Sobirania i Progrés, amb l´enquesta de majoria independentista

Fa setmanes enrere, va tenir lloc xerrada de presentació a Manresa , per part de l´entitat Sobirania i Progrés, de la que en formo part, presentant interesant estudi de l´UOC,de la mà de Miquel Strubell, en relació a la voluntat d´exercir l´autodeterminació amb resultats positius sorprenents. A continuació teniu els diferents videos de la xerrada i l´enriquidor debat posterior, amb diferents estratègies per bastir una majoria social autodeterminista ferma:













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Exposició sobre el President Lluís Companys, a Manresa

Una personalitat imprescindible el President Lluís Companys en exposició:

Exposició de Jaume I, el conqueridor

Just en el monestir omnipresent d´aquesta localitat de l´interior de València, Simat de la Valldigna, per atzar vam trobar-hi exposició del referent històric, de Jaume I, el conqueridor, una interessant exposició del seu llegat com unificador dels territoris de parla catalana/valenciana del conjunt dels Països Catalans, patrocinat fins i tot per la Generalitat valenciana:

10.000 campaign in Brussels to self-determination. How to reserve

Objective: 10.000 people in Brussels on March 7 to self-determination. For more information, click here. 
Video on how to reserve:

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and GESTAPO Papers & Catalonia

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a forgery made in Russia for the Okhrana (secret police), which blames the Jews for the country's ills. It was first privately printed in 1897 and was made public in 1905. It is copied from a nineteenth century novel by Hermann Goedsche (Biarritz, 1868) and claims that a secret Jewish cabal is plotting to take over the world.

The basic story was composed by Goedsche, a German novelist and anti-Semite who used the pseudonym of Sir John Retcliffe. Goedsche stole the main story from another writer, Maurice Joly, whose Dialogues in Hell Between Machiavelli and Montesquieu (1864) involved a Hellish plot aimed at opposing Napoleon III. Goedsche's original contribution consists mainly of introducing Jews to do the plotting to take over the world.

The Russians used big chunks of a Russian translation of Goedsche's novel, published it separately as the Protocols, and claimed they were authentic. Their purpose was political: to strengthen the czar Nicholas II's position by exposing his opponents as allies with those who were part of a massive conspiracy to take over the world. Thus, the Protocols are a forgery of a plagiarized fiction.

from: skepdic.com/protocols.html

In 1934, Dr. Alfred Zander, a Swiss Nazi, published a series of articles accepting the Protocols as fact. He was sued in what has come to be known as the Berne Trial. The trial began in the Cantonal Court of Bern on October 29, 1934, the plaintiffs were Dr. J. Dreyfus-Brodsky, Dr. Marcus Cohen and Dr. Marcus Ehrenpreis. On May 19, 1935 the court, after full investigation, declared the Protocols to be forgeries, plagiarisms, and obscene literature. Judge Walter Meyer, a Christian who had not heard of the Protocols earlier, said in conclusion:

"I hope, the time will come when nobody will be able to understand how in 1935 nearly a dozen sane and responsible men were able for two weeks to mock the intellect of the Bern court discussing the authenticity of the so-called Protocols, the very Protocols that, harmful as they have been and will be, are nothing but laughable nonsense".

from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Protocols_of_the_Elders_of_Zion#Th...

 

THE INDEPENDENCE OF CATALONIA : THE ECONOMIC VIABILITY

THE INDEPENDENCE OF CATALONIA : THE ECONOMIC VIABILITY

By Xavier Sala-i-Martin, Columbia University and UPF

Translated by Eva Guler

* THIS SCRIPT HAS BEEN PREPARED FOR A CONFERENCE AT THE OMMIUM CULTURAL *

Once upon a time, there was a country with a 6 million population, with an area of 40,000 square kilometres. The country had as next door neighbour's two big European powers, traditionally colonists, whose languages were a constant threat to the existence of the local language. The auto-governed population was being forced to speak and use two (or more) languages. The capita growth of this country was high, one of the highest of the world, a complete economic success.

Is this science fiction or reality?

When we speak about the independence of Catalonia , the first question that a non-economist individual would ask me (being an economist myself) is “if Catalonia would be viable” to sustain itself as an independent nation. If Catalonia would not be viable as an independent economy, the description on the first paragraph would be science fiction and therefore it would not exist. But, the country that I have described is an actual fact and it is a country that exists and it is independent: I am talking about Switzerland .

Switzerland has a 6 million population and approximately 40,000 square kilometres. Switzerland borders with Germany and France, two European powers, traditionally colonists and the local language, the Swiss-German (which is different to German) is being threatened by the French and German languages (and Italian as well, which is spoken by a very small minority in the south of the country). So, before we even begin to talk, you can see that the arguments given against the viability of Catalonia as an independent nation are basically erroneous: if Switzerland is viable (and not only it is but it is also the second richest country of the world) why wouldn't Catalonia be, if also, our country is not up in a range of mountains, has a sea port and it has an easier access to the rest of the world?

In this script, I will try to analyse the arguments that the anti-independents use to demonstrate that Catalonia is not viable as an independent country.

The most common argument is “ Catalonia is too small to be able to become an independent nation” . The truth is that no serious economist can agree with this statement. There is no economic theory that says that a country must be of a minimum size to be viable or that bigger countries in size are more viable than small ones. If this theory exists, it would be totally wrong because, in the world we live in, the expenditure per capita or the economic growth figure of a country cannot be related to the size of a country (measured, for example, by area and/or population). It is simply false that larger countries are more economically successful. If not, then why do we find amongst the poorest countries of the world, such big countries like China , India and Russia ? And how come we find, in among the richest countries of the world, countries like Belgium , Holland and Switzerland ?

Another argument against independence is that “a country can not prosper without natural resources like land, gas or petroleum, and Catalonia doesn't have any” . This theory is also completely false. For example, Japan or the “miraculous tigers” from East Asia (Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore) are not producers of petroleum or natural gas, and the fertile land to which they have access to, is very limited, (actually, both Hong Kong and Singapore are one city countries!). Saying this, the economic growth accomplished by these countries during the last decades has been spectacular. (1)

Even more, if we apply this argument to our text, it is true that Catalonia , even though it has a great quantity of fertile land, does not produce some of those natural resources… but neither does Spain . So, independence would not bring any loss in this instance.

Also, there are economic arguments that lead you to conclude that to have natural resources can be a bad thing for the long-term growth (the economists named this phenomenon “Dutch Decease”). The argument can be summarised this way: when a country has a lot of natural resources (for example, petroleum) it dedicates a great quantity of resources to develop that particular sector and it tends to forget other sectors. In particular, it tends to forget the innovative and technological sectors, which generate the technological changes that guarantee long-term growth. So, these countries that are specialists in the production of petroleum and other primary materials do not focus on educating the population or adopting modern technologies and finish up by being poorer than they would have been without petroleum. The typical examples of countries that have suffered from this “Dutch Decease” are Mexico and especially Venezuela , countries that have become poorer after discovering rich petroleum banks.

This is a very attractive argument and we have shown examples, which support this theory. The truth is that is when we analyse all the countries in the world at the same time (instead of just looking at Mexico and Venezuela) we will realise that there is no relationship between the wealth of having natural resources and economic growth (on the other side of the argument we will find examples given that the most richest African countries are South Africa and Botswana, two rich countries in natural resources, specifically in gold and diamonds). So, it is not true that to have natural resources would be good, but neither can be said that it could be necessarily bad.

