Casas Viejas incident

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The Casas Viejas incident, also known as the Casas Viejas massacre, was a failed civil uprising that took place from 10 to 12 January 1933, in the village of Casas Viejas as part of the larger anarchist insurrection of January 1933 with the aim of toppling the Second Spanish Republic and implementing anarcho-communism. The incident constituted one of the most tragic events in the history of the Republic up until that point, resulting in a political crisis which led to the collapse of the second Azaña government and the end of the Reformist Biennium and the triumph of the right wing coalition in the following November of 1933 general election. [1]

Contents

Memorial Casas Viejas Espacio.jpg
Memorial

Background

19th and early 20th century

The anarchist movement reached Spain in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, spreading from the coast of Cádiz and Málaga into the shores of the Guadalquivir. Anarchism became especially popular among the jornaleros of Andalusia, as the liberal agrarian reform implemented in the early XIXth century proved especially harsh for the south of Spain, resulting in short term leases and large numbers of peasants being left without access to plots of land on which to cultivate crops, which by 1860 numbered 450.000. [2] This resulted in multiple revolts in different Andalusian villages like Arahal, Utrera (both in 1857), Loja (1861), Montilla (1873) and Jerez de la Frontera (1892) which featured calls for republican and democratic reforms. [3] [4]

Anarchism also became popular amongst the miners of the British owned Rio Tinto mines and the French owned Peñarroya mines. The situation became more and more tense starting in the 1870s when the Spanish Regional Federation of the IWA was formed [5] and around 1913 to 1914 the strategy of general strikes was consolidated amongst the worker's organizations of Andalusia while a synthesis of anarcho-communism and collectivist anarchism was endorsed by various provincial worker's committees of the recently constituted National Federation of Farmers (which would later join the CNT in 1919).

The 1917 general strike initially only affected the mining and industrial sectors, however by the end of 1918 and the start of 1919 the agricultural sector was also affected with Córdoba being one of the most affected provinces, while in Cádiz the most affected towns were Jerez de la Frontera, Sanlúcar de Barrameda and Arcos de la Frontera.

Between 1914 and 1920, the province of Cádiz saw 74 agrarian strikes accompanied by irrational and extraordinary enthusiasm. [6]

On 15 April 1931, the provisional government of the Second Spanish Republic promised to carry out an agricultural reform to save the Spanish peasantry which up until that point had been abandoned by the government. [7]

Anarchist Insurrection of January 1933

In a regional plenary of the CNT held on the 1st of December 1932 in Madrid, the syndicate of railway workers requested the support of the CNT to declare a general strike to demand an increase in wages. However, the syndicate ended up retracting since more than half of its filials thought the strike would result in failure, despite this the Regional Defense Committee of Catalonia retook the idea proposed by Juan García Oliver, who was willing to put "revolutionary gymnastics" into practice, which consisted of an insurrection to prevent the consolidation of the "Bourgeois Republic". The date chosen was the 8th of January 1933. [8]

The insurrection was largely a failure. Before it had even began, the Civil Guard found a stash of 185 improvised explosives being manufactured in a clandestine workshop under Mallorca Street in Barcelona. The subsequent investigations led to the FAI and the discovery of documents detailing the shipment of explosives allowed the gendarmerie to subsequently detain and disarm several of the revolutionaries involved. Despite this the revolution went ahead. In La Felguera, several bombs were detonated on the local mines and the homes of the foremen who worked there while in Sama de Langreo a bomb was planted on the road as a truck carrying members of the Security and Assault Corps went by, though it failed to detonate on time. Meanwhile in Madrid, the Civil Guard arrested 36 anarchists attempting to make their way to the city center. In Valencia, some anarchist syndicates went on strike after some revolutionaries managed to detonate three explosive devices before being arrested by the Civil Guard as well as carrying out a failed assassination attempt against the governor of Valencia, Luis Doporto, trying to block the tram network and placing explosives on a railway line which were defused by a civil guard who ripped the lit fuse from the explosive before it detonated. During the follow up arrests, a policeman was shot and killed. [9] [10] Other similar incidents took place in several villages like Pedralba, Alcira, Algemesí, Tabernes de Valldigna, Bétera, Fuenterrobles, Mira, Bugarra, Cerdanyola, Ripollet, Sallent, Tarrassa and Monteagudo where the anarchists attempted to seize the local town halls, besiege the Civil Guard garrisons, sever communications and in some cases destroy the local churches with varying degrees of success. In Barcelona, policemen were placed in key positions armed with carbines as a deterrent. Numerous improvised explosives were detonated across the city as anarchists tried to assault factories and army bases while others tried to requisition civilian vehicles for quicker movement within the city. Once the failure of the revolution was evident some turned to individual attacks, murdering a mosso and an assault guard while others resorted to barricading themselves within their syndicalist headquarters to hold out as long as possible. [11]

