Catalonia Reborn by Chris Bambery and George Kerevan sampler

catalonia reborn
1640–1659 – War of the Reapers: Catalan peasants rise up against the monarchy
amid anger over taxation and being forced to station and provision
troops fighting against France. Strengthens tradition of popular Catalan
resistance to external rule.
1659 – Spain and France sign the Treaty of the Pyrenees and Catalonia loses
the northernmost part of its territory.
1701 – War of the Spanish Succession: Fearful of a French Bourbon king on
the Spanish throne, the Catalans ally themselves with England in defence of
their traditional autonomy.
1713 – Tory government in Great Britain resolves to end the Spanish war
and signs the Treaty of Utrecht. It wins trade concessions and territory,
including Gibraltar. Abandoned, Catalonia keeps fighting.
1714 – Barcelona falls to the Bourbons after a 14-month siege, on 11
September – thereafter celebrated as National Day in Catalonia. Generalitat
abolished and Catalan language suppressed.
1796–1814 – French Revolutionary and Peninsula War. Napoleon at first
restores Catalan independence but then annexes Catalonia to France. With
end of wars, absolutism renewed under Ferdinand vii.
19th century – With the loss of its American colonies, Spain enters a century
of economic decline. The exception is Catalonia, where rapid industrialisation
creates a new, militant working class and triggers a cultural and linguistic
renaissance, reviving Catalan nationalism.
1833 – First steam-driven textile mill in Barcelona. Burned down two years
later by striking workers.
1873 – First Spanish Republic declared, committed to liberalism, modernisation
and federalism. Overthrown by the army the following year. Bourbons
restored.
1888 – Founding (in Barcelona) of Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) and General
Workers’ Union (UGT). Universal exhibition in Barcelona.
1898 – Catalan business hurt when Spain loses Cuba. Reinforces desire of
Catalan middle class for more political and economic autonomy.
1895–1906 – Zenith of Catalan Modernist architecture.
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