The usage of natural resources, obviously, is a necessity if you want to gain economic growth. And, if one doesn't have them, these can be obtained by other methods. The most logical and normal way of doing it is to do it by international trading, and not through political submission. And even more, to belong to a small country is favourable because it is an incentive to the government and all economics agents to compete and improve because the alternate protectionism is not an option. The problems that nowadays the Spanish government face today over the very famous “artilleros” created during the alienated Spain from the Franco era, a Catalonian state would have never have had it. A Catalonian state, logically, would be one that is open to trading with all the countries of the world (including Spain ).

A third argument against the economic viability of Catalonia is this: “Isn't it enough to compete with Paris , London , New York or Hong Kong , that now you also want to compete with Madrid ”? This statement is also totally wrong. Catalonian businesses are already competing with the ones in Spain ; we may or may not be the same political unit. The interstate competition is as big as the international one. Who does the reader think the Costa Brava hotels compete with? They compete with the Italian hotels, the Moroccan hotels and the Greek hotels, but the biggest competition comes from Spanish hotels in the south of Spain ( Costa del Sol ) and even from hotels from the coast of Tarragona (Costa Dorada) which are in the same Catalonian state.

So, the independence of Catalonia would not bring a very substantial increase in competition to the one we already face. And if, there was an increase, it would be very favourable, as an economist and as a user, we should always applaud any new competition due to its tendency to bring better quality and lower prices on products and services.

Continuing the same theme, another argument against the independence is that “ to leave Spain would be suicidal because Spain is our biggest market for the Catalonian businesses” . But the question is: Why? Why would the Spanish people buy our own cava and spend their summer holidays in the Costa Brava ? Because they love us like good compatriots that they are? Or maybe because given the price and quality of our product that is the best they can do? Clearly the true answer is this last one. So if independence does not affect the price and quality we offer now, then the Catalonian markets would not lose.

It's a fact that the biggest international market is your neighbouring country. The biggest market for Mexico is the United States of America . The biggest market for Taiwan is China and the biggest market for France is Germany . Does the reader think that in reality that this then is a favourable argument for Mexico to be the 51 st state of the United States of America ?

There are some people that claim “the dissolution of countries at the present time, is against the current trend in a time when Europe is nearing a one common currency, a one fiscal system, a one military unit and a one political unit. To speak about separatism and independence at the end of the 20 th century is old-fashion and it is out of tone” . I think that this quote is not acceptable for several reasons. First, it is not true that there is a trend at the end of the 20 th century to create a great super government like the European one. In fact, in 1946 there were 74 countries in the world and in 1995 there was 192. So, if there is a trend in the world it is not the reduction of the number of countries but it is exactly the opposite, therefore the evidence in which this is based is simply false. Secondly, the theory is based on the presumption that one political and one economic unit are beneficial (and, to go against the current trend is bad). Personally, I have enormous doubts about the wishful European project, based on the creation of one bureaucratic superstructure that will end up sinking all European economies. And thirdly, it is not necessary to venture into economic cooperation with the rest of the European countries from Spain . It can be perfectly done from Catalonia .

Finally, the most feared argument: “to obtain the independence, we need a war and this would be more costly that any other economic benefit that you could get out of it; can't you see what happened in Bosnia with the disintegration of the old Yugoslavia ” ?. This is half true and half false. It's true that the independence is not wanted if the price we have to pay to obtain it is a war. But what it is not true is that the only way of obtaining independence would be trough war. Historically there has been two ways about drawing borders: war and monarchy marriages. This last one has not fully disappeared yet, but monarchy marriage is not used together with a political goal. The war, on the contrary, is still being used. But we find ourselves in the 21 st century and we should need to have faith in freedom and a civilised democracy. Plus, the history of the last 20 th century can bring some optimism in giving us many examples of countries like Slovakia , Estonia , Leetonia , Lithuania and many more old soviet republics that have achieved the independence in a very peaceful way.

Economic progress is gained by a creative population willing to work, a legal system that guarantees investors property rights, incentives to companies to innovate and to adopt new technology. An educational system which helps the population to be more productive and a good government who encourages internal and external trading and never sinks a productive economy with excessive taxes, with a fair bureaucracy and intolerable corruption and maintains a fiscal and monetary stability. From this point of view, the independence would not be a positive one if, a supposed government and Catalonian institutions, would not demonstrate their capability to fulfil the above points or if these could actually be worse than the ones from a Spanish government. Today we do not know how a Catalonian government would do it. What we know for certain is that the way it has been done previously and how the Spanish government is currently doing it. And the truth is that the cards dealt are not in favour of the Spanish people.

Recent history shows us that the independence of Catalonia is more and more viable every day. Some recent studies show that the increase of international trading is linked with economic viability of new countries. The argument is that international trading is a good substitute to a political union as an enlarging tool from the markets and as the international markets keep growing, is less necessary to have a large country to be able to sell the products in a way that when the international trading increases, so to the independent tendencies. In an article previously written at Harvard University, professors Alesina and Wackier have demonstrated that in the 20 th century recent history these tendencies are confirmed, which means that, not only the independence of Catalonia is possible but is positively possible.

With what I have written, I have tried to leave aside the nationalism and patriotism to exclusively focus in the economic viability of a Catalonian state. I am not saying that the independence would be a wish come true (this would be a different topic) (2) or that there are non-economic arguments that need to be looked up when we ask for it. What I am definitely saying is that there should not be any doubts about the independence being completely achievable from an economic point of view.

1. And this is true even when we take into account the financial crisis that some (not all) of them countries have been trough recently.

2. An important economic argument that needs to be used when you weigh the costs and benefits of independence is the fiscal deficit. The recent study from “L'Institut d'Estudis Autonomics” estimate that the Catalonian fiscal deficit in respect to Spain during the 90's has been of approximately 900,000 millions of pesetas (even though the current tendency has decreased, the amount continues to be spectacular). What does this mean? Well, the Catalonians pay certain taxes to Madrid . From these taxes, a quantity comes back to Catalonia for public expenses, social benefits, etc. Another quantity but, it stays in Madrid and never comes back. This is the Catalonian fiscal deficit, and all these money adds up to, during the 90's, at around 900,000 millions of pesetas. To understand how much 900,000 millions of pesetas mean, divide this amount by a 6 million population and the total would be of 150,000 pesetas per person. This means that a typical Catalonian family with 4 members (father, mother and 2 children) pay every year 600,000 pesetas to Madrid that never comes back . Can the readers please ask themselves what would they do with 600,000 pesetas extra every year? : Go to Disney World (the one in Florida , not the one in Paris ) all the family every summer? To buy a bigger house (600,000 pesetas every year are 50,000 pesetas every month that can be used to ask for a loan for a bigger and more luxurious property)? Or to buy a car worth 1.2 millions of pesetas every two years? Or to buy a BMW every five years? A lot of things can be done with 600,000 pesetas every year, can't they? Well, forget it because this money is not coming back to Catalonia … and this is a very important economic cost.
The main benefit is this sham, they tell us, is the interregional solidarity. But one thing is solidarity and the thing is that they steal your wallet for your pocket.

EUROPE OF 100 FLAGS MOVES INEXORABLY CLOSER

CELTIC LEAGUE - PRESS INFORMATION

EUROPE OF 100 FLAGS MOVES INEXORABLY CLOSER

As Kosovo moves towards independence in the New Year Celtic League
General Secretary, Rhisiart Tal-e-bot, looks at the broader implications
for small States including the Celtic countries which yearn for freedom,

'It is expected that next month, or early in February, Kosovo will
make its declaration of independence, making it the newest European
state since Montenegro became independent on June 3 rd 2006.

