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The exodus provoked by the Civil War (1936–1939) is, due to its magnitude, the principal field of study on Spanish exile. Nevertheless, during the Spanish Republic in peacetime (1931–1936), different exiles took place which have not raised as much interest within the historiography. This is the case of those that had to flee Spain after being involved in the October Revolution of 1934. They were anonymous activists, the middle ranks, and also well-known leaders of the working-class movement, many of whom would play an important role during the time of the Popular Front, the Civil War and exile. In order to carry out this study, the archives of the five French départements bordering Spain, the Archives Nationales and the Archives de la Préfecture de Police in Paris were consulted. That facilitated identifying two hundred and seventy-five refugees, as well as understanding important aspects of their route towards exile, how they crossed the border, what their the journey was and the vicissitudes they experienced in French territory and what the conduct of the French authorities was. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

About 2,800 volunteers of the American contingent of the International Brigades, generally known as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, served in Spain from 1937 to 1939. After the fall of Barcelona at the end of January 1939 many ended up in French refugee camps. This article draws on first-hand eye-witness accounts to paint a picture not only of the withdrawal from Spain after the fall of Barcelona in January 1939 but also of conditions within the camps in France. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to contribute to a better knowledge of historical feminism in Spain based on and in dialogue with the wealth of research on the subject by Spanish historiography in recent decades. Although the social nature of Spanish feminism and its articulation around notions of sexual difference has been pinpointed, a more profound reflection on the social nature of feminism, as well as its effects on the shaping of feminism as a social reform movement, is needed. For that purpose, this article pays attention to the epistemological framework of social duties (and rights) which became widespread in the early twentieth century. The main working hypothesis is that these notions of sexual difference were not static and that, from the second half of the nineteenth century onwards, they were given another meaning in light of the emergence of "the social" as a result of the criticism of classical liberalism's assumptions and explanations of human nature. Sexual difference was reframed through the impact of the new ideas about society, which facilitated proposals for women's public intervention in social improvement and for reshaping marriage and the domestic sphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the impact of the Great War on two countries that remained neutral throughout the conflict, Spain and Argentina. It focuses on three aspects that are analyzed from a transnational perspective in order to show a transatlantic space: neutrality as a matter of dispute between pro-Allies and pro-German sectors; the debate about what positions should be assumed in order to guarantee a world without war; and the polemics on the ideas of nations that should prevail in each country. The hard confrontation between two opposing views on the principles on which the country should be sustained and the socio-economic upheaval accelerated the crises of the liberal regimes. Even though they were part of a cycle of crises and revolutions that assumed global characteristics, Spain and Argentina had travelled similar paths and their evolutions had been marked by both national contexts and a shared transnational space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The local arena provides an excellent framework for the study of practices linked to the reproduction of national identities in interwar Europe. This article analyses the transmission and reproduction of a democratic and secular national identity on a local level during the Spanish Second Republic (1931–6). Using a micro-historical approach, the study examines the processes of nationalization of the population in the town of Alagón, an industrial locality 15 miles north of Saragossa. More specifically, the article explores how municipal institutions in Alagón nationalized residents in the public sphere, paying special attention to policies concerning education, political and religious symbols, and holiday celebrations. The text also investigates how private associations transmitted identities, including folk groups, religious brotherhoods, and the local theatre and cinema. Finally, the article explores how the nation was reproduced in the family and the domestic realm. Drawing comparisons with other European cases, the investigation shows the limits of government-controlled, top-down nationalizations and underlines the importance of material culture and daily consumption in the transmission and assimilation of national identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explains the reason for the revolutionary insurrection on October 5, 1934 in Asturias, Spain by analyzing the lived experience of the politics of the Asturian coal fields before the violent protest. Topics discussed include the processes of polarisation in interwar Europe, nature of community in the Asturian coalfields at the beginning of the Spanish Second Republic, and important effects of the elections and change of government in 1933.

Historiography on the phenomenology of nationalisms has often pointed to the importance of myths and symbols in the construction of these political movements, underlining how the past is transfigured and/or particular historical episodes are recast for use in creating a given political discourse in the present. By adopting this viewpoint, the aim of this paper is to analyse the evolution of historiographical thinking on the use of myths and symbols in contemporary politics, giving particular attention to how they were brought to bear in the early days of the Catalan nationalist movement. This initial period, covering the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, is of special interest in the case of Catalan nationalism because it was a phase of politicisation marked - much as it was in other nationalist movements across Europe - by a nationalisation of history, a selection of foundation myths and historical milestones, and a crystallisation of the movement's symbols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electoral violence is a phenomenon which is key to understanding the workings of democracy in interwar Europe, yet there are few monographs which analyse its incidence in different countries between 1918 and 1939. This article is a quantitative and qualitative study of violence during the Spanish general election of 1933. Spain is a particularly significant case: the violence experienced there was a manifestation of the volatile relationship between the various political parties and trade unions, and it was a crucial factor in preventing the consolidation of the democratic Republic. The choice of the 1933 election reflects the fact that this was an especially critical moment for the Second Republic. The contest involved not only a substantial debate between the 1931 Constitution’s supporters and critics over the question of constitutional revision, but was also the first election of the Second Republic in which the parties of the left, right and centre were well-organized and counted upon significant popular support. This article examines the various types of electoral violence and its geographical distribution, and identifies the political and trade-union actors who engaged in it. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The history of popular education is a long-standing field of research. Its beginnings trace back at least to the mid-twentieth century and it maintains its attractiveness for many researchers, both historians and educators. But, using the same label, quite different lines of research have been developed. They correspond to different ideas about what has to be considered as popular education. The paper starts by revising some of the outstanding works and authors in this field, analysing the main terms used and their underlying concepts. Popular education is then confronted with other close concepts, such as people education, popular or working-class self-education, adult education, women's education or social education. The author argues that the approach and perspective adopted for identifying a popular education subject of research are more determinant factors than an a priori thematic demarcation. From this point of view, popular education is centred on the study of education activities and school provision addressed to the lower classes and individuals taking part in them. This social origin and position of the public and not of the providers is what really defines this field of study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports the results of interviews with Muslim leaders in Portugal and Spain. The main finding of the article is that key Muslim leaders and principal Islamic organisations are seeking to spread views about how Islam and western democracy ought to thrive together. The political belief systems of Muslim leaders reveal a diverse set of influences, including universalist syntheses of Islam with liberalism, as some claim to find in the work of Tariq Ramadan, but also anti-modernist political Islamism and notable figures such as Hassan Al Banna, Yusef Al Qaradawi, and Ali Shariati. The research finds that the views of Muslim elites are shaped by the national political context, especially partisan polarisation vs. consensus over the political regulation of religion, and the cultural and educational resources within Muslim communities. The large majority of European citizens from Muslim descent share core European values, but they are not spreading their views on the religious market of ideas as such. This leaves that field rather open to people with a more radical vision. (Gilles Kepel - quoted in Knapp 2004) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines politics in Spain's commemoration of the battle of Covadonga. Site of the battle; Symbol of Covadonga; Myth of Covadonga.