HISTORICAL MEMORY AND THE PAST: THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR IN CURRENT-DAY SPAIN by Melanie M. Oates A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of The Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences with a Concentration in International Studies The Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College of Florida Atlantic University Jupiter, Florida May 2016 HISTORICAL MEMORY AND THE PAST: THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR IN CURRENT-DAY SPAIN by Melanie M. Oates This thesis was prepared under the direction of the candidate’s thesis advisor, Dr. Carmen Cañete-Quesada, and has been approved by members of her supervisory committee. It was submitted to the faculty of The Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College and was accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences. SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE: __________________________ Dr. Carmen Cañete-Quesada __________________________ Dr. Timothy Steigenga __________________________ Dr. Jeffrey Buller Dean, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College _____________ Date ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my thesis advisor, Dr. Carmen Cañete-Quesada, for the endless support and reassurance she has provided me throughout the researching and writing processes of my thesis project. Dr. Cañete-Quesada’s genuine positivity and patient endurance throughout this project have been a true blessing to my life. I would also like to extend my sincere appreciation to my academic advisor and second reader, Dr. Tim Steigenga, for his continued guidance and encouragement throughout my undergraduate studies. Without the help of these two brilliant professors my undergraduate experience would not have been nearly as rewarding as it has been. Special recognition is given to each of the participants from Spain who took part in the survey that I conducted. I truly appreciate the time and effort that each of them took to provide thoughtful and detailed answers to each of the questions that were asked in the survey. The responses given by these participants were instrumental to my research and understanding of the topic of the Spanish Civil War in current-day Spain. I am especially grateful to my mother, Chrispine Oates, and to my stepsister, Odalis Cruz, for their tireless assistance throughout the translation process of my thesis project as well as for their constant moral support throughout my undergraduate studies. Likewise, I would like to give an additional thanks to my mother for the ceaseless strength and determination she has shown as a single-mother raising my younger sister and I. My mother is, and will continue to be, an astonishing role model for myself, my family, and for each and every one of her students. iii ABSTRACT Author: Melanie M. Oates Title: Historical Memory and the Past: The Spanish Civil War in Current-Day Spain Institution: Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College of Florida Atlantic University Thesis Advisor: Dr. Carmen Cañete-Quesada Degree: Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences Concentration: International Studies Year: 2016 The legacy of the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) and its implications have stipulated a major point of contention in contemporary Spanish society. While the historical accuracies of the war had been silenced during General Francisco Franco’s dictatorship (1939-75), the exhumation of mass graves in recent years has revived a general interest in rescuing the historical memory of those who lost the war. Accordingly, in 2007, the Historical Memory Law (“Ley de la memoria histórica”) was passed. However, while there are many Spaniards who strongly support the recovering of the historical memory of this tragic period in Spain, there are others who find it unnecessary to reopen old wounds. This historical episode of the Spanish Civil War remains a stringent controversy in today’s Spanish society. Through observing both historical and present-day rationales, this research project analyzes how the contending political ideologies in Spain today (“las dos Españas”) are rooted in its past conflict. iv DEDICATION To my late aunt, Kymberly Laura Holbert, I would not be half of the woman that I am today without you “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” –John Lennon v CONTENT I. Introduction The Scars of the Spanish Civil War ……...……………….………..… 1 The Spanish Civil War ……...…………………………….……..…… 5 Francisco Franco’s Regime ...…………………………….………..…. 8 The Pact of Forgetting (El pacto del olvido) …...…………………… 11 The Historical Memory Law (Ley de Memoria Histórica) …............. 14 Spain Today ..…………………………………………………........... 19 Thesis’ Chapters …………………………………………….