They say the increase of supporters for the independence of Catalonia has its origin in the sentence of the Spanish Constitutional Court (2010) against the Statute of Catalonia (2006), and also in the financial crisis which we are undergoing –and which highlights even more the financial plundering suffered by the Government of Catalonia under Spain.
Now, the fight of the Catalans for their freedom is part of the history of mankind. The text here presented provides a brief outline about two important figures of Catalonia. They were both called Francesc Macià, and both held the military position of Colonel. However, they are separated by centuries and circumstances.
Francesc Macià i Ambert (1658? -1713) was known by the name Bac de Roda. He was a tenant farmer who fought against several French occupations in the late 17th century. In the War of the Spanish Succession (a European conflict which was political and economic, as well as dynastic), the Catalans ended up siding with Charles of Austria.
In 1704, Bach de Roda was involved in the revolt of the so-called vigatans, (pro-Austria leaders and warriors from the plain of Vic, in centre-north Catalonia). In 1705, he participated in the capture of Barcelona, and in the same year and the next, in its defence against the Bourbons.
In the following years he achieved the rank of colonel of mountain fusiliers. In 1713, he carried on fighting despite the occupation of the city of Vic and the abandonment of the allies who sided with Charles as a result of the Treaty of Utrecht. Finally, whilst he was in a farmhouse he owned, he was betrayed and was hanged without trial in Vic.
The war ended for the Catalans with the conquest of Barcelona on the 11th of September 1714. This meant executions, imprisonments, banishments and exiles. The Nueva Planta Decree of 1716 was a new political administration imposed by Spain. As regards the economy, since 1714 the Bourbon charged a special war tax and in 1716, ended up charging for the land registry.
Francesc Macià i Llussà (1859-1933), entered the Military Engineering Academy in 1874. In 1895, he became commander, and in 1904 Lt. Commander.
A satirical magazine (Cu Cut!) produced a caricature; the Spanish military felt attacked by it so they assaulted the premises and destroyed the workshops. As a result of these incidents with Cu Cut! in 1905 Francesc Macià i Llussà declared himself against anti-Catalanism and in 1907 he resigned his military career with the rank of Colonel and ran as a candidate for the entity Solidaritat Catalana.
In 1919, whilst he was an MP for the area of Les Borges Blanques, he created the Nationalist Democratic Federation, and in 1922 he founded the Catalan State (actually, his goal was the Catalan Republic). He was exiled because of the coup of Primo de Rivera in 1923 and he made an attempt to invade Catalonia from Prats de Mollo (on the Pyrenees) in 1926, which failed and so he was prosecuted in France.
At the end of the dictatorship (1931), he returned to Catalonia and participated in the creation of the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC). As a result of winning the council elections on 14th April 1931, he proclaimed the Catalan Republic –although later he would accept a Statute of Autonomy for Catalonia and the Catalan government presidency until his death in 1933.
The government of Catalonia, called Generalitat, was nullified by the Franco dictatorship after a civil war in 1939. The concentration camps, executions, imprisonments, banishments and exiles would last for many years.
Today, ERC is the second party of the Autonomus Parliament of Catalonia and is one of the Catalan nationalist parties fighting for the independence of Catalonia.
Spanish
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