Kosovo independence can only be a beneficial development for the Celtic
countries own march to self determination, provided that violence
does not erupt between the Serbs and the ethnic Albanians on the scale
of the 1990's. A more or less peaceful transition to independence
will show the world that small nations can become safely independent
- even in a hugely volatile nation like Kosovo - and that it is the
responsibility of the international community to support this goal
in the face of fierce opposition from individual states.

The road to independence for Kosovo has been a bloody and turbulent
one, where troubles have constantly dogged the two million population
of ethnic Albanians and Serbs since the nineteenth century. The United
Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) currently
governs the province, along with the local Provisional Institutions
of Self-Government (PISG), with security provided by the NATO-led
Kosovo Force (KFOR). However, Serbia's sovereignty over the region
is recognised by the international community, but at the beginning
of 2008 this is due to change.

It is expected that the European states will recognise an independent
Kosovo in different stages, with the UK and France being among the
first. The EU as a whole however remain undivided and it is likely
that each state will be left to make up its own mind on recognition,
although European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said this
week that he hopes that all European Governments will be able to reach
a consensus over Kosovo.

Nevertheless it is estimated that as many as 22 of the 27 EU states
are ready to recognise Kosovo as an independent country. Romania and
Cyprus have openly criticised independence without UN approval and
Slovakia remains hesitant. Of course Russia is fervently opposed to
independence like its ally Serbia, while the United States is in favour.
It is believed that the European Commission hopes that Kosovo independence
will not be declared until after the Serbian Presidential elections
on the 20th January and 3rd February, to avoid unnecessary upset.

The European Free Alliance/Green group in the European Parliament,
which is the representative voice of nationalist political parties
from four of the six Celtic nations are in favour of Kosovo independence,
with the Dutch Green MEP Joost Lagendijk saying in March 2007:

"Independent status for Kosovo, under initial EU supervision, will
end the years of uncertainty for Kosovo and the region. It would grant
Kosovo desperately- needed access to international financial organisations
and enable it to normalise its relations with the EU and realise its
European prospects."

In turn, the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) Westminster Leader,
Angus Robertson MP said this week that:

"It's clear that the wishes of the majority of people in Kosovo is
to move towards independence, and those wishes must be respected.

"Independence in Europe is the normal state for European nations and
there should to be a future for both Kosovo and Serbia within the
EU."

Earlier this year President Putin of the Russian Federation commented
in an interview published in French newspaper Le Figaro:

"In the West, this solution will set off separatists in Europe. Look
at Scotland, Catalonia, the Basque Country…"

Indeed it seems as though the independence of Kosovo will set a powerful
precedent for nationalist movements across Europe, but it is highly
unlikely that they will pursue a 'separatist' agenda, as Putin or
other commentators have suggested.

There are already dates set for referendums on independence across
Europe with the Basque Country set to be the first in 2008, with a
non legally binding (according to Madrid) referendum . This will be
followed by the planned 2010 referendum on independence in Scotland
and a possible referendum in Catatonia in 2014. The political situation
in Belgium is also uncertain with the Flemish still largely undecided
whether they want to form a state Government at all, after a general
election on June 10 . Wales is also likely to hold a referendum on
gaining greater powers of autonomy for the country within their term
Government.

There is little doubt that 2008 will see a new independent European
state emerging in the shape of Kosovo, but this will not be the last.
Today, future independence and greater autonomy for the Celtic countries
seems more certain than ever before, especially when viewed as a part
of the current European political trend. Even though the independence
of Kosovo will be a motivational force for the self determination
movements of other small nations, they are by no means dependent on
it in their own march to self government.'

(This article prepared for Celtic News by Rhisiart Tal-e-bot)

J B Moffatt
Director of Information
Celtic League

24/12/07

The Celtic League has branches in the six Celtic Countries. It works
to promote cooperation between these countries and campaigns on a
broad range of political, cultural and environmental matters. It
highlights
human rights abuse, monitors all military activity and focuses on
socio-economic issues.

TEL (UK)01624 877918 MOBILE (UK)07624 491609

Internet site at:

http://celticleague.net
http://groupsyahoo.com/group/celtic_league/

WAR OF SUCCESSION:A Chronology of the genocide and repression from France and Spain against Catalonia

WAR OF SUCCESSION:
A Chronology of the genocide and repression from France and Spain against Catalonia.

