Draft:Extremaduran peasant rebellion

Extremaduran peasants with their fist in the air. 1936.

The great farm invasion of 1936 was a series of events that started on the 25th of March of the previously mentioned year in the region of Extremadura.

Approximately 80000 Extremaduran ploughmen peacefully occupied a total of around 250000 hectares of farmland

Currently, there are a number of political parties and social movements who argue that this should be celebrated as the Day of Extremadura, replacing the currently celebrated regional holiday on the 8th of September.

Events leading up to the invasion

The Agrarian Reform of 1932

Extremaduran/Andalusian workers.

In 1930, approximately 45.5% of the working class of Spain worked in agricultural jobs, meaning farm-work produced the majority of the national wealth

As a result of the declaration of the Second Spanish Republic, significant changes were made to the agricultural system under the agrarian reform, an ambitious project that, among many other things, aimed to raise salaries and return large estates to those who worked it.

The reform had very high expectations among the Spanish people, but due to a collection of budget/resource limitations and angry landowners, it saw significantly small implementation. Adding onto this, the conservative CEDA party won the Spanish elections of 1933, resulting in a complete abandonment of the movement by the government.

As a direct result of the failure of the reform, Spain saw large amounts of political agitation of the peasants during the years of 1933-34 (which influenced the Casas Viejas incident)

It also caused a period of radicalization of the FNTT, the agricultural branch of the UGT, which a large percentage of the Spanish peasants associated with.

The landowners formed an opposition group in 1931, which largely contributed to the boycotting of the agrarian reform

1934

May 1st celebrations in the Badajoz Province

1934 saw a large increase of unemployment in the agricultural workforce (63% in total), leading to the FNTT callling for a strike on the 5th of June, 1934. The government considered the strike as a revolutionary act, therefore illegal.

The strike affected over 500 provinces spanning across the regions of Andalusia, Extremadura and La Mancha. Plus another 200 in other regions.

It lasted a total of 15 days, making it the longest-lasting agricultural strike in Spain's history, and resulted in the imprisonment of a large number of peasants (including 600 Extremadurans) and the overthrowing of many local socialist governments.

5 months after the strike, the 1934 Revolution took place in Spain. The peasants of the agricultural regions of Spain (Andalusia, Extremadura and La Mancha), exhausted by the government's repression, managed to set up a new strike. Various revolts took place in a few localities, which caused the government to declare war on the rebels, ending in 2000 casualties and 30000 imprisonments.

The occupation

The peasants of Badajoz during the revolt

Agricultural unemployment went up to 20% in 1936, around the same time of a period of heavy rains which toughened conditions for the workers. Extremadura faced heavy consequences from this, being the most dependent on farmland.

The FNTT ordered the invasion, under it's command[1], approximately 80000 Extremaduran ploughmen peacefully occupied around 250000 hectares without there being any casualties on behalf of the landowners and Civil Guards, however there were at least 280 peasant casualties. Equipped with hoes and other tools, they delimited the edges of the new seized land, as the FNTT had ordered. On the same day, they returned to their villages and forced their local governments to strike a deal with the revolutionary peasants. The next morning they returned to their normal lives, now with improved conditions.

The revolt was extremely successful. In one day, the peasants single-handedly took back more land that had been given to them in the past 5 years.

Repercussions

The government was extremely worried, fearing the spreading of this revolution.

The press released a number of articles on the event, urging the populace not to follow in Extremadura's footsteps. The governor of the Badajoz province at the time was forced to put sanctions on his people and informed them that the government was not willing to tolerate any further action. Due to heavy censorship, the Badajoz branch of the Hoy newspaper was left with empty sections, removed by authorities.

On the day of the invasion, a telegram was issued to all the local governments to oppose the rebellion. Despite this, a number of them were quite willing to comply with the peasants.

Consequences

Two months after the revolt, in may, a group of workers decided to take after Extremadura and occupied an estate in Albacete. This resulted in 17 working class casualties and the imprisonment of 50 members of the FNTT, including the socialist mayor of Yeste (the province in which the estate was located)

In July of the same year, the Spanish Civil War began, resulting in the Extremadura campaign. It is commonly believed that the fascist invasion was not for any strategic reason, but simply for vengeance against the rebel peasants. Following the Battle of Badajoz, a massacre took place in the city: It is estimated that 500-4000 people were executed in under 2 days. Anyone suspicious of sympathizing with the republic or any left-leaning organization were rounded up in the city's bull ring, and then shot. Among the fascists in the ring, it is reported that there were Nazi soldiers, placed in Spain as observers of the unfolding events of the war.

A majority of the peasants that participated in the 25M revolt were imprisoned or killed by Franco's regime, making Badajoz one of the most affected provinces by the fascists.

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Categories:

• 1936 in Spain
• History of Extremadura