In Andalusia, anarchists rose up in the capital of Seville and the town of La Rinconada and Alcalá de Guadaíra, Las Cabezas and Lebrija as well as in Granada, Motril, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Medina Sidonia and Cádiz. In Cádiz, the revolt was started prematurely as security forces attempted to arrest a football player. During the ensuing riot, a worker was shot and killed. The local anarchist syndicate called for a strike before the set date in protest. In the following funeral, the presence of Civil Guards sent to prevent further disturbances resulted in another confrontation as members of the funeral procession assaulted them, with another worker being wounded after being hit by a stray round while running away from a charge. Violence spread to the rest of the town as anarchists took to the rooftops to shoot or hurl objects at the civil guards attempting to restore law and order and suppress the uprising. This, along with confusing reports of revolts in several surrounding villages led the local governor to formally request the assistance of a detachment of the Security and Assault Corps from Madrid, which would be sent under the command of Captain Manuel Rojas. [12]

Incident

Photograph taken hours after the incident, with the bodies still lying on the ground Casas Viejas.jpg
Photograph taken hours after the incident, with the bodies still lying on the ground

The local CNT syndicate of Casas Viejas had been waiting anxiously for the past days for the declaration of libertarian communism from the Jérez committee which they depended on organically. However, as days went by with no news being received from Jérez, the anarchists believed the revolution had started without them and as such began the revolt on the morning of the 11th of January 1933 with the proclamation of libertarian communism, [13] severing of phone and telegraph lines as well as the digging of trenches across the roads to prevent reinforcements from the Civil Guard or the Army from arriving as well as the removal of the mayor Juan Bascuñana Estudillo. After this, the anarchists headed to the local Civil Guard garrison, which was defended by 4 guards and a sergeant, where they sent the now captured mayor as an envoy to demand they hand over their weapons and surrender, or else they would be executed. Sergeant García Álvarez replied that he could not surrender without orders from a commanding officer and that if anyone had to surrender, it should be the anarchists. Predicting that they'd have to hold out under siege, García Álvarez ventured out of the garrison with Guard Salvo Pérez to secure the perimeter, being met with a volley of shotgun fire which lightly wounded the guard and forced them to seek refuge inside the garrison. In the ensuing siege, Sergeant García Álvarez and Guard Chueca García would be mortally wounded, with García Álvarez continuing to direct the defense of the garrison before passing out due to blood loss. [14] From that point on resistance came exclusively from Guard García Rodríguez who barely managed to resist until 2PM when civil guard reinforcements from nearby Medina under the command of Sergeant Rafael Anarte Viera lifted the siege. Soon after a column of Civil Guards led by Lieutenant García Castrillón and Assault Guards led by Lieutenant Fernández Artal arrived from nearby Chiclana, [15] with searches and entries into homes beginning shortly afterwards. Fearing reprisals, many anarchists who had taken part in the siege fled while others sought refuge within the home of Francisco Cruz Gutiérrez, nicknamed Seísdedos (Sixfingers), where they promptly barricaded themselves. During one of the first skirmishes they managed to take Assault Guard Ignacio Martín Díaz, who had been wounded while trying to remove them from the house, hostage. The Civil and Assault Guard forces settled in for a siege, intending to make them surrender out of desperation instead of resorting to an assault. However by the dawn of the 12th of January, the Assault Guards requested by the provincial governor of Cádiz under the command of Captain Manuel Rojas arrived in Casas Viejas with orders from the Minister of Governance to raze the house where the anarchists had barricaded themselves and put an end to Seísdedos' resistance. [16] [17]

Having been given free reign over his actions and with the order to put an end to the revolt in mind, Rojas started by lighting the house on fire using cotton balls doused in gasoline and ordering the Assault Guards under his command to open fire on the house with rifle and machine gun fire. The fire started almost immediately with 6 people dying in the blaze, including Seísdedos, while two others, a man and a woman, were shot by Assault Guards Rojas had positioned outside the house. Seísdedos' granddaughter, María Silvia Cruz, managed to make it out of the house alive, carrying her cousin in her arms. [18] [19]