2/4/1700: France outlaws the Catalan language: "The Sun-king" decrees the French language as the only legal language. The Catalonian peasant population remains legally unprotected because they do not know the imperial language.
20/10/1700: The king of Castile and Aragon / Catalonia, Carlos II, drafts his last will in favor of the Duke of Anjou, totally violating the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659) between Madrid and Paris, which explicitly excluded any rights from the French Royal Dynasty over any Spanish crowns through marriage; the Duke is Carlos II's nephew by marriage.
1700-1713:"The Academy of the Distrusted ones" works, founded as a literary institution, made up of writers who stood out against Bourbonism, those such as P.L.Dalmases, Boixadors, Pinós, Rocabertí, etc...
1/11/1700: Carlos II dies without any direct heirs. He was the last Spanish Habsburg monarch.
N. Feliu de la Penya writes: "Carlos II...chose the Duke of Anjou... to the amazement of the Catalonians...it gave rise to the occasion for suspicion and deception" ("Anales"). Just like when the Barcelona Dynasty ended without any direct heirs and the Castilian Dynasty of the Trastamara seized the Catalonian crown (1412) in violation of signed treaties, so now does a French anti-Catalonian Dynasty seize the Spanish crowns in violation of signed treaties.
8/11/1700: News about his death arrives in Paris when the "Sun-King" is out hunting with “his ladies". Upon finding this out, he calls upon the Duke of Anjou (the future "Felipe V"), his son, and the grandson of Felipe IV (Carlos II's father and an enemy of the Catalonians during the Reapers' War). From that point on, the Duke bears the title of the great medieval enemies of Catalonia, “Anjou”; he is "a man of no intelligence, unpredictable mood swings, apathetic...completely insensitive to the misery and pain of fellow human beings, and wicked. He might have been cruel, if he were not so apathetic and engrossed in his obesity and obscurity" (St. Simon). Hence, he was a lazy psychopath who never made any attempt to speak the Castilian language properly. He is the great-great-grandfather of the great-great-grandfather of Juan Carlos I, the present Spanish king.
11/11/1700: Manuel Oms de Santa Pau, ambassador from Madrid in Paris, and Marquis of Castelldosrius tell the Duke in Castilian:"...the Pyrenees have sunk". The Duke understood nothing despite the fact that his mother is a Castilian Queen. 16/11/1700: King Louis XIV, “the Tyrant”, appoints his son “Emperor over all of Spain” [and its territories].
1700-1717: Decrees from the French absolute monarchy impose French as the only official language of the Courts and notaries in Northern Catalonia (under military French occupation since the Reapers war half a century earlier).
18/2/1701: The Duke arrives in Madrid, where he is proclaimed “King of Castile” as “Felipe V”.
1701: French traders take over control of Valencian trading (the Kingdom of Valencia is in the region of southern Catalonia). The lower-class people accuse them of getting rich at their expense. Anti-French sentiment spreads among the Valencian lower clergy.
9/1701: The Great Alliance (England, Holland, and the Austrian Empire) meets at The Hague; they nominate the Archduke Karl as pretender to King of Spain, since they feared that the French and Spanish union would cause great instability and an uneven distribution of European power.
2/10/1701: The Duke of Anjou meets with the Catalonian Parliament and swears in their laws and liberties.
10/1701: The Duke is appointed King of Catalonia as "Felip IV" in Catalonia ("Felipe V" in Castile).
At the end of 1701: France invades Holland.
3/1702: The Great Alliance declares war on France and FelipeV.
1703: Emperor Leopold proclaims the Archduke Karl as king of Spain in Vienna. Prussia, Savoy, and Portugal join the Alliance
1703-1704: Felipe V favors French monopoly over trade in his kingdoms.
Spring.1704: In Vienna, initial contacts take place between the British representative Mitford Crowe and Antoni de Peguera i Aimerich (lord of Foix and Torrelles and a member of the Distrusters' Academy) and the attorney, Domènec Perera, Catalonian representatives.
5/1704: Before Barcelona, 1600 allied marines land. "Vigatans" (a small anti-Bourbon nobility from Vic, in Central Catalonia) had to open the doors for them, but the conspiracy is uncovered and they have to flee through Gibraltar. The allied Army is under the command of the prince from Hessen-Darmstadt, the last remaining Lieutenant General in Catalonia under Carlos II and very popular among the Catalonians. Bourbon repression, imprisonment.
1704: In Portugal, the Archduke lands and the war mobilizes on the peninsula. A decisive battle in Blenheim: the Alliance kicks the French Armies out of Germany, which is the beginning of the crumbling of Louis XIV's enormous power.
4/8/1704: The Valencian Gen. Basset and Catalonian volunteers facilitate the allied occupation of Gibraltar, lead by the Adm. Rooke. In Gibraltar, there is still a "Catalonian Bay". Expulsion of the indigenous population to Algesiras Bay.
17/5/1705: The military Moragues and other "Vigatans" and important officials grant powers to Ll.D.Domènec Perera enabling Catalonia to enter the anti-Bourbon alliance.
5/1705: The anti-Bourbon uprising starts on the plains of the city of Vic.
2/6/1705: Geneva Pact: An Alliance's treaty between the plenipotentiaries A. De Peguera and Dr. Perera (Catalonia) and Mr. Mitford Crowe (England). London promises 8000 soldiers, 2000 cavalry, ammunition and total support to the Catalonian liberties. Catalonia promises the support of its Parliament´s members and of the "Council of Hundred", and 6000 men.
20/7/1705: The allied fleet arrives in Barcelona. Propaganda is in favor of the Archduke.
21/7/1705: Vigatans openly march to Barcelona on his way gathering supporters.
4/8/1705: Catalonian is victorious with only 250 men against the 1000 foot-soldiers and 100 riders of the Bourbon viceroy.
10/8/1705: The Anglo-Dutch fleet lands in Altea (Valencian Kingdom or Southern Catalonia). Basset and Francesc Garcia land along with them: the first, coming from other battles, the second, exiled from a former agrarian revolt.
16/8/1705: Allies enter Alzira and nearby Valencia.
17/8/1705: Basset lands in Dénia where the Archduke is announced as the new Valencian King.
Since 8/1705: The Valencian peasantry, after being oppressed by the lordships' abusive taxes, support the Pro-Austrians, who promise them better conditions. They take the name of "Maulets" (a diminutive of "Mawla", slave in Arabic), a name already taken by the rebellious peasantry in the Valencian Kingdom some years prior. Basset is the brave radical military hero of these deprived peoples.
24/8/1705: Moragues and 800 men show up in Barcelona.
8/1705: Allied landing in Barcelona.
14/9/1705: Allied attack on Montjuïc.
15/9/1705: Second allied bombardment on Barcelona.
9/10/1705: Barcelona surrenders to Charles Mondaunt, count of Petersborough.
12/10/1705: Girona surrenders. Bourbon troops retreat to France.
7/11/1705: The Archduke formally enters Barcelona: he swears to grant Catalonian freedoms.
11/1705: Representatives from every Catalonian land, including Catalonian Aragon (even Monzon/Montsó) and the Valencian North come to pay homage to the Archduke. Pro-Austrian conspiracy in Northern Catalonia (under French occupation).
11 to 12/1705: Almost all Central Catalonia surrenders to the Allies. British occasionally help conquer some strongholds like Tarragona.
15/12/1705: Basset with 500 countrymen and 300 riders arrives in Valencia. Bourbon followers ("botiflers" in Catalan, from "Beautiful+flowers") lack means to defend attacks. Prisoners riot.
16/12/1705: The lower class people go out into the streets in Valencia to jeer at the privileged ones and show their favor for the Archduke. Some prominent men imprison the Bourbon Viceroy and open the town doors for Basset to enter. In St. Mateu (Valencian North) the British General Jones arrives.
18/12/1705: Surrender of St. Mateu. The allied siege on Peníscola (Val.North) begins.
12/1705: Valencian "botiflers" are exiled. "Maulets" and Allied control most of the Valencian Kingdom, and Basset takes over the government.
12/1705 to 3/1706: The Catalonian Parliament request that the Archduke (Charles III) recover Northern Catalonia, which is still under French occupation, and reestablish American trade, which had been completely monopolized by the Castilians.
12/1/1706: The Castilian army of the Count de las Torres is defeated at St. Mateu and descends through the South. They attack Vila-real, a Maulet villa near by Castelló: they sack the town and its churches, slit the throats of civilians and set the villa on fire. 272 inhabitants die (among them 7 priests and 7 women) and they take with them more than 200 prisoners. However, more than 500 Castilian soldiers also die there on account of the brave civilian defense.
2/1706: The British Gen. Petersborough arrives in Valencia and replaces Basset, judged too radical. The new viceroy demands feudal taxation again.
3/1706: Bourbon troops attack Central Catalonia.
4/1706: Defending Barcelona, 50 Allied warships force the French fleet to retreat .
2/7/1706: Charles III triumphantly enters Madrid with Catalonian soldiers ("miquelets"), and is received with great repulsion from the Empire’s capital city’s long-standing and deep-seeded anti-Catalonian animosity
10/7/1706: Charles III has to retreat from Madrid to Aragon. Basset is accused of abuses while defending Xàtiva from the Bourbon troops, and Petersborough throws him in prison.
7/1706: Charles III is in Zaragoza. Felipe V returns to Madrid. Valencians demonstrate popular indignation for Basset's imprisonment.
29/9/1706: The Anglo-Dutch fleet shows up in Majorca Bay.
9/1706: Popular anti-Bourbon pressure in Majorca.
10/1706: Charles III confiscates the Valencian botiflers' properties. Expulsion of French citizens and exile of nobility from Majorca. Cartagena (in the ancient Murcian Kingdom under Castilian occupation), where Catalan was still spoken, is occupied by Botiflers. Luís Belluga, the Bishop in Cartagena, is a pro-Bourbon fanatic.
11/10/1706: Belluga's Castilians occupy Oriola (Southern Valencian Kingdom), where they will persecute the Catalan language: now, no one speaks Catalan there).
21/10/1706: The offensive against southern Valencian continues: the Duke of Berwick sacks and overtakes Elx by force. 10/1706: Menorca and Eivissa surrender to the Allies. A "Maulet" uprising in Plana (Castelló countryside).
4/1707: Anglo-Dutch-Portuguese counter offensive against the Castilian border near the Southern Valencia.
25/4/1707: Decisive battle at Almansa (La Mancha, near the Valencian Kingdom). 25000 Allies against 25000 French-Castilians. Allies retreat with 500 dead and 12000 prisoners. This serious defeat leaves València almost defenseless facing the Bourbons. Today, there remains a popular Valencian saying that goes: "When evil comes from Almansa, it hits everybody.”
