À bientôt cinquante ans de la mort de #Franco, une exposition à #Toulouse propose une «anatomie» de la dictature espagnole, l’une des plus longues d’#Europe. Et plusieurs #livres d’historiens plaident pour en écrire une #histoire «transnationale», et la replacer dans un cadre plus vaste.
Today in Labor History March 2, 1974: Salvador Puig Antich was executed by garrote in Barcelona, Spain. He was a militant anarchist and Catalan independence fighter who fought against the Spanish state with the terrorist group Iberian Liberation Movement in the early 1970s. He was convicted of bank robbery and killing a police officer. His arrest and execution became a cause célèbre in Francoist Spain for Catalan autonomists, pro-independence supporters, and anarchists. He was also the last person executed by the fascist Franco regime. His execution inspired new artistic works by Catalan artists Joan Miró and Antoni Tàpies.
Today in Labor History January 24, 1977: Right-wing extremists assassinated five labor activists in Madrid during the Atocha massacre. It was part of the far-right reaction to Spain's transition to democracy after the death of fascist dictator Francisco Franco. While the reactionaries hoped to provoke a violent left-wing response that would legitimize a right-wing counter coup d'état, the massacre actually increased popular revulsion of the far-right and accelerating the legalization of the long-banned Communist Party.
"Why is the US far right finding its savior in Spanish dictator Francisco Franco?" by Jason Wilson (#TheGuardian)
"Some US far-right figures have made renewed attempts to rehabilitate the 20th century Spanish dictator Gen Francisco Franco in recent months, praising him as an avatar of religious authoritarianism, and praising his actions during and after the Spanish civil war as a model for confronting the left in the US."
"The critics of this flurry of neo-Francoism say that the real target of this revisionism is domestic attitudes to US democracy."
"For Faber, parts of the the American right are captured by “the dream of order, where social order is more important than democracy, and democracy is a threat to social order”."
A very interesting article on the "re-emergence" of Franco in Spain: "Francisco Franco Is Back: The Contested Reemergence of a Fascist Moral Exemplar" by Francisco Ferrándiz (#OpenAccess, 2021).
Franco or Putin?
:thinkSpin:
"Pain pervades not only your life as a politician and soldier, but even your recreation. You paint shipwrecks; your favorite sport is slaughtering rabbits, doves, fish. Your biography is full of corpses…in Africa, in Asturias, during the Civil War and after…an entire life covered with the decay of death. I picture you surrounded by legless doves, black mourning garlands, dreams that chill the blood, death."
I hope Canada bans Fox Propaganda Realty Show Faux News from our airways at some point soon. The CRTC has launched a public consultation on banning Fox News. I never had it on my cable lineup so I'm good.
I'm fully aware of this history of telecommunications #regulation in Canada, yes. In general, those regulations are not content-based except in the broadest sense.
You can argue that #Fox#lies. You can say you don't consider them #news. But to say "I don't like them, and don't think they're news, so the government should shut them up" is a really good way to get some truly #unintended#consequences.
What was one of Europe's longest-running dictatorships is coming under scrutiny as a victim of alleged torture by the forces of General Francisco Franco testifies for the first time in a Spanish court.
The dictator's repressive 36-year legacy continues to divide Spain nearly half a century after his death in 1975.
In his new book 'Architects of Terror,' Sir Paul Preston shows how Spain's ties to Nazi Germany and use of antisemitic propaganda belied its claims of sympathy to Jewish refugees
Powerful and Continuing #Nationalism
Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of #patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. #Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.
Disdain for the Recognition of #HumanRights
Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, and long incarcerations of prisoners.
Supremacy of the #Military
Even when there are widespread #domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.
Rampant #Sexism
The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional #gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to #abortion is high, as is #homophobia and anti-#gay legislation.
Controlled #MassMedia
Sometimes the media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation or by sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Government #censorship and #secrecy especially in war time, are very common.
Obsession with #NationalSecurity
Fear of hostile foreign powers is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
#Religion and Government are Intertwined
Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government’s policies or actions.
Protection of #Corporate Power
The #industrial and business #aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.
Suppression of #Labor Power
Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor #unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.
Disdain for #Intellectuals and the #Arts
Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to #HigherEducation and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other #academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.
Obsession with #Crime and #Punishment
Under fascist regimes, the #police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego #CivilLiberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.
Rampant #Cronyism and #Corruption
Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.
#Fraudulent#Elections
Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by #SmearCampaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control #voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.
This post is a summary of Fascism, Anyone? by Lawrence W. Britt published in 2003 by Free Inquiry magazine."
As Ruth Ben-Ghiat writes today, Spain has dodged a bullet with the failure of its hard right to take control of the country in the recent elections. For some Spaniards, the memory of Franco and his fascist dictatorship remains strong and is compelling. Their agenda:
"[T]o impose censorship of books and curricula, take 'ideology' out of schools, and eliminate Spain's Ministry of Equality."
"[Spain's hard right] is also ferociously against LGBTQ rights. 'They want to go back to a time when diversity existed, but you could not speak of it,' said Pau Vendrell, a gay father in Valencia. For Spaniards, this means the Franco dictatorship, when gays were confined in camps, psychiatric hospitals, and prisons and given electroshock treatments to 'cure' them."
I'm going to say something to #yankees fans and then I'm going to quickly get out of the room.
It's true. You don't want to hear it, but it's true.
The Yankees acquisition of Giancarlo Stanton hasn't worked out. He's worth about 8.9 WAR since coming over and only 2018 and 2021 were starter-level seasons or better.
Over the same span and even on a per-season basis, Josh Donaldson has been considerably better.
Today in Writing History May 11, 1916: Spanish author, fascist and Nobel laureate, Camilo Jose Cela, was born. He was a staunch homophobe and a supporter of Franco, fascist leader of Spain. During the dictatorship, he worked as a censor for the fascist state and as an informer for the secret police.
"Member of the European Union Turkey Civic Commission (EUTCC) called on the EU to remove the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) from the bloc's list of terrorist organisations [... saying] “Anyone who is serious about feminist foreign policy, that is, foreign policy based on peace-building measures, anyone who is truly convinced of Jin Jiyan Azadi (“Woman Life Freedom”), cannot persist in criminalising the authors of this slogan”" https://medyanews.net/eutccs-dagdeviren-calls-for-delisting-of-pkk/
IMHO I think that for people in the 21st, and probably the 20th century after WWI there'd be enough secondary sources, including radio and then TV, at least starting with #Hitler, including #Mao, #Mussolini, #Franco, and possibly even #Stalin.
What would be more interesting (argumentatively) is whether people who came to power legitimately (e.g. #LuisXIV and #Sulla) would also be in the sample.
How dictator Franco built his regime vilifying the Jews, then tried to hide it (www.timesofisrael.com)
In his new book 'Architects of Terror,' Sir Paul Preston shows how Spain's ties to Nazi Germany and use of antisemitic propaganda belied its claims of sympathy to Jewish refugees