……….. 22 II. The Spanish Civil War War Between Brothers ..…...……………………………….………… 25 The Roots of the Conflict ..…...…………………………….………… 26 The Outbreak of the Civil War ..…...………………..……………....... 30 The Republicans ..…...…………………….……………….…………. 31 The Nationalists ..…...………………………..……………………….. 35 The Denoument of the Civil War ..…...………………….…………… 37 III. Propaganda and Censorship An Obscured History ..…...………………………..………………...... 40 Wartime Propaganda ..…...……………………………..……………... 44 The Franco Regime’s Cultural Control & Social Amnesia …..........….. 51 A Reprisal of History ..…...…………………...……………………….. 59 vi IV. Spain Today Exhuming Hidden Truths …………………………………………….... 64 Reconciling the Historical Memory Law ……………………………… 66 The Nature of the Survey ……………………………………………… 70 The Outcomes of the Survey …………………………………………... 73 V. Conclusion ..…...…………………………………………………………… 82 Bibliography ……………………………………………………………………….. 85 vii INTRODUCTION The Scars of the Spanish Civil War As one might expect, it is anything but easy for a nation to collectively move forward after facing an issue as devastating and alienating as a civil war. As a citizen of the United States, I have personally observed how the occurrences and post- representations of a civil war—even one that occurred well over a hundred years ago— can inexorably disturb a society. One matter in particular that seems to draw a plethora of irrepressible sentiments is the concern of symbols from a nation’s bygone civil war. For instance, today in the United States, one of the most widely and fervently debated issues is the Confederate battle flag and whether or not the emblazonment of this flag should be deemed illegal. Current news articles regarding the issue display seemingly eccentric headlines such as: “The great US divide over the Confederate flag” (Lovett) or “The New Civil War: Culture war fights over the Confederate flag…” (Schlesinger). However, as peculiar as these statements may seem, they accurately represent how the remnants of a country’s past conflicts may continue to disgruntle its society for decades upon decades. While ex-member-states of the Confederacy, located in the south, see the Confederate battle flag as an emblem of their heritage and tradition, the more liberal states of the north view the flag as a symbol of racism and white supremacy. Thus, despite it being approximately 150 years since the end of the American Civil War (1861- 65), the nation stands divided by the very conflict, which threatened its solidarity to begin with. 1 Bearing in mind the legacy of the American Civil War in the present-day society of the United States during a visit to Madrid, Spain, I was both astonished and intrigued to find that today’s Spanish society is currently facing similar cultural conflicts regarding its own bygone civil war. Whereas the U.S. society is struggling with the issue of whether or not it will continue to allow its southern states to fly a former battle flag, a divided Spanish society is attempting to reconcile the vestige of its past civil war as well as the remnants of Franco’s dictatorship. One may go so far as to presume that many U.S. citizens are interested in the proposal of a law that is similar to Spain’s Historical Memory Law (2007) in regards to the Confederate battle flag. For instance, an article published by Time Magazine states the following, “The confederate battle flag, once a mainstay on state flags in the South, has seen backlash in recent years. The alleged June killing of nine black churchgoers in South Carolina by a white supremacist who posed with the flag prompted national discussions about the flag’s place and led the state to remove the symbol from state grounds” (Worldland). Thus, the U.S. citizens who are advocating for the removal of the battle flag are seeking to pass a law that will remove the symbol and the harmful memories of the civil war, which it provokes, from public spaces. This concept of public symbol removal mirrors Spain’s Historical Memory Law, which has called for the removal of all representations of Spain’s past dictatorship throughout public spaces in Spain. Unlike the United States, however, a convalescent Spain is additionally striving to recover, and simultaneously further conceal, its own forgotten history. While, from a 2 foreigner’s perspective, a country’s historical past may not be perceived as a debatable topic, such is certainly not the case in present-day Spain. As historian Omar G. Encarnación reveals in his article titled, “Pinochet’s Revenge: Spain Revisits Its Civil War”: …The freshly minted Law of Historical Memory (2007) [in Spain] has unleashed a civil war all of its own. Mariano Rajoy, the leader of the rightwing Popular Party, has declared the new memory law “an enormous mistake,” insisting that ‘the vast majority of the Spaniards do not