Catalanism
The Catalanism ( Catalan Catalanisme) or Catalan nationalism is a cultural and political movement to recognize a political, linguistic and cultural independence of Catalonia or the community of Catalan-speaking countries, the Països Catalans .
history
Many Catalans see the loss of Catalonia's historical rights as the cause of Catalanism since around the beginning of the 18th century. Already in the 17th century there was a reaper revolt against the Spanish authorities, the memory of which, as a symbol of the resistance of the Catalan people for Catalanism, plays an important role to this day: The reaper's song is sung as the Catalan national anthem . The effects of the uprising were reflected in the Peace of Pyrenees of 1659, which brought the northern part of Catalonia to France and divided the historical lands. As an indirect consequence, the Catalan language was banned in 1700 in the French part of the country called " Northern Catalonia " by Catalanism . The victory of the Bourbons in the War of the Spanish Succession ended with the conquest of Barcelona on September 11, 1714, a date elevated to a national trauma in Catalanism. Philip V , against whose accession to the throne the Catalans had fought in vain on the part of the Habsburgs , in the course of implementing the Decretos de Nueva Planta (1707–1716) lifted most of the institutions and special rights of the Crown of Aragon, including in the Principate of Catalonia , and created an independent assembly of estates Catalonia ( Corts Catalanes ).
New constellations, which favored the emergence of a Catalan national movement, arose from the contrasts between the centralist modernization efforts of the liberal forces supporting the Spanish monarchy and the reactionary popular movement of Carlism , which, alongside a militant, intensified in the 19th century and broke out in the Carlist Wars - Catholic anti-liberalism also wanted to defend the national idiosyncrasies and historical rights of the Spanish peoples.
The Renaixença cultural movement is now perceived as an early expression of Catalanism. Its aim was to regain social recognition of the Catalan language and culture after centuries of decline. The revival of the romantic poets' contest of the Jocs Florals also served this purpose .
Catalanism became a political movement at the latest in 1882, when the Bases de Manresa ("Principles of Manresa "), an important document in the history of Catalan autonomy, demanded the restoration of the traditional Constitucions de Catalunya , the collection of laws approved by the Catalan Assembly of Estates, Catalonia from 1283 to 1714 had ensured a high degree of self-determination.
The suppression of the Catalan language, culture and institutions reached its peak in the 20th century with the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera in the 1920s and then especially with the victory of General Franco in the Spanish Civil War . Modern Catalanism therefore sees itself as a counter-movement to the Francoist doctrine of the centralized Spanish unified state . Contrary to the wording of the Spanish constitution of 1978 , which was negotiated with Catalan participation in the course of the transition in Spain , Catalanism today regards Catalonia as a nation and demands the right of self-determination of the peoples for the Catalans . In some cases, the "Països Catalans", that is, Catalan-speaking regions outside of Catalonia, are also included in this concern.
Differences within Catalanism concern the degree to which historical legal positions are sought or the achievement of goals going beyond them. While some want to move forward on self-determination towards the independence of the Catalan people, others only strive for the expansion of self-government within the framework of the Statute of Autonomy or speak out in favor of federal structures. Since 2010 there have been increasing demands for full state independence in the form of a republic . In connection with these independence efforts, the Catalonia crisis occurred in 2017 .
literature
- Jaume Claret, Manuel Santirso: La construcción del catalanismo. Historia de un afán político . Catarata, Madrid 2014, ISBN 978-84-8319-898-8 .
- Krystyna Schreiber : The Translation of Independence. How the Catalans explain it, how we understand it . Verlag Fabian Hille, Dresden 2015, ISBN 978-3-939025-60-3 .
Footnotes
- ↑ Birgit Aschmann : Adiós España. Catalan nationalism is a colorful phenomenon . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, December 14, 2014, p. 6.