yr12_scw_Individuals

=Key Individuals=

__**Dolores Ibarurri :**__



Dolores Ibarurri is also known as ‘La Pasionara’ (the passion flower) and wrote articles for the newspaper El Minero Vizcaino. From 1944 – 1960 she was secretary general of the communist party of Spain and also a member of the Cortes in 1936 where she campaigned for legislation to improve working, housing and health conditions. She sought land reform and rights for trade unionists and during the war she was the chief propagandist for the Republicans. She was well known for her phenomenal speech making, which can be seen in both a radio speech of July 1936, when Ibarruri said that “the fascists shall not pass! No pasaran!” and another speech at a meeting for women when she declared that “it is better to be the widow of heroes than the wives of cowards!” When Ibarruri was sent to France and Britain she declared that “the Spanish people would rather die on its feet than live on its knees”. She later became a member of the committee designated to administer funds sent to Spain and was also involved in the destruction of the POUM and the dismissal of Caballero. She supported the appointment of Negrin as Prime Minister and at the end of war she fled to the Soviet Union.

__**Federico Lorca Garcia:**__



Federico Lorca Garcia was a Spanish poet and Spain’s greatest dramatist since the Golden Age. His best known work includes books such as Blood Wedding and The House of Bernarda Alba, which was interpreted as social criticism since it gives the imprisoning effect of mourning customs and the frustration of female sexuality by the need to wait for an acceptable match and hence his works were banned during Franco’s regime. Lorca was a supporter of the Popular Front and was killed after an arrest by supporters of the Nationalist Army at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War as the head of local Falange ordered his execution.

__**Buenaventura Durruti:**__



Buenaventura Durruti helped to establish the Antifascist Militias Committee on the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, which immediately sent Durruti and 3000 Anarchists to Aragon in an attempt to take the Nationalist held Saragossa. At the beginning of November 1936 the Siege of Madrid commenced as 25 000 Nationalist troops reached Southern and Western suburbs of Madird and hence Durruti came to Madrid with his troops. He arrived in Madrid from Aragon on the 14th of November and went to the frontline where the Manzanares River passed through the University of Madrid. On the 19th of November 1936, Durruti was shot from one of the upper stories of a hospital. It was later claimed by Durruti’s supporters that he was killed by a member from the Communist Party.

•	__Some of his quotes:__ o	"No government fights fascism to destroy it. When the bourgeoisie sees that power is slipping out of its hands, it brings up fascism to hold onto their privileges." o	 "The Only Church That Illuminates Is A Burning Church." o	 "There are only two roads, victory for the working class, freedom, or victory for the fascists which means tyranny. Both combatants know what's in store for the loser. We are ready to end fascism once and for all, even in spite of the Republican government."

__**Jose Antonio:**__



Jose Antonio was the leader of the Falange Espanola (“Spanish Phalanx”) and was the oldest son of General Miguel Primo de Rivera. He was a supporter of the Military uprising in 1936 against the left-wing republican government and his party rapidly grew after the victory of the popular front even though the Falange had only won 0.7% of the vote in general elections in February. Hence the Falange became the dominant political movement of the Spanish National – syndicalists during the Spanish Civil War. Jose Antonio was captured in July 1936 by the Republicans and subsequently his Falangist supporters started calling him “El Ausente” meaning “the absent one”, symbolizing the importance as a leader of the Nationalist forces. After his execution in November 1937, the Falange was lacking direction and thus they were obliged to unite with the Carlists in the “FET” movement. •	__Quotations/ Falange Manifesto:__ o	 “Our armed forces - on land, at sea, and in the air - must be sufficiently strong and efficient to ensure at all times for Spain total independence and a world status that befits the nation. We shall give back to the land, sea, and air forces all the public dignity they merit, and we shall see to it that a similar martial outlook pervades the whole of Spanish life” o	 “We reject the capitalist system, which disregards the needs of the people, dehumanizes private property, and transforms the workers into shapeless masses that are prone to misery and despair. Our spiritual and national awareness likewise repudiates Marxism. We shall channel the drive of the working classes, that are nowadays led astray by Marxism, by demanding their direct participation in the formidable task of the national State.”

__**Andres Nin:**__



Andres Nin was a Left-wing politician who joined with Joaquin Maurin in 1935 to form the Workers Party of Marxist Unification (POUM). Once the Popular Front gained victory, Nin became minister of justice for the Catalan government even though he was far more radical than most of its members. When Stalin’s Soviet Union threatened the suspension of Russian aid, Nin was sacked as minister of justice in December 1936, as he had opposed Stalin when he was on the staff of Trotsky for a period in Russia. In June 1937, Nin and most of the leadership of POUM were arrested. After being tortured under direct orders from Stalin, Nin was executed in June 1937.