Assassination Of Antonio Cánovas Del Castillo
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Italian anarchist Michele Angiolillo assassinated
Spanish Prime Minister The prime minister of Spain, officially president of the Government (), is the head of government of Spain. The prime minister nominates the ministers and chairs the Council of Ministers. In this sense, the prime minister establishes the Gove ...
Antonio Cánovas del Castillo Antonio Cánovas del Castillo (8 February 18288 August 1897) was a Spanish people, Spanish politician and historian known principally for serving six terms as Spanish Prime Minister, prime minister and his overarching role as "architect" of the ...
on 8 August 1897, in
Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...
. The head of government had been vacationing in the . The assassin was immediately arrested, tried, and executed. He justified the murder as revenge for torture during the Montjuic trial.


Background

Near the turn of the 20th century, Barcelona experienced a wave of anarchist terrorist attacks. The June 1896 bombing of the Corpus Christi procession had the greatest repercussions. With six dead and 42 injured, a harsh police repression led to the famous
Montjuïc trial The Montjuïc trial was a trial of anarchist suspects in the military Montjuïc Castle following the 1896 terrorist attack on the Barcelonean Corpus Christi procession. About 400 suspects were arrested, from whom 87 were put on trial and fiv ...
, in which 400 "suspects" were imprisoned in the
Montjuïc Castle Montjuïc () is a hill in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Montjuïc or Montjuich, meaning "Jewish Mountain" in medieval Latin and Catalan, is a broad, shallow hill in Barcelona with a rich history. It was the birthplace of the city, and its st ...
and brutally
torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...
d, with their nails torn off, feet crushed, and skin burned by cigars. Of the 28 sentenced to death, five were executed. Another 59 were sentenced to
life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...
and 63 were found innocent but deported to the
Spanish Sahara Spanish Sahara (; ), officially the Spanish Possessions in the Sahara from 1884 to 1958, then Province of the Sahara between 1958 and 1976, was the name used for the modern territory of Western Sahara when it was occupied and ruled by Spain bet ...
. The Montjuïc trial had a significant international backlash, with doubts of the convictions based on torture-coerced confessions. The Spanish press campaigned against the government and "executioners".
Alejandro Lerroux Alejandro Lerroux García (4 March 1864, in La Rambla, Córdoba – 25 June 1949, in Madrid) was a Spanish politician who was the leader of the Radical Republican Party. He served as Prime Minister three times from 1933 to 1935 and held sever ...
, editor of the republican Madrid newspaper published a months-long series on the stories of those tortured and undertook a propaganda tour of
La Mancha La Mancha () is a natural region, natural and historical region in the provinces of Spain, Spanish provinces of province of Albacete, Albacete, province of Cuenca, Cuenca, province of Ciudad Real, Ciudad Real and province of Toledo, Toledo. It ...
and
Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...
.


