Death in the Alcarria. Revolutionary violence and anarchism in Guadalajara during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)

Authors

  • Isaac Martín Nieto Universidad de Salamanca

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53351/ruhm.v3i6.62

Keywords:

Anarchism, political violence, Spanish Civil War, Republican rearguard, Guadalajara

Abstract

This paper examines the weight of anarchism in the outburst of political violence that occurred in the republican rearguard in the province of Guadalajara during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Firstly, it carries out a provisional assessment of the number of deaths in the province in order to analyse how the pattern changes through space and time. Then, the article analyses the exertion of violence in the Republican rearguard. Here, the outburst of political violence is understood as the result of a situation of multiple sovereignty, caused by the military coup and the revolutionary response of worker groups, in which several actors (such as political parties, trade unions, local committees, and militia groups) used it as part of their political action. Finally, the paper examines the role of the libertarians in the said violence. The main thesis of the article contributes to undermine the myth of the primary responsibility of anarchists in the political repression developed in the Republican rearguard and contradicts the views of those who have interpreted that such violence was the product of a spontaneous reaction.

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Author Biography

Isaac Martín Nieto, Universidad de Salamanca

Isaac Martín Nieto es Diplomado en Estudios Avanzados y ha sido Investigador en Formación en el Departamento de Historia Medieval, Moderna y Contemporánea de la Universidad de Salamanca. Su investigación doctoral se centra en la historia del anarcosindicalismo en la Guerra Civil española, en la historia de la historiografía sobre la cuestión y en la biografía de Mariano R. Vázquez. Sobre estos temas ha publicado varios capítulos de libro y artículos en revistas científicas como Historia Social y Ayer.

Published

2015-10-11

How to Cite

Martín Nieto, I. (2015). Death in the Alcarria. Revolutionary violence and anarchism in Guadalajara during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Revista Universitaria De Historia Militar, 3(6), 28–53. https://doi.org/10.53351/ruhm.v3i6.62