5/1707:French-Spanish troops march towards València, so Basset is finally released from the prison of Lleida (West-central Catalonia) to organize the Valencian resistance.
8/5/1707: The Duke of Berwick arrives in València. The city is declared liberated, and the surrender of Zaragoza is announced.
12/5/1707: Berwick arrives in Castelló de la Plana where he imposes an excessive war reparations tax and knocks down the city walls.
6/6/1707: Xàtiva (near València) surrenders, after a long siege.
19/6/1707: The Lieutenant General d' Asfeld sends orders to set fire and destroy Xàtiva, a large city dating to the Middle Ages. This genocide leaves a profound psychological and significant impact along with the expulsion of more than 18000 citizens from Xàtiva and the changing of its name from its former Roman name to "San Felipe" in honor of the tyrant (until 1811). Even today, there still remains an official painting of Felipe V hanging upside down in Xàtiva .
29/6/1707: Felipe V signs the "Nueva Planta" decree against the Kingdoms of València and Aragon, which he considers "conquered", and he declares their ancient parliamentary laws abolished "...because the just right of conquer over them my weapons have made lately". Nevertheless, Maulets still control the Valencian North and the Alcoi-Alacant-Dénia triangle in southern Valencia.
1707: The high clergy, Botiflers, the ultra-papists, as well as the Jesuits in Catalonia are quite often Castilians, but the lower clergy are strongly pro-Austrian. They often mediate between conspiracies, prisoners and Allies, besides of inducing the people to the Archduke favor. Naples-Sicily cede to the Archduke, and Menorca cedes to the Bourbons. Scottish independence ends with the "Covenant", a voluntary union treaty with England.
30/9/1707: Felipe V donates Llíria, Xèrica, Barracas, etc., (free towns) to the Duke of Berwick.
14/10/1707: Lleida surrenders to the invaders.
11/1707: Fall of Tàrrega, Cervera, and El Pla d' Urgell (West-central Catalonia).
9/1/1708: After a heavy siege, Alcoi falls with many executions, reprisals, and the abolition of local laws and the local festivities to honor St. George, patron saint of Catalonia.
1708: A very unstable military situation in northern Valencia. D' Asfeld, the arsonist of Xàtiva, controls the Audience (provincial court) of València as an instrument of foreign military occupation.
11/7/1708: Bourbon troops occupy Tortosa (south-central Catalonia).
7/1708: The Allies take over the island of Sardinia.
17/9/1708: The Anglo-Dutch fleet of Adm. Leake commanded by Gen. Stanhope easily regains the island of Menorca (East Catalonia).
17/11/1708: Spaniards occupy Dénia.
12/1708: Alacant (Alicante in Spanish) is occupied by the British who blow up part of the castle defenses. It is besieged by D'Asfeld.
7/12/1708: Spaniards occupy Alacant. Only guerillas remain throughout the Valencian Kingdom.
1709: Famine spreads throughout the Valencian Kingdom as a result of the war taxes. Valencian botiflers despise the new Castilian laws and send representatives to reinstate their ancient laws, they are imprisoned. Narcís Feliu de la Penya publishes "Anales", a story about the war, which is confiscated by the Bourbon censorship. War breaks out in Cerdanya (Pyrenees). The Allies are victorious (Malplaquet...): Louis XIV is left so weakened that he abandons his son and almost surrenders.
1/7/1709: Salvador Feliu (Narcís' brother) and other tradesmen (one of them a resident of Gibraltar) found the New Company of Gibraltar in Barcelona to break the Cadiz monopoly on American trade.
1710: A second demand for reestablishing Valencia’s own laws. It is overturned by a Court controlled by Castilians.
5/7/1710: An insurrectional attack failed in the city of València. 4 British warships show up and cannot land due to lack of popular support.
7/1710: Battle of Almenara (North near València), where Felipe V is about to die.
27/7/1710: Catalonian victory in Almenar (near Lleida).
8/9/1710: New Maulet uprising in northern Valencia.
28/9/1710: Charles III retakes Madrid.
23/10/1710: The Bourbon Col. Ibáñez shoots 41 "miquelets" (pro-Austrian Catalonian soldiers) imprisoned in Altura (northwest Valencian Kingdom).
29/10/1710: Pro-Austrians bombard Morella (northern Valencia).
9/11/1710: Charles III flees Madrid again.
15/11/1710: 60 Pro-Austrians die in the attack against Morella.
11/1710: Felipe V is enthusiastically welcomed in Madrid.
9/12/1710: The Duke of Vendôme defeats the British in Brihuega (Castile).
10/12/1710: The Duke of Noailles defeats the Austrians in Villaviciosa (near Madrid).
15/12/1710: While Morella surrenders, the Duke of Noailles lays siege to Girona (near Pyrenees) and Charles III returns to Barcelona.
25/1/1711: Girona surrenders.
3/2/1711: Morella falls into Bourbon hands.
1711: Josef I of Austria (Brother of Karl/Charles III) dies. Charles III is appointed as his successor (Karl VI).
The Allies reject the monopolization over the crowns, and everyone is tired [of war].
Hence forth, international diplomacy will be decisive.”
27/9/1711: Karl VI/Charles III flees Catalonia, where he leaves his wife behind.
2/1712: A peace Conference between France and Holland-England takes place in Utrecht (Holland).
1712: New negotiations mediated by the Duke of Vendôme: Valencian Botiflers want to reinstate the ancient Valencian laws.
7/1712: Felipe V formally abdicates the French Crown.
8/1712: A cease fire accord is implemented.
12/1712: The Tories, who are running England, fear a union between the German and Spanish Empires and drop out of the Alliance. Afterwards, they also sever ties with Portugal and Holland.
1712-1736: Sir Richard Kane, the first British governor in Menorca, builds up the main road, has the swamps drained, and imports cattle.
19/3/1713: The Empress, foreign diplomats, and many families of noble Pro-Austrians embark from Barcelona to Italy and Vienna.
20/3/1713: Starhemberg swears in as Lieutenant General taking the place of the Empress.
11/5/1713: The Utrecht Treaty is signed.
22/6/1713: A secret accord in L'Hospitalet is signed behind the Catalonians' backs to hand over Catalonia to the Bourbons.
24/6/1713: Starhemberg, the first general, declares Gen. Moragues is disloyal to Charles of Austria.
25/6/1713: Starhemberg reveals the secret accord to the Barcelona Council.
26/6/1713: Moragues and the officers read Starhemberg's letter.
1/7/1713: The Austrians abandon Catalonia leaving it to its own demise.
6/7/1713: The 3 Arms' Committee decides to resist to the death.
9/7/1713: Catalonians call out to resist just before Starhemberg embarks: "Let the nation perish with glory!".
12/7/1713: Declaration of the Valencian Maulets in support at the Barcelona defense.
13/7/1713: Conclusion of the Utrecht Treaty; the allied powers divide up the Catalonian Confederation's medieval possessions: England keeps Menorca. Savoy will gain Sicily. Austria expropriates Sardinia - where rivers of Catalonian blood flowed during the XIV-XV centuries - and Naples. The homeland will remain under a tighter and more totalitarian grip : Louis XIV's royal lineage. The "Catalonian tunic" shared out before the crucifixion.
25/7/1713: The French and Spaniards begin their siege on Barcelona.
1713: The Maulet guerillas still fight across la Marina and el Maestrat (in the Valencian countryside) against the invader. The "General Superintendency" is set up for the military occupation of Central Catalonia.
10/1713: Felipe V expells the Montserrat Monastery abbot.
1/1714: The first occupation tax is imposed in Central Catalonia (not voted on by the Catalonian Parliament) and provokes an uprising against the occupying Bourbons.
3/1714: Radstadt Peace: The Emperor "Karl VI" acquires former Catalonian territories in Italy.
6.1714: The Utrecht Peace conclusion: Felipe V signs a peace accord with Holland. Portugal still does not join it.
1714: Widowered, Felipe V remarries. His new wife is “Isabel of Farnese,” an ambitious and domineering fat woman who will control the government to provoke wars with the aim of gaining Kingdoms for her sons. Spaniards set fire to Manresa, St. Paul...(near Barcelona). Royal decree: "My wish is to subjugate each of my Spanish kingdoms into conformity...in accordance with strong, central, and absolute Castilian laws" . 5000 Pro-Austrian Catalonians are exiled to Austria. The General Council of Eivissa (Ibiza in Spanish) confirms its desire for independence (to be free)
6/7/1714: Berwick arrives in Barcelona with strong reinforcements: 35000 troops, 5000 Cavalry. Around 1485 troops, 380 Cavalry, and 5000 from "La Coronela" (the united militias commanded by Villarroel) from Barcelona. The French and Spaniards outnumber the Catalonians 10 to 1. According to Voltaire, up to 500 Catalonian ecclesiastical men fought under arms to repel the invasion.
9/1714: Villarroel delivered his last speech at a rally for independence of all Spanish Kingdoms, Catalonian freedoms aimed at France (economic competitor) and Castile (political competitor), and for all stolen lands.
11/9/1714: At 5 a.m., the Bourbon Artillery attack begins breaching 7 openings in the city wall 20,000 French-Castilian soldiers begin the attack. The Council Chief, Rafael de Casanova, falls wounded wrapped in the flag of Sta. Eulàlia, the Paleo-Christian martyr from Barcelona (patron saint before Felipe V replaced him with "the Virgin of Mercy"). Combat is street by street, and Berwick is forced to call for more reinforcement troops from the reserves. In the first hour of the afternoon, the heroic Catalonian capital has to surrender without retribution, which in the end will not be the case. The resistance of Barcelona had lasted 13 months and was greatly admired by European public opinion, comparing it to Saguntum and Numantia. Even a British officer starts a fund in Britain for "Barcelona", in memory of Catalonian heroism. Barcelona has about 7000 homes. 6000 people die during the final siege; 4000 on the day of the attack. Almost all of the resistance and part of the civil population die.
18/9/1714: Occupation of other villages in Central Catalonia. The invaders do not keep any of the promises guaranteed upon surrender.
3/10/1714: Disarmament Mandate for the Catalonian civil population: Kitchen knives have to remain locked in chains, and the country houses are not allowed to have wooden windows, etc.
10/11/1714: Death Penalty Edict against anyone who tries to leave Catalonia without a passport, but thousands continue fleeing the country anyway.
1714: "Considerations about the case of the Catalonians" and "The deplorable history of the Catalonians," are two books sympathizing with Catalonia and published in London; the latter printed by J. Baker and sold at the price of just one shilling.