After this, Rojas sent out three patrols with orders to arrest the more prominent anarchists who had taken part in the rebellion and to open fire at the sign of any resistance. This resulted in the murder of Antonio Barberán Castellar, a 74 year old man who was with his grandson at the time, when he was shot through the door of his home after he failed to comply with the demands of one of the patrols and despite shouting "Don't shoot! I'm not an anarchist!". [20] [21] The patrols rounded up 14 villagers who were taken to the site of Seísdedos' house where they were shown the dead body of Ignacio Martín Diaz and subsequently 12 of them were executed without trial by Rojas. The other two were set free by Civil Guard Juan Gutiérrez López who had previously been stationed in the Casas Viejas Civil Guard garrison, was familiar with the population and had been witness to several of the injustices committed by Rojas' Assault Guards, including the murder of Antonio Barberán. [22] [23] Another two villagers were killed: Rafael Mateos Vela who died as a result of a gunshot wound and Joaquina Fernández who was given a beating which resulted in her death while two others, Vicenta Pérez Monroy and Manuel Cruz Montiano, died due to a heart attack caused by the extreme psychological distress the events and subsequent reprisals. Vicenta Pérez was the mother of some of the anarchists and had been jailed while Manuel was the grandfather of some of those who had been executed by Rojas. [24] This brought the total death toll of the incident to 26, 23 locals (of whom 19 were men, 2 were women and 1 was child) and 2 civil guards and 1 assault guard.

Consequences

The news of the incident resulted in a massive scandal which deeply moved Spanish society. The Azaña government found itself under attack from both right- and left-wing parties which presented various interpellations with Diego Martinez Barrio of the right leaning Radical Republican Party dubbing the Azaña government "mud, blood and tears". On the 2nd of February the government testified in Congress. President Manuel Azaña defended the methods which law enforcement had used to suppress the uprising as he had done on previous occasions as the first reports sent didn't mention any wrongdoing on Rojas' part and omitted the summary executions [25] [26] and when questioned again, Azaña blamed the anarchists for inciting violence. [27] One of the only parliamentary groups which had knowledge of what had happened in Casas Viejas was the Radical Republican Party thanks to their deputy from Cádiz, however instead of relaying the documents to the government they withheld them in an attempt to topple the Azaña government and pave the way to one presided over by their presidential candidate Alejandro Lerroux while the Azaña government still relied on the declarations Manuel Rojas had given when interviewed by the minister of governance, Santiago Casares Quiroga, in which he denied any overreach or wrongdoing and said he was only following the orders issued to him by the General Director of Security Arturo Menéndez. Azaña grew suspicious and ordered a new investigation to be carried out which mentioned the executions carried out by Rojas' and placed the blame on the Security and Assault Corps, this led to the magistrate of the Supreme Court Mariano Granados being sent to read the summary being written by the judge of Medina Sidonia to inform Azaña. The summary mentioned 13 witnesses who backed up the claim that Rojas had carried out 12 unlawful executions. [28] Lieutenant Artal was also questioned regarding the incident, confirming Rojas' abuse of power in the suppressing of the revolt. [29]

After all that information was presented to the government, the investigating commission formed by Congress (made up of Joan Puig, Manuel Muñoz Martínez, Mariano Ruiz Funes, Gabriel Franco, Joaquín Poza Juncal, Fernando González Uña, Luis Jiménez de Asúa, Miguel García Bravo-Ferrer, Antonio Lara, Juan Botella y Cándido Casanueva) sent the government a definitive report on the 24th of February which was made public on the 15th of March. The subsequent scandal would prove fatal to the future of the government. [30]

The CNT launched a campaign against the «dictatorial politics and factious politicians» demanding the release of jailed anarchists, the creation of new syndicates, freedom of assembly and freedom of the press as well as the abolition of "anti-worker" laws passed on the 8th of April, the Law of Defense of the Republic and of mixed juries. The CNT's newspaper described the event as a razzia of mercenaries of the Legion on a Riffian village. The response ended with a call for a general strike on the 9th and 10 May as an "expressive warning to those rulers who rival fascist dictatorships in despotism". [31]

