Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Masses Against the Classes
Adding to the fiery mix was growing discontent among the working class. The grand
Catalan merchant-bourgeois families grew richer, displaying their wealth in a slew of
whimsical private mansions built with verve and flair by Modernista architects such as An-
toni Gaudí. At the same time, the industrial working class, housed in cramped quarters such
as Barceloneta and El Raval, and oppressed by poverty and disease, became organised and,
on occasion, violent. Spain's neutrality during WWI had boosted Barcelona's economy, and
from 1900 to 1930 the population doubled to one million, but the postwar global slump hit
the city hard. Waves of strikes, organised principally by the anarchists' Confederación Na-
cional del Trabajo, brought tough responses. Left- and right-wing gangs took their ideolo-
gical conflict to the streets. Tit-for-tat assassinations became common currency and the
death toll mounted.
When the Second Spanish Republic was created under a left-wing government in 1931,
Catalonia declared independence. Later, under pressure, its leaders settled for devolution,
which it then lost in 1934, when a right-wing government won power in Madrid. The elec-
tion of a left-wing popular front in 1936 again sparked Catalan autonomy claims but also
led General Franco to launch the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), from which he emerged the
victor.
Search WWH ::




Custom Search