1714: Maulet guerrillas will continue on for several years, but they will progressively turn into bandits as a result of total Bourbon repression.
10/1/1715: A graffiti states: "The whole of Catalonia is a prison".
1715: Several chroniclers talk about the general misery in Central and Southern Catalonia.
2/1715: Portugal joins Utrecht to no advantage. It is left in English hands to be defended from Castile/Spain.
2 to 4/1715: Critical point of Bourbon repression against the Catalonian military; within 3 months, over 3800 of them are imprisoned or deported.
20/3/1715: When Moragues and other patriots try to embark to Majorca, they are betrayed and fall in the clutches of the Spanish.
27/3/1715: After brutal torturing, walking barefoot, and wearing penitence shirts, Macip, Roca, and Moragues are executed by garrote, and their bodies are dismembered. Moragues is about 40 years old, and his head is put in a cage at an entrance door in Barcelona to heed warnings that this is a lesson for the “Catalonians”. In other towns, heads or hands in cages and gallows are also left around.
1/6/1715: Felipe V sends orders to knock down the Barcelona fishermen district called "La Ribera" in order to build a Citadel: "For increased security and caution against that town...installing...artillery is critical to keep the city and people under subjection...".
13/6/1715: Spaniards outlaw Catechism in Catalan. "That great pride is depressed and already the preceptors of H.M. are respected...by the superior force of weapons" (Council of Castile, speaking about the Catalonians at a plenary session).
3/7/1715: After a month of resistance, Majorca falls in the clutches of Castile.
7/1715: Eivissa also falls.
1715: In many Catalonian towns or villages, there are no Botiflers (collaborators) to form the City Councils. The population en masse is against the Spanish military occupation (report from the Royal Committee). The Vicar General in Barcelona, appointed by the invaders, commands they "obey, serve, and venerate our king of Spain". Famished occupying troops settle around in different villages. Madrid does not even pay the members of the powerful Council of Castile. Therefore, they demand to be fed at the expense of the Catalonians. Confiscation of property to any Pro-Austrian charge from 1713 to 1715. Law to reward the delation of anti-Bourbons: they will receive part of the confiscations if they denounce any peasant who has given e.x. hurrahs to Charles III or shouted "Visca la Terra!" (similar to "God save our fatherland!", typical jeer among the anti-feudal peasantry). The big tyrant "Sun-King," Louis XIV, dies.
3/8/1715: (In Catalonia) "Houses full of soldiers. The rigor of the weapons is such that so a man (=Catalonians) is met in possession of a weapon, he is put to death"(Francesc Gelat).
1715-1720: Famine in Central Catalonia.
1715-1728: Escalation of Spanish taxes against the Valencians.
1/12/1715: "Everything must be taught in Castilian Spanish..." (District Attorney's report from the Council of Castile).
7/12/1715: Majorca and Eivissa’s own governments are dissolved by Madrid.
9/12/1715: Royal Decree for a new tributary system. Initially, Royal Land Registrations are very abusive.
22/1/1716: Sequestration of the historic book written by Narcís Feliu, considered "blasphemous" by the Royal Committee.
29/1/1716: J. Rodríguez Villalpando, the Attorney General, signs the "Secret Instructions" with the intent of wiping out Catalan.
5/5/1716: The Abbot of Vivanco writes the definitive version of the "Secret Instructions".
1716: Courts in Barcelona and Majorca are created as instruments of the military administration for the Castilian occupation. Construction of the Citadel of occupation begins. Neighbors, widows, and children have to demolish their district of 4000 inhabitants with their own hands. Today, this Citadel is the actual house of the Catalonia’s autonomous Parliament. Felipe V sends many Catalonians to Corfu on an expedition against the Ottomans.
15/10/1716: Land Registration pays for the Castilian Army of occupation: Catalonia starts to subsidize its own executioners.
20/2/1717: "The utmost care is given in introducing Castilian Spanish. In order to achieve this goal, the most demanding and drastic measures are drawn up and put into effect without considerations for anyone" ("Dictated Instructions sent to the Correctors in Catalonia"). The Correctors ("Corregidores") act as political Commissioners to enforce the implementation of Castilian Spanish.
11/5/1717: "The tenacious Catalonian resistance against the due subjection to my legitimate domain that theis perfidy did not admit...obliged my Providence to order Universities must be closed..."(Felipe V's Decree, where this Antichrist names himself as "Devine Providence"). Catalonian Universities were shut down because they had been important centers of national resistance and culture. The botifler villa of Cervera (near Lleida) is awarded permission to create a new University, "catering to the Regime". It is very mediocre and even lacks a library. Botifler professors flatter the Bourbon tyrant with the name of "Solon of Catalonia" because of the New Plant Decree.
7/1717: Catalonians mobilize to conquer Sardinia. Catalonians fight on both sides. Austria loses the island.
1717: Growing madness and melancholy of Felipe V. The Bishop of Tortosa orders that only Castilian be used on all agreements and minutes.
9/10/1717:The universities in Lleida, Barcelona, Girona, Tarragona, and Vic are permanently shut down. Bourbon authorities think there is a surplus of students and that the plebeians (common folk) have no access to education.
16/3/1718: The "Honorata Bell", which was used to call Barcelona citizens to fight against the invaders is ordered to be melted.
1718: El Carrasclet's Anti-Spanish guerillas . Alberoni, the Queen's right hand man, sends another army to occupy Sicily. The queen wants to make a kingdom for her sons. Several people die. Exiled Catalonians fight against the Ottomans in the Balkans. The Ottoman Empire cedes areas of Rumania and Serbia to Austria.
8/1718: Quadruple anti-Spanish Alliance: England, Austria, France and Savoy condemn the Spanish Queen's ambitions. France invades Basque lands and Catalonian borders.
1718-1721: Catalonian Civil War: Taking advantage of the invasion, Catalonian patriots loot and set fire to the properties of those who collaborated with the Castilian occupiers.
5/1719: French troops occupy all the Catalonian Pyrenees, intentionally making false promises that the Catalonians will be given back their liberties, thus convincing 19 battalions of volunteers to give up.
6/1719: Massive uprising of "Carrasclets" throughout Tarragona and the Mountains. Guerrilla revival.
1719-1720: The Spanish Cavalry busts into the houses of those Catalonians who exported liquor and destroy them for having traded with Britain and Holland.
1720-1790: Distinctive Catalan language grammar books and eulogies appear
1721: The Duke of St. Simon visits Spain and hardly recognizes Felipe V: "His words were so slurred. His air so stupid that I was frightened" (St. Simon's Memories). "Escuadras de Valls" are created: a nucleus of the "Mozos de Escuadra" for the Botifler repression against the anti-Spanish guerrillas.
13/7/1722: Felipe V does not change his clothes in a year. He wears unstitched trousers from the waist down, exposing his buttocks ("Feuilles d' Histoire", Arthur Chuquet).
1722: Misery and epidemics spread while foreign troops eat and sleep in Catalonian homes.
1723: The Baron of Huart, "Corregidor" in Girona, orders every municipal document to be written in Castilian.
17/1/1724: Felipe V abdicates to his son Luís I, who "had the wits of a child, the curiosity of a teenager, and the passions of a man" (St. Simon). He only reigns a few months. An uprising in Majorca against military conscription ("quintes")takes place but falls apart into anti-Semitic looting.
1724-1733: When a Catalonian town (such as Valls) delays in paying the abusive taxes, it is forced to pay in kind by having Castilian troops sent to live in the town’s homes.
30/4/1725: Peace Treaty in Vienna between Felipe V and Karl VI. Two Bourbon sons marry two Austrian Archduchesses, and many Pro-Austrian patriarchs recover part of their assets, but peasants are left without any benefits.
1726: Confiscation and threats continue against towns in misery that are unable to pay land registration fees.
Disorders: all young men flee from Reus to avoid enlisting in the Spanish Army.
1726-1733: Thousands of Catalonian patriots and fugitives are sentenced to 4 or 5 years to galleys and their leaders are executed. Dubious cases are forced to serve in the Spanish Army.
1728-1729: The patriots Janet de Pira, R. Guardiola and Negre de Montornès are arrested, executed, and their bodies are torn into pieces and these pieces are distributed in cages to the main gates of Barcelona and other Catalonian towns.
1731: The umpteenth Valencian attempt to regain its own jurisdiction from part of the Botiflers.
1734: New petition from the València Municipal Council. Catalonians send a message to England reminding them of their unfulfilled obligations to Catalonia.
12.1734: Clandestine publication of the booklet "Via Fora els adormits", a call to fight for freedom and all the lost territories
1734-1739: Some clergy-men are accused of an anti-Spanish conspiracy and are secretly expelled from the country. Andreu Garcia and other ex-friars of Santes Creus still try to arouse the oppressed peasantry against the degenerate Spanish Regime on behalf of Karl VI (who is at war in Italy).
1734-1741: Formation of Catalonian battalions against the Bavarian and Hungarian insurrections.
1736: The writing "Record de l'Aliança fet al Sereníssim Jordi Augusto, Rey de la Gran Bretanya" (Remembrance about the Alliance, did to the Very Calmed George August, King of Britain), dated "in the 22nd year of our enslavement", circulates. It invokes the treaty of Geneva left unfulfilled by England.
Felipe V's physicians give a report of his health status: "frenzy, melancholy, morbid pleasure, obsession, and hypochondriac melancholy" ("Manifest of 100 secrets from Dr. Juan Curvo Semmedo...").
1740: Certainly, there are Catalonian refugees within the British Army who fight against the Scottish Highland patriots.
1740-1748: War of Austrian Succession where a lot of Catalonians fight.
1741: The great guerrilla leader Carrasclet leads the battalion of exiled Catalonians into Vienna against the Bavarians. He dies in Hungary fighting at the front of the Catalonian Battalion.
1742: The Valencian Academy, a Scientist Gregori Maians' ambitious project (he is from an Pro-Austrian family) is die young.torpedoed by circles from Madrid. The Council of Castile orders the seizure of two of his books.
1746: The genocidal Felipe V dies.
1746-1759: His successor is his 34-year old son, Fernando VI.. He is a manic depressant and dies young.

