The Sovereign Council of Asturias and León ( es, Consejo Soberano de Asturias y León, ast, Conseyu Soberanu d'Asturies y Llión), was an

unrecognized state A number of polities have declared independence and sought diplomatic recognition from the international community as sovereign states, but have not been universally recognised as such. These entities often have ''de facto'' control of their ...

in northern Spain during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

. Proclaimed on 6 September 1936, it was self-declared

sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'. The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ...

on 24 August 1937, while the region was occupied on 20 October 1937 by

Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...

's military forces.

Belarmino Tomás Belarmino Tomás Álvarez (29 April 1892 – 14 September 1950) was a socialist politician. A secretary of the ''Sindicato Minero Asturiano'' (the local coal miners' branch of the Unión General de Trabajadores, UGT), and a delegate to the In ...

was the Sovereign Council's first and only President. The capital of the short-lived state was

Gijón Gijón () or () is a city and municipality in north-western Spain. It is the largest city and municipality by population in the autonomous community of Asturias. It is located on the coast of the Cantabrian Sea in the Bay of Biscay, in the cent ...

Context

Asturias Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in nor ...

, where the UGT and the CNT were especially active, there had been a kind of

Libertarian socialist Libertarian socialism, also known by various other names, is a left-wing,Diemer, Ulli (1997)"What Is Libertarian Socialism?" The Anarchist Library. Retrieved 4 August 2019. anti-authoritarian, anti-statist and libertarianLong, Roderick T. (201 ...

revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

. The isolation of the northern front, 200 kilometers from the closest republican positions, with a shortage of war and food supplies, caused local powers to assume command of militias and coin minting, functions that were previously the responsibility of the

republican government Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy, is a type of democracy where elected people represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies function as some type of represe ...

. On June 1936, a war committee was established in

by the

anarchists Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessari ...

of the CNT and chaired by

Segundo Blanco Segundo Blanco González (Gijón 1899 – Mexico 1957) was an Asturian anarchist, teacher and CNT militant that participated in the governance of various republican institutions, during the Spanish Civil War. Biography Segundo Blanco Gonzále ...

, it had war, transportation, supply and health commissions. Meanwhile, in

Sama de Langreo Sama or SAMA may refer to: Places * Sama, Burkina Faso, a town in the Kouka Department, Banwa Province, Burkina Faso * Sama, China (Sanya), a city in Hainan, China * Sama, Chalus, a village in Mazandaran Province, Iran * Sama, Nowshahr, a villag ...

, a popular committee of socialist predominance had also emerged, this was chaired by

Ramón González Peña Ramón González Peña (1888 – 27 July 1952) was an Asturian people, Asturian socialist and trade union leader. González was a prominent leader in the Asturian miners' strike of 1934, 1934 miners revolt in Asturias, under which he led the Ovie ...

History

The Interprovincial Council of Asturias and León was born on 6 September 1936, as an agreement between

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

s and

socialists Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the eco ...

, and with representation of all the Republican faction in

. On 23 December 1936, the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII, and was di ...

government recognized the Interprovincial Council of Asturias and León as well as other councils in the country (the Regional Defence Council of Aragon and the

Interprovincial Council of Santander, Palencia and Burgos , conventional_long_name = Interprovincial Council of Santander, Palencia and Burgos , common_name = , subdivision = Autonomous entity , nation = , demonym = , status_text = , t ...

) as autonomous entities. Independence was declared on 24 August 1937, when the city of

Santander Santander may refer to: Places * Santander, Spain, a port city and capital of the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain * Santander Department, a department of Colombia * Santander State, former state of Colombia * Santander de Quilichao, a m ...

fell to Nationalist forces, leaving the remaining republican forces in

isolated several hundred miles from those republican forces in the southern and eastern parts of Spain. The leaders of the new nation claimed that declaring the independence should not be considered as a defiance against the Republican government, but rather an attempt to concentrate the local defense against Franco's forces in the

War in the North The War in the North was the campaign of the Spanish Civil War in which the Nationalist forces defeated and occupied the parts of northern Spain that had remained loyal to the Republican government. The campaign included several separate battl ...

campaign. The Sovereign Council issued its own currency as there was not enough from Spain due to the isolation of Asturias. These bills were popularly known as ''belarminos'', the name of

, President of the Sovereign Council. Stress created led to clashes between some ministers. The idea of independence was supported by Belarmino Tomás and the majority of leaders of

PSOE The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gov ...

, as well as by Segundo Blanco and other officials of the CNT.

Rafael Fernández Álvarez Rafael Luis Fernández Álvarez (September 17, 1913 – December 18, 2010) was a Spanish politician and former political exile. Fernández served as the President of the Regional Council of Asturias from 1978 until 1981 before becoming the first P ...

condemned the decree of sovereignty but remained at his governmental post. The two UGT representatives had different opinion each one. The PCE criticized the decision and the ministers of the Republican Left rejected it. The Government of the Republic actively censored the Sovereign Council, especially when it addressed the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

. Aid to continue resistance against Franco's forces was requested of the Republican government, then based in

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

, and although military aid was sent, it arrived the day before the fall of

to the Nationalist forces and the end of the provisional government on 20 October 1937. The different services of the administration were organized until the time of evacuation on the night of October 20, 1937, the last meeting of the Sovereign Council was held earlier that day. The next day, the troops of the Nationalists entered Gijón.

Organization

Legacy

On the republican side the cause of the loss of the north were analyzed, the article entitled ''Why the North was lost?'' (published in El Socialista on October 30, 1937) emphasizes the lack of unity and political decisions that damaged military plans, highlighting the almost total passivity of

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

in the defense of the north. The city of

proudly proclaims its resistance to Franco's forces and its temporary role as the seat of anti-Franco resistance in northern Spain to this day.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sovereign Council of Asturias and Leon Asturias and Leon Former countries in Spanish history Cantonalism in Spain 1936 establishments in Spain 1937 disestablishments in Spain Spanish Civil War 20th century in Asturias