierre. La Catalogne dans L’Espagne moderne. Paris: Flammation, 1977 (Spanish Translation: 'Cataluña en la España moderna'. Barcelona: Editorial Crítica Grijalbo, 1978)
- ---. Historia de España. Paris: Librarie Espagnole, 1963.
- ---. "Spain and Catalonia. " Review III (1980): 527-577.
- Vives, Jaime Vicens. Approaches to the History of Spain. 2nd. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1970.
- Woolard, Kathryn A. Double Talk: Bilingualism and the Politics of Ethnicity in Catalonia. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1989.
See also
External links
- Party Urging More Autonomy From Spain Seems to Win in Catalonia Article on New York Times, November 2, 2006
- Courage in Catalonia Article on New York Times, June 22, 2006
- Voters in Catalonia Approve A Plan for Greater Autonomy Article on New York Times, June 19, 2006
- Spain Moves On Law to Give Broad Powers To Catalonia Article on New York Times, March 31, 2006
- Catalanism in Catalan Encyclopaedia
- The Spirit of Catalonia. Catalan independentism is a Political movement which supports the independence of Catalonia from Spain and France, this is usually Anti-Catalanism is the collective name given to various political attitudes nowadays particularly in Spain, that oppose Catalanism 1946 book by Oxford Professor Dr. Josep Trueta
Josep Trueta i Raspall (1897–1977 was a Catalan medical doctor
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