Video of the demonstration of 700,000 people with the right to decide the Catalan nation on its infrastructure

Video summary of what happened at the macromanifestación which brought more than 700,000 people last December 1 invading streets and avenues of Barcelona, under the slogan "We are one nation. Our right to decide about our infrastructure" organized by the Platform for the right deciding which brings together fit of 200 entities and Catalan political parties:

"Let us explain ourselves in English: Spanish Oppression against Catalonia"

The change of dynasty: before the Succession war Carlos II died without children, he had designated heir Felipe de Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV of France. Carlos/Karl, Archduke of Austria, demanded the crown, with the support of Catalunya, Aragon, Valencia and Majorca and also of England, Holland, Portugal, Savoy and Prussia.

The problem was solved by the arms in a war between Felipe V of Castile, with the military support of France, and on the other hand archduke Carlos, with the kingdoms of the Catalan Confederation, with the military support of England, Holland, Austria and so.

The Catalans, in face of the impossibility to use the port of Seville invaded with English the rock of Gibraltar, to use it as their marine base. The war ended with the victory of Felipe and the treaty of Utrecht (1713) supposed for Spain a new dynasty: the House of Bourbon. In this treaty is in agreement that the allied troops (England, Holland and Germany) will retire their support to Catalunya (Catalonia), and that the French troops also will retire their support to Castile and Felipe V. The French troops did not retire. Also in that treaty, Castile gave Gibraltar and Menorca to England, like indemnification to its expenses in defending the Catalans. And also Felipe V accepted the loss one of all the domains in Europe. For that reason the English do not want to give back Gibraltar, because as said its ambassador before the UN “Gibraltar is the price of a treason”. To give back it would mean the previous cancellation of the Treaty of Utrecht and all its consequences.

In Catalunya the implantation of the new system of absolutist centralization of the Bourbons happens after the 11 of September of 1714 with the decree of New Plant. From 1714, after “War of succession”, where beyond decide who must be the new common king, which causes the war is the government model, the Bourbon centralist and unitary model, or the confederal Austrian like until then.

It is when current Spain is formed like a single kingdom, and it does with the name of Kingdom of Castile, using the numeration of the names of the kings of Castile and the shield of Castile like own of all Spain until 1868, with the rising of the I Republic, in which the arms of Catalunya-Aragón and Navarre are incorporated to the shield of the state, as it can be verified simply with the currencies of legal course from 1714 to 1868.

