Catalan State (1873)

The Catalan State (Spanish: Estado Catalán; Catalan: Estat Català) was a short-lived state proclaimed in 1873, during the First Spanish Republic, by the Provincial Deputation of Barcelona.[1] It included the four provinces of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands.[2]

Catalan State
Estado Catalán (Spanish)
Estat Català (Catalan)
1873
Location of the Catalan State within Europe.
Location of the Catalan State within Europe.
StatusFederated state within Spanish Republic
CapitalBarcelona
Common languages
Demonym(s)Catalan
GovernmentProvisional federated state
Provisional President 
 1873
Baldomer Lostau
Historical eraTortosa Pact
 Established
9 March 1873
 Disestablished
11 March 1873
CurrencySpanish peseta (de facto)
Preceded by
Succeeded by
First Spanish Republic
First Spanish Republic
Today part ofSpain
  Catalonia
  Balearic Islands

History

On 18 May 1869 the representatives of the federal-republican committees of Aragon, Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearic Islands had signed the Federal Pact of Tortosa to work together in order to establish the Spanish Federal Republic, making it clear that they would defend the unity of Spain.[3]

The Catalan State within the Spanish Federal Republic was proclaimed in Barcelona on 9 March 1873. It was a republican federalist proclamation, not a separatist one. The Provincial Deputation of Barcelona elected the republican federalist Baldomer Lostau i Prats as the provisional president of the State.[1] After the president of the First Spanish Republic, Estanislao Figueras, and the head of the federal party, Francesc Pi i Margall, promised the dissolution of the Spanish army in Catalonia, the proclamation was revoked.[4]

Flag

A Spanish-language newspaper published in Paris, El Correo de Ultramar, quoting the Diario de Barcelona, described a flag flown from Barcelona City Hall on 12 February 1873 (the day after the proclamation of the Spanish Republic) as follows:

The federal flag of Catalonia, which was flown from the City Hall, was red with a white triangle, in which was written in red letters, "Democracia." Surrounding it were several white stars, and in large letters the word "Cataluña".[5]

Le Monde illustré described the carrying of red flags in Madrid as well as Barcelona on 11 February, and illustrated one such flag with a white triangle in the centre.[6]

References

  1. Duràn i Solà, Lluís (2009). Breu història del catalanisme. Vol. 1. L'Abadia de Montserrat. p. 19. ISBN 978-8498831740.
  2. Hernàndez, F. Xavier. Història Militar de Catalunya (in Catalan). Vol. IV. Rafael Dalmau. p. 161. ISBN 8423206734.
  3. Almirall, Valentí: España tal com és
  4. Bowen, Wayne H. (2007). A Military History of Modern Spain: From the Napoleonic Era to the International War on Terror. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 32. ISBN 978-0275993573. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  5. El Correo de Ultramar (in Spanish), February 1873, p. 3
  6. "Les événements d'Espagne". Le Monde illustré (in French). 1 March 1873. pp. 135, 137. Retrieved 13 November 2017.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.