Assassination

Michele Angiolillo Michele Angiolillo Lombardi (; 5 June 1871 – 20 August 1897) was an Italian anarchist, born in Foggia, Italy. He assassinated Spanish Prime Minister Antonio Cánovas del Castillo in 1897 and was captured and executed by Spanish authorities i ...
was a printer by profession and on file by the Italian police as an anarchist. In 1895, he fled abroad to avoid a month and a half jail sentence for publishing subversive articles. He was likely in
Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 ...
during the time of the June 1896 Corpus Christi procession bombing. He left for
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
but was expelled in October, moving to
Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
and then to
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. In
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, he heard the stories of those tortured in the Montjuïc trial and there he bought the pistol with which he would assassinate Cánovas del Castillo. Arriving in Paris, Angiolillo met the delegate of the Cuban insurgents seeking independence from Spain,
Ramón Emeterio Betances Ramón Emeterio Betances y Alacán (April 8, 1827 – September 16, 1898) was a Puerto Rican independence leader, abolitionist and medical doctor. He led the nations independence movement and was the primary instigator of the ''Grito de Lares' ...
, whom he asked for money to travel to Spain and assassinate Spanish Queen regent Maria Christina and Prime Minister
Antonio Cánovas del Castillo Antonio Cánovas del Castillo (8 February 18288 August 1897) was a Spanish people, Spanish politician and historian known principally for serving six terms as Spanish Prime Minister, prime minister and his overarching role as "architect" of the ...
. Betances gave him some money but told him that he condemned the murders. While in Paris, Angiolillo also met with
Henri Rochefort Henri is the French form of the masculine given name Henry, also in Estonian, Finnish, German and Luxembourgish. Bearers of the given name include: People French nobles * Henri I de Montmorency (1534–1614), Marshal and Constable of France * ...
, editor of the anarchist newspaper ''L'Intransigeant'', which had been one of the most prominent publications in the international campaign to denounce Montjuïc's torture. He traveled to
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
, where he came into contact with the republican and anticlerical journalist José Nakens. Angiolillo introduced himself as a journalist under the false name of Emilio Rinaldini and asked Nakens for help. Nakens gave him some money. As he was departing, Angiolillo told him about his plan to attack the regent, the prime minister, and the young king
Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Alfonso León Fernando María Jaime Isidro Pascual Antonio de Borbón y Habsburgo-Lorena''; French language, French: ''Alphonse Léon Ferdinand Marie Jacques Isidore Pascal Antoine de Bourbon''; 17 May ...
, then an 11-year-old boy. Nakens did not believe him, although he later admitted that even if he had believed him, Nakens would not have interfered, as it was a "political crime". At noon on 8 August 1897, Angiolillo approached the Spanish prime minister Cánovas del Castillo, who was reading a newspaper on a bench in the
Guipúzcoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantique ...
resort of Santa Águeda, where the prime minister had been vacationing, and fired three revolver shots at him. The murderer was arrested and tried immediately. During the trial, he justified his crime as retaliation for the torture of the Corpus Christi procession bombing subjects in the Montjuïc trial, for which he held the prime minister responsible. Angiolillo also declared his solidarity with those living in misery, his rejection of social injustice, and his love for
anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...
. He also said that he had acted alone, although there are doubts that this was true because he had discussed his plans with several people, although he also denied it during the trial. He was sentenced to death and the sentence was carried out by garrote vil on 19 August 1897, only eleven days after committing the murder.


Aftermath

European and American press coverage speculated on whether the attack against the prime minister of the Spanish government was part of a vast international anarchist conspiracy. ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' affirmed that the crime had been the work of a fanatic and stressed that there was no evidence of an international organization behind it, but requested that the police be both alert and not undertake exceptional measures. The newspaper explained the attack by recalling the torture of the Montjuic trial. Its shadow, as the historian Juan Avilés Farré has pointed out, "continued to cloud the image of the Spanish Government even in the mournful days of the death of Cánovas". The assassination of Cánovas briefly ended the 1890s series of anarchist terrorist attacks in Spain. From 1903 on, attacks would continue for decades. This was unlike other countries, such as France and the United States, in which violent attacks subsided as the anarchist movement dissipated. One of the possible explanations for the persistence of anarchist terrorism in Spain, according to historian Avilés Farré, was the mishandling of the Spanish authorities' response: simultaneously "barbaric, illegal and ineffective" in substituting repressive cruelty for effective police and legal work. For example, Barcelona lacked a sufficiently large and capable police force to face the challenge posed by the 1890s attacks and instead turned to massive raids and a torture program, both in the absence of evidence. Alternatively, France used its police and legal system to convict and guillotine their four terrorists by law and without "prolonged arbitrary detentions, torture to obtain confessions, or sentences with dubious legal grounds", resulting in an end to anarchist terrorism in France in 1894.


References


Bibliography

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Further reading

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cánovas del Castillo, Antonio 1897 murders in Europe 1897 in Spain Anarchism in Spain Assassinations in Spain History of Gipuzkoa 1890s murders in Spain 1890s in the Basque Country (autonomous community) Deaths by person in Spain August 1897 Anarchist terrorism Terrorist incidents in Spain Terrorist incidents in the 1890s