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“The Secret Protocols…” they are (they were) antiJewish, it was one of the bases to expand the anti-semitism in Central Europe, Poland, Rumania… There were countries like Holland, Switzerland or United Kingdom where the authorities were opposite to the anti-semitism openly and even repressed it legally, but in all central and Eastern Europe no, on the contrary. A people without own State is at the mercy of the hostile states that administer it, it is defenseless. For that reason the Jewish people needs the Israel State and the Catalan people needs a Catalan State, etc. If each nation had its own State not only would be avoided multitude of wars and genocides, but also an enormous amount of hatreds, energies squandered in defending themselves or attacking, etc. It would be the peace and the mutual respect, the acceptance and the friendship and not like now that is the imposition, the distrust, the rejection, the “forced marriage” and badly reconciled, etc. To all us we like to be in our own home at our rhythm and to have the money that we we gained with our effort. Each one in its home and God in the one of all. What is Spain? How was based Spain? With Catholic Kings there is dynastic but non legal union: the different kingdoms continue being independent, only that with common king (in the case of Corona d’Aragó (Aragon Crown) they even reserved the right to change of king in certain circumstances). With the wedding of Juana the Crazy with the heir of Austria, Burgundy and Flandes, plus the discovery of America, is created an immense Empire, but composed of independent or distant kingdoms to each other, based often on the military imposition and the inquisitorial repression (as it is seen in America, Flanders, etc.). This immense Empire was being disintegrated with time and remaining in which now it is known like “Spain”, that continues being a set of different towns or conquered nations (Euskadi in the s. XII, Navarre invaded in 1516, Catalano-Aragonese Crown conquered and annexed manu militari during the War of Succession, 1707-15, etc.). “Spain” is what it remains of the kingdoms inherited by the Habsburg. It is not a nation but a real patrimony with the support of the great ones of Spain, the great one Bank, the Army and the allied faithful Spanish Catholic Hierarchy. “Seated to a table with sticky table cloth and angry by a as little food as indigestible he exploded: ”What a difference between these inactive towns from the high plateau [referred to Castile] and the laughing and alive towns from the East [referred to Catalan Countries]!“ To what the supposed Castilian fellow diner with which it shared oilskin answered: ”Because they are two different and antagonistic nationalities!“. And it added: “The differences between the Spaniards of the Center and those of the coasts one can see at first sight. (...) The Catalanist problem, at heart, is not more than the fight of a strong and spirited people with another weak and poor people, to which it is united by perhaps transitory bonds” (Miquel Alberola, in El País, 05-11-2005, summarizes the article of Azorín in the Agriculture, written in Torrijos and published in 1903 in El Globo). “In Spain there has been never no nation and the unit took place by the fire and the iron. The same Catalonia did not lose its freedom but by the interests of the Habsburgs and the Bourbons, that is to say, by the States” (Julian Besteiro, leader of the PSOE, Meeting to Teatre Bosc of Barcelona, the 22-12-1919). “And corresponding to me the absolute domain of the kingdoms of Aragon and Valencia it is added now the fair right of conquest that from them have done lately my military operations” (Felipe V in the Decree of New Plant of the Council of Castile, 29-6-1707).

“Rough Plateau,

you are like the bad mother.

So that you want more children

if then you don’t love them? “ (Elisa Serna, Castilian singer of the 70s).

“The world is divided in two: Spaniards and unfaithful” (Being Spanish... like a job)” (Deduced by F. Dubé, actor).

“The plague that raise from Andalusia and the hunger that goes down from Castile” (the “Pícaro” Guzman de Alfarache describes the country so).

“Catalan man is brave, active, laborious, enemy of Spain: he loves always the freedom” (Dugommier “South Mémoire the Catalogne” ca.1800).

“An acquitance of mine's assures that is a law of the history of Spain the necessity to bomb Barcelona every fifty years. The system of Felipe V was unjust and hard, but solid and comfortable. It has been worth for two centuries” (Memories, of Manuel Azaña, President of the 2nd Spanish Republic).

“I have never been what they call Spanish Nationalist [fanatic of Spain] nor jingoistic. But in fornt these things I get infuriated myself. And if those people are going to quarter Spain, I prefer Franco” (Manuel Azaña, Memorias, President of the Spanish Republic).

But the Spanish Kingdom is a Frankenstein taken from diverse nations. Catalonia was shared out between “Spain” (that is, the Spanish Habsburgs) and France (that is, the Bourbons) in the in the Treaty of the Pyrenees: that does quarter. The “Spanish unit” is simply a Frankestein formed of many contradictory nationalities with the purpose of creating an Empire for the oligarchy, in which the peolpe is cannon-fodder.

“I took it fix in my mind day 26 when with the troops of Juan Bautista I put myself in the Tibidabo, in Pedralbes. I did not want to build up hopes. They are defeated and they will support, because they are wide-awake people, their defeat and our triumph; but… convinced? … ah! That already is more difficult. Perhaps impossible. Barcelona will continue being the black chick-pea of the national pot. At least during a pair of generations. When judging therefore the Catalan problem of the present and the future, I were not certainly of most pessimistic. I have heard to more than a person of clear judgment and serene tempers to advocate the convenience of a Biblical punishment (Sodoma, Gomorra) to purify the red city, the seat of the anarchism and separatism, and like only remedy to extirpate those two cancers, to indicate termocauterio implacable destructor” (the Tebib Arrumi, pseudonym of the grandfathers of José María Aznar, ex-president of the Spanish Government, in the Heraldo de Aragón, 4 of February of 1939.

Spain is the State that has imposed more time the Inquisition -almost 3 centuries-, last western state in abolishing the slavery and the one that greater genocides has committed -more than 100 million only in America-. The Popular Party wants to reinforce that totalitarian nationalism and to return to the old ways with their subliminal manipulations and their jingoistics emotions.

“The Spanish dinosaurs ate Spanish grass if they were herbivorous Spaniards, that is, vegetarians born in Spain, but if they were carnivorous of Spanish nationality, then they ate other animals that in the Triasic inhabited Spain” (Example of the style book that, with time and tenacity, the “flamenco” Spanishness and its alikes and paid people, will introduce for their televisions and where it can although it is by anal route, for the idolatrous indoctrination on eternal Spain and the Unit of Destiny in what is Universal).

“If we gave to hearing four days, they would be Spaniards all whatever entered to complain” (M. Cervantes, “the baths of Algiers”, vv. 2532-4).

“We cannot take the comunion in the altars from a dominant culture that mistake worth for price and convert the countries and the peoples in merchandise" (Eduardo Galeano).

If the governments of Madrid would be so open as the ones of London in identitary questions, moreover from existing national sportive teams of Catalonia, Euskadi, Galice or Canarias (as the ones of Scotland, Wales or North Ireland), the Spaniard police would be called, for instance, “The Catalan Yard” (Scotland Yard), at the parade of Spanish army would touch txistu or would wear a barretina (so and as to the Briton march dressed up of Scot and touching Celtic pipes) and, finally, would sing in the taverns of the quarter some hymn like “Eusko Gudariak”, so and as the English military usually sing “Kevin Barry”, an Irish independentist song. To put only three comprehensible examples between a multitude. It’s clear that it is traditions of a country civilized by the reading of the Bible and is unthinkable in which suffered 3 centuries and means from Inquisition whose syndrome still reamins in the minds of the majority, customary to obey by fear and not to think. The only thing which fundamentally it worries to the Spanish oligarchy is not to lose territory not to lose taxes. All the interminable hysteria and the obsessive propaganda by the unremovable constitucionalism and the “sacred unit” like religion of State are not more than this: the fear of the oligarchy of always losing rich colonies of sweet honey. “Spain” is only one ideology of the Power.