THE FAILURE OF CATALANIST OPPOSITION TO FRANCO (1939-1950) A THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF PH.D IN THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON BY CASILDA GUELL AMPUERO SUPERVISOR: PAUL PRESTON DECEMBER 2004 UMI Number: U61B448 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U613448 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 1 h £ S £ S • F 35IF- Library British Library of Political and Economic Science ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Like any academic enterprise, this thesis benefited from the assistance and support of many people and institutions. I am indebted to my supervisor, Paul Preston, for his patience and support throughout the whole project. The discussions with my friends and colleagues at the Canada Blanch Centre for Contemporary Studies were very helpful. In particular, I would like to thank Beatriz Anson. Jonathan Oates and Natasha Muslih helped me enormously with their proofreading of the entire thesis. Their hard work was admirable. Finally, I would like to thank all of those friends who put up with my difficult moments during this project: my parents, David, Mirta, the Marias, Duncan, Roberto, Vinz, Francesc and all the friends in Spain, London and France. Without the support, help and encouragement of all these friends and colleagues, my thesis would have never been completed. Of course, any errors of the text are entirely mine. 2 ABSTRACT This thesis accounts for the failure of Catalan opposition to Franco between 1939 and 1950. Catalan opposition was part of a wider external opposition to Franco that developed after the Spanish Civil War, both inside Spain and in exile, and which ultimately had as its aim a degree of self-determination for Catalonia. In 1950, the international community made clear its acceptance of Francoism, dashing the hopes of Catalan both at home and abroad. In the aftermath of the Civil War, many Catalans moved to France, trying to establish an infrastructure of opposition there, only to see it occupied by the Germans. Seeking refuge in the UK, in the USA and Latin America - Mexico in particular - Catalans of all stripes tried to overcome those difficulties imposed by their dispersion, amongst other problems, in order to mount an effective opposition to the dictator. The situation in a newly liberated France in 1944 took centre stage once again. Anticipating that a victorious Allied side would assist in their struggle, Catalan groups instead watched the ambassadors return to Madrid, in November 1950. In previous accounts, it is argued that Catalan opposition to Franco failed, at least in part on account of such factors as lack of resources, Franco’s effective establishment and maintenance of control, and a lack of support for the anti-Francoist movement within the international community. Whilst these factors were no doubt important in determining the course of events, it is argued here that the Catalan element of external opposition to the regime was more significant than has generally been acknowledged. In addition to difficulties of communication and economy, the Catalans suffered internal divisions, recurrent clashes of leadership and poor relations with other opposition groups, and failed to establish either a unitary political programme or governmental institutions, at a cost to legitimacy. Therefore, their failure was partly due to their incapacity to organise themselves. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................................................................2 ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................................................................3 TABLE OF CONTENTS.....................................................................................................................................4 INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................................9 HISTORIOGRAPHY_______________________________________________ 16 STRUCTURE_____________________________________________________ 18 CHAPTER 1 - THE CONTEXT AND ANTECEDENTS OF CATALAN OPPOSITION BEFORE 1939......................................................................................................................24 1.1 INTRODUCTION_______________________________________________ 24 12 THE CONTEXT AND ANTECEDENTS OF CATALAN OPPOSITION (1875- 1936)_______________________________________________________ 24 13 THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR 1936 -1939________________________ 41 1.4 THE ESTABLISHMENT OF FRANCOISM ___________________________ 46 1.5 THE ESTABLISHMENT OF ANTI-FRANCOIST OPPOSITION ..................... 50 1.6 CONCLUSION...................................................................................................60 CHAPTER 2 - CATALAN OPPOSITION TO FRANCO FROM APRIL 1939 TO JUNE 1940: THE FRENCH EXILE....................................................................................................... 62 2.1 INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................. 62 22 THE END OF THE CIVIL WAR - THE SITUATION IN CATALONIA______ 63 23 EXODUS TO FRANCE___________________________________________ 66 4 2.4 CATALAN EXTERNAL RELATIONS .............................................................. 72 2.5 THE IMPACT OF THE BEGINNING OF WWH ON CATALAN NATIONALISM___________________________________________________ 78 2.6 CONCLUSION_________________________________________________ 80 CHAPTER 3 - CATALAN OPPOSITION TO FRANCO FROM JULY 1940 TO AUGUST 1942: THE BRITISH EXILE.................................................................................................83 3.1 INTRODUCTION_______________________________________________ 83 32 THE IMPACT OF THE GERMAN OCCUPATION OF FRANCE ON THE FRENCH EXILE__________________________________________________ 83 33 THE IMPACT OF WWH ON THE BRITISH EXILE____________________ 87 3.4 EXODUS TO BRITAIN ___________________________________________ 88 33 CATALAN EXTERNAL RELATIONS_______________________________ 99 3.6 CONCLUSION________________________________________________ 109 CHAPTER 4 - THE CATALAN OPPOSITION TO FRANCO FROM JULY 1940 TO AUGUST 1942: THE ATLANTIC EXILE ...............................................................................I l l 4.1 INTRODUCTION ______________________________________________ 111 42 CATALAN OPPOSITION IN THE UNITED STATES__________________ 112 43 CATALAN OPPOSITION IN LATIN AMERICA. ......................................115 4.4 CATALAN RELATIONS WITH OTHER GROUPS IN OPPOSITION IN LATIN AMERICA_______________________________________________________ 120 4.5 PROBLEMS OF ORGANISATION IN LATIN AMERICA ______________ 125 4.6 SANTALO'S ARRIVAL IN MEXICO _______________________________ 126 4.7 CONCLUSION ________________________________________________ 128 5 CHAPTER 5-CATALAN OPPOSITION TO FRANCO FROM AUGUST 1942 TO OCTOBER 1944: THE CRISIS OF CATALAN NATIONAUSM IN EUROPE AND AMERICA...................................................................................................................................................130 5.1 INTRODUCTION ______________________________________________ 130 52 DISSOLUTION OF CNC OF LONDON, FAILURE OF SANTALO’S CONSELL IN MEXICO AND RECONSTITUTION OF CONSELL OF LONDON.................131 53 CATALAN DEVELOPMENTS IN FRANCE AND SPAIN _______________ 137 5.4 LATIN AMERICA DEVELOPMENTS ______________________________ 143 5.5 CONCLUSION ________________________________________________ 144 CHAPTER 6 - CATALAN OPPOSITION TO FRANCO FROM AUGUST 1944 TO JUNE 1945: THE WAR’S END ............................................................................................................... 146 6.1 INTRODUCTION______________________________________________ 146 62 THE LIBERATION OF FRANCE_________________________________ 146 63 DEVELOPMENTS IN FRANCE, CATALONIA AND BRITAIN__________ 153 6.4 CATALAN EXTERNAL RELATIONS ______________________________ 164 63 CONCLUSION________________________________________________ 169 CHAPTER 7 - CATALAN OPPOSITION FROM JUNE 1945 TO NOVEMBER 1950: THE RETURN OF THE AMBASSADORS...................................................................... 171 7.1 INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................171 72 THE SPANISH QUESTION______________________________________ 172 73 THE FORMATION OF CATALAN GOVERNMENT IN FRANCE________ 179 7.4 PLATFORMS OF OPPOSITION __________________________________ 183 6 7.5 THE ATLANTIC EXILE 186 7.6 CATALAN EXTERNAL RELATIONS______________________________ 187 7.7 END OF CATALAN HOPES ______________________________________ 192 7.8 CONCLUSION________________________________________________ 194 APPENDICES ......................................................................................................................................................203 Appendix 1. Main Catalan