Living the Death of Democracy in Spain by Susana Belenguer Ciaran Cosgrove James Whiston

Author:Susana Belenguer, Ciaran Cosgrove, James Whiston [Susana Belenguer, Ciaran Cosgrove, James Whiston]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nonfiction, History
ISBN: 9781317525424
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2017-10-02T04:00:00+00:00

No nation may steal from another elements which are essential to making up its history; no nation may steal from another the cultural trappings that sustain its memory. It is for this reason that the Catalan people call today for the return of what was taken from them as a symbol of submission, as the spoils of war taken on their defeat.11

Accordingly, many present-day groups across the political spectrum in Spain understand the ‘Salamanca Papers’ in terms of state plunder under one guise or another, while leading historians have tended to interpret the ‘Salamanca Papers’ in the light of their role in helping to drive the Francoist repression. This article, by contrast, seeks to examine the debate on the ‘Salamanca Papers’ from a different perspective. It does this by highlighting the role of civilian volunteers in helping propel the state information-gathering process from below. It also emphasizes the role of these ordinary Francoists in uncovering information to identify friends as well as enemies. Finally, it discusses how the Francoist ‘document recovery squads’ did more than confiscate papers from political opponents. They also returned documents to regime supporters who prior to the Francoist conquest had lost papers to militia and policing forces seeking to root out fifth columnists.12 Importantly, the perspective put across in this paper can also help contribute to the public debate. For the reluctance displayed by the Partido Popular to open up the past to discussion, the stress by others on state theft and the Catalonian nationalist emphasis on theft from one ‘nation’ by another ‘nation’ all act to obscure from view the role of those in more humble positions.13

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