Manuel Rojas was put on trial in Cádiz in May 1934. His alibi was that he was just doing what the instructions of the general director of security and the president said of leaving no wounded and taking no prisoners. He was only backed up by Major Bartolomé Barba Hernández who was one of the founders of the clandestine UME which would play a decisive role in the failed 1936 military uprising. [32] He was convicted on 14 counts of homicide and sentenced to 21 years in prison, of which he would only serve 2, being released in 1936 and taking part in the failed coup. Rojas would go on to command an artillery battery during the war until 1937 when he went on leave due to his mother's death. Instead of returning to the front, he went to Seville where he frequented bars and brothels until 1938 when he was arrested for stealing a car to flee with a prostitute. He was sentenced to 1 year, 8 months and 21 days in prison and given a dishonorable discharge. [33]

In July 1934, 26 villagers of Casas Viejas were put on trial for possession of weapons of war and acts against the armed forces. 10 were found to be not guilty while out of the 16 remaining, one was sentenced to 6 years in prison, four to 5 years in prison, two to 3 years in prison, six to 2 years in prison and 3 to one year in prison. [34]

The general director of security, Major Arturo Menéndez, would be dismissed and replaced by Manuel Andrés Casaus (who would be assassinated in 1934). He would be arrested by rebel soldiers on the 19th of July 1936 on his way to Barcelona from Madrid, taken to Pamplona and shot. [35] A similar fate would befall Civil Guard Juan Gutiérrez López who would be murdered with the other members of the Civil Guard garrison of Setenil de las Bodegas by members of an anarchist column. [36]

