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''Solidaridad Obrera'' (Spanish for ''Workers' Solidarity'') is a newspaper, published by the
Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
/ Balearic regional section of the
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 necessar ...
labor union
Confederación Nacional del Trabajo The Confederación Nacional del Trabajo ( en, National Confederation of Labor; CNT) is a Spanish confederation of anarcho-syndicalist labor unions, which was long affiliated with the International Workers' Association (AIT). When working ...
(CNT), and mouthpiece of the CNT in Spain. The paper takes its name from an organization of the same name that started in 1907 and reorganized the labor movement in Spain based on the structure of the Federación de Trabajadores de la Región Española (FTRE). This name has been used by numerous
anarchist periodicals The following is a chronological list of noteworthy anarchist and proto-anarchist periodicals. Footnotes Further reading * * * * External linksCold Off The Pressescontains full text copies of anarchist periodicals from the Anarchy ...
in several countries. The newspaper ''Solidaridad Obrera'' was first published on 19 October 1907, in
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
,
Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the no ...
(
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...
) as the mouthpiece of the Solidaridad Obrera federation and has been published, in different forms up to today, now consisting of an online version as well as a print-version that has a print-run of 5,000 copies that have been distributed for free since 2005.


History

The paper was first established by
Anselmo Lorenzo Anselmo Lorenzo Asperilla (21 April 1841, in Toledo, Spain – 30 November 1914) was a defining figure in the early Spanish Anarchist movement, earning the often quoted sobriquet "the grandfather of Spanish anarchism," in the words of Murray ...
, Ricardo Mella, and José Prat among others. It has been alleged that
Francisco Ferrer Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia (; January 14, 1859 – October 13, 1909), widely known as Francisco Ferrer (), was a Spanish radical freethinker, anarchist, and educationist behind a network of secular, private, libertarian schools in and aroun ...
provided economic support, though nothing conclusive has been proven. Throughout its history, ''Solidaridad Obrera'' has had troubles with the authorities. Publication was suspended on 30 November 1907, but resumed the following February. In 1918, following a major recruitment drive by the CNT, the government shut down publication for a brief period. In 1919, publication was moved to Valencia from Barcelona, though it was moved back to
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
in 1923, only to be banned the following year by Prime Minister
Miguel Primo de Rivera Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja, 2nd Marquess of Estella (8 January 1870 – 16 March 1930), was a dictator, aristocrat, and military officer who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 1923 to 1930 during Spain's Restoration era. He deepl ...
. After de Rivera stepped down, 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 King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 ...
was founded, and the paper resumed publication on 31 August 1930 with economic help from anarchists of
Manresa Manresa () is the capital of the Comarca of Bages, located in the geographical centre of Catalonia, Spain, and crossed by the river Cardener. It is an industrial area with textile, metallurgical, and glass industries. The houses of Manresa ...
, Spain, and their own printing press. At this time the paper was being edited by Joan Peiró, and had a press-run of 26,000 copies. In September 1931, the paper took a new direction when it was taken over by members of the FAI, after a confrontation between more moderate ''treintistas'' and the anarchists of the FAI, going through seven editors in a matter of fourteen months. The publication ups and downs continued into the Republican period. The paper, along with the CNT, had urged workers to abstain from voting in the election of November 1933. After the confrontation between the ''treintistas'' and ''faistas'', the paper was suppressed by the government, publication being suspended for 104 days, and entire press-runs being seized. To counteract this, the title of the paper was shortened to ''"Solidaridad"''. Notwithstanding, in 1934, despite having the second-largest circulation of any paper in Catalonia, the paper was regularly suppressed by the government of former CNT defense lawyer
Lluis Companys Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...
and Joan Selves. The paper's status as mouthpiece for the CNT was reflected in its pages, as it was the scene of many ideological battles. 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 Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...
the paper's press-run exploded to 220,000 copies, elevating it to the largest circulation newspaper in Spain. But the paper continued to have trouble staying in print. During the war, an editorial appeared in its pages denouncing the
Communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
. The Communist Commissar for Public Order in Madrid, Cazorla, was particularly criticized, and had the Madrid offices of the paper closed.Thomas, p. 424 After the end of the civil war and the victory of the Nationalist faction, the paper was banned by the new Spanish government. In
Francoist Spain Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spani ...
, despite its prohibition, the paper appeared occasionally, though clandestinely. From 1945 to 1947, it was published monthly, and later sporadically. When the Francoist State ended with the death of Franco in 1976, the paper began publishing weekly (though sometimes just monthly) as the mouthpiece of the newly legalized CNT of Catalonia, under the editorship of Luís Andrés Edo.Antoni Segura, ''Luís Andrés Edo, histórico anarquista'', ''El Pais'', 15 February 200
available online
/ref> In 2005, under the direction of Jordi Exposito, the paper became a free publication, financed with the support of subscribers and donations. In 2007, it became the mouthpiece of the CNT-AIT of Spain, and that of the Catalan/Balearic branch of the CNT.


Notes


Sources

*Archer, William. ''The Life, Trial, and Death of Francisco Ferrer'', Moffat, Yard and Co., 1911. *Bolloten, Burnett. ''The Spanish Revolution : the Left and the struggle for power during the Civil War'', Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press, c1979, *Gómez Casas, Juan. ''Anarchist Organisation: The History of the F.A.I.'', Black Rose Books Limited, 1986, *Jones, Norman. ''Regionalism and Revolution in Catalonia'', in Paul Preston: ''Revolution and War in Spain'', Routledge, 2001, *Payne, Stanley G. ''The Spanish Revolution'', Norton, 1970. *Thomas, Hugh. ''The Spanish Civil War'', Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1961.


External links


Online edition of ''Solidaridad Obrera''

Confederación Nacional del Trabajo
Official site of the CNT

{{DEFAULTSORT:Solidaridad Obrera (Periodical) 1907 establishments in Catalonia Anarchism in Spain Anarchist newspapers Confederación Nacional del Trabajo History of anarchism Newspapers published in Spain Publications established in 1907 Spanish-language newspapers Anarcho-syndicalism publications 1907 establishments in Spain