See also

References

  1. ↑ J. Sender, Ramón. "La matanza que hundió a Azaña".
  2. ↑ Tuñón de Lara, Manuel (1985). Tres claves de la Segunda República: la cuestión agraria, los aparatos del Estado, Frente Popular. Alianza universidad. Madrid: Alianza Ed. ISBN   978-84-206-2451-8.
  3. ↑ Watanabe, Masaya (2024). La Andalucía libertaria: reforma, revolución y contrarrevolución en el campo andaluz (1868-1939) (Primera edición ed.). Córdoba: Utopía Libros. ISBN   978-84-126749-1-0.
  4. ↑ Diario de, Jérez. "Garrote Vil en Jérez".
  5. ↑ Tabares, Esteban; Sevilla, Eduardo (1988). Sobre la tierra y la lucha jornalera en el campo andaluz", Anarquismo y movimiento jornalero en Andalucía. Ayuntamiento de Córdoba. pp. 110–112.
  6. ↑ Díaz del Moral, Juan (1984). Historia de las agitaciones campesinas andaluzas - Córdoba: antecedentes para una reforma agraria. Alianza Universidad (4. ed.). Madrid: Alianza Ed. ISBN   978-84-206-2063-3.
  7. ↑ Maurice, Jacques (1990). El anarquismo andaluz: campesinos y sindicalistas, 1868-1936 (Thesis). Barcelona: Ed. Crítica. ISBN   8474234301.
  8. ↑ Casanova, Julián (1997). De la calle al frente: el anarcosindicalismo en España (1931-1939). Libros de historia. Barcelona: Crítica. ISBN   978-84-7423-836-5.
  9. ↑ Pulido Pérez, Agustín M. (2018). La segunda República y la Guardia Civil: una historia de violencia y desconfianza (1a. edición ed.). Madrid: La Esfera de los Libros. ISBN   978-84-9164-202-2.
  10. ↑ Ballbé, Manuel (1985). Orden público y militarismo en la España constitucional, 1812-1983. Alianza universidad (2a ed.). Madrid: Alianza. ISBN   978-84-206-2378-8.
  11. ↑ Pulido Pérez, Agustín M. (2018). La Segunda República y la Guardia Civil: una historia de violencia y desconfianza. Madrid: La esfera de los libros. ISBN   978-84-9164-202-2.
  12. ↑ Pulido Pérez, Agustín M. (2018). La segunda República y la Guardia Civil: una historia de violencia y desconfianza (1a. edición ed.). Madrid: La Esfera de los Libros. ISBN   978-84-9164-202-2.
  13. ↑ Mera Costas, Pilar (2021). 18 de julio de 1936: el día que empezó la Guerra Civil. La España del siglo XX en siete días (Primera edición ed.). Barcelona: Taurus. ISBN   978-84-306-2269-6.
  14. ↑ Pulido Pérez, Agustín M. (2018). La Segunda República y la Guardia Civil: una historia de violencia y desconfianza. Madrid: La esfera de los libros. ISBN   978-84-9164-202-2.
  15. ↑ "El teniente Artal, el hombre que se negó a incendiar Casas Viejas".
  16. ↑ Casanova, Julián (1997). De la calle al frente: el anarcosindicalismo en España (1931-1939). Libros de historia. Barcelona: Crítica. ISBN   978-84-7423-836-5.
  17. ↑ Pulido Pérez, Agustín M. (2018). La Segunda República y la Guardia Civil: una historia de violencia y desconfianza. Madrid: La esfera de los libros. ISBN   978-84-9164-202-2.
  18. ↑ Pulido Pérez, Agustín M. (2018). La segunda República y la Guardia Civil: una historia de violencia y desconfianza (1a. edición ed.). Madrid: La Esfera de los Libros. ISBN   978-84-9164-202-2.
  19. ↑ Casanova, Julián (1997). De la calle al frente: el anarcosindicalismo en España (1931-1939). Libros de historia. Barcelona: Crítica. ISBN   978-84-7423-836-5.
  20. ↑ Casanova, Julián (1997). De la calle al frente: el anarcosindicalismo en España (1931-1939). Libros de historia. Barcelona: Crítica. ISBN   978-84-7423-836-5.
  21. ↑ Pulido Pérez, Agustín M. (2018). La Segunda República y la Guardia Civil: una historia de violencia y desconfianza. Madrid: La esfera de los libros. ISBN   978-84-9164-202-2.
  22. ↑ Pulido Pérez, Agustín M. (2018). La segunda República y la Guardia Civil: una historia de violencia y desconfianza (1a. edición ed.). Madrid: La Esfera de los Libros. ISBN   978-84-9164-202-2.
  23. ↑ "Castigado por enfrentarse a unos señoritos".
  24. ↑ Casanova, Julián (1997). De la calle al frente: el anarcosindicalismo en España (1931-1939). Libros de historia. Barcelona: Crítica. ISBN   978-84-7423-836-5.
  25. ↑ Mera Costas, Pilar (2021). 18 de julio de 1936: el día que empezó la Guerra Civil. La España del siglo XX en siete días (Primera edición ed.). Barcelona: Taurus. ISBN   978-84-306-2269-6.
  26. ↑ Casanova, Julián (1997). De la calle al frente: el anarcosindicalismo en España (1931-1939). Libros de historia. Barcelona: Crítica. ISBN   978-84-7423-836-5.
  27. ↑ Casanova, Julián (1997). De la calle al frente: el anarcosindicalismo en España (1931-1939). Libros de historia. Barcelona: Crítica. ISBN   978-84-7423-836-5.
  28. ↑ Mera Costas, Pilar (2021). 18 de julio de 1936: el día que empezó la Guerra Civil. La España del siglo XX en siete días (Primera edición ed.). Barcelona: Taurus. ISBN   978-84-306-2269-6.
  29. ↑ Pulido Pérez, Agustín M. (2018). La segunda República y la Guardia Civil: una historia de violencia y desconfianza (1a. edición ed.). Madrid: La Esfera de los Libros. ISBN   978-84-9164-202-2.
  30. ↑ Gil Pecharromán, Julio. La Segunda República. Esperanzas y frustraciones. ISBN   84-7679-319-7.
  31. ↑ Casanova, Julián (1997). De la calle al frente: el anarcosindicalismo en España (1931-1939). Libros de historia. Barcelona: Crítica. ISBN   978-84-7423-836-5.
  32. ↑ Mera Costas, Pilar (2021). 18 de julio de 1936: el día que empezó la Guerra Civil. La España del siglo XX en siete días (Primera edición ed.). Barcelona: Taurus. ISBN   978-84-306-2269-6.
  33. ↑ "La otra condena del capitán Rojas".
  34. ↑ "La sombra de Casas Viejas".
  35. ↑ Casanova, Julián (1997). De la calle al frente: el anarcosindicalismo en España (1931-1939). Libros de historia. Barcelona: Crítica. ISBN   978-84-7423-836-5.
  36. ↑ "Castigado por enfrentarse a unos señoritos".

Further reading

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